Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

. on stadium tracks. The best I've done is a second place but right now I'm 10th in the standings. It's coming along alright but I know I can do a lot better. They're really hard thoughl It 's a lot harder than a National because everybody is in it. The 125cc Nationals have maybe a few good guys who are really hot but Supercross has everybody from every class riding. That makes it tough. And the tracks are so much more difficult with the tightness and the type of jumps. It depends on the track kinda , but you can get more tired in the Supercross. You can pace yourself and relax in a National. But in stadium racing you just have to go for it for 20 minutes, and it can be pretty intense. You and Chris seem to have a pretty good working relationship, Chris is really good as a mechanic. He works extra hard, and he's always thinking up new things to do to the bike that will improve it. He watches other.riders to look for good lines on the track to help me out. He has really helped me a lot and stuck by me and had confidence in me. He wants to work on my bikes and that makes it better for me. The bikes are really excellent, and I don't think we've broken down for a long time because Chris is so efficient. Do you have any trouble setting up the bike? Sometimes it's really hard to set up right. We go out testing, and I have a hard time telling which shock or tire works best. It 's easy to tell when a shock is work ing when you are racing and you can see how it works against the other guys , but it's tough to tell when you are just testing and don't have anything to judge against. Chris always tells me what he thinks, and that helps , but I'm the one who had to decide because I'm the one who's going to ride it. You were very fast as a mini rider, and you're very fait now. How do you compare them? I won a lot of minicycle races and I could just concentrate a little and ride hard and I won a lot . Now though it's a lot tougher to win. I have to really work at it, run and train and ride at a lot higher level of concentration. Not to mention that the competition is a lot harder. When you race minis did you plan .on becoming a top National star and riding for a factory like Suzuki? I rode most Yamaha and Honda minis, and when I first went to 125cc .bikes I rode an early Yamaha monoshocker, Then the new Suzukis came out - they were really good that year - and I bought one and was 'ridi ng my own bike. I've been riding them ever since, and I've been pretty lucky to get here. The guys at R&D really helped me a lot . They helped me fix up my bike, Rudy and Dean from R&D engines, and they talked to the people at Suzuki. Mr. Dickensen talked to Suzuki and tried to convince them that I was a good rider, and finally they signed me. I'm really glad because Suzuki has been really good to me, and they 've given me a lot of encouragement to do good. Aki and Hedi and those guys really support me when I do good even when I'm just practicing. And it feels good. Then riding the minis were good experience? The minis helped me for sure. They gave me the racing and experience I needed. Compared to if I hadn't raced minis I'm a lot better of what they taught me . A lot of people think you can't change from the minis to the Nationals and do good, but we've gotten bigger and faster and racing is racing and it's all in your head. When you get bigger you just need a bigger b~. • • w• .... ... - .. o 00 0') 25

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