Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

pole, wh en yo u a re o n top, you a re the top dog a nd ha ve everyth ing. 1 was barely abl e to be on th e pol e." Although things didn 't go well for Cooper in th e Camel Supercross Series this year, he rolled through the first half of the 125cc National s locked in a battle with Fren chman J ean-Michel Ba yle of Team H onda for th e poin ts lead. Cooper enj oyed the struggle and came to respect the former 125 and 250cc World Champion for his racing on the track while forming a friendship off the track. "Bayle is the type of gu y with whom you could shake hands with the da y before an event even wh en we kn ew it was going to be a tight race," says Cooper. " We' d do some trials ridingon bicycles and ta lk abo u t th e race a nd end up saying goo d lu ck to each other Cooper. " Everyo ne ; even (Honda's raci ng ma nager ) Gary Mathers, ca me up to me an d co ngratulated me o n th e win. Other ride rs, friends and j us t a lot o f peopl e mad e it so u nd like the titl e was in th e bag." It turned ou t to be th e worst thing to happen to hi m. Cooper was now th e o ne to beat a nd, instead o f rid ing o n th e edge as he always had , he bega n to co ncen tra te o n riding conserva tively in order to reduce th e risk 'o f a crash and injury. H e changed his tra ini ng routine and his diet and bega n tak ing lar ge amou nts o f vi ta m ins to hopefully increase his end urance. " I th ought th ings were going great, a lt ho ug h I cou ld hardly even drive a car without thinking I might cra sh it," says Cooper. Needl ess to say , th e next race was a di saster. " You can get guidance, you can ask the Lord for wisdom .. . but there isn't one person in the world who can tell you how to win a race. You've got to practice and use the advice, but you've got to pull it from yourself to win -the race.' , e ve n ly m a tch ed a t t h e la s t t wo Nationa ls, j ust as it had been with Bayle: Bu t Kiedro wski was different. " He wasn ' t th e type to wish you luck before a rac e," sa ys Cooper. " When he beat me 1 didn 't feel like I co u ld go u p a nd congratu late him. I th ink he dislikes his riva ls so he can work himself up to beat th em. Tha t' s the way H annah was . " So meti mes I'd talk to hi s mech anic, Ron Wood, who was mine last year, and we'd laugh and jok e around. Kiedr owski didn 't like th at a t all, so sometimes I did it just to get him mad ." Cooper won the battle a t Unadilla to fulfill h is dream, a ltho ug h the en d ing wa s n oth in g lik e he h ad im agined. "The last co u p le of laps a t U nad illa 1 wanted to screa m a nd yell a nd just Guy Cooper (4) battled with Mik e Kied rowski (I ) and jean-Michel Bayle (22) for the l25cc Nati onal Championship th ro ugh out the season . and mea n it. We kn ew we'd both be ru n n ing hard." Bayle's luck ra n ou t whe n he brok e his arm a t th e midpoint o f th e seaso n . Cooper wo n that da y a nd in herit ed a good-sized points lead over defen ding cham p Mi ke Kied rowski. It was the ,n thought things were going great, although I could hardly even drive a car without thinking I might crash it." firs t time he had ever led the series, a nd suddenly he was no longer the u nde rdo g. " Tha t was th e bi g tu rni ng point o f how th e seaso n wo uld turn o ut," says "Every litt le thing affected me, I was uptight over th e littlest thi ngs:'. he said. " He was the worst when he was on the vitamins, " says J ayni. " He was out o f control." Cooper q u ickl y dropped th e vita mi n a nd diet program , but it didn 't cha nge his luck. At the very nex t Nation al he cras hed in the first mot o and was detuned for th e rest o f the da y. A mon th- lon g break in th e sche du le and tra ini ng wi th Bob H annah hel ped him to regain hi s conf idence. " It was p rett y good havin& th e 01' gu y ridi ng wi th me; he reall y helped me go ing into th e Steel Ci ty Na tional : ' says Cooper. " He didn 't tell me exactly wha t to do , he ga ve me ad vice, to ld me wha t he did in si mi lar sit ua tio ns. It helped becau se it gave me a nother angle to loo k a t. . " But you ca n ge t guidance , you can as k th e Lord for wisdo m , there a re a lo t of th ings to do to help you r men ta l a tti tude, but th ere isn' t one person in the wo rld wh o ca n tell yo u ho w to w in a race. You 've go t to practice a nd use the advice, bu t you've go t to p u ll it from yourself to win the race." ' Hhad to win, there was no more riding easy. I had something to overcome." . With the tim e o ££ a nd new-fou nd co nfide nce , even a DNF du e to punctu red engine cases in the first mot o a t Steel C ity turned out to be a positive th in g. Coope r lost hi s points lead to Kiedrow ski and was o nce aga in th e underdog. " I had to win. . there was no more ridi ng easy:' Cooper says. " I had someth ing to overcome." H e became locked into a battle agai ns t Kiedro wski, a nd they were be exci ted, but I cou ld n 't. I didn't want to fall o r do any th ing stupid, so I tri ed to hol d i t a ll back. I a lwa ys tho ug ht tha t when I crossed the finish line 1 wou ldn 't be able to even rid e th e bike, tha t 1 was go ing to fall over and it wo uld be just a fu ll-on dramatic thing. But th ose last two la ps drug it o ut ; th ey felt like th ey lasted a n hour. 1ca me in happ y a nd th rill ed, but it wasn 't wh a t I expected. I envisioned people pulling me o££ th e bike." Bu t even after the victory party in New York, a n a irport welcoming pa rty co mple te wii h ba n ners, a nd bein g presented with a p roc la ma tio n fro m the ma yor of Stillwa ter p rocla im ing O ctob er 15 as Guy Cooper Da y, Cooper feels tha t th ere is a black cloud cas t o n hi s ti tle. " I feel tha t so me of the p ress has ta ken th e Washo uga l race a nd bl own it o ut o f proportion ," says Cooper. T ha t's where Cooper took over the poi nts lea d in th e 125cc Na tiona l Championsh ip MX Ser ies whe n ri val 5

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