Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

DREW SMITH'S SIX DAYS RECORD 1975 1976 1977 1978 . 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 Great Britain Austria Czechoslovakia Sweden Germany France Italy Czechoslovakia Wales Holland Spain Italy Poland France West Germany ' Sweden Czechoslovakia Australia ' Holla nd Bronze Medal Gold Medal DNF Day 6 Gold Medal Gold Medal DNF Day 4 Gold Medal Did not participate Silver Medal Silver Medal Gold Meda l Did not parti cipat e Gold Meda l Bronze Medal Did not participate Silver Medal Silver Medal Silver Med al Juni or Team man ager did was ge t it th rough the refin em en t stage. ' Wh o gets the cred it for starting you on yo ur off-road caree r? I've been associated with a lot of really good people. There's no way to cover all of them, but a few of them have ta ught me an awful lot. John Morgan, my team manager w hen I was with Suz uki, probably played the biggest role when I was riding. Then in '81, when I was recovering fro m a broken wrist, I was the mechanic for my Suz u ki teamm a te Frank Stacy. Fra nk rode seven ISDE Qualifiers tha t year, and won six of them ... Fran k gave me a chance to put my mechanic skills to work, and helped me d evelop a real good attitude about my abili ties as a bike mechanic. Th o se two gu ys hav e helped me develop two successful careers - one as an off-road racer and the other as being a d evelopment gu y. While at Suzuki I helped develop the PE175 right from the first test. If anything sets me apart from an ybody else, it's the dual-yet-parallel careers I had with Suzuki, and I think I owe a lot of it to Morgan and Stacy. You rode in the shadow of Dick Burleson in the '70s and early '80s. What was that like? At the time we were pretty rivalrou s. Dick may ha ve won the National Championships, b u t I won m y sh are of National End u ros and class championships . It wasn't like we were at each other's throats, but it was still compe titive. A lot like (Randy) Haw kins and (Kevin) Hines a re today - more like a friendly rivalry. What edge d id Dick have on you? Dick simply had the mat u rity, and that's what wins National titles . Wha t's the biggest change tha t you've seen in off-road motorcycles? Next to the advent of good suspension, prob ab ly th e biggest change has been disc brakes. With d isc brakes you can now ride safely at any speed. Back in the '70s, with d rum brakes, so metimes you virtually ha d no brakes. What seems to be the missing link for an American I5DE Trophy team vi ctory? The main thing is that we have trouble adapting to their s tyle of off-road racing. We have to reorganize every time we go overseas. If we would bring them over here for our type .of racing and make them adapt - like we have to adapt - then we could be winning. Are there any things that could be changed to better our chances at winning? . Last year, because of my past Six Days experience, I was asked to manage the Junior team in Holland. But just about anybody could have done what I was asked to do. My talents were pretty much wasted. By the time I was given the chance to manage them, all I could d o was just walk them through the paperwork. If we're ever going to make it at the Six D ays, we're going to have to start managing our team mon ths before the even t - especially wi th the you nger riders who need the experience and maturi ty. We ha ve to s ta rt w orking with them before the fact, rather than trying to put th e best face on it once the Six . Days are unde rw ay. Teaching these riders to be profession als is the only w ay we're ever going to win, and that means working with and managing them more than just two or three weeks before the event. This year they're trying a training camp for the top qualifiers, but it may be too close to the event to make a big difference. Don't get me wrong; I like the idea of having a training camp, but I think it's being scheduled a little late to do much good for the guys who have the most to gain - the yo unger riders. For guys like Randy Hawkins an d Rod neySmith, who make their livings racing motorcycles, this training camp wiII just be an exercise, because they're used to the routine. Bu t for the new guys - the ones that are still new to the sport and haven't re ached the level of ma turity needed to win - they're going to be overwhelmed to just be working ou t of the same box van with guys like Randy and Rodney. 50 why doesn't the AMA recognize the problem and pick the Trophy teams earlier? Personally, I don't like the idea that them waiting so long to select the Trophy teams , but that's the way it's done. I'm not saying that the AMA is not doing its best. The AMA is basically trying to reflect everybody's desires as far as picking the Trophy teams. They're under a lot of pressure - especially from the manufacturers, who all want to see their riders on the Trophy teams. Espe- dally this year, when the Big Show is in Tulsa. To the average outsider, who is no t aware of all of the poli tics invo lved, it see ms like th e AMA is dragging the ir feet. Then it's easy to just say, "Kill the messenger," an d that's the AMA. Basically, I think they're do ing a good job with the selection process we 're presently using, Once a g a in, it takes professiona l, mature riders to win, and this year we had the best off-readers trying to qualify. Hopefully everything will work out this yea r, and the overall increased awareness will bring more professionalism to the sport. 50 what are our chances of winning? As far as America winning this thing, I think it's well within our grasp. Personally, I think it's ours to lose. I think' we have the personnel available to us this year, and if things go right it's weII within our grasp. l:N

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