Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

g ra nd prix expe rience th an Mike, bu t Mik e h as raced in Europea n C Ps w ith a Suzu ki and o n a H onda , a nd has proven h imself to be a n expe rt ." H ow does the new bike compare to last year's OW81? Ken n y: " Ra nd y rode th e bike in Decem ber but he ca n 't make a co m p ari son because he never rode th e o the r one. And, Mike hasn ' t ridden it yet. " So . I' ll have to answer th at one. It 's more p owerful; it has i mproved suspens io n : a bet ter chassis: it has a m o re ad j usta ble power arra ngeme nt ; it's ligh ter and it's easier to set up . " It 's more subtle a nd wi th ro u nded edges. It 's exac tly th e way it shou ld be a nd th e guys w ill have to push it ha rd to disco ver a ny ro ugh edges . As far as rel iabil it y. it 's th e best. (Left to right) Mike Baldwin, Kenny Roberts and Randy Mamola make up Team Lucky Strike Roberts. Team Lut!ky Strike Roberts Robe r t s retu r ns to Europe Ra ndy Ma m ola and Mike Baldwin will ven tu re to Euro pe th is summer in pursu it of the 500cc World R oad R acin g Championsh ip. Th e duo will be equip ped with Yamah a V-fours under theLuckv Str ik e toba cco banner; they also will be armed wt ih th e world's fastest team manager, thr ee-tim e World Champion Kenn y Roberts. Th e thr ee A mericans recently outlined th e T eam Luck y Strike racin g program dur in g press conferences in Japan and Europe. ..1.2 What does being Team Manager mean to you? Kenny: " I t means I'v e got to have everything under cont rol. ever ything perfect in th e p its and everything perfect with the bikes. " My goal is to make it easy for the rid ers and gi ve them the tools to go fast. If anything goes wrong i t hits me first . '" make su re that every thi ng that can be done is done so th at th ey can do their job to 100%of th eir ability. '" ca n' t tell yo u how many times I've had to start off a CP rac e with the bike at only 40%. How ca n yo u be expected to do yo ur best in conditions like th at? " My name is out there on th e team, and so, even though I'm not o ut there riding myself, I'm the .one responsible for th e wa y everyth ing works, but Mike Sinclair is responsible for seeing that Mike and Randy get all th e assistan ce th ey need. '" expect th e team to win so me CPs - and I want u s to win the World Champion ship. But the wa y to start is to get th e gu ys goi ng as fast as th ey ca n with consisten cy. " Racing m otorcycles isn 't like o ther m o to rsport s. You dorr't just get in the ca r, sit do wn. pu t your foot o n th e accelera tor a nd push it down to th e floor. "To bea racer, yo u've got to get u p th e nerve to go fas t. I wo n't be demandin g that R andy or Mik e go o u t there an d win that ra ce. We've go t a bike that' s th e best, o r eq ua l to any other. But, th is seaso n's championship is not going to be won with bikes, it's going to be won with people g iving 100%. " My feeling is that when yo u go out to race and give 100%, it doesn't / matter if you come in fifth or fir st. Disappointment comes from making a mistake or gi ving only 90% instead of yo ur 100%effo rt ." Mike Baldwin says that Kenn y is th e best manager there could ever be. " T h is is th e greatest ra cing o p po rtunity I've ever had in my life - good factory equipment, a good team, a good sponsor, and th e o ne thing that no other team has, Kenn y Roberts," said Baldwin . '" feel a real cha llenge in th e co m in g season and' look forward to li ving up to his ex pe cta tio ns . '" know th at h e will m otiva te me to go fast. I've been excited a bo u t CP racing ever since 1979 a nd th is is my firs t real cha nc e at th e title. I'm goi ng 100%," he declared . T eamma te Randy Mam ola agrees. " How many o the r m anagers co u ld tell yo u, " ca n go faster th an th a t,' a n d yo u kn ow i t's true?" as ked Marn o la . " For three yea rs I'v e co me in seco nd in the World Cham pionship a n d ' ha ve a lot o f exp erience. But when I look back, ' can see th a t' d id n' t give it all m y effo rt. n ot 100%. '" wa nt to gi ve Ken n y 100%. a nd at th e sa me ti me ' know m y weak points from th e past. " J'rn a lways a slow sta rte r in the season a nd don 't ge t reall y starte d until th e secon d or thi rd CP. U ntil this year ' h ad never trained m y body for th e fir st race o f th e year. " Ken n y to ld me I need ed to tra in harder to be rea dy a t th e sta rt and th at if I wa nt ed to . I co u ld rent a -hou se near h is a nd train with h im, do ing just as he did when he was training fo r th e racing sea son in Europe. " No w I' m riding every day; motocross, 1T co u rse s, and so me stree t riding. W e ca ll it the Hi ckmanEmpire Circuit because that's th e names of th e two towns we are living in, 20 miles apart. Kenny: " As incredible a s it seems, in road racing th ere reall y are no trainers. yo u just go out th ere and race. Dean Miller is my personal trainer. I brought him here to Japan when I did the Suzuka 8-Hour and his physical fitness program reall y works. I'm passing this information on to Randy because' think it will really make a difference. While Kenn y and Randy are liv ing near Modesto , Cal ifornia, Mike Baldwin 's home is in Connecticut, one hour from N ew York City, and it's way below freezing. He motorcycle ice-races on frozen ponds. . " It 's not that much like road racing because th e bikes are only powered by 125cc eng ine s and there are no brakes, but i t really keeps yo u r reflexes sharp. I a lso do a lot of sn o wmo bile racing, and' believe th at skiin g is a good wa y of getting your exerci se arid keeping fit ," he sa id . How is the new bike? Kenny: " I ca n' t say much about it yet in specifics , but it's got arou nd 150 horsepower , a nd better sus p ension . "The bike is th e best it's ever been. I'd have to say th at at th e present time the bike is wai ti ng "[or a ri der to live u p to its potentia l. In o th er words, th e bike is better th an a ny rider a t th e present time. "I n regards to Randy an d Mik e, I'd have to say th at Ran d y has got more R andy cou ld see th e Yamaha bik e was stable last year. '" was following Eddie Lawson around th e rough J a rama co urse in Spai n and h e was fa st and smoo th. while Freddie had hi s hands full with th e H onda. " T he Yamaha bike was so strong . .. yo u co u ld see i t in th e swi ngarm. Tha t wa s o ne o f th e problems' had wi th Suzuki. They kept trying to make it lighter until it wasn 't strong eno ugh and began flexing. Eddie' s bike always stayed right on lin e. "With Honda we alway s seeme d to be depending most upon th e en gi ne , rather th an the chassis. And also , H onda depends a lot upon th e rider. " T he Yamahas just never broke down, h ad good reliability a nd beautiful frames. As a n outsider, I would j us t sit ba ck an d watch wha t rolled out of th e Yamaha tent. " How much faster can the bikes go? . Kenn y: " R ig h t now , th e bikes are faste r than th eir riders and th e tires are better than th ey've ever been . " So, it 's th e riders wh o need help - a n d th at' s where I ho pe I ca n provide so me p oin ter s for Randy and Mike. If yo u kn ow what to look for . yo u ca n help th e ride r go faster. " Perso na ll y, I thin k th at th e bikes a nd riders thi s year will be a no ther seco n d faster than la st year a nd th at m ost o f th e track records will have to be re-written." Randy: "What separates the winners from the lo sers is being prepared 100%. You 've got to ge t rid of all excuses for losing before the ra ce, not co me up with exc uses after th e race ." Kenn y: " Ma ny o f the mistak es a re choice mistakes; human error in prediction ; like tire selection. This is where expe rience is so valuable. May be Mike wants to run on a specific tire at a circuit wh ere Nobby Clarke knows it won't work and tell s him so . With that advice yo u can be sure th at Mike will think i t over a seco nd time befo re he makes his choice." What is the next step in goin g faster? Kenny: "The next step is already here. It's when you save th e bike from failing down with your knee. We're already doing it at least once a lap. When someone can do it all the way around the course, he will be the next champion. "Randy knows; he was riding behind me once wh en' really lost it and the front end washed out. I'm sure he thought that I was gone; but, no; I just held it up with my leg. " T he tires are so good today that some day soon, not tomorrow or next year, but soon, so meo ne 's going to go out on th e co urse kn owing that he will be holding the bike up with his leg or kn ee . . . knowing it and prepared for it." How many GPs do you expect to win, and how many will be necessary to take the World Championship? Kenn y: ' 'I'd be happ y, o verly happy, wi th o ne-ha lf o f th e race win s. And, I'd say th at to win th e Wo rld Champi onship will tak e a t leas t fo ur CP wins.

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