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/127128
has been replaced by the eq ua lly im porta nt part o f developing the riders, so me th ing th a t ha p pen ed natura lly with Spencer. T h us it is with new 1987 recruit Ni all Ma cke nz ie , h and -pi ck ed as eve n tua l replaceme n t. Frustrating ly, Mackenzie fou nd the going ra th er to ugh. " Experience is the great thi ng ," says Erv. " I' m sure Ni all has the abili ty; but in terms of raci ng m iles he's only a t the level of a J u nior in the U.S. It 's not so much steering with the back wh eel, but knowi ng ho w to react when th e wheel spi ns. Bu t I kn ow Nia ll can reall y develop. , " O f course, I'v e tho ug ht a bo ut quittin g . Travell ing away from ' home for such long per io ds ma kes it di fficul t to have any so rt of socia l life in the normal way. Bu t I reall y enjoy th e com pe titio n, and I rea lly do want to carry o n raci ng." Kel Carruthers Kel Carru th ers - wit h Kan emo to one of th e pro to types for the current generatio n of tech nica l tigers - was a lso forced to think dee p ly abo u t his motives durin g 1987. Things started bad ly, and got worse for almost half the season befor e th ey go t better. It started wit h the crushingsu pe riority of the Honda , then th e bu siest raci ng sched ule ever left no time for testing as he st ro ve to close the ga p. " I designed so me d ifferent exhausts for th e .500, a nd built the first o ne for Mo nza, but I didn 't geta chance to finish the o the r half o f th e pa ir unti l Assen , five weeks la ter. " H is fin al a rid m o s t inso l u b le problem was p ressure of work, th e sheer weight o f n umbers o f th e works Marlbo ro Yamahas he had in h is care: six 500s (two eac h for Eddi e Lawson, Rob McEln ea and T ad ahiko Taira) and fo u r 250s (for Mart in Wimmer a nd LUC'd Cad a lora ). All of th em despera tel y needed some tu n in g master-st roke, a nd look ed to Carruthers to prov ide it. If Ca rru thers had much hai r left, it was go ne by m id-season. Ca rrut he rs ha s a lwa ys p layed down h is role as inspira tio na l eng in eer, a n d p la yed up th e mainten a nce-engi neer side. " My job is to ma ke th e th ing ru n o n th e race track the sam e way it does on th e bench in J apan. In theor y, that 's the best it w ill ever go." H e a dd s: " N ine ty percent of the stuff I say sho uld be cha ng ed is a lrea dy o n the drawing boards." T his view sto ps short of the tru th . Carruthers ta kes personal resp on sibility for th e major race track adjustments - espec ia lly the carb uretor settings, but he a lso grinds d ifferen t cy lin de r p orts a nd makes other , trackside modifications. Another Au st ra lian , Ca rr u the rs has a rea l pedigree as a rider - he was 250cc Wo rld Ch ampion in 1969 on a fo ur -cylinder Benelli. H e ended h is riding ca reer in the U. S. a nd sta yed in Am eri ca working as tea m manag er for Yama ha. This brough t h im into co n tac t with Ken n y Robert s, first as a teammate a nd then in 1974as a crew ch ief. Wh en Roberts burst into Europe in 1978, wi n ning the first o f h is th ree consec utive 500cc World Ch am pi onsh ip titles; Carru thers was by his side. . He remem bers those years wit h irreve ren t admi rat ion. " Ken ny was a pain in th e ass to work for. H e works you to dea th . H is th eor y was tha t if he tol d you the bik e was rea lly bad , ma ybe yo u 'd work a bit harder than if he told yo u it was a lmos t r ig ht. Even when you got the bik e so he'd say it was good , he'd still wa nt to cha nge every th ing, to see if it co uld be made better. (Continued to page 47) YAMAHA HONDA. AMATEUR SUPERCROSS RACE - SATURDAY, APRIL 23,1988 -7:00 a.m. SATURDAY, APRIL 23, 1988 - 7:30 p.m. "The Nation 's Greatest Supercross.Stars Return To Tampa Bay" Ricky Johnson. 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