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/126785
son said, "In a way it does, but on the other hand you have to stay on two wheels. Okay, people said, 'Well, you won that race because Freddie wasn't there.' But why wasn't Freddie there? They forget about that part. "Maybe I wasn't the fastest guy on the racetrack, but I'm always there at the end and I know where my limits are. A lot of people don't realize that I had a lot of bad luck as well. We went to Germany and I was catching Freddie and it would have been a very good race-and I got bumped 0[£ the racetrack passinga slower guy, and it was allover with. "We went to France and we were right up there with Freddie in (timed) practice, same lap times, and the bike wouldn't run in the race - on the warm-up lap it went sour, and I had to race it out with Randy. And then we had tire problems in Yugoslavia. "I don't like to make excuses, and I didn't. A lot of 'times I just told the press, 'Well, I got beat, what can [ say?' Then they didn't like it. We had a lot of bad Iuck, but still finished. "If nothing else, if people don't thinklwasworthyofit, Yamahadefinitely is: They built a bike that I didn't have to worry about wheels exploding underneath me; spark plug caps stay on it. When I pull the front brake on, it stops. "So Yamaha definitely deserves it. In two years, two years, I never had one mechanical failure. Not one. Nothing fell off it. So Yamaha definitely deserves that championship. Probably more than anything or anybody." Lawson won his championship with strategy, not blind charges for victory. Was it hard for hi m to si t back, for example, and finish third at Assen? "Yeah." Lawson said. "But it was worth it because it would have been very, very easy for Raymond to take me out. "He was riding way, way over his head. He went by me on the inside a few times and overshot the corner and went across Randy's front wheel, and should have taken Randy out three or four times. Somehow he kept it upright. Butl think if I had been right there with them then all three of us would have gone down, or (at least) a couple of us. I couldn't afford that. "This year I wanted to win the championship. Next ye-ar it will be different. Next year I'll bang handlebars with 'em, I don't care. I don't care what the situation is - it could be the same point spread aT anything. "It's just that a lot of people said a lot of things, and it hurt. There were a lot of times when they were going slow and I was being careful, and people think I just got out-ridden. I didn't like that. "I've done it before - riding for points - but not to that extent. Like with the Superbikes - you finish 12th (at the last race) or whatever it takes. We had such a point lead we just couldn't let it slip away. "The problem is you go out there and you get third or second and nobody really likes it that much; but if you go out there and you fall down, then the first thing they're gonna say is 'Why were you tryingso hard? You didn't have to. All you needed was second or third or fourth. Why were you trying so hard?' So it was a nowin situation. n Did Lawson turn to others for strategy advice, or make up his own mind? "It's just me. If it was left up to the crew they'd want you to try and win every race. Of course they don't want you to screw up but they like to win races. At Assen we were going into the race to win it. We had fast time, but when Spencer was out, that changed the whole thing. ''I've never been World Champion before. I wanted it, and I figured that the best way to get it was to keep it upright." Law on was right, and he is World Champion. But his strategy was often misunderstood or taken as weakness. "I've had a lot of problems with the press this year," Lawson said. "They'd take what [ said and twist it around, say I was a bad guy. The European press. I'm not re;llly sure why. I'm not over friendly with them. [ don't go out of my way to be super nice, I j usumswer whatever they have to say - whatever questions they have I answer. "I guess they needed a bad guy, [ don't know. I really don't know what the problem was. They'd print things thatl didn't even say: [ wouldn't even talk to them and they'd have a whole article on me. And I'd confront them about it, I'd ask them about it. A lot of riders wouldn't say anything. I did. I went over and said 'Hey, what's this crap you printed about me?' And I'd bring the paper over and how 'em and say 'Did I say that?' "They didn't like that, because I'd take the paper over to 'em. Then I decided I wouldn't talk to the press. They didn't like that. Then I decided to talk to them and they'd print whatever they wanted anyway so it was - eventually I just ignored it. "The difference between Freddie and me is that he's very friendly with the press, extremely' friendly. He speaks very well, he dresses very well, he's religious and people like that. He's a lot of things, has a lot of good points. He has a lot of things about him that people like. "I don'tspeak so weIl.l don't dress very well, I'm not super friendly with 'em. I'm not rude, but I'm not super friendly. I'm not really religious. "So I don't have all those qualities and that makes a difference. "I think that eventually they're going to come around and I shouldn't have any problems with 'em. It just takes time. And maybe being World Champion. • tl 27