Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

now, " Kiedrowski said. " All of a sudden my bikes sta rted getting faster. " Although somewhat bitter about th e situation, Kiedrow ski didn 't begrudge Honda and gave his best effort, He was nearly out of championship co nte ntion when th e burden fell on his back, but Kiedrowski worked hard and gave rival Guy Cooper a run for th e title. Kiedrow ski cam e up one point shy of Cooper for th e championship that year. " I wa s disappointed I lost the championship, but not with myself," said Kiedrowski. " I knew I tried 100 percent all year long. "People say that's what happens to champions. They lose by a little bit and realize what they could've done (to win). -That's what makes next year's champion." Kiedrowski must have been able to see ahead to th e end of the 1991 season. He looked back o n 1990and knew there wasn't much he needed to cha nge in order to regain the 125cc Nati onal title again . "I kn ew I had to give 100 percent, " (R ig h t) Kiedrowski ha s two dogs to help keep him company in his fourbedroom home in Acton, California. (Left) One day Kiedro wski would like to park a Ferrari in his garage beside the motorcycles, bicycles and Jet Ski. Kiedrowski said. "1£ there was one guy ahead of me with half a lap to go , I had to pass him. In '90 there were probably a few times when there was just one guy in front of me and I ended up falling just before the checkered flag and didn't pass him." He also knew he had to switch teams and made the jump back to Kawasaki, which was a familiar place. Kiedrowski had spent six years there as a member of Team Green before he went to Honda. "I knew a lot of people atKawasaki and I didn't want to go somewhere new where I didn't know anyone, " Kiedrowski said. "It was like starting over again. I knew how the people worked and felt I had a better chance to win on (a) Kawasaki than anything else. " The move to Kawasaki also allowed Kiedrowski to be reunited with mechanic Shane Nalley, who also helped him win the first championship. Kiedrowski credits a lot of his success to Nalley. "He's about 45 percent of my rac ing, " says ' Kiedrowski. " For some reason Shane and I click. He always knows what I'm thinking before I say anything. He knows when I'm trying, and when I'm not, he tells me right away before it gets any further. He watches how other champions ride and tells me what they're doing. He's probably one of the best friends that I have." Two years ago, Kiedrowski traveled to Indiana to be a pan of Nalley's wedding. It was Nalley who got him hooked on archery, and Kiedrowski recently spent a rare vacation at Nalley's home where they went deer hunting. Poor weather prevented Kiedrowski from even taking a shot, It 's not often that a factory-backed racer gets to take a vacation. The AMA season runs from January through October, and not long after that a rigorous testing schedule begins in order to prepare for the next season. In between testing there's the postseason supercross events in Europe, where Kiedrowski has participated for the past few years. "All the other riders go, so I feel I have to go to keep up with the competition," he says. "1£ everybody stopped going, I would too. I wouldn't be disappointed. But they do pay a lot of money, the purses are bigger and we get start money." Racing is a full-time job that Kied rowski works hard at in o rder to stay on top. " I don 't th ink I'v e really found out just how much of a job racing is," Kiedrowski says. "Every time I win a championship, I think that the next one will be even harder to win, so I try even harder. I don't think I'll ever find out how hard it is. I work every day doing what I have to do to become the best," A typical Kiedrowski work day starts from the time he awakes. After eating a good breakfast, he goes riding for a few hours, usually near his home which overlooks Highway 14 and the mountains of the Angeles National Forest and isn 't far from Palmdale, California, and Edwards Air Force Bas e, site of many space sh u tt le landings. He doesn't have a practice track in his five-acre yard yet, but he plans to have tr ack builder John Savi tski make one soon. When he 's done riding, Kiedrowski has lunch before running or bicycling on a co un try-style road. He'll follow that up with some weight training. 1£ it's still daylight, he might practice shooting his bow in the front yard, or . work a t making his four-bedroom house more of a home. Kiedrowski recently moved ou t on his own and lives alone with his two dogs. Evenings are reserved for his girlfriend of more than five years , Wendy ,Moore. ''I'm fort u nate to have m y ow n ho use and enough money to live on," Kiedrowski said. " A lot of peo p le my age are n't able to do that, " . There's no fan cy car in th e garage, wh ich is rela tivel y em p ty excep t for h is practice bike, h is first motorcycle - an Italjet 50, a Kawasaki J et Ski and severa l bicycles.· Someday he would like to own a Ferrari T estarossa, but that will ha ve to wait un til he can a££ord it, " I want to be abl e to live well for the rest of my li fe before I buy something like that," he says. " I' ve got a good accountant and he 's got me set up," Kiedrowski will likely be working even harder to reach his next goals in racing • winning the Camel Supercross, and the 250 and 500cc National Championships. After extending his contract for another two years , Kawasaki wanted him to defend his 125cc National Championship, but Kiedrowski was looking ahead and convinced them that he was ready to move on to the 250 and 500cc classes. "I've been hanging around third and fourth in the supercross races , and a lot of that was because I was concentrating on the l25cc National Championship," says Kiedrowski. "There's a big difference between getting third or fourth and winning." . He knows the competition will be tough, especially Camel Supercross, 250 and 500cc National Champion Jean-Michel Bayle. "I haven't figured out what he's doing different, Maybe I'll ha ve to let it hang out more, go his speed. He 's got his speed down to where he 's smooth and doesn 't make mistakes. When we're right o n him he makes a lot of mistakes, I just can' t let him get out of my sig h ts." Bayle is undoubtedly just one of the riders Kiedrowski hopes to shoot down during 1992 as he hunts for more ch a m p io nsh ip s. Considering what he 's accomplished th e past several years , he 's right o n target to do just that, CN 7

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