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/126545
of the Year honors. Didn't you receive a bit of unexpected help at A5c0t which may have turned the tide in your favor? Yes and it really surprised me. Jay Springsteen's tuner Bill Werner offered some suggestions to us and that, in a sense, made me feel a bit better by knowing some other people out there were in my comer. Men came to me and said Werner felt he had a rear tire that would work well with the track the way it was, so we went over and discussed it with him. We t!>Ok the tire (An intermediate compound versus the soft compound everyone else was using... Editor) and it worked great. Werner had two of the tires with Ganh Brow using the other. The reason we changed is that we had tire problems in the heat and I feel the change was for the best. Have you thought about what you can do for the sport as Wimton Pro Series champ? Yes, I have and I've already gotten the ball rolling. I wa'nt to do a lot of pro· motional work and get my name spread around as well as that of Winston's. I feel that between myself, Winston and the AMA working together we can upgrade the speno I think we can put some class into racing and I've got some ideas I want to discuss with the riders about the image of our speno I feel we have a good program to sell to future sponsors and to television. I want to do my pan. I don't want this championship to slip away from me without having gained anything from it. I want to make full UIIe' of it for myself and at the same time help the Winston Pro Series. ..... CO 0') ..... *** The guiding forces behind Robens· L4wwz11 Racing are Kenny Roberts and Mert L4wwz"U, both former National Champions. L4wwz"ll was taking it easy at his Tiburon, Cali· fornia home when contacted about his feelings on Kidd's championship. How does it feel having tuned your way to Number ODe as oppoeed to having won the championship lU a rider? It's never quite like doing it yourself, although I feel a great deal of pride in what we've accomplished. It wasn't as satisfying as when I won the title (in 1969), bllt I guess it's the next best thing if you can't be on the track yourself. I'm pleased. Mike worked hard all year, as did everyone on the team. The only regret I have is that we couldn't finish out the year on the Yamaha, because that was the original game plan. All in all I'm delighted we were able ~o pull off winning the championship. I guess you could say we all had a case of Number One fever those last few weeks. Realistically, that was the only way to go, because we knew we couldn't get the Yamaha working good enough. quick enough to be totally competitive for winning Number One. Those last three or four weeks of the Nationals, we just bent all plans and concentrated on going after the championship with everything we had. Kenny Roberu was on hand at Ascot overseeing the operation of RobertsLawwill Racing and WlU just as much on edge as othen on the team when the National finally came to the line. Afterwards, he was calm and cool while receiving congratulatory words of praise from many. The race was hard on me. It's really a strain to watch when you're involved with someone who is going for the championship rather than yourself. I really wish I could have been out on the track racing for the title. That wouldn't have bothered me because I've been there before. Until now I haven't had the opponunity to find out what it feels like on the other side of the fence. • • The Challenge: To battle the competition, a field The Talent: abounding with red and yellow factory teams and hot-shot privateers. To win against these overwhelming odds with the utmost in creativity, relia· The Result: bility and talent. The Equipment: A lone mean, green Kawasaki KZ1000, Kerker equipped for that uncompro· mised punCh. Eddie Lawson· The Born to Blaze Rider Gary Mathers· Magnificent Manager Rob Muzzy - Racing Wizard Steve Johnson· Tuner Extraordinaire Mark Johnson· Tuner Extraordinaire The 1981 AMA Superbike Champion· ship !! From Kerker, a hearty thanks for the outstanding sea· son. We couldn't have "Kicked Ass" without each other! Factory Hotline: (213) 999·3060 (800) 423·5246 Outside CA. Kerker, 7900 Deering Avenue. Canoga Park, California 91304 Part Number 81·144 T _ 21.... CUSTOM TRAILERS • Rrw>dng AV8IIoiiie Open .. _ ROBCO WELDING 18262 Gothatd Huntington Ileoch. CA 1714' .....3088 ,21 , .