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
---------- K ing Kenny Roberts seem s t o be t he favorite for t he 78 Da ytona 200. Last year's w inner o f both t he 200 and t he 250cc Li g htwei ght ra ce, Steve Baker 1321reels in I n D a y t o n a ' s 3 7 t h v e r s i o n o f S h o ot o u t good guys or bad guys. the idea however, behind a at There will be only the AMA's OK the Corral equal carburetor guys. restrictor ~~~l~~~o~:tw~ar~in~~le in~w?~;m~e~~~~ t~a~~? t~~O:'teh~~ 28 At rtrle, least that's There is , creeping undercurrent of speculation that perhaps one rider talkin g abou t Kermy Rob erts or Joh n . ny Cecotto or St eve Bak er. The subject of th e spec ul a tio n is Au stral ian Gregg e d C i H ansroro. H ansrord 100 k fou rt h In Iast ea r's sho rte ne d event wh ich fo r a Y , ride r of Hansford's ta lent, was nor surprising The surprise was th at he . was Kawasaki-mounted in a sea of Yamahas . Enter this year's AMA resrricror rul e ( As a pan of th e suppl imental rul es for th e 200 all competitors mu st co m p ly with it which ha s been th e su bject of much ;rack test ing on th e fou r cvlin . .. der Yamaha . . b u t not Ka wasak i s triple. The source of the speculat ion now becomes clear - it is th e Ya m aha rid er 's fea r of the unknown fa ctor. Or is it? If Hansford's Kawasaki was a threa t last year on three cylind ers th en maybe it will be more of a threat under th e restrictor rule. No on e really kn ows and that is cause for concern among more than a few competitors. In th eory. th e ruling isstructured so th at th e nu m ber of cyli nders a n engin e ha s is not a factor. T he moment of tru th will come with Sunda y's green flag . It is a new yea r and a new ballgame. A little of t he glitter . rna y hav e been tarnished in th e 1977 tire cont ro versy and subseq ue nt d ivision of th e event i there will be no . t~e past. T he re WIll be 2 0 ~ m Iles. of ....'nn ~r.take -all . flat -ou t ra cmg. ~hl~ h promIses to be the most cornpeunve In yea rs . ' . The au ra th a t IS Da ytona has been itt . th d fD t B h wn en 10 e sa n so a y o n ~ cal' where the races wer e first run In 1937 h i ' '1 1' d II f '1' h ~o t e m u n -rm Ion. 0 ar act Ity t a t IS Da ytona International Sp eedw ay. In f h . d d ;erm~ ~ s ; r mar'ltu e.; n dSco~ . pee 1'1' e h I d' must oe con si ere to d . t I' wor s most p resugeou s roa racing spectacle outstripping all other events in both numbers and rewards . Where else can a rid er win an event h 200 db d fI ' t I' - an I' ass~:e ~ ucra~ve ~ppeara~ce money 0 ers rom ot er international events for th e rest of th e yea r?, Nowhere. but Da~tona , A , vi ~ tory 10 the 200 . as one rid er put It. IS like money in the bank. The track Daytona's 3.87 .m ile ova l/infield road course is unique. On no other race track today (Tall adeg a do es have steeper banking. but ha s nor ru n a n event sinc e 1975 . ) does m ach in ery un dergo th e rigors that DIS im poses. T he 31 degree ba nking compresses the suspension of all b ikes to a limit where it is like rid ing with litt le or no sus pen· sion at all . Accele ra tion is a pr emium commodity. but so is braking and han dling and horsepower for top speed . If r ' you r ac t togethe r at Daytona, you II kn ow soo n enough . Money The gold at the end of the ra inbow. or ra the r th e 20 0 , is a stagge ri ng $84 2' 0 . . I Th .zo In purse montes a one. at does not take into account contingen d h ff f h AGV cy awa r s or t e payo rom t e Helmets World Cup Championship . T'h i h ' 11 b IS ye a r t e purse W I I' dis tri bu ted to all 80 riders on the sta r. ung gnid : a fi rrst at D aytona . (see p liti ) I d fi he vi ~tICS . ~ rou ~ 1 9 ~'b;es, t I' vict or W re a P a OUI , 'b ' pUh;';1e m Olney I. minus I hI' tax man s lie w let h I' aSI pla ce fin isher will have to pay taxes on approximate ly $270 . AGV Helmets, as pan of their th ree event ch~mpi ~nsh ip , wi.1I a dd $3.000 to th e winner s boot y with the sec,? -nd and t hi rd pla ce fini shers g a r · nenng $2 .000 and $1.000 . respecrively. The rewards a re g rea t if you a re in th e right pla ce when th e c heckered flag waves. However , th e costs of co m pe ting ca n be stagge ring , especia lly for the for eign rider a nd anyone on a tig ht budget. It is eas y to spe nd a good b it of cha nge in just lodgi ng and food , Add in routine pans a nd m aint en ance (a nd hope you don 't crash . bash or b low) plus t r a nsp ort a t io n t o a nd f rom Daytona , the costs of hav in so meo ne ' • ~nd h el p you In t he pits , tires num er ou s 0 1 her in cid cnr ia Is all requ ir ed 10 do th e joh right a nd yoo can figu re on spend ing a sma ll fo:tune. To some , the CO ou twcigh tic SIS magnet ism th at Day to na exe rts QO every road racer wort h his weight in asphalt rash . For ot hers it's Da ytona or b t us . 1 Politics Dayton a 's status as the opening round of this yea r's F750 W orld Champion shi ps was on a nd off eno ug h times to make eve n th e most di e ha rd observer d izzy. At th e heart of rbe problem was a new FIM rul e requiring o rga nizers hosti ng a cham pion sh ip round to pay rid ers sta n mon ies based on FIM schedul es. Daytona balked. jln essen ce Da yton a had paid no sta n (or appearance monies as som e refer u o . the pa yments) in th e p ast a nd sa wlJ)o reason to stan now . &1 Various forms of com pro m ise .sn· sued . In th e fin a l one , Da ytona agreed upon a n in cr eased pu rse ($84.250) pa id out to a ll 80 places in the 200 with th e 80t h p lace rider receiving m ore in win nings t han t he FI M re q u i red in a ppea ra nee mo nry. Everyon e's integrity was inta ct. But wait. The FIM rul e a lso stipulated a payment of 50 % of the minim um to any rider enter ed who ma kes an attempt , bu t does not qu a lify.