Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

"The 500 Honda's different than the Yamaha," Baldwin continued. The Honda , he pointed .o u t, was basicaJly a production bike, whereas the YZR Yamaha is a fu JI-bred fact ory race bike: " T he Yamaha steers a lo t like th e H onda Superbi ke, with th e front wheel. And yo u h ave to use the front en d in th e GPs." c Rainey agrees th at th e Su perbike pushed th e front en d, but fou nd more th an a few o the r d i££eren ces. "T h e Superbike's real to p-heavy, so in th e comers it wo u ld push the front end. With a 500, th e weig h t is lower an d it's li gh ter so th ere's more tra ct ion in th e front. Yo u ca n feel th e front end wh en it p ushes. You kn ow where it is."You 'ca n go th rough a co rner quite a bit quicker with th e 500 because it sticks so good. " On th e Supe rb ike, th e engi ne com p ressio n slo ws you down a n d th e power is more abrupt. The fourstro ke ha s more torque and sp ins th e rear tir e eas ier. T he 500 ha s a sort of revvier torq ue and it co me s' o££ th e corners real hard." If Rainey has h ad a problem this year it has been with the front end cha ttering. Roberts has spent considera ble time and m oney trying to solve it, including a switch to upside- 00 00 O"l ....... • Rainey discusses tactics with his team manager, three-time World Champion Kenny Roberts . The team uses video tapes to better understand how the bikes - and riders - are working. down Ohlins forks and the technical assistance of suspensio n specialist Steve Simons. In Belgium, Rainey said th ey'd managed to move the point wh ere it chatters to mid-comer as opposed to the comer 's exit, which helped th e exit spee ds. " T he hardest p art is pushing the front end with th e cha tte r problem ," Rainey said. " Magee uses more front end th an m e. It 's eas ier to cope with a bad rear . When the rear's gone o££ you have to rel y o n th e front. You don 't like to have to use th e front . to do good lap times." Stressing th e front tire ca used his second place a t Jerez an d hi s seventh at Assen. That th e Roberts team is the only 500 team to use Dunlops makes Rainey's job that much harder and has forc ed renewed determination on th e part of their Michelin rivals. Wh er e las t yea r Michelin lagged behind Dunlop in a number of areas, most notably in th e ra in , this year the ba tt le appears to be going in the ir dire ction. Last year the Roberts riders were vocal in th eir early -seaso n di spleasure, before the development began to p ay o ££. This . year, Rainey an d Magee are honest abou t any tir e problems th ey en counter, kn ow ing that everyone invol ved is working to ward a co m mon goal. And when it co mes to discussi ng th e equipment Rain ey is candidly honest. H is answers to questions seem to be as much seJ£-examination as information. He is su ccinct, yet extremel y in form a tive and as willing to sh oulder th e blame as a ny o the r rider. H e h as a certain inquisitiven ess that finds a reporter answering as m any quest ions as h e asks. U n like feJlow Americans Lawson, Mam ol a a n d, to a lesser d egree, Sch wa n tz, he doesn ' t co m m u te to th e races from h is h ome in No rwa lk , preferri ng, ins tead, to live o n th e ro ad wi th hi s wi fe, Shay, and travel with th e Magees. Part of th e reason is jet lag: It tak es Rainey a so lid five days to get over it in ei ther directi on. Another reason is m oney. Rainey doesn 't see th e sense in spending th at kind o f money to zip back and forth across four time zon es. Like most riders, h e won't di scu ss hi s sa lary, but it 's probably in ' th e $300,000 a year range, excl u din g lu crative helmet and leather co ntra cts, plu s purse m oney and bonuses. H e is in th e first of a twoyear co n tract, which, n o doubt will be ren ewed many times over. H is . dem eanor an d ri di ng style is o ne th at promotes longevit y a nd caJls to mi n d h is mo re successfu l frien d, Lawso n . Both h ave what appears to be an effortless ridin g style, a lt hough not as e££o rt less as th e £Juid Ma gee's. Both ra ce at 100%, but know where th e limits are, never p us h ing th em , ne ver crashi ng. If a p osition can' t be gai ne d wi thou t unrea sonable risk, it won' t be a ttem p ted. It 's n ot a s exciti ng an ap proach as th e acrobati c G ardner or Spencer before him, but if yo u want to stic k a ro u n d a wh ile, it' s th e sm ar test way to go . G iven hi s success so far , it's clear th at Rainey won' t rest until he's won it all. " I figured I co u ld run with th em, I just didn 't know when it was going to happen ," he said. " I'm on an expe rienced team with real good bikes. We weren 't th at far o££ in th e beginning. I got to the point of being abl e to race with them a n d th en . going quick er a t times. It's good for my co n fide nce . J erez wa s a good ra ce for m e. I knew then tha t I could run with them and beat them. I feel like I co u ld go qui cker, but why? I just want to keep learning and see what the y're doing. Next year I can be more of a threat earlier. There 's so much th at goes on behind th e scenes . I'm still trying to figure o u t what makes me g o good. I'm always ' co m i ng o n so m e thi n g n ew to improve o n." U n den ia b ly, one o f th e key factors in Rainey's su ccess h as been h is longt im e cham p io n, Roberts. H e's trained a t Rob er ts' ra nc h in H ickm an , California, for th e la st five years a n d, af ter ra cing for h im on th e ill-fated Marlboro Rob ert s 250cc tea m in 1984, turned h im down for a n ear lier chance to ride 500s, feeling tha t he n eeded m ore experie nce in th e U.S. There is also no question th a t what he earne d ridi ng for H onda for two years ga ve him so me of th e fin an ci al secu r i ty th a t R oberts co u ld n' t, at firs t, o ffer. " Ken ny keeps me p um ped," Ra iney sai d. " H ~ p icks up o n little things that n oone else sees. H e's th e only team m anager th at ha s th e kind of clou t th at yo u 'd listen 10. " Aft er ea ch · practi ce sessi on , Rob erts, his riders, crew ch ief an d tire 'tech n icia n reti re to th e rear o f his n ew motor h ome/hospitality sui te a nd discuss wha t's jus t h appe ned. Often , h ey use videos shot a t various corners on th e circu i t th a t R obert s h as chosen in advance. If Rob ert s can't be found a ny w he re in th e paddock, he 's proba bly scr uiineering the videos. " H e wa tches othe r guys, too ," Rainey says. " He' ll help wi th gea rbox es, suspen sion, tires, everyth ing. He's just been very good to m e an d Sha y. H e's just a go od friend . Not what a lot o f people th ink he is." In 1986, whe n Ra in ey wa s first asked by Robert s to go to Eu rope, he declined. " I wasn 't ready yet , ,. Rainey rem embers. " I kn ew wh at it was about . I think now th at I p icked th e right time to co me . T h is is th e happiest I' ve been in a long, long time. You race in so m any kinds o f co n d itio ns here. It 's ra ini ng on on e end of th e tra ck a nd dry at the o the r. At th e Nurburgrin g , I didn 't want to go o u t, th en I went o u t a nd set th e fastest time in th e wet. " With Gardner's mid-sea son return to form , there's no doubt that Ra iney's task will be more di££icult in th e second half of th e seaso n. A quick sca n of th e first nine races revea ls th at on ly two riders have sco red points in every round: Rainey and Lawson. Lawson, a lt h o ugh he downplays it in his usual st yle, is weJl on hi s wa y to a third World Championship. It 's hi s to lose. As for Rainey, " An ything 's possible," he says, a nd no one would question him. • Rainey says the hardest part of GP racing is pushing the front end . 17

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