Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

pie and that part I enjoy," he says. "It's weird the way the European people give you respect (or what you do and in Japan they go all-out because I ride (or one o( their companies. I do good over there and I appeal to the crowd so they treat me really good." Johnson notices a big di£[erence between spectators in the U.S. and (oreign spectators. "The Europeans are real responsive when it comes to motocross," he says. "They get so excited when you do the smallest things because they're not used to it. Over here they see it so much they expect blood and guts before they cheer and over there and in Japan if they see a decent race they will stand up and scream. That's really good for the sport because it gets the people around them excited and then the whole stadium is cheering. I think the Americans are spoiled because they expect it." "They don't have the same level of competition over there," Johnson says. "In an American supercross you have 15 guys sitting by a double jump and i( one guy does it everyone does it. In Europe if Geboers (Erik) does it maybe Malherbe (Andre) will do it but that's as far as it goes. "Here there's so much new talent all the time. If you can go over diffi- , cult stuff fast then you can go over the easy stu£[ twice as fast. I think that's why the Americans are so fast, because they make the tracks so difficult and the Americans can go fast on them." A quick trip to Europe is hardly the same as competing in the World Championships but it is difficult for some brash, young riders to realize. Asked if he looks forward to competing for a World Championship, johnson replies, "It would be neat to say when I'm an old man that I was World Champion. Butreally if you're a national champion in the United Sates that's better than any World Championship because we have the fastest riders here. "If they (the top Americans) went over the~e they would dust them (the top Europeans). If Broc (Glover) and David (Bailey) went over and rode the 500 class they would kill them. If Ronnie (Lechien) and I went over and rode the 250 class we would kill them and if O'Mara and Ward went over they would kill them, too. It wouldn't be any contest. But still, it's something I would like to do. Maybe go over one year and- travel Europe but it seems like motocross is taking such a dive over there. I mean we are hurting over here but it's worse over there." johnson feels U.S. motocross is at a crossroads and could go either way at any time'. "It is at the stage where it could either go real high or it could completely take a dive," he says. "It all has to do with promotion. The riders have to get behind it and promote the sport. A lot of the riders don't show up for press day and talk to the people unless it's in their hometown. I know it takes a lot out of your training schedule to do public relations but some of the riders are going to have to start doing it or the sport will go down hill." Johnson feels the current sponsorship in motocross racing is unfair and he thinks it would be better if riders raced for a factory and a major sponsor, similar to Eddie Lawson and the Marlboro/Yamaha team. "I think the key is going to production bikes and then we can go to outside sponsors like Skoal, Wrangler and Miller and have separate teams. That will take a lot of the burden off the factories. We are just where N ASCAR was a couple of years ago and if we could get it to work the sport would take ofr. "Wrangler sponsored a lot of events and they didn't get the exposure they deserved. You will get Miller that sponsors one event and they end up with all the coverage. Like you have to wear Miller hats and this and that and it shouldn't be like that. It should be like in Europe; when Eddie comes in he wears a Marlboro/Yamaha hat because they are his two main sponsors. If it was that way we could get sponsors and it would keep them in the sport. If they sponsored three riders they would get coverage all through the year and not just at one event. " johnson raced a production-based YZ250 Yamaha en route to the championship but it maybe a while before the other factories park their megabuck works bikes, according to johnson. "The bikes are all real equal and they say that there will be a rule in 1986 that they will have to be production bikes. That will be interesting because it more or less gives them all next year to develop a real good production bike. It will be real fair, but Yamaha is ahead of the game. There are people who swore I would never win a cham pionship on a production bike and a lot of people think I'm on a works bike. "Everythin~on that thing is stock. ( mean it is ridiculously stock. We ran the same porting all year that we ran in San Diego last year and we had only had the bike two months before that. The trickest thing I had was at the end of the year and that was a disc brake. I mean, big deal - all the other bikes come stock with them. johnson feels that although the regular outdoor races will still exist, the future lies in supercross racing. "Supercross is going to be the big thing," Johnson says. "We can get TV in there and although the coverage hasn't been that great it does have potential. Right now we are getting zilch coverage. Have you seen a motorcycle thing in Sports Illustrated? WeU, O.K. Kenny Roberts was in there but his face should be a lot more well known than it is. What he does, out does the Grand Prix drivers by a long shot. I mean look, he gets into that Ford car and sets the track record the first time out. "People think that this sport is a damn hobby and that we sit around smoking cigarettes and drinking beer in between races. If they saw us as athletes, which we are, it would make a big difference." As for Rick Johnson himself, what does he want? "To try to better myself in every way," he says. "There is still room for improvement in my riding and I have to keep working on that. "About all I can do is try and ride f~sler.t' • ... 29

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