Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

~ ':;:' " 0 (Jl z .... 0 " 0 e ::; I- > '" 0 (Jl I- 0 X l!") 0.. 00 Q') ...-l ~ 0 ...-l ...... • !""'I l-< 0. ~ This year, LaPorte will concentrate on winning the 500cc National MX Championship. He rides supercrosses, but hasn't made it into a final yet. According to laPorte, there are few openings for fully-sponsored factory riders. "For everybody else, it's a matter of degrees of support:' 26 CN: Who did you talk to about going to Europe? LaPorte: I ta lked to Ma rk Blackw ell wh en he was workin g for them at th e time , and h e suggested to the factory th at H arry Everts an d myself ride the 500cc class for Suzu ki in th e motocross World Championsh ips. It was m y goal, to race for the World Ch ampi onships after winning the Na tional Championsh ips, a nd I was will in g to g ive up a ll m y connecti ons in America to do what I wanted to do . I think a lot of (America n) riders are hung up on th is secu rity thing; they would never tak e th e ch a nce o f lea vin g what th ey have to go so me whe re else a nd start ra cing again - bu t that was what I wa s doing to race for th e World Championships. CN: What was the response from the factory? LaPorte: They sai d that th ere wa s no wayan Ameri can could win the World Championship, that it was too difficult to live in Europe; I was in sulted by th e whole th ing. In 1978 I a lmost won th e Carlsbad GP, a nd I thought th at with m y technique and experien ce, I could've done as well in Europe a s I had in America. An yway, my real ch a nce ca me in 1981, when I was riding for Honda , to show everybody th at I could win th e World Champion sh ip. So, we went to the Motocross and Trophee des Nations, and th e team was successfu l. In fact , I had th e most p oints o f an y rider. Suzuki a nd .Ya rna ha were there, a nd th ey were impressed . Bu t Suzu ki wa s too tight a t the time, a n d th ey (the factory GP MX team ) were run by Belgians. They would never hav e wanted a n Ame rica n riding o n th e tea m in Eu ro pe. T here's a lot of poli tics involved (i n G P motocross), a nd I wan t to exp la in so me th ing: Not very many peop le realize it , bu t even if yo u 're o ne of th e best racer s in Am er ica , a n d yo u want to race th e World Cham pi onships in Europe, it's not th at easy. CN: Wh y? LaPorte: Because H onda, for exa m pl e, is mad e up o f Malherbe, Geb oer s and Thor pe . T h ey're good, and th ey ca n win the World Championship, which means th at one of the H onda rider s from Ameri ca has to bum p o ne of th em off th e team. T hat's not go ing to happen l It 's because th e team managers a re European - En glish, Belgian or German - and they're go ing to say th a t yo u ' re goi ng to ta ke a position away from o ne of th eir guys. . But I wa s lu cky enough to be fri ends w ith (Yam a ha Motor Corp. U.S.A. raci n g manager ) Kenny C lark e, a nd he really bel ieved that I co u ld win th e World Ch ampionship. So I g ot support from Kenn y to th e Yam aha factory, say ing, " Da n ny LaPorte can adapt real well , he's a good a ll-aro u nd racer , he ca n win th e Wo rld Championsh ip. " T ha t wa s m y co n nection to th e GPs, a nd at th e tim e I knew th at a no the r Am eri can a t Yam aha wanted to race in Europe, but I don 't kn ow who it was . Also, Heikki Mikkola was pushing for m e because he saw me at th e two races. H e sa w th at I wa s really aggressive a n d th ought th at I co u ld win. So, m y wa y into the GPs relied o n timing. Still , th e facto ry wa sn 't sure if th ey wanted me or not; th ey were sti ll decidin g between me a nd a n English rider. Even after I had won a t the Mot ocross a n d Trop hee d es Nati ons, beat a ll th e othe r Europeans, won th e American 500cc Na tio na l Cham p io n ship, I sti ll had to show th at I reall y wa nted to do it. Even n ow , because the team s are o n suc h tight budgets, it 's even m or e difficu lt for an America n to race in Europe. In America , the o n ly real factor y bikes are H ondas a nd a co u p le of Kaw asak is, but they a re sp lit up between a ll th e classes. Wh a t th ey do in Europe is ta ke a ll th e fac to ry effort tha t wo uld 've been used in th e 125s an d 250s a nd com bine th a t into o ne class - th e 500s - whi ch th ey th ink is th e mos t important. Last year th ere were eigh t o r nin e factory bikes, not includi ng the factory H usqvarnas and KTl\Is, in th e 500s. By tak in g a ll the bik es a n d putti ng th em into th e 500s, th ey create a n u lt ima te class - th e Kin g Class, as th ey ca ll it in Europe . Wh en th ey h ave 13 or 14 factory bikes, lik e they do in th e first six or seve n GP s , th e rid ers a re reall y pumped. Ta ke Bro c G lover o n hi s Yamaha aga ins t th e on ly real factory rid er in the 500s in America, David Bailey, wh o 's a lso a very fast rider, a nd multipl y th at by seven or eig ht other mo to rcycles. th en yo u see tha t it becomes very difficult for production motorcycles to wi n in th e 500cc G Ps . Ba sicall y, now, and in th e th ree yea rs si nce I fir st went to Europe , I th ink rhere' sJess than h alf th e fu ll factory posi tions ava ila ble to race in . Wh en I say " fu ll fac to ry ," it means factory motorcycles, money, tru cks, mech ani cs - 100%su p port . But now it's kind o f hard to defin e a fac to ry rider, beca use th e factories are gett in g th e importers to take care of everything th em selves a nd find o u tside sponsors if they ca n. So " fac to ry rider" is no t the rig ht name for it, a ny more, unless you're Andre Malh erbe, G eboers. Thorpe , Bailey o r O 'Mara .. . For everybody else, it 's a matter of degrees of support , since th e factories, for many rea sons budgets, especially - ca n' t su p p ly th e hand-bu ilt bikes like th ey used to. No w it 's up to th e di stributors' ra cin g teams to make th e m ost of th e producti on racers and get ap propria te sponsorshi p to get them through an entire season . CN: When you finally got to Europe in '82, how were you ab le to get there. and what was living over there like? LaPorte: After th e Motocross a nd Trophee des Na tions, I had an o p portunity to race again in Ame rica. It was a big decision for me to g ive up everythi n g in America , where I had m y roots, a nd move to Eu ro pe , w h ich wa s n ew a nd exci ting. I don' t ge t o ff o n do in g th e sa me thing o ver a nd o ver aga in; I like to win tha t' s o kay to do over agai n . Bu t I'v e a lways been looking for so me th ing new . There was tha t one spo t, o ne voi d , th a t had never been fill ed in m y life, an d th at was going to Europe. =- So I said, " It doesn 't ma tter wha t I had h ere before, bu t I'm go ing for it." I was sti ll waiti ng for Yama ha in Europe to decide wh o th ey were go ing to ta ke. T h e 500cc class was what I wa nted , because I was a 500cc rid er , but th e on ly posi tion th at was o pe n fo r me was in th e 250cc class. So I said tha t if I ca n prove myse lf in th e 250cc class , th en I co u Id ride the 500s. I wa s in Aus tra lia wh en Yama ha sen t th e co ntrac t to m e in Ameri ca. My m om sig ned it for me and ma iled it back to th em . So I was se t in No vember of '81 to race th e G Ps in '82. And th e on ly th in g I th ought that I h ad to prove to th ese g uys was th at I co u ld win , a nd th at 's what I did a ll year. I was thi nk in g o ne th in g , a nd -that was a ll th e Ame rica n riders were tellin g me th at o nce I got to Eu rope I wasn 't go ing to mak e as much money (as in Ame rica ). Well , money (i n Europe ) co mes in m ore differ ent di rections. You have o the r sponsors, helmet sponsors, clothing a nd boot co m pa nies in Eu ro pe , th at three or four years ago were p aying riders quite a bit o f money - a nd still are. You 've go t o il co mpanies, lik e Elf, Sh ell a nd T exa co, who sp onsor a lot o f riders in Europe. The third biggest so urce of m on ey in Europe is start money fro m the ra ces , which ca n va ry, dep en d in g on yo u r n ame, how well yo u do, and how well you 'r e liked . It ca n go from $1000 to $5000, and in Eu rope yo u ca n ra ce almost every week all yea r round, sometimes Saturda ys, Sundays and Monda ys. I th in k it avera ged out to $2000 or $3000 for every ra ce I rode - and that's guaran teed sta rt money. A lot or promoters in Am erica believe that if th ey pa id start money (to rid ers), th ey wouldn't get a good performance. I don 't beleve that. I know now for a fact th at so metimes it (sta rt m oney) m ak es yo u want to race more. It 's lik e. " T h ey're paying me forth is, so I've got to do good," And I think th at when you're a professional, yo u 're not thinking about th at (start money) - yo u want to win. When yo u sta rt think in g a bo u t money, you slow down, because it breaks yo u r co nce n tra tio n. Wi th start money as part of my in come, I ca n say , from th e time I left America in 1981, wh en I made $ 150,000-$160,000, it a lmos t doubled in 1982. So, when they talk abo u t th e m oney th at can be mad e in Eu ro pe co m pa red to Am erica, I sa y th at it ca n be just a s good - it just depends o n • yo ur sponsors. (Co n tin ued next wee k )

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