Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/126769
By Tom Kolnowski Drew Smith, 27, has always been a very determined off-road competitor. Case in point: The 1983 International Six Days Enduro in Builth Wells, Wales. Coping with the challenge of the terrain (characterized by numerous nearly imp.assable mud bog~) and the ramy weather condl- 18 tions for six days proved to be enough for most to handle, but Smith was forced to can lend with yet more obstacles - four-wheeled ones. While 'traversing a dirt road on day five, Smith had unavoidable tangles with not one, but two automobiles. He finished the day, sans a footpeg, and went on to earn a silver medal on his Honda XR500. . That's Drew Smith, Always a finIshe!'. Always qUIck to rebound after a ~~~ath~re's another side LO the native New jersey residelll - that of an on-again, off-again development rider of off-road machinery, For 1984. Smith is very happy right where he is: As a development rider for Honda, under the guidance and upervision of off-road ace AI Baker, thumping along daily on the four-stroke XR machines. And no malleI' what Smith does, he likes to have fun. Lots of it. Be it laking a spin in one of the Porsches he's owned, or simply enjoying the nomadic experience of life on the road between events. While hi's association with Baker and Honda has necessitated a move to California, Smith began LO leave marks on the eastern off-road scene over a decade ago. "I never had the drive to excel in any kind of sports in school." Smith began, "but I decided early on I was going LO race motorcycles, be good al it, and that was it! There was never any question about it, and by the time I was 15 I had galien prelly good at the racing game. and was the DistriCt' 6 250cc Hare Scrambles Champion, Smith admits he was also not a model student in school. "1 could never gel interested in what was going on in high school, and my mother always had visions of me going on to college. I decided to go on a class trip LO Europe, and my mom thought it was a good idea since they were giving college creelit for it. "By the time summer rolled around and the time for the trip was gelling closer, I realized that I needed the money back that 1paid for the trip [or another reason - it was time to start racing bikes again! Mom got all upset when I LOld her aboutlrying to get the money back. I said, 'Don't worry about it, mom, I'll be racing in Europe in another year, or two years at the most.' And I didn't let her down, In 1975, the following year, I rode the ISDE on the Isle o[ Man. "I rode a Penton (KTM) in the Isle o[ Man, but most of my lime before that was spent on a Puch. My dad was heavily into racing the off-road slUf(, and we had a small bike shop and he sold Puchs. In their sLOck form the bikes weren't very good, but that's where I sowed the first seeds as a development rider o[ sorts, I didn't have any connection with lhe Puch facLOry,' but was always making changes and made their bikes work preny well. And when your name is Smith" you're a metal worker - it's basically your birthright. My family bad a background in the metal working business, and 1 was never afraid to cut my frames apan and weld them back LOgether. or make exhausl pipes - anylhing I could do LO make the bike beller than the facLOry had. Maybe one out of three, or more Iike one out of five things aCtually worked out." In 1976and 1977, mithteamedup with Mike Rosso LO form ule Hercules orr-road effon, and after much success in the ISDE Qualifiers, the pair became instrumental in the formation of the Suzuki enduro team. "1 did some of the very early testing on the first PE 175 prototypes that Suzuki brought over." Smith said. "When john Morgan was pUlling LOgether the enduro team for Suzuki, they picked Mike (Rosso) right away since he had done prelly well in the ISDE in Czechoslovakia in '77, john had a list of riders he was considering for the team, and he weill down the list and said (a Mike, 'I have this guy, and this guy, and this guy, then 1 . have Drew, . " But Mike slUck up for me and insisted thaI John put me on the team because of my performance - .I was the 125cc ISDE Qualifier Champion, john LOok me on, "I knew John was happy with my perfor·mances later on - I came through with some good finishes and I felt I contributed a lot toward improving the bikes," mith said. Not only did mith record many class wins in ISDE Qualifier and 'ational Enduro competition in 1978 and 1979, hi campaign aboard a PE250 machi,ne in '79 brought him within a whisper of capturing the aLional Enduro Championship. The title went LO Dick Burleson as it had for the previous fi ve seasons, but Smith made "King Richard" sweat a bit for his sixth crown and finished out the season second overall only seven poims off the pace, 231 to 224. "When I think about chasing Burleson that year," Smith recalls, "I felt I knew enough about riding to maybe pull off the title, but I didn't know enough about really working [or a goal like thaI. 1 wasn't able to maintain my intensity or drive at the level needed to actually win the championship. It look me half the season to realize there was even a possibility I could win the title. "If I had the skills and the equipment I had back then now, I think I would be more worthy as an opponent since I'm a lillIe older and more settled down. I can maintain my concentration on a job much longer now. I just wanted to have a good time back in '79." Smith capped of( 1979 with a gold