Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

00 00 0") ...... 28 mg sweeper on t e ot er side of th e lake that will point the track toward th e o ld Turn Three. And we will , in fact, rejoin th e form er circuit at ' th e apex of the ori ginal Three." Which is now Five. Yeah ! I can feel it! A ra ce cou rse ch an ging shape is like buying a n ew b ike - th e handson thrill of di scover in g differen ces. L ik e a n a d de d number o f gear changes now. And more hard braking. More wheel spin a nd whee lies. More ti me pe r lap on th e stop watch . And be sure to b ri n g o ne, a nd bin oculars if yo u ha ve 'e m , a nd a lon g lens ca mera, too. Because with th e n ew co urse ch an ges, spectating here is better th an ever. And th a t's it. New La gun a ! Now I' m th in kin g - Hey! - th e 44 250cc a n d 500cc riders due here for this revamped US G P l l-turn circui t will h ave to carry m ulti-l in ger maps just to get arou nd it t Bu t sta n ding o n a hill , surveying T he Loop, it 's a ll pure beauty and logi c. The G ro wn-up Lagu na Seca! A track th at h as entered th e era of Multifaceted Wo rld Racing. Art co n firms th is interna tio na l visi on of Mosell e, himself , an d SCR AMP Presid ent Ed Magn er , a mong o thers. "Tha t's a keyn ot e to o u r th inking and directions - items th at we're exp lori ng, co ncep ts that we' re co ns id eri ng, when it co mes to th e type s of events that wi ll be held h ere." Does thi s mea n Formula One cars as well as o ur World Championship F-I a nd F-2 b ik es? Could very we ll b e. Mosell e th inks it's destined. Bu t first th e race course pavement would have to be bro ad en ed to 40 feet all the way around. Wh oa ! Glattke, h owever, says thi s can be done. The room is the re a nd technol ogy says Go . Shutting the pl ace down is th e p roblem. " We co u ld h ave th is track rented 365 days a year," says Ar t, sm ilin g now. Also - m in or detail! - Laguna Seca wo u ld have to find th e cons truction pri ce. " All it takes is m oney," Glattke sa ys, laughing , kn ow in g m ore th an he'll say, I'm su re. " Yo u ca n do a ny thi ng with cubic dollar s. Ri ght?" • La -Gu-Na! La-Gu-Na! La-Gu-Na Secal Bu t wait! "T here are still so me lingering topics to consider. Su ch as - th e trouble some road racers h ave h ad between wh at used to be down hill Turns Seven and Eight (now calle d N ine a n d 10) wh ere sus pe nsio n mashin g a n d fr ont weeni e wash out have been pretty co m mon. And brutal. Last July I saw a rid er get o ff the re so h ard he look ed lik e he'd fallen from a pl ane. lasked Ar t abo u t th ese o rnery undul ati ons. " T here's a sligh t irregu larity in th e track," said he, " bu t at this poi nt in time we h aven 't been as ked to do an yth ing wi th it. In fact, Kenny Robert s, who is usuall y o ne of th e most voca l about track safety, doesn 't see that as a safety p roblem. He kno ws that there are some ripples there, a nd th ey do compress sus pe n sion, an d th ey do effect th e handl in g of th e bike. Some people h ave tosse d it a way . Even Eddie Lawson has to ssed it aw ay up th ere, but h e's tossed it a way for reasons that were not reall y th e fault of th e tra ck , or even a co n d iti on th a t ex ists up the re." At th e m om ent I a m privat el y citing th is amon g severa l other a libis as to wh y I ch ose not to become a racer. Art 's an a lysis is downrigh t real ist ic, th ough. Traffi c in suc h a spo t ca n be a bi tch. Which way . wo u ld yo u go? "T h a t's a judgment call th a t th e rider has to ma ke a t th e ti me he has to m ak e it," says G la tt ke in an ab solu tel y level No-BS tone. " And he o n ly has a sp lit-seco nd to do it. And he's eith er righ t or wrong. If he 's in the bal es. It 's a matter of ha ndli ng tra ffic," he says, looking straight at me . I understand, immediate ly . Nobody ever promised motorcycle road racing wa s easy or that you weren 't going to get bit from time to time. To say it 's th e price you pay is to over -simplify it . T o expect it will happen is yo ur hedge agai ns t a m bus h. For th e race r, th e ride is the event, a nd prett y much damn th e downside. Laguna Mecca ! Perha ps one of th e slo west a nd most ca u tio us rides at this tra ck dr ew , ironically, o ne of th e Raceway's largest crowd eve r when Pope John Paul II a rri ved here o n September 17, 1987. The Pontiff h ad been 'sch ed u led to fly in from Monterey Airport ab oard a specia l heli copter , a fter Carmel Mayor Clint Eastw ood met "Shepherd One." But going' tn the back gr ound, th ere's a phone voice who answers to J oe Williamson . Joe's immediate excursion into enumerating food b u lk and weigh t tells me he loves th e art of mass eating. In fact , he's been feeding this ra ceway through concessions for five yea rs now, wi th SCRAMP 's 50 some odd ch arities benefiting. Joe says th ey'r e having more food for this event than any before. And wh en h e lists th e menu, he vocally garnishes eac h item with personal affectio n barb ecued c h ic ke n , pizza, vea lb urge rs, local ca lamari, nachos, h ot dogs , hamburgers, eggs for br eakfa st, swee t roll s, beer , wine coolers , soft drinks, coffee, a nd th e best damn ice crea m yo u 've ever Iu st ed a fter. Because Laguna Secais a Feast ! O f n ot on ly race ac tio n and foods, but o f th ings. Everything ! Just walk peninsula fog was as tir th at day, a nd th e Pope ca me by mo torcade. As did so me 72,000 devotees, in droves o f chart er ' buses that were su p posed to sh u tt le in a n ex pec ted 100,000. But Mu rphy's Law ruptured th ose projections. " A pret ty good draw - " Gl attke sai d, anyway " - righ t in th ere with one of Kenny Rob ert s' reti reme nt ra ces here." T he m idm orn in g Se p te m be r su n burned away th e gr ound clouds, a nd th e Papal visit was a time to rem ember. " T here wa sn't a nyone ," Gl att ke recalled , " whether yo u' re Catholic or not , who was h ere th a t di dn ' t rea lly feel th e presen ce o f the ma n, a nd wh at he sta nds for. Wh ether or n ot yo u agree with th at particular rel igion doesn ' t have a ny thi ng to do with it ." Racing, like religion - if th at risky sim ile dare be made - matures ' with th e person. Wh en I wa n ted to know more ab out La guna Seca 's G la tt ke, Art open ly told me. And I sm ile d, reca lling m y own g oo d tim es, and those of o thers , corn in g o f age with q uick mot orcycl es. His fir st was a belt-drive Simplex , a marvel to behold for a nyo ne II. IL 'fed hi s tinkerer 's need to wrench, an d to ride. After th at ca me a 125cc H a rle y-Davidson with a mill ed head th at yo u n g Art h ad to f1 ycut so th e slug wouldn 't h it. H e sai d he made h is ow n fuel ou t of h ig h test a nd alcohol "and finally go t it jell ed so we didn 't burn pi sto ns." After a whi le th e little Harl ey got fitted with a gia nt- by-co m p arison 250cc Villers co mpetitio n m ot or, a nd so me rea l " fun started. Raci ng ! Art grad ua ted to a Triumph Tiger Cub. Then a 650 Bonneville, a nd, wi th it. G lauke set his local Ohio drag strip record, a ma rk th at sta n ds invi nc ib le to thi s da y - th a t strip was pl owed under and its speed performances ca rved in stone. And then came Art 's stree t bikes, th at usua l strin g o f hits a nd mi sses we all go through , leadi ng us rid ers a lo ng from ela tio n th ro ugh acce p ta nce to ul tim a te rejecti on. And finding someth ing else, if not new , th en a t least p ro voca tive. G lauke's last a nd mos t revered was a BSA Super Rocket wi th seven-a nd-a- ha lf ga llon roa d ta nk. And there wer e mi les and day s a n d years th at wi ll never be bettered. La gu na Mecca ! It's.overtak ing my brai n no w; I' ve even sta rte d pl anning m eals! If you want to ea t a t th e track here, just br ing cash a nd you r ow n th rough Merchandise Lane by La guna' s little infield lak e. You've go t th e ga m u t from su m mer glo ves to winter ri ding su its, from en g ine oil to bolt-ons, to so me guy o r ga l wh o wi ll tak e yo ur order for a brand n ew bi ke. O r bi kes. You name yo ur own limi ts here. . ' HUT-Ra y! H UT-Ray! HUT-Ray! T he da ys a nd hou rs ru sh by now. I'm a lready reading th e wea ther sectio n of th e morn ing newspaper. I bought myself 'a new tank bag . Chan ged m y oil. Threw a n extra set of plugs in to m y tool ki t. Checked m y treads an d dug m y th umbnail o nce m ore into tha t swe e t n ew rubber. And if yo u alre ady have yo ur room reservations, yo u 're O.K. And if you've put it off - it's still not too late. There are p laces to ca ll that might find yo u a bed. Try Monterey Peninsula Reserva tio ns at 800/8228822. Or a service ca lle d Resort To Me 408/ 646-9250. Or anothe r called Roo m Finders 408/624-17 11 : And if you're p lanning on staying at Laguna Se ca's tra cks id e ca m p i n g, rem ember it 's fir st co me first serve. Fifteen dollar s a night for motorcycles. Twenty-five dollars a ni gh t for any th ing with four wh eels or more. Gates open a t 7:00 a.m. ' And whe n yo u get th ere, what h a ppen s? Thursd a y, Ap ril 7, is u ntimed practi ce for 250ccand 500cc cla sses start ing a t 9:00 o 'clock an d going to 5:45. Friday, beginn in g a t 9:00 aga in , timed practi ce for both formulas, u ntil 3:30. Saturday q ua lifying sessio ns beg in a t 9:00, a n d all bikes have to be o ff the track at 3:30. Su nday , Ap ril 10, is Grand Prix Day, 1988's seco nd round o f the World Cham p ion shi p Seri es. P re-r a ce u n tirned practice for 250cc bik es is a t 9:30. T he 500cc riders run th eir last sha kedo wn a t 10:00. The 32-la p 70-mi le 250cc G P sta rts a t 12:30. An d a t 2:00 in the aftern oo n , goi n g [o r 40 race laps (88 mil es), is th e 500cc G ra nd Prix. The 'race itself becomes a fus io n o f o u r own ideal s a nd drea ms. Wh at we migh t have been , had we dared to do it o u rselves with the ded ica tio n a nd succ ess o f th ese world cla ss ro ad race rs. Wat ching from th e sidel ines, th e in cred ible , beco m es co m m o n place, a nd when a rider somehow fai ls to ma ke th a t ex pec ted lap tim e or gra b the chec kered at th e end, we retr ea t from o ur p roj ection a nd look for other riders th ro ugh whom to mirror o ur g lory image. In this sense brill iance together, 'bein g as h ard on th e o th er guys as we are on ourselves. T here are so ma ny reasons why so m an y people go to th ese races, why they make this jo urney. I h ave seen the young riders arrive on the ir race replicas, h ere to learn and to emana te. And, for th e beauty of display, the CBX club m en a nd women a board th eir shi n y six-cylinder classics. And a whole set of people on those gen eri c transportation bikes, curious watch ers wh o peer in from the edge o f o u r spo rt . And the week end ca m pers and perpetual race fans wh o don 't even ride, but wh o still involve th emselve s in th e fantasy of it. And th e rakish cus toms and American steel th at give th eir riders th e gi ft o f power. And th ose big luxo dressers , in so los a n d co lo r coordi na ted duets! H ow gr and to travel grea t di stances th is wa y! And th en I see m yself in m y own gro u p, riders wh o have given up feeling any gr eat emo tio n [or ca rs a nym ore, a nd, instead , have tra ns ferred the ir passio n for sport and th e road to a m otorcycl e. And th en soa king in that str ength a well done bike ride will giv e. Wh en we wat ch th e races at Laguna Seca, th ose riders ar e us , doing wh at we can't do , or wouldn 't do . And our admiration is sa tisfying . It . feeds so well o u r self-esteem , and we in a sense become part of th e riders we respect m ost. Wh en we do someth in g ex traord ina rily well , th en we wh isper to o u r innerm ost ear that, yes, it was lik e so-and-so and th e wa y h e did it. For a moment, perhaps, I was him, as goo d as him , as mortal and a t th e sa me time as in vincible. I h ad for a n ins ta nt the co nt ro l a n d th e tal ent to mak e the true m agi c h appen. Wh en ever I'm a t Laguna Seca, I al ways look back a t th at first race th ere so man y years ago, to wh en Sh elby was dri ving th e tir es right off th at Maserati, And later , to wh en Kenny wa s riding lik e n o o ne else. And whe n Randy ca me a lon g to ch a lle nge him , a nd to win, th e two of them in wheeli es together through the checkered flag. And I say, this is in th e bloodstr eam h ere. This is family. T o associa te with a place like this, and to always keep com in g back, a lways, making the pi lg rimage over and over. Wh en it co me s time to head home, th ose inner fires flare up again. To be on the road! To be yo urself in co m ma nd o nce more, listen ing to th e harmonizing engines of three or four bikes in [ormation, like fighters in th e sky. This will have been good for us. We will have. put forth our o wn vulnerable snou ts in th e. wi nd and done it well. We will ha ve ridden with style an d with preservat ion an d survived once more. Lagu na Mecca ! T he GP rid ers have a lready run their season o pe ner a t Suzu ka , J ap an , a nd now th ey're wingi ng th is way - fro m across th e Pacific to th is Ca lifornia Shore. And way bel o w , d ow n there o n the Mo n tere y P enin su la , waits tha t a lwa ys-favorite tra ck th a t has grow n a co u pIc of more tu rn s, a nd ca n hold its ow n no w with the finest roa d race co u rses in the world. I don' t know abo u t you, but I wa nt to be first in line w he n th e ga tes o pe n. I wa nt to h ear th ose two-st rok e engi nes screa m up a nd dow n the h ill s, an d wat ch th ose int erna tio na l stars Ianny-Seknee it th rough th e New Loop a nd Old Corkscrew. I wa nt to be th ere wh en th eir tires begin to drift a nd th eir fronts start co m ing up o ff th e track. I want to - H ell ! And damn everyth ing el se! - I'm ready to head r igh t n o w , for L a gun a Mecca Seca . •

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