Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

Daytona 200's youngest competitor By Gary Van Voorhis Photo by Jeanie Gamble R .]. Gamble, [r., at the age of 16, has fulfilled a dream. On March 7, 1982, just over two months shy of his 17th birthday on May 15, he became the you ng est rider to ever participate in th e Daytona 200. A lthougb his ride came to an end on th e 17th lap of th e event, Gamble had establ ished a goal he set for himself one year earlier. Gamble received his Professional Expert license on his 16th birthda y, havin g been recommended by W ER A 's president Peter Frank as a rider " of demon strated abilit y." He had amas sed a solid list of ach ievements and po int s in both WERA Superbike and 250cc Lightweight racing dur ing th e 1980 season. A t AMA 's discretion, a rider ma y obta in a license upon recommendation and verification from a recogn ized non-AMA sancti on ing organizatio n. A conversati on with Gam ble is punctuated with " Yes sir," " N o sir," and " T han k yo u." H e is polite and po ised beyond his years. H is racin g efforts are mainly characterized as " we" rather than " I" because his fam il y -- m other, Jean ie, fath er, Bob , and sister, R enea -- pla ya very big part in everything he does. " T he wh ole fam il y goes to th e races," says his proud mother. " R. ] . doesn 't run unless Mom and Dad are th ere. H is siste r R enea is his biggest fan. Unfortunatel y she's had to curtail her race goi ng since she began going to college at L SU." What is R .] . •- wh ich stands for Robert Julian -- lik e at home?H e's a junior at Bethan y Chr ist ian Sc hoo l and is six feet, one inc h tall with brow n hair and blue eyes. He weighs in at 165 pounds. Gam ble, wh en he has spare tim e, lik es to ride his bicycle and un icycle or go skateboardi ng. H e is a wiz at video games. " T hey 're good to pla y because th ey develop your ref lex es," he says. H e go es out on dates once a wee k and also spends one n ight each wee k at a Chr istian youth rall y. Th e rest of th e tim e is taken up w ith scho ol wo rk and endless hours sp ent in th e ma chine sho p beh ind th e family's home in Baton Rouge, L ouisiana , w ork ing on his race bik es. " L ast year his fi nishing positions in the Superb ike series w eren 't that high ," says Mrs. Gamble. " H ow ever, w e felt that R.]. needed a year of ex pe rience of runn in g in the fast lane to temper h im . We didn't want him to have th e fastest m achi nery. H e learned to be smooth and a lot m ore." Is R.]. Gamble just another up and coming racer o r does he have that certain spark and dedication tha t w ill earn him a factory contract in years to come?Only time will tell. Ho wever, if fa ith , dedi cation to th e sp ort and th e will to succeed count, th en yo u will be hearin g more about him. 26 How does it feel to be the youngest rider to have ridden in the Da ytona 200? It feels great. I wa s af raid we weren 't going to ma ke it. We had a lot o f engine tr oubl e. We were blow in g motors left a nd rig h t lik e a lo t of o ther peop le. Not o n ly that, but I was eig h th alterna te a n d that reall y had me down. We knew they wou ld take five alternates as of Saturda y n ight. On Sunda y morning th e AMA ca lle d m y m ot el a nd to ld m y dad we were racing . We h eaded o u t to th e track a n d took a stoc k st reet motor o u t of m y fri end's -- Marvin West -- Ka wasaki a nd had to r us h to ge t it to gether in tim e. It wa s a pretty hectic morn - in g a nd I d idn 't really have ti me to think a bou t th e ci rc u m sta nces. In 1981 we we nt to Da ytona to watch because I wa s o n ly 15 a nd couldn't get a li cense. I knew I was going to . get my full pro licen se the da y I turned 16, so I wa sn't too di sappointed. One of m y friends was 17 a nd h e thought he wa s goingto make the field for the 200 , but he didn 't. I had pl anned, even before that, that I wan ted to be th e yo un gest rider to compete in th e 200. At th e beginning of thi s yea r I sent m y license appli cation to the FIM. T hey sent back th e a p p lica ti o n -- for a o ne yea r li cense -- sta m ped "too yo u ng." However, th ey did grant me a o ne time licen se to co m p ete a t Da yto na. So, in the end we ac hieved o ur goal. Were you disappointed that your ride lasted only 16 laps? Yes, quite a bi t. The stock motor wa s runn in g reall y good a nd keeping up a decent p ace -- fo r a stock motor. On lap 17 I was going down th e backstretch when th e co un tershaft sp roc ket backed o ff. T ha t wa s i t for me. I beli eve if I co u ld' ve run o ne of o u r good engi nes I would have finish ed fa irl y we ll. Being issued a full Expert professional license at the age of 16 is a testimony to your racing talent. When did you begin racing? I sta rted racin g at th e age of five. My dad was raci ng motocross at the time so I just sta rte d in motocross and th en I switched to d irt tr ack when I wa s about nin e. I didn't begi n road racing until I wa s 13, so I' ve o n ly been ro ad racin g for about th ree yea rs. I thin k ha ving raced motocross a nd dirt track before turn ing to road raci ng h as helped me a lot . In motocross yo u learn how to brake for co rners w h ile dirt track taught me how to slide th e bike th ro ugh co rners. I believe a nyone who has a back- ground in d irt riding, like Kenny Roberts, Eddie Lawson and Freddie Spencer , makes a better road racer. How do you balance your education with your racing program? It's tough. H ow ever;the private school I go to -- Bethany Chri sti an School -a ll o ws the student to progress a t his or her o wn p ace. Wh at I do before a bi g race w he re I will be a way from my stu d ies for a period of time, is to work a he ad so tha t when I re tu rn I'm not reall y behind. So meti mes, I' ll have to d o two or even three week s wo rt h of work a head j ust to be a ble to go to a n event --like th e Seattle (Wa sh in g to n) . Su per bi ke round last yea r. It's hard, but it's been worth i t. I've been very fortunat e in that th e teach er s a nd administrators understand my situation and allow me a bit of leeway. Even though I do take th e time off , I've managed to keep up a straight B average. How do your classmates react to having a well-traveled sports figure in class? They don 't treat me any differently th an anyone else. Oh, when I come back from a ra ce they may ask me a bo u t what i t was like and where I've been , but that's about it . They all think it 's pretty neat that I've been a ble to do it. Why did you choose racing and not some other sport like baseball or basketball? I guess it goes ba ck to sta rt in g racing a t th e age of five . I like an ything with wheels. You could say if it has anything to do with wheels then I ca n do it. Other sports, like ba seball or baske tball don ' t come n atural to me alt houg h I enjoy th em. However, nothing compares with motorcycle racing a nd the sense o f achievement yo u ge t from doing good. I've had so me bad times a nd have su ffered through three broken legs, a broken co llarbo ne , broken ribs, a broken thumb a nd a good bit of high-speed induced as p halt rash . I still think its all been worth it. Have you had any contact or encouragement from Freddie Spencer? ·We used to race eac h other at short track so me yea rs ago. Freddie always won . I was usually seco n d or third and I felt that was pretty good since Freddie was a tremendous rider. I set a goal for m yself to chase Freddie until I beat h im. I never did. He's my idol. To tell the truth, I believe he is an example of what every road racer sho u ld strive to be. I believe that on equal machinery Freddie can 't be beaten on a road race track -- and that isn 't just because he's from the great sta te of Louisiana. Have you set any goals for this season? I h ave a t least tw o things I would like to accompl ish. First, I'll be riding 750cc m achinery in Superbike events a n d wa nt to do as well as I can so th at when th e rul es change n ext yea r we'll be more th an ready. In addition , we're ge tt in g tw o Honda V-45 Sabres to work on for next yea r as a base for a Formula One bike. I would like to get a rideon a (Ya m a h a) TZ750 Formula One bik e this yea r if possible. I hav en 't ridden o ne, but I have done a good bit of racing o n a 250. I would also like to ride a four-strok e Formula One bike because tha t' s th e way we'll be going n ext yea r. Have you set any long range goals? I guess th e goa l of all ro ad racer s sho u ld be to go to Europe and win a World Championshi p , I'm no exception. First, th ough, I'd lik e to win the Superbik e Championship or a t least a co uple of races. I do feel I h a ve a lon g future a head o f me, being as yo u ng as I a m . I do ha ve m y goals se t a nd I' m not o u t th ere racing for th e fun of it. I take m y ra cin g serio usly and I want to win. T ha t's th e o n ly reason to be rac ing. •

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