Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

Don·Greene The aggressive champion By Gary Van Voorhis Two-time AMA Formula Two National Champion Don Green and Formula Two road racing in general could well echo what comedian Rodney Dangerfield has made a living from saying: ','1 don't get no respect." While Formula One and Superbike get the bulk of attention and coverage it's •• more often than not the Formula Two riders who provide the most· competitive and aggressive racing. Greene, 23, of Novato, California, is the best of the current crop and working on getting better. Off the track it isn't too hard to gauge the fire that burns within the blond-haired Greene. He is very cas· ual in his manner, but you can sense what is going on behind the blue eyes. His idea of relaxation in the offseason is competing in a motocross series. "I like to race motocross because it helps me to keep in shape both physically and mentally," says Greene. ''I'm riding the I25cc Pro class in the (CMC) North American Winter MX Series (in California) with the backing of the same sponsors who are behind my road racing. I ride the 125cc class because to do good you have to ride more aggressively than with a bigger bike which has more power. Aggressive riding on the track, whether in road racing or motocross is a major key to winning." Greene has parlayed his formula for success of aggressive riding tempered with consistency into back-toback championship titles and hopes '1 to make it three in a row in 1986. 0' • • JII ings" 'W'e'rePIlt" l! ....""SO Fl!III I'tfng ... 4 in Greene's favor. His 1982 and '83 easons were exercises in frustration with brilliant showings overshadowed by dismal stretches of poor showings. Through it all, Greene kept his composure secure in the feeling that things would get better if he bung in there. He was right, but nothing comes easy. "I had a better bike this year than I did for the 1984 season, but last year there were more top 250 riders to contend with. This year there was really only Rich Schlachter and Wayne Rainey of Mac Lean Racing to deal with, but their organization and equipment was top-notch. Racing against both of them gave me a chance to pick up a lot of little things because both have raced the 250cc GPs in Europe. If anything, I'd say 1985 was a year in which I gained a lot of experience." Included in that experience was a trip to the Belgian GP where Greene found out just how different the racing can be. "The biggest problem," said Greene of his GP trip, "was that I wasn't as prepared as I would have liked to have been because we didn't have a lot of time for testing. I qualified 29th in a very tight field-which I was very happy about- and had moved up pretty good before crashing out when the tires-which I was totally unfamiliar with-went away two laps from the finish. The biggest eyeopener was the equipment the riders had, the amount of outside major sponsorship and the professionalism of the racers. " Greene's trip to Belgium was backed by sponsor Francis De Groof, a Belgian and owner of Eurocycle, an import company in San Francisco dealing in exotic and/or hard to obtain European motorcycles. Greene also receives help from Champion, Dunlop, Arai, Bates, Moto-X Fox, Red Line Oil and Rick Gould of Engine Research Company of San Leandro (California) who 'provides Greene with racing fuel. "Udo Gietl, George Ellis and everybody in the Honda racing program have been a very big hel p," Greene is quick to also point out. Roland Cushway is the man behind the machinery, the tuner who, Greene says, "squeezes out every last fraction of horsepower hecan and that's important in a class where the difference between winning and being an alsoran is usually decided by just that fraction." Greene's involvement with sports began at about age 10 and he worked his way through basketball, football, baseball, soccer, and hockey before a road race where "seeing Kenny Roberts come from the back of the pack to win" gave bim the idea to see what motorcycles were all about. In Don's case, that meant "being Ricky Racer and getting traffic tickets, so I decided (in 1978) to turn my Yamaha RD400 into a race bike and do my speeding on the track." The next plateau in Greene's career came in 1981 when he convinced his parents to buy him a Yamaha TZ250G and move out of the club road racing ranks. He was the top1anked Novice in AMA competition that year. In 1982, Greene bought a new TZ and began a two-year roller coaster ride of ups and downs which included a few hard crashes. The times were made more tolerable by fifth place finishes in the Formula Two Championship Series final standings in. both seasons. "The 1982 and '83 seasons were learning sessions and what I got out of them I put to use in 1984 and won my first title. "This year I had my most successful season and worked harder than I ever have. I adapted to the change from Yamaha to Honda and came up with top three finishes in all except one series race and that time I finished fourth." Greene spent the season chasing first Rainey and then Schlachter in the point· st'lndings and didn't take the series lead until the next-to-last race of the season. When the demise of Mac Lean Racing left Schlachter without a ride for the final round, Greene was home free and the pressure was off. "Consistency and not giving up is what won tbe title," says Greene.. "A lot of hard work by both myself and Roland went into this season and it paid oU." Greene's hard work includes working out at a health club he belongs to, lifting weights and taking an aerobics class three times a week. "I don't do any din riding during the road raci ng season because I have a tendency to get a bit wild and crash. I love to water and snow ski-I used to race both so I'm right at home." Greene also spends time working for BMW in their program of imroducing dealers to new models at various race tracks around the U.S. Presently, Greene is making twofold plans for the 1986 season and hopes to add a major sponsor to back a Formula One program in conjunc· tion with his Formula Two title defense. "I'd really like to race both Formula One and Two," says Greene. "I've gotten together a proposal to present to prospective sponsors and I hope things come together. There's a good chance I'll go to one or maybe two GPs to get some more experience. Like every road racer I know, I'd like to go for a World Championship title someday." Greene is really just coming into his own. His mix of aggressive riding, a knack for quick learning and a smooth, consistent style on the rrack mark him as one with the key ingredients for any rider who knows what he wants, where he is going and isn', afraid to work hard to get there. Don Greene is a rider to watch. •

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