Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

14 . was a lo t o f work - I was ph ysicall y exh a us ted a t th e end o f th e ra ce , bu t I sti ll li ked th e la vo u t. Silverston e, Yugos lavia a nd A u~tria were m y three favo rit e tracks," T h e su bject o f Roberts' ret ireme n t - o r lack o f same - has ca used much spe cu la tio n, Lawson , wh o wi ll be starti ng th e secon d year o f a two-year co nt rac t, has no a ns wers , but feels if Roberts does ret ir e, i t wiII ma ke it eas ier to win C Ps , " With Kenn v reti ring next year - a nd I don "t k n ~w fo r sure th at h e is - I think it will be very poss ible to win so me CPs, Last year if h e wa sn 't th er e I would ha ve wo n th e Au strian C P a nd Si lver stone , a lt hough as I sa id before, Silverstone was a wei rd deal. " I' m ready to win CPs now, I'm goi ng to train very hard a nd I'm go ing to ride much harder th an I did la st yea r. We'll have bett er bik es, I'm read y to win ," With Law son return in g but indica tio ns th at Robert s won 't , it would seem that Yamaha a nd Marlboro ha ve a n o pe n spo t o n th ei r tea m , We as ked Edd ie if he had h ea rd a ny th ing a bo u t a poss ible teammat e. v'N o , I haven 't h eard a n yth i ng , I would im agine th at th ere wo u ld be a seco nd rider o n th e tea m ," We asked if Law son h ad hea rd th e n!lfl ?r ~ th at Yam aha , ,.n) gh! .see k , • ~a!~ (? la , : ' Yes, tha ~ I'v e·!lr' !f.d/ ,but I don 't kn ow. I tal ked to Yamaha a nd th ey sai d , 'N o , we ha ven 't co nt ac ted Rand y in a n y wa y,' I ho pe they do get Ran d y because he's defi ni tel y o ne o f th e best. H e deserve s a ride, But I don 't rea llv kn ow wh a t Yama ha wants to do ," . On e o f th e interv iews o n th e tape we'd wat che d ea rl ie r had Fr eddi e Spen cer say ing that a ll th e Am eri ca n rid ers go t a lo ng very we ll in Europe, We asked Lawson to elaborat e. " Ken ny, Rand y a nd I wo u ld go o u t an d do thin gs a ll th e time. We'd go o u t an d do th ing s, go into town , wa tch T V o r just get together. Fr ed di e was always kind o f h idd en, I don 't think I sa id two words to him a ll season , T h e rea so n for th at wa s that I never di d see him, " Spe ncer an d La wson are no stra ng ers o f co urse, havin g battl ed fo r two yea rs o n th e Superbike circ u it wit h La wson winn in g th e title bo th tim es, Asked if h e th ought h e co u ld beat th e new World Cha mpio n in th at a ren a , Lawson sa id , " 1 respect Fredd ie a lot because o f wha t he's done, I' ve wat ch ed him ride a nd h e's a lwa ys been in front o f me, T h at doesn 't b(;ther m e, I kn ow I ca n beat h im. Nex t year I'll be ri gh t th en : ra ci ng wi th h iro ." On e of Law son 's biggest m o ments ca me nn l t,h e en d o f th e vear wh en h ' won :r e. uperbikers , th e firs\ non- mot ocrosser to ta ke that mad e-for televisio n race. H ow ever, acco rding to Eddi e, h e a lmost di d n ' t race, " C o in g in to tha t race, I didn ' t reall y wan t to do it. We showed up for p ract ice th e day befo re th e event a nd took a few la p s. I fel t reall y bad a nd j ust co u ld n ' t ride th e bike, It was n ' t a nvthi ng to do w ith th e bike, I just didti 't feel very co mforta ble, I was so close to reflin gt hos e g uys , ' I thin k I'd rather not ride this.' " T he n I decided to go home a nd sleep o n it. I went down the re th e n ext dav a nd won it, I co u ld n ' t bel ieve it. I had n o idea I co u ld win it o r even get close, " O ne of th e ma in reasons was th at th e bike worked so good, Also , I'd been doin g a lot o f tr a il riding a nd so me m o tocro ss, so I ph ysicall y fit a n d rea dy fo r it. Still, it was quit e a surp ris e.:: As we menti on ed earl ier, Lawson goes rid in g every da y, H e's begin n in g a n intensive trainin g prog ram, wh ich will bedireet ed by sports m ed icin e expert Dean Mill er. Miller ha s g uided th e likes o f Brad La ckey a nd Kenny Roberts, just to nam e tw o , A visit to Eddi e's ga rage revea ls a few m or e tOYS, lik e a radi o-cont rolled Ca n- Am ca r, a minia tu re th at will go a n hon est 90 mph , acco rd ing to Law• SOIL T he o ther ca r i n th e gar~g ~ is.a blood-red. Porsch e Turbo,', ' :Vr l;t;J, .- - - "Mostl y, thi s j ust sits here in th e garage," sa id Edd ie, ad ding, " 1 th ink a bo u t o n ly tim es I d id mu ch d riv ing in it was go ing u p to Laguna Seca a n d do wn to Carlsbad fo r The Su perbikers," Earl ier Edd ie had ment ion ed a lit tle i ncide n t th a t h a p pen ed o n th e way back from Lagun a , " 1was doing 120 mil es a n hour and got ca ug h t by th e Ca li fo rn ia H ighway Pat rol. Fortunat el y for me, th e o fficer recogniz ed m y nam e wh en he sa w m y dri ver' s li cen se. H e sa id , ' Yo u 're go ing to h ave to slo w down a lillie bit , but I'm going to h ave to g ive yo u a ticket for doing 70', H e was in o ne of th ose Mustan gs (T he CH P 's [ast p ursu it cur, , .Ed it or.} and he sa id it was a ll he co u ld do to ca tch me. I sho u ld been put in ja il." But th e Porsch e would remain quiet o n th is parti cul ar day, Law son 's bla ck van with th e licens e pl ate EDDIE21 wa s loaded with din bik es and Lawso n had an oth er rendevous with th e hills , "J im Hoover. who 's a Pro morocro sser, a nd I go ridin g togeth er a lot. H e rides beh in d me a nd bumps me if I go to o s lo w, H es going to ge t me to wh ere I ca n ri de 45- m in LHe mo tos nat o u t. L ike we sai d, for Edd ie Law son t.her ' i,s 1\0 suc h thing as tQQ mu cl of I hing,

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