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/126439
Mike Baldwin speaks out By John Patrick Clarke OnJune 17 Mike Baldwin, Ihe 1978 Cycle News East Rider ofthe Year and leading AMA road racer, had his promising racing career literally come to a crashing halt. Since that 750cc Loudon National accident, this young Dan'en, Connecticut racer has been a prisoner ofhis own injuries. In traction and confined to his bed in a small cell-like room on the second floor of the Concord, New Hampshire, hospital, Mike stares out of his only window at the far off New Hamps~ire hills. Hills that Mike will see go from green through the multi·colored stages offall and then to bare. This long internment in a world foreign to his natural sUTToundings, being broken only by afaml1y visit or AAMRR buddies in townfor a club race, has given him much time for thought. . At present his condilwn is asfollows: A cast has been removedfrom his left ann whU:h has heo.kd nicely, but the right leg is another story. Severe uzscuJm- damage, a broken femur above the knee (the bone was broken into at least 7 pieces) has negated the we of pins. The doctors put Mike's leg in traction and hoped that it would heal naturally. X .rays showed that the leg was not healing as planned, so recently Mike underwent a bone graft operation (his only time out of bed since June). Now, the healing process mwt start all over again. In this in person interview a very determined Mike Baldwin reflects on that tragic Loudon weekend, gives his views on U. S. and European racing and lets w know what he plans to do in the future. 14 What do you n:member of the accident? I remember 1 was coming out of tum rwo and leaned over to the right. I straightened up for just a brief period and then flicked it over to the left for tum three. Right at that point where you straighten up, you go throu$'h tum two in second gear, then up·shift between the t~lrns and go into tum three in third. As I was straightening up 1 up-.hifted into third and a jolt that the up-shift caused evidently sent the bike into a tank .Iapper. When it got into the tank slapper I thought I had time to get it under control by shutting off the throttle. pulling in the clutch quickly and slowing the bike down. I thought I had plenty of room, but the bike kept on its way straight· through the tum and up off the embankment. As soon as I got to the edge of the track it pitched me over· the handleban. I slid off the side of the track and struck a haybale and some other object. That is what broke my right leg. I imagine going over the han· dleban with a tight grip on the handlebars broke my wrist because I never made it from there. As to what actually caused the crash, I don't know if it was just the jolt of the up-shift or what. I wasn't leaned over at any angle, I was almost upright. I don't know what actually sem the bike into a tank slapper. Because the thing happened so fast, I was surprised that I couldn't get it under control. I was in a tank slapper for quite a period of time, which is uncommon. Most bikes will come back under control when you get them into a wobble if you have enough room on the track where you can keep them going and can slow it down. Did Kawasaki clo a tear clown of the machine to see if then: were any mecliaDica1 maHunetions? I have no idea. I never saw the bike after the race. The rear tire was flat. They said that was the only thing they really know, but it could have happened in the crash. It is a mystery to me. The crash happened in a place and in a way that has me puzzled. I just can't figure it out, because it's something that should not have happened. If I overshot a tum on the track, I can understand that. If I get into a tum loose, too deep or too hard and on the front brake and the front wheel shoots out, I can undentand that. If I spin the rear end out going in or coming out of a tum I understand all of those things because those are straight forward. The bike just got in· to a tank slapper and I tried to get it out. It wouldn't come and just took over the show. What are your thoughts OD the AMA. the p - . . and the CODdition of the track that wee1eDd? I have had plenty of time to think weeks about it. It has bcm 16 or 17 so far and 1 think a much better job could have been done. 1 don't think that they did anyWhere near a satisfac· tory job of running a professional road race. Many things were done incorrec· tly that weekend. First of all, they (AMA) always insist on running Superbikes and 750cc bikes back to back, which always creates a problem. They did agree to split those up with a Novice race, but you know that 80 percent of the riden . that ride a 7!)() also ride Superbike. Very few people that ride a 250 also ride 750. 1 always try to talk them into running a Superbike race on Saturday which would ease the pressure of someone riding a 7!)() and the Super· bike event to compete on two different days. If this particular person did run a 250, he would run it on Sunday. I think that's the way it should be done. The promoters have always been against that. I think it would be much safer to run it that way. It's been a running conflict for the past three ·yean. What about the track IUrface? The track surface; I think. it was in good condition that weekend. However, they have done things in the past· that were inexcusable. This year I don't think there was cause or good reason to red nag the Superbike race . only one rider fell. The track wasn't blocked and all the ambulances weren't tied up, yet they red·nagged the race. It cost me a good amount of money out of my own pocket. What they did is essentially