By Chris Carte r
ma te ai m is still 10 get back int o G Ps
a nd perh ap s th er e will be a p lace for
me wi th Honda : ' said Bal dw in.
The ro ad back to th e so ug ht a fter
500cc Wor ld C ha m p io ns h i p h a s
a lrea d y been a hard o n e a n d co u ld
stay that way fo r Mike.
His inj ur ies were bad . He spen t
five mon th s in hosp ital . two mo nt h s
a t h ome in a cas t, a n d a furth er tw o
month s o n cru tches. Even wi th the
n David Aldan a o n
fell ow co u n tryma
S I0.000 ins u ra nce pa you t from th e
th e Fr en ch based H onda factory
AMA, Mike had to find an extra
raci ng team .
End ura nce
32,000 hi mself to meet h is medi ca l
"It woul d not have been my first
bills.
e vear -- th at woul d have
cho ice for th
All th at did lillie to crus h h is desi re
been a fa ctory ride with a ny of the
to go rac i ng aga in . th ough.
P teams. Bu t it was wo rk s
500cc G
Despit e losing th e Suzuki deal,
bikes, ' could have en ded th e year as a
Mik e pressed on i n a bid to get Iit. H e
Champ ion, a n d th e season
World
bough t a m otocross machin e a nd
ga ve me a lot o f ra cing mi les on cirrode th at four days a week . H e ran ,
ts th at do stage GPs." exp la ins
cui
played tennis a nd went sa iling.
Mike.
'" enjoyed m yself, but a ll th e tim e'
For 1982 Mike will stay wi th Honda ,
was doin g things th at would help get
o n th eir
bu t ru n as num ber o ne man
me in sha pe ," said Mik e.
Americ an based team going for bot h '
When th e unluck y Ron P ierce hurt
a nd Form ul a
th e AMA S uper bi ke
h imself badl y in Japan, raci ng at
One titl es, in stead o f Freddi e Spencer
Suz u ka , Mike phon ed Steve Macwh o is off to sta rt hi s fir st full season
Laugh lin a t H onda to see if th ere was
of Grand Pr ix racing. " T he end u a place for him.
not a waste
ra nce racing season was
" Get o n a pl ane a nd co me o u t to
of ti me beca use it ga ve me a cha nc e to
Cali fornia: ' said Steve. So o n a fte r
gave me a lot of
prove my self , a nd
Mike was o ut at Will ow Spring s, th e
track tim e. T his vea r w i ll not be a
fir st time in 14 m onths th at h e h ad
t h~r. I' m rid in g good
waste o f tim e, ei
I .
i- •• * idd n il ril,.ing m\? r
bikes ,O.R. g0 9.
