Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

occasi on . Raging at full-tilt and bouncing and ricochetin g o ff everything in sight, Magoo was on a mission. Hannah would later claim th at Ch andler - and hi s wild rid in g antic s - had him spooked. Bu t it was no t over at that. As the mo ta wound down, Chandler approached an uphill jump that had an old road w ay going through it. On th e other side of the roadway was another jump. No one in his right mind ha d ever d rea med of ju mping both at once except Ch andler. In th e heat of battle, an d wi th Hannah on his re ar fender, Chandler laugh ed in the face of deat h, p inn ed th e throttl e to the s top s, and launch ed h is Mai co over th e gh astly cha sm. The cro w d tha t was cong rega ted at the base of th e obs ta cle sta red on, slack-jawed, in a mixed emo tiona l state of awe and disbelief - then let out a roar of approval.' By the time Chandler h ad come back around th e circuit towards the "double jump," th e cr ow d n umbered in the thou sands. He then jumpe d it aga in. A few laps lat er, Hannah, not to be outdone (and not wanting to be beaten) built up his courag e and lofted his factory Yamaha over the second jump. Eventually, and to the lament of the crowd, Ch andl er' s -Maico e ngine wou ld go so u th, h andin g the m ota win over to Hannah. No matter. With h is bravery and wild riding. topped off by his now infamous leap, Ch andler became a legen d tha t afternoon. T o this day, the "Ma goo Double Jump" is still a major part of Am erican mot ocross folklore. In th e second moto, Ch andler again went after Hannah, obtaining the lead at one poin t, only to pull over an d wave Hannah by! The red-ha ired crazy man then felI in to pl ace beh in d Hurricane Hannah. sta lking and shadow in g h im comer a fter co mer. Down th e granit efaced. ominous elevator drop Known as "Banzai Hill," and u and over the h airball Mag oo Double Ju m p, Hann ah could not shake the overrevved Maico' Astall goo d th in gs must, Ma g,oo' s Cin derella ride had to end as hi s over-taxed Mai co transmission h ad enough. pacKing u p and going to p ieces halfway tHrou gh t mota. Hannah would go on to win the mota a nd the overall, whil e Yamaha teamma t e Broc Gl ov r left Orange County with the 125cc Na tional win . On March 30, 1980, the AMA circuit pu lled into Saddleback Park to do ba ttle in a combine d 125/250cc Na tiona l. But things were a bit d ifferent on the circuit in '80s. Hann ah had severely broken his leg in a water-skiing accident an d w as ou t for the year, while Glover, who had dominated the 125cc division for the las t three seasons, was now bein g stalked by a num ber of fast. young. and aggressive quarter-liter competito rs. At the Saddleback National. Su zuki factory rider and former minicycle sensation Brian Myerscou gh, of Ca limesa, raged to a 1-1 moto sweep. Mye rscough just d isappeared in both motos, leaving National Ch ampion Glover and title contender Mark Barnett (who had wo n the Sund a y b e fo r e a t H a n gtow n ) in his wake. Myerscou gh h ad grown up near the Saddleback circuit and had ridden to numerou s National minicycle titl es at th e ven ue - including th e prestigi ous BOcc-based International Race of Ch amp ions. Sad ly, Myerscough w ould not w in ano th er AMA N a tional du e to a m e d i cal probl em kn own a s h ypo glycem ia, a disease that wreaks havoc on th e bl ood -su g ar le vel. The d is ord e r w ou ld ultimatel y sa botage Myer scough's career. Mean while in the 250cc d ivi sion, Texan Kent H owert on m ad e the most of Hannah's absence, trouncing th e fie ld to take home the Sadd leback .National win. Howerton would go on to cl in ch the 1980 AMA 250cc N at ion al Championship in commanding fashion. The 1981 Saddleback Nati on al would again prove to be a w ild affair as Han nah was returning to competition with fire in his eyes, eag er to reclaim the 250cc National Ch ampionship t itle that he (and many others) felt was rightfully his. After being soundly defeated by defending class champion Howerton the previous Sunday at the Sacramento-based Han gtown National, Hannah showed up at Saddleback hell-ben t on winnin g. So much so that no thing - not even the rule book - was going to stop him . Both m o tos w ound up being b a rbanging ramathon ' s betw een the ' two ego-f u e led su pe rstars . At one point, Hannah cen ter -punched How erton into obli vion, knocking h im to the grou nd . The take-out m o ve resu lted in a torn an d frayed Howerton and a severely tweaked Suzuki. Howerton came charging back like a man possessed, lookin g like a crazy man with missing goggles, no helmet visor, and steam coming out of his ears. But it was all for naught. He en ded up settling for second in the mota and second overall. Wh en the dust and screaming subsided, the '81 Saddleb ack National w as conside red by many railbirds to be th e m ost blat antly violent display of d irty rid ing tactics since the Russ ians di d their hatchet job on Czech [araslov Falta at th e 1974 Swiss Gr and Pri x at Pa yerne (w hich ul timately cost Falta the 250cc Worl d Ch ampionship ). Hannah wo ul d later claim in an interview, "I would have won th at d ay if I had square wheels on my bike." In the less-controversia l 125cc di vision. Barnett took his potent factory Suzuki to wi reto-wire mot a wi ns. No one else was in the same league. In mid-August, the AMA staged the nal 125 / 500cc a tional of tl'ie year at Carlsb d . Glover from nearoy El Gajon took tHe National win before the hometo w n crowd, clinchi ng the 1981 500cc Nation al Ch am pionship. In th e 125cc class, Johnnv O'Marai Ho nda's main n in th e 125cc class, claimed his first A N ati onal win. The win, however, w as somew Hat hollow. Barnett had gone a a tear througho ut the Summe.r of '81 winning very singl e mo leading int o tlie Carlsbad Na tional. a feat that had ne ver been accomp lish e befo re. Carlsbad was to-be the venue where Barn ett capped off a pe rfect season. H owever, it wasn' t to be. During a midweek practice session, Barnett broke his collarbone putt ing an end to his phenomenal ' 81 ca mpaign. He didn't even bother to show up at Carlsbad. Also on an interesting n o te, a 16- year-ol d , Ya mahamounte d, 125cc semi-privateer named Rick Johnson took his first moto win at the Carlsbad National. It wo uld be the first of man y. On a sunny April afternoon in 1982 at Saddl eback, Barn ett of Tea m Suzuki and Glover of Team Yamaha rode away to co nvinci ng w in s in the 125cc and ' 250cc divisions respectively. For Barnett, the win would set the stage for his third consecu tive 125cc N at ional Ch amp ionship. Glover, mean while, was caught up in an ep ic struggle for supremacy in the 250cc d ivision. From the first mot o at Hangt own, it was appa ren t to all that th e '82 250cc N ati onal Ch ampion ship was going to be an all-ou t war between Glover, teen se nsation Rick Johnson , an d Team Hond a ' s Donnie H ans en. . Joh n son w ould .u ltim a te ly h ead the standings goi ng int o the final .rou nd of the se ries , which was to be held on a du sty, hill-in fested ci rc u it in Castle Rock, Colorad o. In the first mota, Johnso n, eager t o claim h is fi rst AMA (Right) Brian Myerscough won his last National at the long-s incegone Sad dleback Park In 1980. The U.S. GP at Carlsbad was perhaps the most s ignificant MX event. The GPs always attracted huge crowds as well as camera crews from ABC's Wide World of Sports. It was one of the s how's most popu lar features. (Right) One of Northern California's most popular MXers ever was also a big part of Southern . California's MX folklore. Danny "Magoo" Chandler was the first to Jump Saddleback's Suicide M ountain. National Championship, let impatience and inexperience foil his q uest as he overshot a jump w h ile chasing down Hansen. The mis take resulted in a collapsed wheel, th u s ending John son ' s title hopes. Hansen went on to take the points and the title. In mid-August, a 125/500cc National was he ld before a sparse crowd at the now rapid ly d ecaying and dilapidated Carlsbad Raceway. Barnett claimed the 125cc win an d a rela tively unknown factory Suz uki rider nam ed Alan King of Troy, Michigan, left th e seaside town w ith the 500cc Na tiona l wi n. To th row th e American motocross co mm unity a b it o f a cu rve b a ll. .th e AMA la id d own an edict th a t fo r th e 1983 sea son, all th ree Na tional classes (125, 250 and 500cc) were to run on the same d ay . Thu s, on April 10, 19S3, th e American motocross' circus pulled into Sadd leback Park for a busy, hectic da y of racing. In the u ltra-competitive 125cc d ivision , O'Mara of Team Honda took the measu re of Barnett and set off on a mission that wou ld ultimately conclude with 'the 125cc Na tio nal Ch am pions hip t h a t he and H ond a so desperately sought. In the 250cc di vision, Hannah, now aboard a hand-built, one-off, factory Honda, took a resounding. inspiring win. Hannah would end up completely dominating the class before break ing his wrist midway through the season. In the 500cc division, Northern California wild man Chandler of Team Honda took the National win over Glover, Breker and Howerton. 1983 was also the year that the legendary obstacle Suicide Mountai n was to enter the Am erican mot ocross vernacu lar . Initia lly thou gh t to be a steep, multiterraced uphill, the whole "interpretation"of the section changed in the bat of an eye when Ch andl er rolled on the gas of his big 500 and launched fro m one bl ind le d ge to th e n ext . The ve r tica l jump was said to measure over 50 feet all of it over a blind vo id : Every big-bore rider p re s en t that d a y wa s seve re ly bummed ou t because they all now had to go out and jump it as well . To thi s day, many ride rs clai m th at Sui cid e Mountain w as the scariest p iece of rea l esta te th ey h ad ever faced on a mo tocross or supercross track. . Continuedon page 53

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