Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
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o 00 0') 1""""4 From Mini Wonder to Wild Blue Yonder Flyin' Brian takes off By Terry Whytal Photo by.charles Morey 24 Charging to the front early in both moeos, Brian Myencough kept his Chris Haines tuned 125cc Suzuki waterpumper tapped out and screaming as he left Glover, Barnett and Ward flailing in his wake. By race end he had opened up devastating 25-second leads over his nearest competiton and claimed the sweet victory of the AMA 125cc National MX at Saddleback. Grinning as wide as his Bell Magnum would allow, Brian headed for the Team Suzuki pits where mechanics and support crew members offered their congratulations. Myencough looked fresh enough to go another 40 minutes and seemed willing to talk about the race and the coming season 10 we arranged. to meet later that evening at the home of his mechanic. I arrived to find Brian soaking in the jacuzzi, the lights of Mission Viejo twinkling below and his Mother and Chris Haines' wife keeping him company. Chris and Brian's Dad soon appeared with armloads of Chinese take-out food and the clan headed for the dining room while I taped Brian at poolside. Later Chris joined in on the covnersation, then showed me some of the details of the new watercooled 125 and talked about his trip to Japan to work at the R&D facility . A little extra touch was added to the evening as Tony DiStefano and girlfriend dropped in bearing a carton of ice cream and full of cheer and funny stories . A fitting end to a perfect da y. Congratulations on winning Saddleback. ' Thanks, I felt really great today. You finished third at Hangrown .•. did you do something to the bike hefore Saddleback? We changed the rear shocks, put Ohlins on and they seemed to work a little better than the shocks that came with the bike from Japan. We also changed the gearing which really helped a lot . The gearing was too high at Hangtown. I didn't start too well there, and starts are always important. We had the gearing just right today for that track, I could really pull them in places. The front end looked different • . . We put on last year's forks from the works bikes because they are a little lighter than the forks that came on the bikes this year. The forks this year are like 44mm, I think, and they are really big. They work pretty well, but they're just too heavy. That's about all the time we had to work on the bike. __ Chrisrwe only got the bike about three days before Hangtown, so we weren't reall y ready there, but we were for Saddlebackl What about the waterpumper? I think 'the waterpumper ' is a little better at the end of the moto . It stays really strong the whole race where the other engine might have a tendency to slow down a little bit . It's kinda hard to tell because we haven't ridden the bikes together on the same day to tell, but the new bike is realfy good. Chris: The waterpumper is more work to maintain , more parts to take care of but it doesn't seem to be too bad. Were there other problems at Hangtown? I didn't come off the gate well because of the gearing, but when I was in midpack I just wasn't aggressive enough to work 'my way up quickly to the 'front , and the leaders got too far out in front fllr me to catch , them . When I got alone , I was turning the same lap' times as the leaders, but they were gone. Your team manager Mark Blackwell says you train very hard. We 've been working on the conditioning and stuff so I've definitely been getting in better shape every year. It 's kinda a gradual thing: just keep working at it and learn new things . The last two weeks, though, I didn't train at ,all . Just rode. I trained real hard up to the first National then kinda backed off. Mainly because I was so tiredl Chris: Brian trains so hard and works so hard that he gets mad about losing . He just wants to win. What do you do for training? I run and have a program on the weights that Dean Miller set up for us. He's worked with other guys in motocross, and he kinda sets guidelines that help me for motocross. It's not really doing one thing really berserk, but I know it's something that works. This guy really knows what he's doing, and I'm a lot stronger than I was. but still I want to get stronger. I'd say it's working pretty well 'cause my condition stayed good during the Saddleback race, and I was still pretty rested at the finish . You're living down in Texas now by Kent Howerton. Do you guys train together or go riding? Kent and I have been riding together before the season started, and we've been training together, too ; and it has really helped. Kent has really helped me a lot in my riding, we go trailriding and he's really fantastic riding in the woods . He can really jaml I've gotten a lot better just from going trail riding with him, learning how to maneuver the bike in different situations and things . Last year started pretty good for you , but you had lOme problems toward the end of the season, I got third in last year's Nationals, and I was kinda disappointed. I was really pumped to win the championship and I thought I could do it . I won the first National, then at the second . at Saddleback, I got really nervous and got a stomach ache. I couldn't even ride and I had to drop back. Chris: That's part of the reason he wanted to win Saddleback today , 'cause oflast year at Saddleback. Yeah, I felt pretty good todayl You almost finished second behind Glover last year ... ' Well, I hung in there and stayed secon'd almost the entire year. I felt pretty good and was riding pretty consistent, arid I won a couple of mo tos. Then at the last race of the year in Florida we had some bike problems and Barnett passed me. It was really a pretty good year but it's tough to be in there all the time. You seem more poised this year, more confident. I'm a year older, nineteen, and I think this year is going to be a little better. Last year I got so nervous wanting to beat Glover and get number one , but I guess I wasn't quite ready. This year will be different; this year I think I'll do it. Will Glover be your 'main competition? I think that Barnett and I will be right in there battling for number one but you can't count out Glover. He'll be right there with us all the time. Jeff Ward will be really tough, too , but I think it'll be Barnett and me out front. And hopefully I'll come out on top. Do you think you have an advantage on one type of track? I don't really think about the . tracks too much. I just try to ride each one the best I can no matter what the track conditions are. I don't really look foward to a track because I think I can do good there, I just try and ride every~ thing. I'm not really hot on one kind of track or another because I need to go fast everywhere. After you win the l25cc National Championship, will you move to the 250cc class? I like riding the 125cc bikes, but I'm starting to like the 250s. I think, though: after I win I want to ride the 125cc another year before moving on. I've thought about Europe, and I'd really like to race there but not now. I'm still young. and 1 don 't have the experience. I want to race in,the states for a really long time and establish my· self before going to Europe. Does this mean we can expect to see you continue racing for many yean, like DeCoster or Mikkola? 1 think I can stay competitive for a long time if I just don't take it too seriously, and try to have a good time at it. A lot of times I'm just too serious, and it kind of burns me out on riding; I start to think about doing other stuff. . I'm having a lot of fun right now and if I can just keep having fun , it will last a longtime. Do you ever get tired of traveling? I kinda like traveling, around but it does get boring sometimes. Sometimes flying on the planes when you don't have any one to talk to is kinda hard. and a lot of times 1 have to fly by my· self. But usually it's a lot of fun to see different places and stuff. A good opportunity to check things out, and 1 like it. How do you like riding the stadium events? I'm riding all the Supercross r!lces this year. I don't have much experience and I haven't done too hot. I've been riding reall y well, but the starts are really important and so is experience like knowing when and where to pass