Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

mota DNF. In Finland, my bike seized and I DNFed both motos in Belgium. France, I DNFed both motos. It was a tough season over there." The Grand Prix riders of Europe were another matter to contend with. Coming ITom America, Smith did not know any of them - or how to pronounce their names, for that matter - and sorting them out and getting to know their strengths and weaknesses was another variable to factor into an already drastically steep learning curve. "]izy Churavy, Zdenek Velky, the Rus ians, were just great guys, real great guys," Smith says fondly. "They were tlle nicest guys on the circuit. They gave me a lot of respect and we all got along real felt like I could go to any race and pretty much win any race. I was real confident and I knew that no one wa going to beat me. I also knew that no one was training like I was. I was also very confident in my motorcycles. "The plan was Honda's idea," Smith continues. "Basically, they felt that since 1 dominated in 74 and 75, they figured I was going to win the '76 National Championship and they wanted it all. So they wanted me to go out and win the FIM World Championship as well. For Smith, it was the opportunity of a lifetime. At no time in the history of the sport had any rider and manufacturer made a serious run at both continental championships. But, as time soon would tell, the task at hand would be both grueling and daunting. Both Smith and Honda were working in some very foreign and unforgiving territory. "I basically told them right away that I would do it because I felt that [ could do both," Smith says. "Being that I had never done it before and had never' experienced that kind of travel, I felt that I could do it easily. "However, once I got into it, [ realized that I may have bitten off more than I could chew. Because travel from one week to the next, lI "I hated Europe, I absolutely hated it, amI I couldn't wait to get back home." ~r:ll,,-,;i;;:'-::Ct:~~:;:~~~~~::=~~J~~~;' from Europe to America, wasEurope pretty tough. It would be over to for two weeks then back to America for a week or two, then back to Europe for a week, then America for three weeks; it was just crazy." "I fmew that no one was going to beat JII£. " As fate would have it, it was the motorcycle, and not Smith or Honda, that provided the intrepid operation with the most trouble. Fabricated in Japan, and constructed of the best materials and technology available to Honda, the bike was a Pandora's box of mechanical problems. "We had a lot of problems with the motorcycle in '76," Smith says discouragingly, even now, some 2D years later. "Our Honda works bike was basically junk in 1976. They had entered me in the GPs that year and [ think I only finished half of those GP motos because of mechanical failures. I never did crash myself out of the race - I didn't finish because of mechanical failures on the bike. "I can tell you right now, there was a race in France - it was the year of the bad drought over there - and it was a really dusty track. I got the holeshot and had like a 45-second lead, then halfway through the race, I was just killing them, I snapped a chain on one of the downhills. I came in, and the mechanics were doing whatever they could do, and basically fixed the bike and I went back out there for the second mota. "About five laps into the race, I had about a 25- to 3D-second lead and I broke a chain on the exact same downhill, so that was two DNFs right there. Then, in Belgium, at Gaston Rahier's home track he was the defending 125cc World Champion - he got the holeshot in the first moto and I passed him - and remember this was his home track - and people could not believe that this American kid was beating him on his own track. I don't think he could believe it either. Smith won two 125 and one 500cc National titles. "I passed him and was pulling away and I snapped a frame in half over one of the jump - ba ically toed it out like a chopper, so I didn't finish the first mota. Then, for whatever reason, the FIM wouldn't let us change frames, so I couldn't ride the second mota either." However, it wasn't just the motorcycle that caused confusion in the Team Honda camp. Smith, who had never competed outside of the United States, would soon find out that racing in America and racing in Europe were, at times, drastically different from each other. On more thah one occasion, Smith would find himself in a bizarre situation, no doubt caused by the two unique worlds colliding. '1 didn't know anything," Smith said in a self-effacing tone of voice. "In fact, at the first race in Italy, Gaston went out and won the first mota and I finished secand. I don't remember the amount of time he beat me by, but in the second mota, I won. In the States, ~hat's first overall. So when it came to the trophy presentation, they had the podium there, and [ got up and stood on the numberone step of the podium. "Gaston came over to me and said in broken English, 'Marty, you must get down. I won first place, I thought he was and running 1 could beat him at will- I'm sure he didn't like that. However, after the season wore on, we ended up getting along real well. He was a good guy." As the European-based Grand Prix season wore on, Smith, despite all of the problems incurred by his motorcycle, actually was making a great showing of himself. The long-haired American ran at the front consistently, and if the bike held together long enough, was a constant threat to win on any given Sunday. But all was not well. Despite putting forth the best effort possible, Smith longed for home. "I hated Europe," he says. "I absoluteIy hated it and I couldn't wait to got back home. Part of the problem was that I was so young and couldn't really appreciate what was going on around me. I had this factory ride that was taking me all over the world to do these races and see all the different tracks and different circuit. [ just didn't know how lucky I was at the time. I didn't like the food. [ didn't like the people. I didn't like the way the peapIe stared at me all the time. I just didn't like the whole deal." The tracks of the FIM Grand Prix circuit, however, were a different matter. Even though he was having a tough time coming to terms with the strange ways joking with me -;;;:;;.========~~~~ of Europe, Smith because I won the ;; enjoyed the racing, second mota, but and his results were then I learned the "Our Hondn works bike lWIS there to prove it. overall scoring was lNrsi.cally junk in 1976." "1 liked all of the done on elapsed tracks," he says. time. So actually he "There was one beat me by a couple track in Germany I had a real tough time with. I just couldn't of hundredths of a second. I was really bummed." adjust to it, and Hawkstone Park in EngWhat did he think of the Belgian land was a real tough track for me as World Champion who would soon prove well. [don't think I did very well there, to be his fiercest rival in Europe? either. Otherwise, I really liked the tracks. "At first Gaston came off as pretty "I remember I won the GP in Dencocky and arrogant, but he had good reamark and the U.s. GP at Mid-Ohio; but I don't really remember my results at most son to be because he was the defending World Champion and no one could beat of the GP races. I think I got fifth or sixth him," Smith recalls. "Once I started beatat the German GP and I went real well in mg him - I mean when my bike was good Italy with the exception of the second- well. Roger Harvey, Pavel Rulev, Daria Nani, 1 remember all of those guys. I got along with everybody over there, but it took me a little while to get them all figured out." Meanwhile, thousands of miles away back in America, there was a surprise waiting for Smith. And it wasn't a homecoming gift. While Marty Smith was fighting for the red, white and blue on the hallowed circuits of Europe, a wild, young racer named Bob Hannah was _ beginning to make a name for himself in California. Aboard a stock factory Yamaha, Hannah was eagerly waiting for Smith's return in order to show him that there wa a new kid in town; a kid who wanted nothing more than to knock the charming and hugely popular Smith off his pedestal. "Oh yeah, I had heard of Hannah," Smith said somewhat ruefully. "I knew he was a fast rider and that he was going to be tough to beat; I didn't really know how tough. I was really surprised at how fast he was gOing. n Upon arrivin,g back in the United States to defend his AMA 125ee National Championship, Smith realized he was in trouble as Hannah immediately put his mark on the class, blitzing to five overall wins in the first six AMA 125cc Nation- . als. For all intents and purposes, it was over from the beginning. Smith would not win a National in 76, and the abrasive and cocky Hannah was immediately cast into the lead role of America's small-bore division. In Smith's defense, the bike he was competing on in America was nearly as evil as the one he raced in Europe. 'The bikes I rode in the ationaIs and the bikes I rode in the GPs were two different motorcycles," Smith remembers. '1n fact, toward the end of the season in the Nationals, I ended up riding one of Donny Emler's FMF bikes because they were far superior to the works bikes tllat year. I mean, that FMF bike was fast! It was real comfortable and it was dependable. It was a bike I felt real confident with. 'With the works bike, we didn't know if it was going to break, and they were sending us over parts from Japan, and we didn't even know what they were. However, Honda insisted that we use them and they just weren't working. I just felt fortunate that Honda eventually let us ride the FMF bike because they could have just said: 'No, you're riding the works bike and that's it: "

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