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/126332
Rappin' with the Champ By Chris Carter "I think that Barry Sheene got off on the wrong foot this year, The first problem with Barry was that he said that I was no good, no threat. Well that's wrong, because if, after all the times Barry has raced against me, he doesn't know I'm a 14 threat, he 's blindl" Kenny Roberts relaxed in his motor' home at the N urburgring and looked back at his first full season of Grand Prix racing that had earned him the 500cc title. "You can't say that people are no good . I th ink that Barry is a very good racer. If I said he was no good and he beat me , what would that make m e? It was just like when he said tha t Pat Hennen was no good , and then Pat beat him . Barry had to do something . What was he going to do? " Instead of backing out of it gracefully he went overboa rd a little b it. But that's the wa y Barry wants to do things. It may be th e right wa y, I don't know . Wha t I do know is that it isn 't th e way I'd d o th ings . " I feel a ll the riders are good , provided th eir bikes are good and the track is right , and th ey feel right. Bu t you don 't say 'peop le are no good , because t hen you d on 't hav e to beat anyon e. If everyone is no good , who do you hav e to beat ? " In th e States they just don't bel ieve some of the stuff they've been reading lately. What set things off was the 500cc race at Silverstone, but it has been happening for quite a while and building up . "I know you can't please everyone with th e things you say, but I believe that there is more sportsmanship in Am er ica and with mo st of th e privateers in Europe at th e mom ent than with th e headman . " Barry's feelings on ra cin g are probably a lot d ifferent t o mine. If you get beat , you get bea t. You jus t have to try harder next time. It's not such a big deal. I didn 't think il was go ing to be such a game of exc uses on raci ng . I didn't th ink it was going to be that wa y. I had 10 come over here for a yea r and see for m yself. But everyone gets beat . I d on't care who th ey a re ." W ith almost a full sea son of European racing beh ind him now , has Kenny cha nged in any way? " I don't think so . The only thing is that som e aspects of th e racing make me so angry that I have to ba ck off into third gear , otherwise I'd just blow up . " I don't see anyone FIM official that I can go to each week a nd sa y why is this done like thi s? If someon e cou ld give me an answ er I'd be better off. I'm sure th er e a re answers to th e questions that bug me , it' s j ust that there is no one to give th em , "T here are ju st too many clas ses a nd ! OO man y people ru n ni ng the GP 's. T her e shou ld just be three or four gu ys ru nn ing e,'er y ro und of th e Worl d Champion sh ip . "J ust because the Germans , for example , like th e .50cc cla ss, that's no rea son to keep incl ud ing il in the GP 's . Moto rcycl e ra cing ha s to go forward , and it's better for everyone if we ha ve j ust three or four races at a W orld Championsh ip round instea d of th e six we hav e sometim es no w. "T he spectators would be happy to see four good races and the press would be abl e to give more detailed reports. Just as important , th e sa me amount of cash that th e orga nisers pa y out to th e riders in six classes could be split among fewer competitors. "T hey say , 'W h at a bout the guys who ride the fift ies?' I d on 't ca re about th e guys who race th e fifties. If they ca n' t rid e a 125 , well , I'm so rryl But I bel ieve th ey ca n , a nd I beli eve that th e gu ys who ra ce 125's can rid e 250's. I ca n ' ride anyth ing . it doesn't matter. And if other guys appl ied t hemselves th ev co u ld , too . , ,";rhere . a re , 4\>0 , ridc;r • nqw . at, ,a, Grand Prix and they gel next to nothing to race , because they all gel th e FIM minimum . The organisers are paying out a lot of money in total , but nobody is benefitting from it. I don 't think that start money is the complete answer, I think that I should get 51.000 or 52 ,000 to start in a race , but that the firstprize should be $5,000 . That way th e guy that gets just $500 to show up at a race has a chance to make money if he wins , too . "Sta rt money is essential to help all rid ers pay their way , but after tha i it shou ld be big money for th e first three hom e. Ther e are some races , likeFin land . where th e basi c sta rt money sho u ld b e higher b e cause it 's, such a long way. If start mon ey g e ts too b ig for th e sta rs it means that th e corn petition gets wor se because th e little guys don 't get enough to go . "T he re a re ot her races like th e Ven ezuelan Grand Pr ix that I think shou ld be eithe r scru b bed from the calen da r or drastically alter ed so t hat it is fa irer for th e co m petito rs. It is suc h a long wa y awa y that the o rga nisers sho uld hire a plane in Eu rope for every one who want s to race , a nd it shou ld flv th em , th eir me chanics, a n d fa mily : p lus the bikes and spa res to Ven ezuel a free of charge . The other end th ey should ha ve some b ig trucks to ca rry the bikes to th e circ uit. " If th ey ca n' t do tha t th en th ey sho u ld n't ru n a GP . It cos t me 56 ,000 out of m y pocket to race in Ven ezuela . That 's crazy! "T he season sta rted reasonably eas y while we were on race tracks , but things were more difficult when we came to th e longer circuits and the street circuits . "After Assen the whole year cha nged , and not JUSt the ra ee cir cu its. At the Dutch TT the Suzukis were faster than they had been before, At Assen I co u ld rid e hard on three or four co rners a nd make up a bit of ground on Barry a nd t he n he would be able to pull it all back on the straight. That ma de him harder to beat.