Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

(Left) Merkel has put his modeling plans on hold. (Above) Out of the three titles. 1986 is Merkel's favo rite understa nd th em havin g budge cu ts and stuff like th a t, bu t cu tting the number o ne pl a te is beyond me." Merk el is relu cta nt to ta l k a bout n ot bein g part of Hon - . da 's future pl ans, a nd th ere is p rob ab ly more to th e sto ry th an the public will ever kn ow. "I don 't really know if my spot was taken . by Bubb a," he said. " I don't know if I was repla ced by Bubba or , if that was the genera l p lan or id ea . I th i n k th e onl y th ing yo u 'll get o ut of Am eri can H onda is th at I .was let go beca use of budget c u ts . I d on 't ~~_ _----~ think tha t's th e .. rea l reason. I' ve got m y gr ipes a bo u t it , but I don 't want to go o n record " It meant mor e th an the two years saying it." put together," Merk el sai d. " Wa yne Foll owing the decision, Merk el wen t a lot faster than I did at a lot was out in the co ld. There were ta lks of racetracks, but wh en it came down wi th Yamaha, an d if not for th e 10 bein g o ne point down with two AMA / R j R e yn olds excl u si vi ty races to go, it j us t happen ed to be agree me nt a Ya maha/Merk el/coma t a race track (Mid-O h io) th at I lik e pe ti ng ciga rette br and team m ig h t beuer th an a n v other racet rack. I did ha ve become a reality. wha t had to ' be done. It was his , " We p rett y much had a job with mi sfortune th at he bai led in th e Yamaha ," Merk el sai d. " We ta lked race." with Kenny Clark an d every thing Merk el was quickl y brought down was prett y much di al ed-in, but th en 10 ea rt h, how ever , as H onda decid ed o ne day I read th at the AMA accep ted 10 go with Ra iney in 1987. H onda 's Camel' s deal abo u t the to bacco a nd AMA/ Camel Pro Seri es Champion sudde n ly Yamaha can 't have a race Bubba Shobert was a lso give n free team. So tha t sh u t th e doo r on me th ere." ' reign to co ntes t th e entire road race season in 1987. Rainey and Shobert Wh en th at deal was n ix ed , Merk el wou ld m ake up T eam H onda 's turned h is a ttentio n to findin g a rid e effort , Mer kel a nd h is number one for Europe, a nd for a whi le it looked p la te were o u t. as though he wou ld jo in the Skoa l Bandit Suzuki team for 1987. Bu t that " I'm not bitter at all ," Merk el said dea l al so fizzled. regar din g th e deci sion. " I don 't " I ca n' t figu re that o u t," Mer kel understand a lot of things. I di d a said. ," I wen t over th ere a nd I ha ve go od job for H onda a nd I lik ed the a good rapport wi th them . I ta lked peo p le I worked wit h a t H o nda. I to th e head peo pl e a nd loo k a to ur thi nk I did a heck of a job for th em . I ca n ' t understand th em ge tting rid _ of th e p lant. Everyone was n ice to me a nd it wa s j ust a grea t deal. I o f th e num ber o ne p late. I ca n thoug ht we had someth ing goi ng. " T hey spent a mill ion dollars o n th is motorcycle, a nd th en th ey didn ' t wa nt 10 co me u p wi th a ny money. An other thi ng was th a t they wa n ted Europea n rid ers. T he y' ve had a l i n le trouble with th e Am er ican domina tio n ; the Am eri cans have dom in ated for so many yea rs no w. I think th ey wanted to have a hometown boy riding th eir bike. , " We thought we were locked in. We wer e over th ere and I was giving m y imput on th e motorcycle and a ll kinds of stu ff. We th o ug h t we had it lock ed in. I rea ll y wa nted that. So Mer kel was su ddenl y back to sq ua re o ne. An d he was a little wo rr ied. . "From a rid er's sta ndpoin t, it's been rea lly scary, " he said. " I would hate to h ave the th ought of ha ving to quit at this stage of th e ga me . T hat thought is really terri fying. At o ne poin t the th ought cro ssed m y m ind. When the Suzu ki deal fell th rough a nd we'd bee n through the Yamaha thing. Now I ca n ' t believe I fina lly get to go raci n g. It 's wa s pret ty darn scary. " According to the 24-year-o ld Ca lifornian , Europe may see a ver y d ifferent Fred Merk el. Bo th on and off the track. " No w th at I look back on the career that I've had in Am eri ca, not tha t m y caree r in Am eri ca is o ver, there a re so me things that I will cha nge," h e said. "I've a lwa ys had a p retty good stra tegy, like in the '86 season I let Wa yne go o u t a nd set th e tra ck o n fire a nd th en when I really. had to get do wn a nd do it, I pu t o ut. Now I witl have to put o u t 100 percent at every racetrack to prov e m yself. I won 't be hanging ba ck a n d playin g th at kind o f strategy game. I wi ll have to go o u t a nd set th e tra ck o n fire. " As far as Fred Merkel as a person, I'm going to try a nd co me ac ros s good a nd try a nd sa y th e ri ght things. T ha t's not always easy when yo u're u nd er pr essure. I' ll try a nd do th e best P.R. I can. " Merk el j us t wants to get out a nd race. ' 'I' m rea ll y sto ked ," he sa id . " It's been hard la ying off so long. A typ ical day fo r me has been get ti ng u p and figuri ng ou t wha t to do. Go su rfing, phi y go lf, b ike, ru n, pl a y basketball. But a fter bein g off for seven mo nths , I'm an xio us to get back. Racin g is wha t I do' best a nd I want to do it as long as I ca n. As lon g as I'm health y a nd as long as th ere is money in it. " H e's even puttin g hi s mod el in g career o n hold. " I d id do a bit of modeling a nd a TV co m me rcia l a nd stu ff like that," he said. " I had a cha nce to do scree n tests for so me movi e parts, but th at kind of stu ff is all fin e a nd neat if yo u're built to do it. But I'm built to race. Whatever I can get o n th e side th a t doesn't take up too much ti me, I'll do. Bu t I j u st don 't rea lly like doing th e stu ff." Will Merkel eventua lly make the swi tch to Grand P rix racing, or is th e u pcomi ng Superbike World Championship Series th e one he ' wan ts? "I've a lways had two dreams," he sa id. " O ne is to be th e bes t Su perb ike racer in America a nd th e o ther is to be the best Superb ike racer in th e world. No w wit h the 1988 series comi ng up, it' s go ing to give me the shot I've a lways wan ted . At this po int I'll be sticking with Superbikes. I've ridden Formula One bikes before a nd I thi nk with some practice I co u ld hol d my own. Eventually, I wou ld get bet ter with them , but I' ve been on Superbikes so long I'd like to stay wi th them ." There are rumo rs th at Merk el may ride th a t inaugural Su pe rbike World Championship Series o n a Yamaha. He says he would jump a t th e cha nce. " R id ing a Yamaha reall y in terests me . I've been riding a Honda so long, I'd like to swi tch ca m p s so meday . The o n ly d ifferen ce would be adjustin g fro m a V-m ot or to a n in -line motor. " For now . Mer kel will co ntest th e TT Formula One World Championsh ip Series o n hi s Team Alliance/ D u nl o p / Arai / EBC Bra kes-backed H onda. Can he still win? " It 's a heck of a goal," he said. " In m y career I' ve a lways been prett y coc ky a nd a lo t of people didn't like tha t, a nd some respect it. Bu t I thi nk I've ki nd o f humbl ed with age and lo ts o f races. I wou ld like to win it of co urse, but I'm nOI go ing to say I' ll win it. I'm going to do m y best a nd hopefull y tha t will be good enoug h . Nobod y ever th ou gh t I would win a cha m pio ns h ip in 1986. But I sti ll pulled it o ff, so [ would say wi th Fred Merk el , ex pec t th e unex pected ." •

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