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/127161
J im Redma n d idn 't have the big bike
talent to g ive H onda a title in the
500cc class, th ey did what co mes
na turall y a n d turn ed with open
check books to th eir former servant,
Hailw ood, to ride Iorthern in 1966.
That caused a bit o f amazeme nt a t
the time, especia lly as the names
Hail wood and MV had become just
abou t as irrevocably lin ked 'a fter [our
500cc Worl d Ch ampionship titl es in
successive years as Agostini and MV
would be la ter. But even Mike The
Bike co uld n' t ma ke the 500 H onda
[our a ti tle winner, even if he did
score a brace of 250/3 50 title do ubles
on the m agi cal sixes and a manufacturers ' 500 ti tle befor e Honda
pulled ou t a t the end of '67. I'd say
they d id th e smart thing, no t standing on th eir pride, wouldn 't you?
T he fa ct tha t befo re L a w son
evealed to a nyone (o r ma yb e I
ho uld say befor e anyone a t Ro th a n s decided to g et o ne -u p o n
arl boro by lea king the news ) tha t
e'd be ' rid ing for H onda in '89,
ddi e got a good look over the '89
amaha 500 (and thei r 250?) probbly wo n' t have pleased his former
ea rn too much , bu t, of co urse, such
ide ben efits are all part o f the dea l
nd make ti m ing even more crucia l
" let me see what you're p la n ning
o gi ve me to ride nex t season befor e
tell you whether I will or no t" ).
cT he most fam ous exa m p le o f a
acto ry actually buying tech no logy
hey wo uld otherwis e never possess
y the simple expedien t of sign ing
p a rider wh o happens to ho ld a ll
he secre ts in his head, is a lso a n event
hich heralded the dawn of th e
a d em era of G P racing: Er nst
egner's famous defection fro m East
ermany, where he'd been the MZ
acto ry's lead rider as well as their
ce designer Wal ter Kaaden 's righ t
an d man in the develop ment of th e
odern raci ng two-strok e engine,
nd h is su bseq uent sign i ng for
uzuki - until then a no-hope alsoa n a mo n g emerge n t .j apan ese
akes. Designer 's knowledge a nd his
nd oub ted riding abi lity, co u p led
ith Suzuki 's money and facilities,
tim ed the 1961 runner-u p in the
50cc World Championsh ip o n a n
Z into th e 1962 Wor ld Champion
n the new 50cc cla ss on the fir st
uzuki racer th at ever reall y worked .
ot a bad investm ent, even if it took
ser ies o f events wo rt h y o f a Hi tch ock scr ipt to get Degner a nd his
am ily awa y fro m the wrong side of
he Iron Curtain to mak e it possibl e.
In signing for Honda, La wson is
ompleting th ree sides of the Japaese sq ua re, h a vin g ridden for
awasaki as welI as Yamaha in th e
ast, Even if he sho uld su bseq uen tly
ontempla te a move to Suzuki in th e
uture so as to make a fulI house,
e'Il have some way to go to ca tch
p wi th Sp eedy Ready, who's th e
nl y man I can thin k of who 's ridden
or a ll four j apa nesc factories (no t
11 a t GP level, admittedly, and I
xp ect he'd ra ther forget hi s Kaw a aki rides) as well as abou t every
uropea n tea m you can th ink of
rom Ducati to EMC a nd Ben elIi to
V. H ow ever, a t th e 500cc G P level
an dy Mam o la sti ll has the edge,
aving ridden for Suzuki, H o nda
nd Yama ha in the past a nd no w,
f course, Ca giva. Randy for Kawa aki in the 1990 G Ps if they make
heir m uc h-ru mored ret u rn to the
~Occ class? Well , stra ngeer th in gs
ave hap pe ned, but in that case, who
~ o u ld replace him on the lucrative
agiva.dea l. Gosh, no su rel y not ddi e La wso n? Ge t those four-in ch
ead li nes ready - this is the Big
n et
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.If's tIorYOUR
rIC] ., TO RIDE.
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