Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

eIN E VIE TR W m Motocrosser Jean-Michel Bayle By Ala Hodgkinson ea n-Michel Bayle may have been born on April Fool's Day in 1969, bu t t he Fr e n ch m an fro m Manosq ue, just a few m iles fro m the Med iterranean coastl ine, is certain ly nobod y's fool when it comes to riding a mo torcycle. This became evident right away when the Frenchman collected two World Championship tit les in hi s first few years on the G P circuit. He first landed the 125cc crown in 1988 and then followed it up with the 250cc title in '89. Bayle has only contested one 500cc ' G P in his career, but, in that one race, he left no doubt in anyone's mind that he cou ld be a 500cc MX World Champion, as well. At the August25 U.S. 500ccGP at G len Helen OHV Park in San Berna rdino, Ca lifornia , Bayle went 2-1 to score the overall win. Alt ho ugh Bayle is not th e first rider to score maj or wins in all AMA MX categories (125, 250, 500cc Nation als a nd 250cc Supercro ss), he did achieve th e dis tinction faster than anyone else. Bu t what will perhaps be remembered most is that he did what no rider has achieved when he completed a ha ttrick o f the th ree major U.S. MX titles - Ca me l Supercross, 250 a nd 500cc Nationals - in a si ngle season. Obviously, Bayle has conquered the vastly differing worlds of European and American motocross, and at the age o 22 is arguably the greatest f motocrosser the world has ever seen. We caught up with Bayle at the opening round of the Masters of Motocross Series in France, one week after th e Frenchman had clinched the 500cc National title. J ***** 16 Was it diffi cult to maintain your form from the opening supercross in January right through to th e final 500cc National in October? Not this year. Wh en you are goin g for you r firs t cham pio nsh ip in a ny class it is eas ier to maintain mo tiva tion. Perhaps it would hav e been m ore diffi cult if I had alread y wo n four or five titl es in America and was si m ply tryi ng to win them again. But for myself it was not so bad; th is was th e firs t year I have won an AMA titl e. Did yo u take any kind of break from racing or riding on the free weekends during the year? I just stay ed home and tri ed to rest up a littl e bit. It p rob ably helped a little, b ut we are used to racing nearl y every week , so it is no t rea lly a maj or p ro blem to still ride. Can yo u maintain your form in the six-round Masters of Motocross Series? No problem. It is just another race. Is it important for yo u to win the Masters title? Not rea lly. My main aim this year was to win the Ca mel Su percross Ch ampionship . I did that and everything else is a bonus. I'd lik e to win some races in the Masters, so I will rid e as well as I ca n a nd if that brings me th e titl e, th en so be it. When you were younger you used to ride a motorcycle every day. Do you still do that? No. I' ve slowed down a lot in tha t respect. We hav e a lo i of races and th a t keeps me sharp . Wh en I was you nger I needed to rid e every day , I was always learnin g. T hat is not so necessary a ny more. I still rid e wh en I ca n, but it is hard to ride every day because th ere is so much travell in g. Do you still get the same thrill from . riding as yo u did as a teenager? Oh, yes. P erhaps I don 't look as spectacu lar now, but everyone cha nges th eir sty.le as they grow o lder. Before, On top of the world Career highlights 1981 1984 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 - Min ibike Champ ion of Pro ven ce Minibike Champion o f France Fren ch 125 & 250cc Su percross Champion Srd World Championsh ip I25cc MX Series (two wins ) 125cc World Cha mpion (five win s) 250cc World Champion (six wins) Winner T ok yo Supercross Runner-up AMA Ca me l Su percross Ch a mpionship Winner o f five AMA Supercross a nd four 125cc National s Winner o f th e fir st th ree even ings a t the Par is Bercy Supercross AMA Ca mel Supercross, 250 and 500cc National Ch ampionship titl es ' Record eight Su percross wi ns in o ne seaso n Winner of 500cc U.S. G P a t Gl en H elen I always wanted to go as fast as I cou ld, I wa nted to pro ve to myself that I was good. Now I kn ow I am good, I don't have to prove it a ny more. I try to ride as smooth ly as I can now. Is there an incentive for you to repeat your championships next year? I don 't th ink I a m u nder any pressure to do so. My goal when I quit the GPs to ride in America was to win th e Ca me l Su percross Championship, and I have done that. I will try to win the title again next year, bu t if I do n't, it wo n 't be th e end of the world. I kn ow that I will switch to road racing in 1993, a nd I wa nt to ma ke sure th at I a m pr epar ed for that. I will be ridin g wi th the n umber o ne p la te in every race next year, a nd I hope tha t I can prove worthy o f it. You have always moved on to something different after winning a title. Are you a person who always needs a new challenge? Yes, I think so. My first goal when I start ed mot ocross was to be World Champion. I won the title in th e 125cc class, th en in th e 250s. Wh en I became World Champion for th e first ti me, I was alread y looking a t th e possibli ty of mo ving to Am erica in an atte m p t win th e Supercross title. I gave myself two years to ach ieve tha t, a nd ' now I a m ch ampion. I had to find so methi ng else. I don 't wa nt to do th e same thi ng for five years. So I am going to try road raci ng. If you prove to be as talented in road racing as you are on a motocross bike and are able to win the 250cc World Championship, will you want to switch to the 500cc class? It is not m y goal to race in the 250s. I want to go straight to th e 5OOs. I hope I can prove next year th at I am ta lented enoug h to get a pl ace o n a good 500cc tea m for 1993. Is there a step after that if you were also successful there? Cars for example? It is difficult to say. That is still too far off. If som eone had as ked me five years ago what I wanted to do , th en I would hav e been able to say that I wanted to rac e th e Su percross Championship in th e U.S., but I would not have dreamed of goi ng road raci ng. I now kn ow th at I want to go road raci ng, but it is too far in th e future to say what I want to do in five or six years tirne., When you switch to road racing in to 1993, will you be drawing a final line under your motocross career, or is there a possibility that you could return? I do n 't kn ow. It is my pl an to ride m y final supercross in Paris' Bercy Stadi u m at th e end of 1992, bu t I" will still rid e motocross for fun even whe n I swi tch to road raci ng. Apart fro m anyth ing else, ri di ng mo tocross is one of the best ways of staying in shape. My goal for 1993 will be roa d racing, but th ere is always th e chance that I would do a no ther race some time for fun. I think I cou ld still be pretty competitive. It is like riding a bike; once you hav e lea rn ed to race motocross, it is no t something you forget 'so quickly. What has been th e attitude of th e American rid ers toward you? They were ha p p y whe n [ first came over and lost to them . [ was the Worl d Champion and they were beating me. T hat made th em ha pp y, because th ey cou ld say th at th e U.S. Championsh ip was more difficu lt th an th e World Cha m p ions hip, a nd I th ink th a t is tru e. Bu t th is year I proved th a t I had mad e a lot of progress, a nd as a result I wo n all of the three major championships. I th ink they still think th e U.S. championshi ps are the best cha mpion shi ps in the wor ld, but th ey are not win ning them any more. Do you have any close friends amongst the American rid ers? . No. Some guys I get alo ng with better than o thers, like (Jeff) Ward. Jeff is a very nice guy . But the U.S. is just like everywhere else; some people are nice and some are not. What has been the a ttitude of the Am erican public to your success? They have not been that bad. You get far more used to a ntagonism in Europe when, fo r example, you are a Frenchman and go racing in Belgiu m, and no t everybody likes you. It is something you have to get used to in Eu rope. It doesn 't bother me. Wh en I rid e in Ca liforn ia everybody is nice, a nd whe n I ride elsewhe re it is so metimes bad . But I don't care. I haven 't don e a ny thi ng to th em to ca use it, so pr esumably I can't do an yth ing to cha nge th ose people eith er. A lot of people were disappointed when it was announced you would compete on the French team in the Motocross des Nations, but you were not in Holland for the race. What happened? During th e su mme r th e French federa tio n asked me if I would rid e for th em , a nd I repl ied th a t I was prepared to do so. But , they -would have to do some thi ng for me in return. Three years ago, they d id so met hi ng very bad to me and all I asked for was that th ey shou ld do some thing good for me. Wh en I went to the U.S., th ey m ade me pay $ 10,000 to be released from m y French licen se to ride wi th th e AMA. I didn 't ask for th is mo ney back. I just asked th em to pay for the fligh t to Europe for me, my mech anic a nd my bik e. After all, th ey co uld not expect Ameri can Honda to pay for me to ra ce for France in th e Nations. I also said th a t th ey should pay m y mechanic Cliff White $1000, but nothin g for me other th an a license to ride th e first year in road racing GPs. They agreed to all of this on the phon e, but I also said that I wanted all o f thi s in wr iting o ne month before the race. T hey never sent me this, so I said I would not go to th e Nations. I ca n rid e th e road race CPs in 1993 with an Am eri can licens e. That is no problem . I wanted to g ive a chance to France to have me back. I don 't think I was bein g unfair. I asked for a sign o f fri endship and they co uld not respond. Cl'I

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