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/127698
Motocrosser Paul Malin one win and one DNF. Then it all went wrong. "Tho rpey's bike kept br eak ing d own w hile min e was brilliant ," sai d Malin . " Bu t fo r some reason, Alec s u d denly started messing wi th my,machine setu p. We had two different cylinder kits avail able to us, and I pr eferred the "A kit. Alec ins isted that I use the "B" kit, and I knew it was wron g and had to ride too hard just to be competitive. The result was no points at all in It al y and Germany, and just five fro m Hawkstone, my home GP. All the early season work w as for nothin g . We h ad th e " A" kit back on for Luxe mbourg and America, but it was too late - the season was blown." Followi ng hot on the heels of this d isap po intmen t came the end of his close relati on ship with Dobb. Malin plays it down, bu t it is obvious that he feels the loss of his so ul mate. "Me and Jami e we re best mates since the Schoolboy d ays," sai d Malin. "We were both with Kawasaki, and I wa nted D to stay with the SO s, and Jamie had a deal for 2505 , Then Alec anno unces that I wa s go ing down to the 250 class, and that Jamie wo uld be farm ed ou t as a privateer. Somehow I go t the blam e for this from the whole Dobb family, and they have ha rdly spoken to me since. I wo uld , love to ge t this who le thing so rted out. I had nothing whatsoever to do with tha t decision." The '92 season tu rned so ur anyway, as a string of bizarre injuries kept Malin off a bike - and ou t of the lime light - for eight mont h s , The en d re sult was a switch away fro m Team Green to th e less p ressurized Mitsui Yam aha squa d under the guidance of Roger Harvey. Sin ce th en, Pau l ha s gain e d th e unw anted - and largely unwarranted tag as a rider who is undeniably fast and talented, but who ha s so far failed to live up to that.same talent. It is this failure to actually win titles that has kept him as su ch a relative unknown, Until the '94 Motocro ss des Nati ons, of cou rse. " I have ridden somewhere in America every year since ' 83," said Malin. " I us ed to do the old Florida Winter Series, and Americans see m to be so arrog an t towards Europeans. They are all, 'You H .. ~ .. C::: a ~ 62 gu ys are just Eu ros, and we kick yo u r ass every year at the MX des Nations: I don't see why it has to be like that. " 1 raced against Damon Bradsh aw years ago in Florida. He beat me in one race, and I beat him in another. I came up agains t h im in ' 87 o n 125s, a nd I a d mi t th at he was way ahea d o f m e then. He w as yo ung, crazy and d etermined. " I'd like to race in Am erica, but you need to h ave a re all y good season in Eu ro pe before mak in g the move. Like Jean-M ich el Bay le . You have to ea rn their respect. " I'd like to get in to supercross so metime, but I don't have the experience. I see the wh oops as a proble m, everyone can do d oubles and trip les, but whe re d o I ge t experie nce in supercross-style wh oop s? Not in Britain." Of the Motocross des Na tions, Mali n is quic k and to the poi nt. "The big d iffer en ce for Britain this year over all previou s years was Dave Thorpe as our manage r," said Malin . "If it hadn't bee n for Dave, the team would have been en tirely d ifferent. The selectors wou ld h a ve gone the same old route. Kurt Nicoll would have been on 250s, jus t like in the Gra n d Prix. Mervyn Anstie would have been on the 500, just like the GPs, and the 125 berth wo uld have go ne to one of the youngsters w ho rid e the British se ries, like . Jus tin Morris. "Dave used his experience and visio n in p icking the best team for the job. He knew I could rid e a 125, but everyone else - the Eu ropea ns and the Americans - they jus t laug hed. "I go t Bob Moor e's GP engi ne for my Mitsui Yamaha, so I had a qu ick bik e. I was quick as well, and the res u lt was two straigh t w ins. I' ve read all so rts of rubbi sh about how w e w on an d th e Americans lost. It was quite sim ple - we ou trod e them . No exc uses - we didn't have any lu ck . In fact, Rob Herr in g could barely stand on his injured ankle. We won and th e Am er icans lost. We had to stand and smile while they won yea r aft er year, but they can' t sta nd it wh en they lose." Before the MXdN, M alin had already decided to go 12Sec Grand Prix racin g in '95. Paul Mali n (pictu red above holdin g the number-one plate) led Eng land to vi ct ory In the Motocross des Nations with his stunning performance in the 125cc class. "Everyo ne says that it will b e a make-or-break season for me, jus t like they di d last yea r and the yea r before," said Malin, "I'm still here. For the first time since '91, I will have the right bikes for the job, I wi ll be riding for the Mitsui team , bu t m y engines will be prepar ed by Rinald i, just like the engine I had at MXdN . Sure, the opposition will be as strong as ever, but I ra te m y chances pr etty highl y." So, w hat kind of p erson is Paul Ma lin? Ha vin g read his com me nts on the MXd N and on American riders, you might think that he is jus t ano the r loud, brash, in-your-face racer. But yo u wo uld be wrong. Malin is actually a quiet, even ' shy, person, certainly by motocross standards, "I got thr ou gh the boy-racer bit pretty quickly w hen I wa s 18 or 19. These days I even drive a diesel car and pr efer the compan y of my girlfriend, Louise, to going out and par tying. I am ' a pretty pri vate person , really." Malin is cu rre ntly building a hou se, which h e is th reat ening to sha re wit h fellow rnotocrosser, Brian Steele, and tri als ace, Rob Crawford . And if it doesn't all come toge ther for Malin next year in the 12Sec class? . "I 'rn n ot b ad o n a roa d racer, yo u k now," said Ma li n . "May be not in Bayle's class, but good eno ugh for the Loctit e Yamaha race boss, Rob McElnea, to be in teres ted . If it d oesn't work out in '95, I'll give road racing a sho t for sure." Somehow , we d on 't think he'll need 0 to ...