Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/127123
figure yo u only get so many of th em (crashes)." Although he tried to avoid it, Ren fro w still managed to repeat one m istak e. " I've ma de the same mistake twice," he admitted. " Locking th e fro nt wheel has acco unted for. the majori ty of my falls on GP eq uipmen t. It usually happens in a fast tra nsi tio n, no t in a pa nic situ at ion . but wh en th e bike is ge tting lig ht a nd unloading." Ren fro w approach es each new season by reviewing the lessons learn ed from previous years. What did 1987 teach him ? " I real ized ha lfwa y through th e seaso n that to wi n a cha mp io nship you have to finish races wh en you 're not hot, and you have to win them whe n yo u are." DN Fs in 250 GP com peti tion at Dayto na, Loudon a nd Lagu na Seca is exac tly wh at Ren fro w was referr ing to. " At Dayton a it (the bik e) stuttered co ming around turn one and I knew we were o ut of fuel ," Ren frow recall ed. " Kork (Ballington ) p a ssed me whe n I s ta lled . '.' he tho ugh t I had mi ssed a co up le of gears .. . . bu t I was barel y mo tor ing. We had to pped th e tank aft er th e warm-u p la p bu t we didn't actuall y measur e th e capacity of th e ta nk which turned o ut to be no t as large as (the rules) a llo wed. We also didn 't top it up as ca refu lly as possibl e becau se to do th e warm-up lap, top-up, a nd ge t back before th e one-rmnute ca rd is alway s a rush ." Balling to n later cras hed in th e chicane thinking th at Renfrow was still in pursuit but managed to pi ck up his bik e a nd win th e race. Last year wasn 't th e first time Renfro w ran o u t of fuel on th e last lap at Dayton a. In 1983 he ra n dry in the ch icane but managed to push it around the east banking to th e finish lin e. " I thou~ht of pushing it in this year, but It ' S a long way fro m the west banking, " said Renfrow. Things sho u ld be di fferent , fuel wise, thi s year. " I understand that th e race len gth (100 miles ) will be the same, but (the AMA) will assure everyo ne adequate ti me to topup." Ther e was a not her im p o rt a n t lesso n Renfro w learned d ur ing the '87 season. " I go t my risk/ben efit rat io a little mixed u p," he co nfessed. " I was tak ing some ris ks th at I shouldn't have taken and I will app ly that to th is seaso n. I certain ly don 't plan to go slow er bu t I hope to remember that you can't wi n races by faIling off. At Loudon I pitched it away exiti ng turn o ne and I never made Laguna Seca because of (inj uries sustained in ) my superbike cras h. I too k a few chances that possibl y I shoul dn 't have." T he em p hasis Ra nd y Ren fro w pl aces on learn in g has resulted in a n impressive career. In 1980, h is first full-t im e seaso n, he won th e WER A Ama teu r National Championship in fou r classes: 650cc Prod uction , 650cc Su perbike, 750cc Production, a nd Open Superb ike. In 1983 he won th e AMA 250cc Formu la T wo title, and in 1986 he wo n th e AMA/Camel Pro Series Formu la O ne title by winning four races, finish in g second in three o thers and fourth in the' on ly o ther race on th e sched ule. H e was th e last rider to wi n a Form ula One titl e since the class was dropped after th e '86 season. H o w does Renfrow feel about th e dem ise of Form ula One racing in Am erica ? " I wish it were ba ck because I love th e equip ment. The equipmen t is fast and bad; k s very neat bu t it's notgoing to come back. I certa inly wasn' t co nvinced th at it was th e right decision to do away with th e class but I wasn 't convi nced strongly enough th at Formula O ne would be th e .savior of American Nothing stops faster than EBC 's new GOLD L1NE®Disc pads are guaranteed to outbrake and outlast all other brands. N ever before have aftermarket manufacturers set such hi gh performance standards in braking. GOLD L1NE®disc pads are idea l for fast street bikes and are already being used ~y hundreds of racers. GET FRICTION NOT FICTION. Check our our ratings - the highest in the industry. GOLD LINE® Disc Pads Hy-Tech Motorclcle Components For info call 818/362-5534 or order through any quality m inded dealer. 33