Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

~ ~ a:: w u Z w c, (f) ..J ..J iii I ~i (f) 0 >0 Ln 00 O"l :I: e, ....... ....... .... Q,) ..0 8 Q,) u Q,) Cl Team Fred di e Spencer / S uperT rap p rid er Doug Chandler t ucks in coming ou t of t u rn four at San Jose. 500cc World Road Racing Champion Freddie Spencer (above) pow ers a Ho nda RS750 d irt t racker through turn four during a spec ia l test sess ion at t he San Jose Mile. The event marked Spencer's f irst ride on a mile ova l in f o ur years. (Bel ow ) Spencer and Doug Chandler discuss the te st . Spencer tests team milers at San Jose By Farren Williams SAN JOSE, CA, NOV. 21 Road R acing World Cham pion Freddie Sp encer donned a steel shoe for the first time since 1981 during a special test session o n the fam ed San Jose Mil e ova l at Sa n ta Clara County Fairgrounds. Spencer, who holds bo th the 250cc and 500cc 1985 World Road Racing titles, manhan- 12 dled one of two Freddie Spen cer /SuperTrapp RS750 Honda dirt tra ckers around th e one-mile oval du ring a tire testin g sessio n. Freddie Sp en cer Racing pi lo t Doug Chandler o f Sal inas, Cal iforn ia,was aboard the seco nd m achine. " It' s been four vears since I was on a d irt tra ck an d i't reall y felt good ," Spencer said . "After a few laps it didn ' t f~l l ike fo u r years. I had a lot o f fu n . I enjoyed it. " " He was flat flyin g, " sai d Spence r/SuperTra p p team mana ger J erry G ri ffith, who clocked Spe ncer with individual la p times in th e 37.20seco nd ra nge. "Tha t's p re tty fast on a pract ice track ," Griffi th said . " Fredd ie was su rpri sing. H e had never been o n tha t bike before a nd h e ha sn 't been on a d irt bik e si nce 1981. But th ose gu ys' never forge t. (Ken ny) Robert s is th e sa me wa y." " Even th ough it 's fo u r yea rs lat er,I feel lik e I'm probabl y in bett er shape," said Spe nce r. " I got going quick er a n d qui cker. Th e mi le bikes have cha nged a lot. Th ey'r e a lo t, lo t better. " Spence r's recent domination o f wo rld roa d racing co m pe ti tion h a s kept him a wa y from hi s racing ro ot s, wh ich included stro n g dirt trac k in vo lveme nt during h is ea rly devel opme nt. Wo u ld h ec onsid er racing the dirt aga in - perhaps a one -time sh ow aki n to Rob erts' p erformance at last sea so n 's Springfield Mile in Ill ino is? " It wo u ld probably be fu n to ru n a mile race, bu t I do ub t if I ever will ," th e World Champion said. " I just don 't know . It 'sgood p ractice b u t I haven 't reall y do ne ,tha t m uch dirt ridi ng in the la st fo ur years. I rod e the test sess io n at Sa n J ose for o ld tim e 's sa ke. It was ni ce to see how fa r th e p rogram h as co me. Th e main thing wa s to see if I co u ld sti ll go arou nd . Those bi kes are really quick - th ey'r e a lot quicker." Spencer and Ch andler chased eac h othe r a ro u nd th e one -mile oval whi le tesi ng tires, but no o ne involved with th e sessi on would adm it th e old veteran wa s fast er - n or would th ey say th e up-and-coming youngster held th e edge. " T hey wer e both turning good tim es and th ey were turning ab out th e same times," said Griffith. " Do ug 's reall y good rid er , but we weren ' t out there co mpe ting, " said Spe ncer. " I ran some quick laps; I'm not th a t much over an d done with. We were both ou t there j u st h aving fu n." After putting ro ugh ly 30 laps on hi s H onda, Spen cer pulled into th e p its a nd announced h e aga in would back Ch andler in hi s 1986 bid for th e AM A/ Ca me l Pro Ser ies Grand Nation al Cha m p ions h ip . " With co ntin ued help from SuperT ra p p , I plan on co ntin u ing my su p port of Doug Chandler a nd J erry Griffith for th eir 1986 Camel Pro Series effo rt," Sp en cer said. " At this point it looks as if I'll be spon soring the team again next year," sa id Spen cer. " I enjoy working wi th J err y. We go back to the start of the (Honda dirt track) program; th a t's a where m y ro ots are. And I li ke Do ug a whole lot. " Last season Sp en cer an d SuperTrapp _ba ck ed Griffith 's Goss / Chan dler racin g tea m , which boas ted th e presence of not only Ch andler but also former Nati onal Champion Rand y Goss of Hartland, Michigan. T h is sea son , with G oss making the deci sion to re tu rn to a H arl ey-Davidso n X R7 50 dirt tra ck machine, C handler will be th e on ly rider to sport th e Freddie Spen cer/Super T rapp tea m co lors. " Righ t now we 're going with Doug an d will have a one -ma n team," Griffi th said. "We don 't hav e enough money. to proper ly back two riders. Doug will be road ra cin g and rid ing dirt tra ck . " I think Randy wi ll be ridi ng a H ar ley (in 1986)," Griffith said. "He just co u ld n' t ada p t; h e d idn 't like the Honda. I th ink h e's trying to get together with hi s old tuner, Brent Thompson, a nd put som e H arleys togethe r. " " O ur program will be similar to la st year." sai d Spencer. " Je rry will run th e team an d SuperTrapp will be involved aga in . Our rela tio nshi p with Su perTrapp has tu rn ed int o a rea lly good p artnersh ip ." Neither Griffith nor Sp en cer wo uld co m me nt on th e type o f ti re testing done by Cha nd ler and th e Wor ld Champ a t Sa n J ose, but G riffi th did say, " everyth in g went well, " and added h e wa s pl eased with the perform ance of both motorcycles. Looking ahead to his 1986 roa d racin g p rogram . Spen cer told Cycle News h e will lim it hi s efforts to a bid for th e 500cc World Championsh ip a nd will not attempt to repeat his 250cc titl e. "A t th is point, I think we're just goin g to ra ce th e 500s, " Spencer said . " G oing aft er bo th (world titles in 1985) was a one -time go. We're go ing to put a lo t of effort into th e 500s to keep th e ch a m p ion shi p - that's the most importan t title." .» The defending World Champio n admitted th e competition will be tough in 1986, but added h e is ready for th e ch a llenge and for a season that shou ld offer " so me rea lly good racing ." " T h ere will be a lo t o f (race rs) out th ere," h e said. " I never tak e any cham pionsh ip or an ybody for granted. I work o n my own a bilities, pr epare mys elf and view everyone as a potentia l threat. . JI " I feel con fide n t and I'm worki ng h arder ph ysically and doing more to get th e machines read y than I did last" yea r when I was ra cing two classes," Spencer said. " Yo u can 't go into any season or an y race expecti ng to win. Ie just try to giv e it 110% and do my best. " •

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