Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/126302
" Nev er follow the same lines of the rider you're trying to pass." "Lackey gets airborne, narrowly missing Lumberjack stalled in a rut" " Taking different lines in a turn keeps you from being roosted." "Set up your pass in advance, pivot earlier in the turn and gas it on by." How to like the Hurricane Part seven Passing other riders By Bob Hannah as told t o Jim Gianatsis "The basic rule is: Racing is passing. That is, never -follow the same lines of the fellow you're trying to pass. Probably the best example of this took place in the recent Trans-AMA Series. Mark Barnett and Chuck Sun . h h . h were racmg eac ot er m t. e Support class for the overall wm at Buchanan Michigan. It was the 10 , last lap of the final moto with Chuck just a few feet in front of Mark. Whoever won the final moto would take the overall win . The track was super muddy, and by the final moto it was ,1 full of deep ruts. Chuck ran his Husky into a rut so deep it killed the engine. Mark was following so closely on the same line that he followed Chuck into the rut and ram~ed. his Suzuki into the back of Chuck s bike. The rut was so deep that Mark couldn't get out, so he had to sit there while Chuck got off his Husky, found neutral, restarted the engine and pulled out of the rut ahead of Mark to win the moto and the race. If Marlt had been on a different line he would have won the race. "The only time I'D foDow a guy is in a certain COI'DCT where I've planned in advance to pass him. Then I'll slack off a bit going into the comer so I can make my tum sooner and get the drive on him as we accelerate out of the comer. The trick is to get on the gas before he does, and the only way to do that is not be on on his rear wheel. "Otherwise, I always use opposite lines to the guy I'm trying to pass. So if he falls, I don't fall. I can then pass him. If you criss-cross, you also don't get hit with any rocks or din. "T ry to keep your momentum up when you're passing riders. Don't slow to their speed, but time yourself so you come up on them in a place you can , pass without any trouble. Then pa them quickly and pull away so the won't try to race you. "Always set up a guy in advance fo a safe place to pass. Don't t ik chances. Probably the only time don't follow that rule is in stadiu racing where the motos are so sho you don't have time to wait for a saf passing place. That's when you have t go crazy trying to get by other riders Starts are more important i stadium racing than anywhere el because the tracks are so tight an there's so little time to work up from bad stan. Whoever gets the holesho will probably win , but I've managed t come from the middle of the pack bunch of times, like last year's Adam and Daytona Supercross races." (Next Week : Practice and training.