Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

., ',r . ..... . Factory rider Continued from page 23) lugging th e white line between la nes me a nd two , in a perfect tuck, not a nuscle moving as he sai ls th ro ug h he win d gus ts. The gust that sent m e n to lane three didn 't move him.' can till see him on th e other side o f the .ircle, and a gust th at tri es to move ne off th e in side of lane o ne doesn 't -eer him so much as six in ch es off o u rse, H e isn 't st icking up hi s h ead u p , sn' t shifting hi s weight. And Aizawa , 'licks had told me, was th e fastest nan around Laredo so far. , g ra bbed th e handlebars, dove for he bottom lane and stuck th e bik e o n he white lin e. The lap board sh ow ed 2:05. Two ap s lat er , m y 90-mile stin t wa s o ver, nd the crew sig na lled me int o th e -its. ••••••• II was a privateer's dr eam . , sa t in a Ja n da lawn chair, u nd er a tri o o f Janda aw nings, in from of th e Hon da ruck, Team Hond a road raci ng manger Udo Gietl sa t 10 m y left; 10 m y igh t wa s T eam H o n da 's Bri an Jch ida . Team Honda m echanics dike Vela sco and McDonald pr epared zh eels for th e next pit stop. T eam Janda 's George Ellis refilled a trio of ustom a luminum quick-fills. There was nothing for me 10 do xcept sit an d wa it for my next riding tint. Th e tire gu ys talked about lowing down th e pa ce as th e da y zarrned up. Udo told me th at I co u ld asily lose a few seco nds a lap by ticking o u t a n elbo w or a kn ee o n th e ack secti on, wh ere th ere wa s a taillind . During T eam Honda test sesion s. he had found th at method 10 zork better than tryi ng to roll off the hrou le, h e said. We tal ked about the ex t p it stop, about when I shou ld im b o n; rem em ber to make sure the ike is in firs t gear before hilli ng the ectric starter, h e to ld me. . , talked to Mik e Spencer about ing a factory rider. " II was strange," e told me, ta lk in g a bo u t h is oner co ntract wit h Team H on da , bac k 1981. '" wen t fro m bein g a p riva er a nd doing everyth ing, a lways a nging a tire o r gelling rac e gas or a ng ing th e jets, 10 showing up a t e races an d hav ing everyth ing done r me. , had noth in g to do , exce p t sit o und a nd worry." I sat around a nd worried. Th e sma ll house beh in d the truck as filled wi th ice ches ts fu ll of .nks; food covered ta bles and bench . Eac h rno to rhome's refrigerator as st u ffed wi th food; th e freezers ere fu ll o f ice crea m bar s. A cornputer system in th e hut trackth e di stan ce cove red a nd record s t, P er iod icall y so meone wo u ld ander into th e hu t a nd prim o ut th e su its u p 10 that point. a n d grou ps riders a nd crew gathe red an d co mred the p rint o u t 10 "Su zu ki's rerds ;" o nl y Cycle World 's Hansen d Ed itor Pa ul Dean seemed 10 ow o r ca re th at th e records being ok en were no t set by a works Suzu ki am . but ra the r by a bunch o f ma ga e guys . They weren 't " Suzuki's co rds;" th ey were C ycle World's cords. The tire guys tell me to run 2:02s; e 750 is in, and I'm on it. The bike almost stoc k, excep t for the from rn sign a ls mis sing, a cen ters ta nd ded to ease tir e ch anges, a special ield built behind th e cross-o ver haust system to reduce h eat reach g th e rear tire, an over size windseen to mak e it eas ier for th e riders 10 t th eir helmets OUI of th e wind, a ick-fill fill ing in the gas la nk and est pads on to p o f th e gas ta n k. The guys working th e pit boa rd are t pan of T eam Honda and ar en 't racers. T he first board' get shows th e previous la p ; the time, a 2:00, is th e time' turned o ne la p earlier. , stic k o u t a n elbow and ride around, wait ing 10 see what effect one elbo w ha s o n lap times. The tach reads alm ost 11 ,000 rpm for most of the lap , dropping 10 10,500 in headwind on o ne pan o f th e ci rcle , climbing 10 a bo ut 11 ,200 wh en th ere's a tailwind. The speedo me ter seems 10 float a t 175 mph or a lillie less. Th e next board I see san "Slow Down " with no time. I sti ck'oul bot h kn ees. The tach d rops 10 10,000 a nd 10,500, T wo laps lat er th ey show me 2:06 and " Spee d Up." Because the crew shows me messages in stead o f tim es, it takes me severa l more laps 10 figure o u t th e form ula : feet on forward pegs, kn ees slig h tly o u t o n tailwind secti ons, elbo ws slightl y o u t every whe re, th rottle pegged, rpm p reuy-m uch stead y a t 10,500 rpm . I think ab out flippin g off the men work ing th e signboard but decide th at would con fuse them. •••••• Later in th e da y, the tir e men wer e assigning la p times based on rider weight and tra ck tempera ture. At 145 pounds , m y assi g ne d sp eed h ad dropped to 2:04 by 2:00 p.rn . Yet Christine Baur, a t 109 pounds, is o fficia ll y sanc tioned 10 run 2:00 o r I :59. Th is ignites a cen a in bitterness in me. a racer 's desire to set th in gs ri ght. , talk to Velasco a bo u t it , and he tell s me tha t a co u p le o f la ps a t I:59 wouldn't hun th e tir e as lo ng as ' ran hi gh in th e seco n d lane and th en slowed down ; it was sustai ned runn in g th at wo uld ch u n k th e lire. I'v e got two running laps before th ey can sh ow m e a board with a time o n it . , figu re, so , climb under th e paint and keep th e throttle pegged and th e bike on co urse in th e bottom of th e second lan e. By th e tim e ' get a board, it reads I:59 and three guys are standing nex t to the boa rd , waving chunked tires a t me. Only at the time, co ncent ra ting on threadi ng my way between the bumpy th ird la ne an d a set of pit-lane pylons bloc king threeq uarters o f lan e two , ' can't ma ke out exact ly wh at they're wavin g ; I'll learn a bo ut th e tir es lat er , but I do slow down a lillie. T he board shows 2:03, so , stay th ere, figurin g tha t's close enough . Later, , discover th a t I was ru n n ing 2:0I s; th e pi t 'board guys showed m e 2:03s because th ey wa n ted me 10 ru n slo wer, th e lady taking the times tell s me. Exactly how th at was supposed to wo rk' sti ll do n ' t kn ow. Tea m Honda h as a radar g u n, wh ich ca tches the bike at about 152 mph; a t th at spee d, th e few feet between th e p it -la ne p ylons and lan e th ree is damn h ard to hi t. •••••• Ba u r rode th e last stint, 90 m iles in 36 minutes, crossi ng the line to much whoop ing an d hollering. A film crew from MOIOWorld was there, reco rding th e effon for ca ble TV a nd for a H onda p ro motiona l movie. Cha mpagne a nd beer flew. Phot ogr apher/ r ide r Dave Bush wrestled with rider/ mech an ic McDonald, dropping h is ca me ra, a nd th e so u nd o f broken g lass was foll ow ed by Bush's yell s; he chases McDonald. wavi ng a Can of beer. H icks goes crazy with a fire ex ti n g uis her; Brent Ro ss hoses down ever yth ing a nd everyo ne in sigh t with anothe r. Da in G in g erell i j u m ps on to p o f any th ing th a t' s h andy. I head for Honda 's cluster of ro oms a t the Laredo Hilton, co ughi ng. Tech n ica lly, I guess I'm a world cha mpion; , kn ow' was a wo rks rid er for a day. It was a stra nge p rocess, son of lik e ha vin g a baby by anificia llyinsemi nated surrogate mother, ' guess. Show up and ride. Ride a nd leave. Victory ass ured. • l.-.-.......- . Cycle News, America 's week ly motorcycle newspaper, br ings you an act ion-packed year of motocross. flat track, endurance, spe edway and road racing . 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