Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

By Dale Brown Photos by David Edwards and Brown There was never a shortage of predictions on this planet as to what the year 1984 would bring. Still, few would have guessed that a second-year Expert from California, whose rookie season was somewhat di appointing, would emerge from the AMA/Camel Pro Series-opening doubleheader at 10 Hou ton as the new scourge of the circuit. Pete Hames led the shon track portion of the weekend for half the race before ultimately taking second behind defending Grand National Champ Randy Goss. Balliing the Ou on tbe following day, Hames finished sixth in the TT and left Houston third in the standings. Hames, 18, had been touted by many as the leading candidate for 1983 Rookie of the Year honors on the Camel Pro circuit. The blond youngster had traveled widely during his Novice and Junior years, and he dominated the yellow-plate class on the west coast, particularly at A cot. However, during that first year on the National circuit, Hames failed to crack the top five. Doug Chandler advanced to Expert mid-year, qui kly won a ational and walked away with Roy bonors. Following his Houston uccess, Hames reflected on the differences between the two seasons. "Last year I didn't take it seriously enough. I thought I could win Rookie of the Year without worrying about it too much. After I'd ridden my year as a rookie, I realized how tough it was, so I staned training hard and ridi ng ~very day. I tried to get my elf in the best shape po siblebyridingmybike in the hills four hours every day and by running four miles, two or three timesa week. You don'thave to train as hard as a motocro ser, but you do have to be in -good shape memally and physically to handle the long eason and all the travel." Thequalityofthecompetition also impressed the rookie Hames: "Those guys weremoutthere playing games. They were out for blood. That was the big impression - how serious they were. I was 18 years old and thought I could go out there andjust walk around and beat them. Plus, I didn't have bikes that were quite fast enough. and I didn't havea mechanic to travel around with me. It was tough." Lessons learned, the Simi Valley resident figures that 1984 will be better. He'll have a mechanic traveling with him to east coast events, Bill Weebler of Peoria, Illinois. Jack Dannenberg, who has helped out Hames since his amateur and Novice Pro years, will handle the Harley-Davidsons on the west coast events. Tim Doherty, who also serves as Hames' public relation man, built the CanAms that Hames will use in shon track and TT events. Doheny also works in Hames' behalf securing sponsorship. Hames figures the additional help will make a big difference on the track: "Last year I was way down on horsepower because the bikes were set up to run 10 races before they had to be torn down. This year my mechanic is pUlling some real hor epower in them, and they'll have to come apart after every race, just Iike everybody else's. I have three Harleys and they are all going to run really good." Another area that Pete figures to improve on is riding tra ks back east. Although he traveled extensively early in his career, and had ridden on some of them, he had his problems in 1983. "I fell off a lot. I fell off at Cicero, running econd to Jimmy Filice on the last lap of a heat race, and he wem on to win the National. It' a lot dif- ferent than riding the cushion tracks, but I think I can ride the slick tracks too. I've made Nationals back there. It's just a maller of being real calm. You have to use your head and think a lot. If I do that, I should be OK." Wesupposethatleadinga ational and finishing second to a proven superstar comes under the headingof "doingOK."Talkingabout his Houston performan e, Harne said, "It was strange what really surpri ed me. Last year it was all I could do to win a heat race; I had to really ride my buns off. I thought that to lead a National you'd have to be riding the ragged edge. And what surprised me was that I wasn't. I was JUSt really calm, and I knew Goss was catching me because I could see it in that big TV screen. "Leading was just a really great sensation since I'd never done it before. And when Goss passed me, it was a real surprise that I could still run with him and pass him back. Then [got out of shape - [lit up the rear tire coming off of turn two and he pulled about three bikelengths on me. I didn't think I cold make up that distance in the time we had left, so [ decided to cool it and settle for se ond." The plate Goss carries - number one - is sought by most of his competitors, including Hames. Asked how he felt about his chances of earning it, Hames said, "This year [ think [

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