Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

INTHEPADDOCK By Michael Scott evin Sch wantz was keen to dispe l any rem ain ing do ubts about h is forth coming re ti rem ent on the eve of the recent IRTA test es sion s at Jer ez. Speaking a t a lavish ress receptio n to ce le b rate the 10th ea r of Lu ck y Strike sponsors hi p , he as quite definit e. "I'd like to go out as hampion again, but no matt er wh ere I . . h at the end of the yea r, I don 't see nything happen ing tha t will persuade e to go on. The travel and the stress of P racing puts so much pressure on you hat I just don't think I could find th e otivation ." His impending departure, combined ith the continuing absence of John ocinski, gives rise to a p ossibility that ould have been unthinkable two years go - no American rider in the premier P class. It still seems im possib le tha t a rider f Kocin ski's talent will not be seen at Ps this yea r - even if only as a replaceent for an inju red rider. Yet , it may ell be the case. Meanwhile, America' s next bright ope, Colin Edwards II, has been de viatd to World Superbikes . If h e s t ays here, we could be witnessing the end of n era. For, leaving aside the presence of immy Filice on a private Harris-Yarnaa this year, there is just one rider left to arry the flame . He is Kenny Rober ts [r., ow about to embark on a second seaon as a 250 rider (on Wa yne Rainey's earn) after missing most of his first seaon through injury. There is a sy mmetry to this, a poetial full circle. Because it was his father ho started the whole thing go ing, lm os t 20 years ago. There have been mericans at the top of the 500cc clas s s in ce th e fo rci b le ar ri val o f Kenn y Roberts Sr. in 1978, when he won the first of three consecutive World Championships at his first attempt. That was the start of a sea cha nge in racing, for Kenny b rou ght some th in g quite n e w to Europe. No t onl y t he b rusque m anners and a rasping s elfco nfi de nce th a t often mark out the American sports ma n, but also one very American a t titude. In Kenny' s b ook, first was the only place worth achieving, and se cond w as n owhere, as good as last. Th is co ntrasted sha rp ly with Ol d Wo rld notions of honor in defeat, bu t ha s n ow b ecome a GP norm . In th is way, it was no lon ger surp rising to see Schwantz (or Raine y) react, as if to bitter defea t, if Rainey (or Schwantz) had outqualified him by a few hundred ths of a second . Kenn y rem ained the man to beat for the next three yea rs, losing the cham pionship in '81 (to Marco Lucchinelli) and '82 (to Franco Uncini) more because he had various p roblems than because he was e ve r o u tr id den. It took a no ther American, the up-and-coming Freddie Spencer, to depose King Kenny fair and square in 1983. Since then, Americans have won the title ev ery year except 1987 and 1994, w hen it went to Au stralians Wayne Gardner and Mich ael Doohan. Out of 11 ch a m p ions hips from 1983 to 1993, 10 went to American rid ers , w ith Ed d ie La wson winning fou r, Wayne Rainey th ree, Spencer two and Schwantz one. Now, the last of the grea t U.S. quintet of champions is set to bow ou t of racing, and his departure may mean more than just the end of a personal era . Another sea change, in fact; driven by changes in the technology, tha t back in the late Seven ties, had evolved to favo r a type of rid in g th at was especially Ame rica n . And more support for this theory comes fr om the para lle l ex perie nc e of Au s tralians , who arose to make a count erpoint to the Americans, an d n ow also see their prospects on the wa ne . Tho ugh Daryl Beattie remains a bright hope for when Dooha n is gone, th e n e xt two probables, 1994 AMA Supe rbike Ch amp io n Tr oy Cor ser an d '94 Aus tra lian Superbi ke Champ ion Ant ho ny Gobe rt, have also gone to Superbikes . So wha t does it all mean? It was always held that the supe riority of American an d Australi an rid ers came from their common experience of racing from a ver y ea rly age on loose su rfaces. They were n ot on ly ab le to learn ridi ng techniqu es, most especially th e secrets of how to sl ide both front and rear w heels, wh ile yo ung en ough for it to bec ome second n ature. Th ey also recei ved v ital grou nd ing in rac ecraft, with their competitive ins tinc ts honed to razor sharp nes s in brief, frantic and crow ded races . Well , to be hon est, si m ila r fo rci ng grounds do exist in Europe, one notable example being Italy's 125cc production class , a veritable maelstrom whose most recent notable alumnus has been Max Biag gi. But one difference is that European riders on ly s ta rt w he n they a re already teenager s, which is one reason why they also tend to reach their peak at a later age . Luca Cad alora is now one of the top rid er s in the SOOcc cla ss, at the age of 30. By then, Fred die Spencer wa s long sin ce burned out. As for th e rid in g sty le, p erhaps it really is tru e tha t the se d irt track skills are not of such im po rtance as t hey u s e d to be - a view perpetrated by the pro -European schoo l of thou ght. This hold s that as tire grip im p roved a n d engi nes beca me m ore ri de r-frien d ly (most es pecia lly since the adven t of the less tire-punishing Big Ban g mot ors in 1992), the ability to control exaggerat ed rear- wheel slid es is no lon ger th e o nly w a y to go fas t around a race track. The new techno logy also favors old-fashioned "25D-style " rid ing, wit h smooth lines and high corner speed s. Just the way, fun nily enough, th at es ta blishe d .Eu ropean sta rs lik e Barry Sheene an d others were riding when Roberts came on the scene , with his ability to stee r with the rear coincidi ng w ith va u lting engine power outputs and lagging tire technology. So, this is ano ther full circle. And the only n agg in g d oubt remain in g is th e uncom fortable fact that while the profile o f th e top -three rostrum ma y ha ve skewed slightly back toward Euro pean riders , th e 5005 have not gained mu ch speed since the wild wheelspinnin' tailslid in' da ys of the earl y Nin eties, when Kev in Schwantz a nd Wa yne Ra iney between them held almost all the lap records, several of which still stand. What next? Well, unless Kocinski finds a way back in from the cold, Filice ha s an Ind ian Summer. o r Schwan tz changes his mind, it' s all down to Kenny Jr. And it ma y just be that his route to 500s v ia th e 250 cla ss, in the th ick of European com petition, ma y be a better wa y fo r modern times than th e d irt trackers and superbikes of his predecessors. l~ INContinued frompage 3 THE WIND . otocross Classic. The ev ent will be eld on May 6-7 at the Prairie City State ehicle Recreation Area, some 15 miles ast of Sacramento, California. Ov er 400 portsm an riders are expect ed to comete on May 6 on the same track that the ros will use a day later for th e AMA ational 125 and 250cc MX. For more nformation write the Dirt Digger s at .0. Box 620338, Orangevale, CA 95662. ture Party on March 30-Ap ril 2 in conju nctio n with th e Grand Na tional Dirt Track and AMA Superbike Nati on al at the Pomona Fairplex in Pomo na , California. Mahony will ha ve thousands of classic dirt track, TT, ro a d race a n d other forms of racing photos on d ispl ay a t the San Dimas Motel 6. For more info rmation call 800/543-2854, ext. 2249 or 2247 on the above dates. hotographer Dan Mahony will hol d is fourth an nual Spring Pomon a Pic- AUTOGRAPH SIGNING: At Stubbs Cycle SW in Hou ston, Texas, on March 24 from 6:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. Team Suzu ki's Dam on Huffman, Ezra Lusk, Greg Albertyn , Craig Decker, Tim Ferry and Roger DeC oster are sched uled to appear. For more information call 713/m -Wl. raiser for the American Cancer Society. All proceeds w ill be forwa rded to the Recreational Opportunities for Ca ncer Kid s (R .O .C.K.) pro gram . Fo r more informati on call 707/527-8888. AUTOGRAPH SIG NING: At CyclePro of Santa Rosa, in Santa Rosa, Californi a, March 31-April 1, from 5:00 p .m. to 7:00 p.m. Off-roa d racers Ty Davis, La rry Roeseler, Da nny Hamel, Steve Hat ch and Randy Hawkin s are sche d u led to appear. Afterwards a pizza party /fund AUTOGRAPH SIGNING : At Dr eyer Yam a ha, in Indianapoli s, Ind iana, on Friday, Mar ch 17, from 6:30 p.m. to 8:00 p .m . Tea m Yamaha rid er s Jeff Emi g, John Dowd and Kevin Windham a re sched uled to appear. For mo re inform a0 tion call 317/ 243-2203. .LOOKING BACK... 5YEARS AGO." March 24,1970 t w as Da yt on a r esults tim e, Dick and Mann graced the cover as the winn er of the 1970 Da y t ona 200. M an n was a bo a rd a 750cc I :!; , i H 0 n d a liiu; four...Kel Car- - - - -ruthers to pped the 250cc combined Amateur/ Expert 100-miler on the prev iou s day...Keith Mashburn was the ' man to beat during both nights of short track action at Day tona Memorial Stadium...Dallas Nichols sco red the overall wi n in the rai n -soa ke d Alligator End uro...John DeSoto rode a CZ380 to the SOOcc Senior class w in at the beautiful Bay Mare motocr oss fa cility nea r I -! N o v ice race ..."Rocket" Rex Staten terley and Tom Kipp wo n the cr uised to th e Da y t on a Sup ercros s GTO En d u ra n ce win ...Terry Wh ytal in terv iew ed Team ra ce a t Da y tona Honda 's Chuck Sun...Len Weed ga ve us Int e rn ati on al an inside look at the benefits of usin g Speedway. Team personal fitness tra iners in p rofessional To om er w on th e motocross...We modified a 1980 Hus qGTU class...Ke vin varn a 1 25C R fo r cross co untry Hines rode to the w ood s /end u ro u se ...Scott Hard en ov erall vic tory in grabbed his fourth straight vict ory in th e muddy Lo ne • • • the Motorc ycle Racing Association Star 100, the openo f Nevada /Gamb lers M.e. Hare Scra m bles at the Jean, Nevada dry I_-:::::::':~~~~ in g ro u n d 0 f th e I AMA Na t ion al lake. End uro Series...Some kid name d Jeremy McGrath s co red h is secon d s tr aigh t 5Y ARSAGO•.• E Mickey Tho mpson Ultracross win at San Diego's Jack Murphy Stadium. McGrath March14, 1990 was aboa rd a Kawasaki.. .M ike Healey ick John son wen t 1- 1 for th e completed a quest to captu re all three 250cc class win at the Gatorback CMC Golden Slate Pro titles in a single Nation al in Ga inesville, Florida. season with his 500cc Pro class wi n a t M ike Kiedrowski bea t Jean -M iche l Glen He len Raceway in San Bernar dino, Bayle for the 125cc class hon ors ...The California. ..~ Dutchman Racin g duo of Dale Quarthe 76 - m ile Ventura , C aliforni a .. .J.N. Roberts pa ssed Tom Poteet to take the Sand Blasters M.e. Hare and Ho und in Red Mountain, California . H ow a rd Utsey was third. 15YEAR SAGO... M 19,1980 arch atrick Pons won the 39th ru n n in g of the Day tona 200 on a Son a uto Yamaha . The prev ious year' s winner Da le Singleton was seco n d ...Graeme Cro sb y rode a Yoshimura Suzuki to a co me-fro m be hi nd vic tory in the Be ll Su p erbi ke 100m iler... Eddie Lawson won the In te rnational Ligh tweight co n test, a n d Jimm y Filice won P R

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