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/126816
about a lot of thing-s o I beli eve th a i other co u ntr ies a re more o pe n -m inded a bo u t tryin g new th in gs than Am eri ca . . . suc h a s m o to cr oss. T' he v' ve been ha ving stad i u m races in P~ri s. a nd th ey've beco m e very po pu la r a nd the c hic th ing- to do . Eve n th e ric h peop le dress up a nd g-o to them . T hey eve n advertise stadi um races in Fre nch Vogue! Bu t here. in Am er ica . it 's the same old thing . like fo o tb all. Noth i ng's ever new. On e reason whv, I think. is money : T hese sports wi Il 'no t let go of their sponsors. and th ose spons ors a re so w ra p ped up in th inking j ust a bou t foo t ball. bas ke tball an d baseball. and how much televisi o n tim~ to buy for th em . , . Tha t's too bad. be ca use I' ve been seeing- stadi um m o tocross growi ngrnore a nd more 'since it began in Europe. T hey' re tryin g to crea te a wo rld cha m pions h i p fo r stad i u m ra ci ng . a nd get m ore sponsors. It wi ll g et even bigger th an it is h ere. CN: For 1984 you were going to race the 500cc GPs, but you didn't. What was the reason? LaPorte: My m ain g oa l wa s to race fo r th e 500cc World Champion shi p after I won th e 500cc Nati onal Ch ampionship h ere in 1979. In 1982. I thought winning th e 2S0cc World Championship would be m y "leve rage to ride the 500 GPs in '83. but Yamaha didn't want two su pers ta rs in each cl ass. H akan Ca r lq vist was alreadv in th e 500cc cl a ss; thev a sked me to ~ide th e 2S0s o ne m ore yea r. a nd th en th ey'd talk a bout it. T hey sa id. " Yo u h av e th e number o ne plate; tr y to regain th e title. a nd yo u' ll go into th e SOOcc cl ass." At th e end o f '83 I wa s second in th e 250cc GPs; I wa s pumped. I signed a contra ct with Yamaha to r ide th e 500cc CPs fo r '84. T hey were goi ng to give m e fact ory bikes. 100%su p port . I was happy . Bu t th e co m pa ny had a bad yea r.-th ey had to pull ou t th eir su p port for Am eri ca . And si nce m y bikes ca me from the Ia crorv : th ev sa id to m e th at rhev co u ld n'i affo'rd to build fa ctory bikes for me a nd run a ra cing- team . But th ey sa id th at they would pa y m e every th in g for th e year. CN: How serious of a blow was that to you? LaPortt~ : I w an ted to qu it! But th en I said to mvself that I had to see th e go od side '- I g ot p aid for a year; I co u ld go to scho ol. I co u ld d o a nything . even sto p racing . CN: What did you really do? L a Porte: I reali zed that it would be stu p id to co m p le tely sto p ra cing for the year . so Yam aha ga ve me the choice o f ra cing th e 250cc G Ps instead. But a t the la st m inute I d ecided to ride th e 500s. because I knew tha t wa s what I was going to d o the next year. a nd I figured I co u ld use th e year as , pract ice. When . Yamaha ca me back in '8S with fu ll su p port . I'd be ready. I had ra bik e. a mechan ic and a truck . I sta rted o ut o n a stock bike. a nd I went to th e fir st race. H onda wa s so stro ng. Kawa sak i wa s trying hard - a nd Yamaha wa s a lmost nothin g ; it was just enough to keep Hakan a nd m e go ing. But Hakan had a co -sponsor to help him o u t. Lumaca o f Ital y (a m anufacturer of down cl oth in g . ca m p ing gea r a nd bedspreads). but I co u ld n ' t find a ny private sponsorsh ip m yself. I th ought I'd tr y toTinish o u t 1981 try in g to do the best I could. I was al so co u n ting on th e factory for m ore support beca us e I was close to winning a co u p le of races: I wa s in th e top tw o o r three. but I co u ld n ' t g et to th e top. I need ed more eq u i p ment. a nd I was gelling so m ad in sid e. I didn 't lik e bein g fifth. six th or seven th p lace. I wanted to be first. second or th ird - m ostlv .! rs . first . T ha t ~\;a,S m e l. So I to ld t hem th at I co u ld n' t g o o n thi s wa y a ny mo re. Then . because o f circ u msta nces th at Yamaha co u ldn 't ' hel p a ny more. I d ecid ed to rare I n tc rnat io na l races in Europe . I rode 10 In terna tional s. a nd I W OIl a few . Then. in Fran ce. I wa s followin g (And re) Malherbe o n a downhi ll; we went through this ch ica ne. a nd I h i t my hand o n a fen ce po st and broke it. I was o ff for seven o r eight weeks an d ca me hack home to America . I ra ced a 24-hour ra ce in France in Sep tem ber. and a stad iu m ra ce in Aus tralia a fter th at . bUI I spe nt m os t o f my time trying to get organized for 1985. CN: You talked ea r lier abou t m ot ocross being a "sma ll" or mi n or sport in this coun tr y; what will it ta ke to be big? La Porte: Before m ot ocr oss ca n g ro w . a nd ge t the recognitio n i t n eeds. it 's going to ha ve to a ttract peo pl e w ho are outsi de th e world of motocross , T he th ing w h ich co u ld help th e sport th e m o st is to bring in bi g o uts ide spo nsors. CN: But that's been talked about for yea rs. and hardly anybody has done anything about it. L aPorte: Well, now th e situati on 's being forced ; th e o n ly peopl e who ca n do a ny th i ng a bo ut it are th e riders th emselv es. Th ey a re going to h ave to get an agent or somebody wh o ca n get the co m p a n ies to d o something . For exa m p le. when yo u sig n a contrac t with Marlboro, th ey h av e their o wn advertising age ncy a nd th ey're going to m ake yo u a sta r. CN: Well, it seemsthat the corporations which suppl y major sponsorships to motocross in Europe are the . ones that Americans are very familiar with, such as Sony, Shell, Texacobut those are the very same cornpanies which race promoters and the AMA have . been unable to secure. These people constantly say that a big-time outside sponsor is needed, but nothing happens. La Porte: T o be honest. m y o p in io n a bou t th at is th at motocross need s to be o n tel evision m ore ofte n th an it is now - th en th e bigger sponsors will want to get involved . Ther e's a co m pan y in Europe ca lled H ard C ro ss. a nd it ' s run by th e peopl e who put o n th e bi g tennis c ha m p io ns hi ps wh ich draw all the big stars of th at sport. lik e Jimmy Connors. II1ya Nastash i a nd Yannic Noah . H ard C ross ha s television ' beh ind it . and they hav e spo nsors ' like De Beer s (the So ut h Afri can d iam ond co ng lo mera te). a n d th ey want to take m ot ocr o ss a nd do with it what th ey d id to tennis. Th ey wa n t to hav e the 20 to p p rof essional rider s in the world. they' ll have 12 or IS ra ces aro u nd th e world . th en go o n to ur and sell it like Formula One a u to ra cing . T h is co m pa ny is co nnected . a n d th ey ca n reall y do someth in g like this. CN: Presently motocross racing has been in lurmoil here and there has been some controversy over how supercross events should be run. Whal will it take to make the sport better i n America? La P orte: I don't know if it will ever be big. I think tha t o nce a ll o f th e sponsors have been used . th ey won't wan t to go th rough it again . .. (Bu t) th er e will a lways be o u tdoor m ot ocross; su pe rcross I'm not so su re a bo u t. , Danny met model Georgia Gautreau at a supercross in Genoa, Italy, in 1984. They are expecting a baby later this year. a nd a fte r th at. nobody hardl y m akes drain o n th e famil y bank acco u n t. a n yth in g; some riders a re just str ugth en he's not going to race for long. gling a lo n g . S o . o u t o f th e Th e- cha nce of somebod y becomhundred s o f professional rid er s in ing a factory-sponsored rid er toda y is less th an it .was tw o yea rs ago. How Am erica . th ere a re onl y five or so who are m aking a g o od living. But how m any riders hav e broken into th e facm any p rofessional li cen ses a re sold tory ranks in th e la st five yea rs? Two in this co u n try? And what's a p rofesor three? Lechien , J ohnson , a nd Keith sion? - It 's wher e yo u m ake m oney! 'Bo wen . That 's not m any; it 's light a t In stad i u m races here. thev h av e a the top. Still. rider s are hoping th at pu rse o f 530.000 or so . a nd the winner a fter two or three yea rs th ey'Il become m akes $2000 or $3000 . wh ich is r id icfactory riders. but time passes, they've ul ous. In Europe they're a lrea dy pa ygotten poorer . a nd th ey're still not in g $SO OOor 6000 to th e winner . not factory rider s! It's very important, in cluding start m oney. which is guaem otio na lly . to rid ers. to beli eve in ranteed . O ver her e. thev take th e th is. becau se th ey lo ve th e sport. But purse a nd di vid e m ost o f ita mong th e they' re led o n to believe in m ag a zines to p 10 fini sh er s. gu ys who already li ke Motoc ro ss' Act io n th at they' re make m oney from their fac tory co n going to be a bi g-rime fact ory rider tr acts. so th ev rea II v d on 't need it. so meday . with a ll t he bi g bu cks . . . It 's a m yth. But. th e g uys ;vho pl ace 15th. 16th or l Zth , th ey don 't ge t an y m oney. but CN: But what about the promoters, th ey need it th e m ost. I th ink it ' s a like Mike Goodwin, who sa y they joke. It 's th e system th at 's wrong! can't make much, if any. money putThese g uys who make th e sport . who ting on races? fill th e sta rt i ng line and make th e LaPorte: Th e truth o f the matter is races. th ey spe nd all iheir family's th at he's not lying wh en he sa ys that money trying to get to o ne ra ce. Th ey he's, putting a ll th is m oney into ,a sa ve up to get to the next race the next ra ce. The more mon ey yo u put int o a race. th e bigger th e ri sks a re. the more week . a nd it g oes o n like thi s for on e o r tw o yea rs until th ey're o u t o f return s yo u m ake - a nd p rom ot ers m on ey. or broke, and th en th ey're do take risks. gone. That 's wh y you see thi s co n But what I'~ sa ying is that th e ridsta n t turn ov er of new names every ers who show u p at th e races be more year. p rofessional a nd th in k o f themselves In Europe th ey have few er rid ers. as professio na ls . Wha t I'd like to see but a t least th ey have 100 m ore th an are regi onal q ual ifi ers. with two rid- • t hey d o her e who ca n ma ke a livin g ers co m i ng o u t o f each reg ion ; th ey raci ng as professi on al race rs. In trav el th e coun try. a nd a ll o f the ir Ameri ca . th ey shou ld hav e regi onal expenses a re taken care of for th e sea qual ifi ers. a nd before the rid er lea ves SOIL T he spo rt needs a sys tem li ke hi s a rea, he .sh o u ld be g ua ra nteed this. because it wou ld benefi t eve rybodv involved. tha t he 's goi ng to make $800 or 51000 w hen he reaches a su percross . So CN:' Now that you have returned to what th at ri der gets is a ll o f h is America, what are yo u r plans? e x pe nses pa id . p lus 5500 - that's LaPon e; I ca n race cornper it ivc ly for m ak in g a li ving . Bu t having to dri ve tw o m ore vea rs: a fter tha t, I don 't kn ow. I wo'uld never race after tu r nacross th e co u ntry. pa y for ho tel s a nd ing 30 - 29 is m ax imum. a nd 28 is foo d . bik es. gas a nd parts. th en a rr ive a t so me race w here h e's d own to zero. p ush i ng i t. My mai n rea son fo r retu rn ing to Amcr ira is to rid e the SOOn' d o esn ' t qual ify. th en has to go back. th at 's wrong. National s. a n d I kn o w I ha ve a good What th ey shou ld d o a t th e ra ces c ha nce to 'w in th e Champi onship. h ere is take h alf the purse. th en pa y it La st yea r .I had a c ha nce to test th e to ISth p lace o n back. g ua ra nteed; new H usq va rna 500C Rs in Europe. g ive each rider m a ybe S750 . Then. a nd I though t they were rea lly co mwi th th e oth er h alf o f th e purse. sp li t peti tive. w hich is w hy I have a co ntract with Husk y here in Am eri ca. It 's CN: What about prize money paid to it up between th e to p rider s wi th a full con tract , with su p port from riders? You've said that riders can so me th ing ex tra fo r thi rd th rough both th e Am eri can importer a nd th e make a decent living in Europe, but first. fact o n ' ba ck in Swed en . Financi allv. in the 12 or so years the sport has been Butthe wa y riders are being treat ed it's a good deal . a n d I a lso have so me in America , the purses are still relaby the p romoter s and not ge tt ing o f m y E u ro pean sponsors to hel p m e tively low , it seems. a ny thi ng for what th ey do is reall y o ut. I'll be r idi ng both supercross LaPorte: I r's taken m e a long time to wron g. it pi sses m e o ff. If a g uy from races a nd th e Na tio na ls. but m y j ob is think a bo u t it. but her e it is: In ArnerWa rr en. Michigan. knew tha t h e was to co ncentra te just on gell ing th e ica th er e a re 10 r id er s who ge t 100% goi ng to go o ut, ra ce. th en co m e back 500cc Na tional Championship. And sponsors h ip . w ho a re m a king salarwit h 5S00 in hi s pocket. th en h e'll be I wou ldn't be doing it if I di d n 't think ies, About h al f those gu ys m ake a real ha p p y a nd he'Il want to race agai n . . .. gQodJi,·j n~ ~ ~ 1} ~:t!J~:r~s l:~~ ?_k~ y~- .~.~ : :~ !ht..r~ir-his racing i goiag-to be.a.bigv. . '.·1 had a chance.,, ". . .29.·.·.·. . I