Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

z < J: e, w .... Vl w o ..., o z -c a: w :5 ~ .... ;;;:; > '" Vl o .... o J: e, Danny "Magoo" Chandler has had his ups and downs: In 1982 he reached his high by w inning t he Carlsbad USGP, all four Motocross and Trophy des Nations motos and t he Superbikers. Since t hen, li f e hasn't bee n so sweet. Danny "Magoon Chandler: "I'm gonna be World Champion this year!" By Joe Stephan " I just want to ru b som e dirt in some peo ple's faces because they screwed u p as far as I'm concerned, letting m e go , so I' m going to win the World Championship this yea r !" T hose were the stro ng words of the irrepressible Da n ny " Magoo" Chandler whi le sittin g a t a table a n d takin g a break from 8 " • th e re mode li ng of hi s p arents' 100yea r-o ld Sierr a Ne vada mo u ntai n h orn e. It was th e eve of h is dep arture for Europe to co ntest th is year's 500cc Motocross World Champio nship, and h e exuded co n fide nce as h e ta lked a bo u t hi s plans and his co mebac k fro m a seri o us non-racing accid ent that ultima tel y led to hi s being cu t by America n H onda th is year. Ma goo was a lso a ngry as h e tal ked a bo u t his controversia l spl it with Kawasaki after on ly his first ride for th em in Europe in February. At a n internat ional race in th e so u th of France, Magoo was lead ing a field th a t incl ud ed a ll the to p riders. " I was leading over J ob e a nd Carlq u ist, was going a way and the swi ngarm bolt was fallin g o ut. I though t the fram e was break in g but didn 't know it was falli ng o ut. I went a bo u t •\ \ : •. ~ • 1 ,. . .... . , . ...' five or si x la ps. I was lead in g , I stop ped and look ed down an d Jobe went by me . I saw the sw ingarm bolt sticki ng way ou t, I tried kick in g it ba ck in a nd the n Carlq uist went by me. I fin a ll y go t it back in , n ot a ll th e wa y thro ug h , it was still sticki ng o ut on one side o f th e frame. It was still flexing so I went a hea d a nd fin ished with a third. " In th e seco nd moro, I got 0 [£ o n a seco nd pl ace sta rt an d got th e lead. I led th e wh ol e race. I wa s go ne, no one to uched me: T wo laps 10 go the shock broke, the rocker arm an d th e who le rear suspens io n broke. The g uy I was ridin g with , my team ma te su p po sedly, Jerem y Wh atley, did th e sa me th in g in th e first m ot o so we sa t down a fter th e races a n d we ta lked , ' Li ke do we wa nt to ride 'these bi kes if th is is go ing to be a problem ?' We decid ed ' Yea h we wi ll ." Magoo flew back 10 England th e next day with Ka wa sa ki's tea m man ager Alec Wr igh t a n d spe nt th e nigh t a t' hi s' house w h ere ' he .go t h is first I } j .. ' . " I ' I taste of internati onal ra cing p olitics. " H e sta rte d telling me h e co u ld see I co u ld beat Georges (Jobe)," an d th en lai d a bo mbsh ell o n Cha nd ler when he to ld h im , " Bu t yo u kno w th e best you ca n do is seco n d th is year! " I said ' Wha t do yo u mea n the best I co u ld do is seco nd?' And h e goes 'Tha t's wh at I said, th e best yo u ca n do is second, G eorges h as to wi n th is year. ' I sa id ' Well if G eorges is beat in g me, fine, bu t if I' m runnin g o ut in th e lead and h e's runn in g third p lace, I ai n 't gonna pu ll ove r.' H e says ' Yo u h ave 10.' I sai d ' Yo u ai n ' t pay ing m e en o ugh money to do tha t.' a n d h e goes, ' Yo u kn ow, th at 's th e wa y it's got 10 be. I' m gi ving you a ll th e m on ey I can give yo ur right now ." Still reel ing fro m his recentIy bei ng cu t by H onda , yo u co ul d see rage in Magoo 's eyes a s he reto ld puttin g it o n the lin e wi th Kawasaki. " I ca n ' t waste anoth er year of m y life, m y ca reer, yo u kn o w I' ve a lrea dy wasted o ne. I can 't waste another year because in '85 wh en it co mes co ntrac t time everyone says 'O K, Magoo , yo u done th is and Magoo done th a t,' well h e a in' t wo rt h it. I said ' Yo u g uys give m e a co ntract rig ht n o w for '85 fo r $80,000 a nd I' ll ride, I' ll do wh a t yo u sa y.' He said ' We ca n ' t do th a t, we ca n ' t do that unt il Ju ly.' I sai d 'J ul y is 100 la te." : • .. ,. I ,; ; ~ I I f I I I • , f_ When h e left for th e U,S. they told h im they'd give h im a bike but whe n he got ho me the y ca lled a nd said they wou ldn't. H is English manager, Dave Grant, go t an offer from KT M a nd too k it wh ich is a li ll ie ironi c since C handler 's first-ever backed ride in '76 was on a KTM. Though the y wa nt ed 10 sta y with a Japanese bike, KT M has ba cked th em 10 th e hilt wit h trucks, expen ses, sala ries , a nd good eq u ipment th at is a lrea dy wi n ning races . T h ey've signed four riders counting Magoo for wh a t h e ca lls " good money." Magoo will be tak in g h is own m ech anic J an H outerrn ans alo ng. H outerm an s was bui ldin g bikes for Da rrell Sch uitz in the o ld da ys whe n he a nd Cha n dler were goi ng a t it tooth-and-nail a nd last'year took P h il La rso n , Eric McKenna , and Eric Eaton over to ru n th e la st three G ra n ds Prix an d international races, with Eat on gelling fifth overa ll in Ital y. Origina ll y fro m H o ll and , H outerman s came over 15 years ago " when th e Euro pean s were teac h ing th e U.S. how to rid e in the ea rly days. Nowit's th e other way aro u nd . T he specta to rs wi ll defin itely en joy Magoo , th ey'r e apprecia tive of good riders and th ey'r e n o t reall y anti -U .S. Magoo is defi n itely kn own in Europe," he co n fiden tl y added. H ou termans should a lso help with th e cu lt ure shock tha t has forced h o rne m ore th an one aspiri ng Am erica n racer , si nce he's spent time in both worlds a nd speaks more tha n o ne la nguage. T hey wi ll , however , base the mselves in En g land for o bvio us reasons (langua ge. etc.) a nd tra vel back a nd forth to the races . It will be h ard to live over th ere but Magoo thin ks it will ma ke him bett er. " I don ' t kn o w if it's go ing to be easy o r no t," Magoo said, " I know I ca n feel it a lrea dy . It's going to make m e more of a profession al beca use th at's a ll I' m goi ng to know, I do n't know a n ybody, th ere won't be a 10 lOf things I'm fam ili ar wi th 10 do , to enjoy , so I'll be riding a lo t more a nd everyth ing I do will be towards racin g ." T hat will even be a t th e cos t of h is favorite pa st tim es o f four-wheelin g a nd h unting si nce th ere's no public land in Europe and hunting usua lly means payi n g $2000 a yea r to join so me gent lem an 's hunting clu b, Regard less, Dann y Ch andl er is up for it. Bu t th en h e's bea t the best of th e wor ld befo re. In 1982, hi s fir st yea r with T eam Honda , he wo n th e U .S. Grand Prix a t Carl sbad, won a ll fo u r m otos o f th e Mo tocross a n d Trophy des Nations - somet hi ng no o ne else has ever done - a nd to p ped it off with the Superbik ers win as well. It was a magic seaso n Chandler ho pes will be repeated. " Yeah , it felt good , I co u ld n ' t do nothing wrong, I co u ld do any th ing I wa nted . And the n after that thi ngs kind of reall y started fu m bli ng on me, Esp ecia ll y '83, I had a bad, well n ot a bad vear . . . I mad e a lo t of little m istak'es th at cos t m e, and things I norma ll y co uld do wit h no probl em we were j ust kind of fu mblin g to do it. Because may be '82 I had suc h a hi g h that I took every th ing for gra nted , a nd fi rst time I'd ever had a ny th ing like th at, bei n g o n top wa s everyt h ing, At th at p oint I was p retty hi gh and I was taking things for gra nted , a lo t o f th in gs. T reat ing people bad a nd a lot of th in gs th at I sta rted doing th at I shou ld never be doing , And m aybe that's what it was. " I fell a lot, a nd I m ad e a lo t of cos tly mistak es. There were no real bad acci de nts where it too k me three m o nth s 10 get over so meth ing. It (inj uries) di dn ' t h urt me over a period of time, but th ey hurt me for a couple of weeks, a wee k. There was just lik e a ha nd , a n ank le; a knee, tearing Iiu le • • , • ,I • \ ' . ' .. l \ I y .( . I. J ~ • •

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