Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

took th e titl e by two poi nts. Randy red flag isn 't o u t yet. If yo u ' re runMarno la finish ed th ird o n a Suzu ki n in g for p oi nt s yo u sta y o ut o n the track u n til yo u see a red flag . Reall y, wide ly rega rded as under pow ered , th ough , th e sit uation was bad. Both a nd Lawson ca me on stro ng to wards th e end of th e season to tak e fourth. riders were sti ll on th e track and the re was o n ly a si ngle line th rou gh th e Lawson was th e seco n d rider o n debris." We wat ch as the screen shows the Marlbo ro /Yamaha team beh ind Rob erts. We asked how much help Marn ol a a nd Ro bert s both p u ll into th e pits af ter th e red flag is fin all y Rob erts, wh o so me co nsid er to be th e grea test roa d racer ever, was to La wdi splayed , both sha king th eir fists a t the o fficia ls. so n in h is fir st season. "Th ere 's on ly We wat ch th e res tart o f th e race , so man y things he co u ld do to hel p me, a nd h e certa in ly co u ld n' t ride th e an d La wso n co n tin ued the co mmenBy Dale Brown bike for me. H e alwa ys hel ped me ta ry. " Look, th ere yo u ca n see wh ere Ph otos by Henny Ray Abrams and Brown w he n I had problem s, say if I need ed it was starting to rai n. We a ll had to help decidin g on a d ifferent gea r slo w do wn , especia lly Freddie. It's ratio for a certa in turn . Or ifI co u ldn ' t n ot as bad as yo u th in k to rid e in the t co u ld n ' t qui te get th e suspensi o n ra in, bu t yo u' ve go t to be de libera te. 00 0 so rted o u t, I' d ask h is h elp. Basicall y, Yo u ca n ' t just flick the bike throug h though. I d id a lo t of it o n m y own. co rn ers." Just th en th e screen shows Spa n iard Serg io Pallen drin i cras h"T h e experi ence wi ll h elp. T hi s year, w he n I went to a rac e tra ck I was i ng hard , h is bike im pacti ng th e guard rai l in a b ig wa y. La wson hi t askin g m y crew how to get fro m th e o ver 100 mp h un til yo u r knees tra ck in 1983, hi s fir st hill sea so n of paddock onto the race tra ck, wh ile th e rewi nd button, a nd we wa tch ed touch req ui res a co ld, steely Wor ld Ch ampionship co m pe titio n , the other guys a lrea dy had th eir bikes the cra sh agai n. " You ca n see wh ere ' reso lve, La wson maintains a La wson sa id , " Whe n I went into th e set up for the co u rse." he h its th e edge o f th e tra ck wh ere it's Priorto our di scussion, we wat ch ed st ill wet," noted Eddie. " Boy that season I wa nted to fini sh in the to p bo u ntiful , boy ish en th usiasm five a nd I did th at. T he re were a few a videota pe of o ne of th e ra ces wh ere bike reall y smac ked th e guard rai l, ra ces where I was p rett y d isappointed La wso n had done well , th e British didn 't it?" for sim p le mot orcycling . " O u t o f a ll th e th in g s I ca n do, I' d ra ther go ride in rnvself, bu t th ere were a lso so me G P at Si lversto ne. " I felt tha t I got We wa tched to th e end o f th e 500cc rac es 'wh ere I was pretty happy. chea ted at Si lverst one. I was seco nd a t race, where th e winners were interm y bik e. I go o u t every single day and " All in a ll , it wa s a good season th e en d o f 23 laps, but because th e viewed as th ey ro de o n a truck around ride m y mo tocross bi ke in th e hi lls nea r m y h ouse o r o u t in th e desert, or and I learned a lot. With th e experace was sco red as tw o seg me nts, o ne the ci rcuit. " Yo u shou ld ha ve been rien ce I got th is year, I'm def in itely five la ps and th e o the r 23, I wound up th ere," sai d Lawson, "So mebody I go stree t ri ding in the ca n yo ns. I ready for nex t year. fourth. " th rew so me th ing like a pomegra na t wouldn 't wa nt to do a ny th ing else. I " So me o f thi s yea r was a psych oT he mod est three-bed ro om co ndo at us an d it j ust barely m issed Kenny." ca n never see m yself ge tting burned wh ere Eddi e lives by h im self is su itaSure en o ug h, so me th ing sp latters o u t o n mo torcycles," says th e wo rld 's logical th in g. I'd a lway s hea rd a bo u t the to p road racers, th e g uys who bly eq u ipped for th e Ca li fornia bach agains t a Marl boro sig n just in back of fou rth -ranked 500cc road racer. have been doing it for yea rs, and I' d elor, with an expe ns ive ster eo, a VCR Roberts. H e loo ks back and mutters We ca ug h t up with Eddie a t h is never been th ere. T ha t had a littIe a nd big-screen T V in th e living ro om . so me thi ng into th e mi crophon e. souther n Ca lifornia co ndo durin g effect. But a fter I started riding with After wat ch in g the o pen ing seg me nts In th e tape Rob erts had lot s of the o ff-sea so n. H avin g know n Law good things to say abo u t th e Sil verso n since h e wa s o ne o f th e topthem I real ized , ' He y, I ca n beat th ese a nd the beginn in g o f th e race, we got guys. T hey 'r e no bett er th an I am. '" to th e po int in th e race whe re two stone layout a nd La wso n agreed . "S ilran ked AMA J un ior flat trackers back Po ints-w ise, on ly three were. In riders were kill ed in a cra sh o n the verston e was o ne of th e best. I liked in the m idd le '70s, it sti ll impresses us o ne of th e most exciti ng seasons ever fifth lap. Alt hough th e tape does not mos t of the tracks, rea ll y. I didn ' t lik e h ow quiet an d polite h e is in p erson , sh ow the crash , the view er ca n see Assen . It was too narrow and very especia lly si nce we've seen wh at h e to decide a World Champ, H on da 's riders sta rt ing to co me into the pits. lo ng , a difficu lt ra ce track to learn on. does o n th e tra ck. Fredd ie Spe ncer a nd Yamaha' s Kenn y In di scu ssing wh at he di d o n th e Roberts spli t the 12 events and Spence r " Loo k a t th a t," says La wso n , " T h e I d id n ' t ca re for Swed en , eithe r. Spai n l. !.tt!_!, ~ ~ ; : ~! ~ ~ .=~ ~~.~_~_~~ ~! !! ! ~ ! ~! !: r.' ~ • .. -:-:'!~~ !!!~ ~! ~ ~:~::~ !!!! _~!~ _ ~._ !-_ .....e . . ~ ~o! _-! _~ -! -! _-! ....._._ _, ...... ...... _._ _

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