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/126315
Wanttorace inEurope? Dale Singleton says, "You better have your act together!" By John Ulrich "Hell, if you're goin to Europe, you better have your act together real good," drawled Dale Singleton as he leaned against a chainlink fence in the pits at Sears Point offering Harry Klinzmann some advice. It was Friday before the race weekend, an open practice day, and the weather--which would later force postponement of th e Na tional road race - was already threatening. " It's nothing like it is over her e," Singleton conti nued . "You go out th er e at th e Ma tch Races, for instance. and they give you 10 laps of practice on a track you 've never seen before. Then they sa y ·O K. let 's line 'em u p .' "If you ca n't go out in 10 laps and be withi n a second of the tra ck record , then you m ight as well go up in the sta nds and d rink beer. T he m d amn Match Races, t hat 's th e ungodliest th ing I've ever seen. No practice, m an. Them English gu ys rid e t he re every week , you know and they kn ow the tra ck just like we eat breakfast. You're trying to figure out which way to go , an d you've got t he bike down cha t-. teri n' and slid in' and re ally thinkin' you're getting a good rid e goin ' a nd th em gu ys just ride around you on th e outsid e, on Kawasakis with shocks on both sides . You know , just som e guy like Mick Grant or somebody like th a t. some gu y you just blew by at Da yton a . 18 " It's just 'c a use th ey ride th ere a ll th e tim e. The Brit ish . thev had all th eir gu ys there , and just 'qualified who th ey wanted to ru n . W e just run what we brung. It was defin itely onesided. T he Br itish guys had their act down whe n th ey got to the race track, and of cou rse m e and half the Am eri cans on the team d idn't know which way the track went, you know , "We followed Kenny around a few times. He helped us out a lot over there, but it was just real slow getting ca ught onto it. It was real cold and tires weren't working that good. You get to a track like that and you gotta get your lines worked out and sort out you r gearing and you just do n't hav e enoug h practice. Come race time , that's why they blew us awa y. We weren 't p repared . "T he thing is," Singl eton said, "if we went over there for th e Match Races and got decent practice, we'd kick their asses all over t he place. 'Cause everything happens so fast, you don' t rea lly ge t hooked up u ntil th e last leg of the last ra ce. It's just bam, ba m, bam, bam. Get it on, get it off. " In Europe, th er e's not enough time betwee n ro ad races to for get what you've learned, wha te ver it might be. You go th ere, you race, you load up , you go to another race. I mea n it's ;ust racing , racing , racin g , racing ind th ey're all so close togeth er. "And th en when you ge t over into Italy and France, if you can ge t up , ea t br eak fast , drive ' ou t to the race track and get into th e pits, th en you've do ne a major ac complishm en t. .W e left our passes inside th e hotel one morning . My frie nd Melvin was drivin g a nd we'r e hea de d for the pits. These gu ys are screa rnin' a nd ho lleri n' a nd ta lking in Fren ch and i -tali an , j ust rais ing hell like the AMA does here. So Melvin says, 'O K, hang on . We 're geuin' in t he pits.' "So th ese guys are screami n' and pointin ' at these big signs , 'Show us you r passes , show us your passes .' Hell , ole Melvin just gassed it up, crashed int o the gates get tin ' into the pits and everythin'. It was unreal. Guys cussing us out in French and everything. But we got into the pits , and they never came and took us away or anything. " I' ll tell you , though ," Singleton said, "it's good to go over there . You gotta go there one time just to get into the program, just to know what's going on and when it's goin' on, because it's just so much different over there. It 's nothing like United States racin' . Ain 't nothin' like it. The people over there are so much into the race and everything. " If you've never been to Italy or France , th ere just isn't that much to do like there is over here in the States. Like there 's 40 d ifferent things a family can do on a weekend here, no problem, very convenien t to their own home. Over there, when th ey're havin' a motorcycle ra ce, that is th e big deal. That's number on e. That's the major thi ng t hat's happening over there , that's th e big tim e. They're into ra cin' and you know it when you're there . " I th ought Am eri ca had a good race program, but racin' here ain 't crap compared to what it is over there. I'm not knockin' Americans or an ything, and I wouldn't want to go over there and live, either, but they 've got their act together when it comes to racing. " Even the press is different over there. You rac e on Sunday, and you're ea ting breakfast on Frid ay morning as you read about you r race out of a full color magazine. It's unreal. After th at ra ce is over , that pr ess room is burnin' down . We was cornin' back on the a ir plane, and I was kicked back. 'T his J apanese newspaper is la ying up in the sea t a row ahead ofme. I picked it up an d it's got a big pictu re of Roberts, Cecotto and Bak er a t Paul Ricard . It 's got the full coverage story of th e race in aJapanese newspaper two da ys afte r the ra ce. " Bu t just because the people dig road racing and the press covers it good doesn't mean it's easy goin' over there. At Imola, I qualified l l th and rode 10th overall there, with a wet racetrack. That kind of scared me 'cause I've never really ridden in the rain that much. It wasn't rainin' , but the track was wet. I did pretty good at Paul Ricard. 1 had misfortune of seizing a couple engines before the race . But I got it hooked up and tu rned., third fastest time in qualifying. " I was runnin' good in the race, about fifth overall, and a bearing or something went out on the bottom end, so I had to retire wid; nine laps to go . That's how it went. That's the first time a motor of mine has quit on me in a race. First time. Mechanical failurel Just quit, laid down and said That's as far as I'm goin', I'm down, bam! ' That was the first tim e, and that's the way it goes, "The problem was too many miles , man . We didn't have time to work on it. We didn't have time to maintain the motor. 1 had a new crank and everything to put in, and ended up not ha ving time to d o it. I ran myoid motor to death over there, 1,200 miles on a cra n k. It fin ished Daytona, the Match Races, Imola and almost Paul Ricard , plus the practice sessions. " My sponsor hired a mechanic to help me and he couldn't handle the Match Races . So 1 put him on an airplane and sent him home. 1 do all my own work on the bike. My friend Melvin travels with me , but he's not a mechanic , but he can do small stuff like change tires and gearing and a little bit of safety wiring, easy stuff. I'm kind of showing him along. " I don't need a mechanic, because I can't get a long with a mechanic. I ca n not get along with somebody doin' stuff with m y bike. More than anything 1 just need somebody to do d riving with me and try to get my stuff