Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

a B ~ ..... ... o ~ 0.. ~ For three years, former 250cc World MX Champion Danny laPorte has experienced the rewards of being a racing star in Europe. He's back in the U.S. to finish his career and get one more t itle . 198 2 250ee World Ch a m p ion Dann):': LaPort e: Baek in the U.S.A. By Rex Re ese LaPorte is pe rhaps the most unlikely type of person »ou'd expect to see a t a motocross t rack , mu ch less o n o ne - local , P rof essional, Wo rld-Cham/l ion sh i p -eal ibn, or otherwise. Sametlu ng in tangible abou t Dfl/I1IY makes h im stand o u t in a crow d, H r loo ks 100 n ire zo hav e I h e k i llr r i nst i n ets needed to rise ahonr I h" 11111ks of " alSO-TIl lIS", h it m ,'n an d brrserkos u i ho /lO/JIlla I" t h e spo rt of 11/010 cross, H r's too g ood-l ooking to go ou t a ll a race track and risk m essing u p th e p rett iest face th is side of Br u ce Penh all . And he doesn't look serio us eno ugh to sacrifice 135%of his life as a Pro m oiocrosser. Even Dann y h im self admits that , at first he raced jus t fo r t he fun of it and co u ld n't understand w hy an ybody w ou ld uiant 10 race motorcycles for a liv ing . Som ehoui L aI' or te's abi lities go tthe best of h im, and over the yea rs t hey have taken h im f ro m being jus t o ne m or e Sotla! Pro decora ting th e scene ry to a 500cc National MX Ch amp ionship in 1979 th en t he 250cc 1V rid M X Cham pions hip 0 in / 982, A nd w inning th e w orld titl e gave LaPorte so m et h ing American m ot aCTO SS couldn't: tr ue stardom, fam e and acclaim, In Eu rop e, th e 1V rld Cha mpion 0 is treated accordingly , H e ge ts m aj or in terviews in th e maj or newspapers and maga:illes , he is seen on Na ti o na l television , H e is as big a sp or ts celebrity as R egg ie Jackso n , lVayn e Grets ky or Kareen Abdul-f abbar. B y com p ariso n , Pro w rest ling is the latest m ed ia darlin g in A merica w hile Pro m ot oc ross hardly gets the time of day. B u t th is is anoth er story. T he rewa rds Dan n y Lat'o rte has received as IVor ld Ch am p io n as well as fa nner cham p io n have not been small. R id ing In tern at ional motocross races alone were ello ugh to earn LaPort e a si x- figu re salary during a good seaso n. T hat, an d generous co ntracts fro m boot an d clothing ma n ufacturers. plus other sp o ns ors, ne tte d L aP or te a minimum of $250,000 a year d ur ing h is stay in Europe, Besides racing luck, L al'ort e has been luck y in h is p erso nal lije: H is wife of j us t set'en months is fo rmer Fren ch m odel Georgi a Gautreau. ste trdauuh ter of S r, Aljierrc M aserat i - yes, th a t M asr rati. Even if he d idn 't have a wilt' with ex trem ely rich parents, carefu l saving and sh rew d investments have left L aPort e very co mfo rta ble, with homes in Belgiu m ; Tu rin , Ita ly (w here h is in- laws are locat ed ): S UIl Va lley, Idah o; and Yucca Va lley , Ca lijor nia, w he re h e grew up, learn ed to ride, and now calls home aga in since he has ret urn ed to the S tates. T he Re tu rn : Dan n y's 28 1l0W, eve n though h e still looks much lik e th e "schoo lboy" U ,S , Suzu ki R acin g M anag er Tos h Ko yama affectiona tel y described h im as early in h is career, 10 years ago, B ut tim e's runll in g out , and La l'o rte has returned to th e U ,S. to ride th e 500cc N ationa l o n a full y-back ed factory Husquarna for on e more sho t at a ch am p io nsh ip , Eve n th o ugh h e ma y no t look it , L aPort e has com mitt ed h imself tota ll y to win n in g , hav ing fa rsaken ne arly every thing else, lVan t to bu y a ho use in Belg ium ? DIl II II )' 24 CN: Your ca reer began when yo u wer e a test rider for U .S. Suzuki on th e RMI25 . L a Po rt e: I was 18 then. but I ha d tested a bOUI six m onths before then , and I sig ned a co n tract with them before th e en d o f 1975. It's kin d o f ha rd 10 ex p la in, b ut I was n ever a crazy g uy fo r raci ng , It wa s not so methi ng that I wou ld d ie fo r, because I wasn't su re if th at ,,:as ' th e kind o f li fe I wanted to hav e. I had ridden m otorcycl es so much, I th ough t. " How crazy co u ld some- bo d y be 10 want to beat so me body o n a motorcycle?" I sti ll ha d 10 gra d ua te fro m h igh school, a nd m y fa th er wa nted me 10 m a inta in rnv schoo l work - m y parents didn\ th ink th ere was a ny real Iu run- in it (m o to cross ). BUI th at wa s the tim e when motocross was j us t sta rti ng OUI a n d th ere wa s very lillie money in it. CN: The riders who were Pro s then raced on Sunda y and went ba ck to th eir regu lar jobs Monda y. La P orte: R ig h t. I th in k T on y DiStefan o wa s p robab ly th e m ost s uccessful m o to cr oss rid er bac k th en , G ary J ones, to o , CN: While riders lik e T on y, Gary, J immy Weinert and Steve Stackable made up the fir st generation of Am erican motocross sta rs, yo u , Bob Hannah, Mark Barnett and Broc Glover cam e along as part of th e seco nd gen eration. La Port e: When I ca me int o raci n g, th ere were ri der s a lrea dy o u t o n th e Na tio na l cha m p io ns h ips, In the 125cc class th er e was Mart y Smi th, Ti m Hart, Bruce McD o ug'dl, Chuck Bo wer, a nd when H a n na h ca me in he rode a few Na tiona ls in 1975 , bu t not serio us ly or a ny th ing. S uzu ki wanted 125cc rid ers 10 heal Marty Smith ; th er e wa s a big m arke t in th a t cl ass, a nd Ma rt y had won th e cha m p io nship for the second year in a ro w - h e won in ' 74 a nd '75. For '76, Suz u ki wa nted to co m e in; th ey'd never used a ny new sta rs , it had a lways been a g uy who was co rn in g up. So, th ey ca ll ed m e a n d as ked if I'd like to ride fo r the 125cc National C ham p io ns h ip. I sa id, "Su re, but I hav e to th ink a bo u t it." It took m e o n ly a co u p le week s to fig ure it o u t. beca us e I ei ther had to go to scho o l o r g o to wo rk , b u t I al so had th is o p porru n ity to race, I th ought I' d never ha ve tha t cha nce agai n , to be a ble 10 tra vel - a t lea st for free - m ake m oney a nd hav e a rea ll y good time, I wa nted to d o it for a t least o ne year. CN: What kind of co ntract did Suzuki sig n yo u for ? La Porte: I th in k it wa s for $ 1000 a m onth. Bo n uses were, $ 1500 for wi nnin g a National m oto, $500 for seco nd a nd 250 for third , For win ni ng th e 125cc C ha m p io ns h ip, ir wa s 10,000; second was th ree o r four g ra nd , An d w ith th e co n ting encies fro m all the com pa nies, a nd rh e p urse money. it wa s pretty good , I had 10 prove myself. a nd so di d Bob H an nah , because o ur goa l was to bea t Marty Smit h - nobod y wa nted H onda 10 wi n agai n. Suzuk i th ough t that it wa s goi ng to be the first to heat H o n da a nd eve n Yamaha . beca use I d on 't kn ow i f th ey rea lly kn ew tha t th ey were both hiring unknowns from so uthe rn Ca li fornia, m e a nd H an na h . Back th en I was rid ing fo r Kel vin Fran ks , who a t rhe time ra n the CMC a nd o w ned Franks Racing. I rode a bo u t a year for Kelvin . before I sig ne d wit h Suzuk i, and I was winn in g a ll th e races in so u the rn Ca liforn ia . I ro de the 125cc a nd 250cc classes, a nd I was beat ing a ll th e guys w ho ro de th e Na ti onals, I wasn 't d oi ng it as a se rio us job - I wa s doi ng it as so meth ing fo r fun o n the week ends; I never rea ll y pl anned o n racin g th e Nation a l C ha m p io ns hi ps , I co u ld never ge t m ad enough on a motorcycl e. That was o ne o f m y big p robl em s w he n I was yo u ng, un til I wa s a bo ut 23 o r 2,1. I bel ieve th at if I was as aggressi ve a n d crazy th en as I a m no w, rnv res u lts wou ld hav e been a lo t be tte r. it 's in cr ed ible , b UI when I wa s 18, 19, 20, 2 1. I' d rid e rea ll y fast if I crashed a nd h u rt m yself. because I ga l reall y m ad , th en I' d go lik e crazy . I co u ld n't get m y a dre na1in goi ng before a ra ce; ir was noth ing! So I guess it took me a wh ile to ge t agg ressive o n a m ot o cycle, because I reall y d id n 't ha ve th is thi ng a bo u t hav in g 10 beat someone , ha vin g 10 p rov e that I was better or faster - even th ough t hat wa s wh at I was su p p osed to do . I wa s fa irl y fas t and I was co mpetitive w!th out even having the d esire to wm. When I .won th e 500cc Nationa l C ha m pions h i p in 1979, wh en I was 22, the yea r befo re that I had a very good cha nc ebeca use I wa s beco m ing rea l aggress ive, but we had p ro blem s wit h th e bi kes , In '80 I co u ld ' ve won agai n , bu t I j USI had p roblem s, In '81 I wen t 10 H o nd a, a nd th at's when I hurt m yself a t the begin ning o f th e yea r. Not m a n y peopl e k now th is, but w hen I signed the co nt rac t with H o nd a a fte r I lef l S uzu ki in 1980, I cras hed at Sa d d leba ck in a sma ll (loca l) race - it was morel ike a p rac tice - in J anua ry, a n d I lo re th e m ed ia l co l l arorul ligame nts o n the in sid e o f m y kn ee, cu t so me m uscl es in m y ca lf. di slo cated m y wr ist a nd bro ke th ree bones in m y (left ) ha n d , T h e d oc tor laid m e th at I would n 't be a ble to race fo r a t lea st a year-a nd -aha lf, a nd he sa id th a t he wa sn' t su re if I co u ld eve r ge t th e stren gt h back in m y han d , When they o pera ted o n m e, th ey popped th e bo nes in m y hand back into position. Bu t a co u p le o f th em - lik e th e narvicula r bo ne hav e never heal ed , I was o u t for three m onths a t the beginn in g o f rh e year; I didn 't even ride ha lf th e stad ium races, a nd I had 10 week s befo re the firs t Nat iona l to ge t ready, So I we nt 10 (So u th w ick) Ma ssa chusetts. whi ch is o ne o f th e best tracks in the eas t for m e. bu t I co u ld n ' t eve n h an g o nto th e bars. I reali zed that it was g in g to ta ke m e a lo ng tim e to g et back to 100%- and it does! W hen yo u hurt yourself, it takes a long tim e, m en tall y a nd ph ysica lly , 10 ge t back. So, a t th e end o f '8 1, j ust w hen I started to do good in th e National s an d won a race in Florida - I wa s · also seco nd a few times - it was th e end o f th e seaso n in August. Then ca me th e ch a nce to go to the Mot o cross a nd Trophee de s Nat ions for H ond a , When I h ea rd th at , I sa id, " T h is is m y cha nce to go raci ng in Europe," which was what I was trying to d o for the la st three years , when I rode for Suzuk i.

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