Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

TEARDOWN BY PAUL CARRUTHERS ast week Michael Scott wrote in this same space of Honda's domination of cc Grand Prix racing thus far 1997. He stated that for those atching, the action was still ntertaining - all Honda or not. agree, in a way. Although there are plenty of earheads who will argue with e, I am a firm believer that the ey to good racing lies more in ho is racing, than on what ey are racing. And for that ason, I believe 500cc Grand rix racing is a bit on the boring ide right now. But stick with e for a minute before heading the mailbox with the love letrs... Michael Doohan is an mense racing talent who eserves each and every one of is wins. He's Australian and at's good for racing in Ausalia. Ditto for Alex Criville and the paniards who follow his every move ith eager anticipation. The Japanese ace fan also has plenty to cheer for, ely an incredibly gifted family with he surname Aoki. They also have adayuki Okada, Norifumi Abe and ordes more in the other GP classes. But Americans don't have much. I recall a time when the phone would ing off the hook here on a Monday orning with inquiring fans wanting ormation. How did Kevin do? What bout Wayne? Eddie? Well, those days are gone. There are o more Kevin Schwantzes, Wayne aineys or Eddie Lawsons in Grand Prix acing. Right now we have two Kenny obertses and one Kurtis Roberts. aybe we should consider ourselves ortunate that we even have their names o scan for on a Grand Prix qualifying heet, although we find them quicker if e start at the bottom and work up. aturally, there are reasons for this: oth Kennys are busy with a motorcycle at's less-than-ready for prime time; d young Kurtis is a minor leaguer try- YEARS AGO... UNE8,1967 usky's J.N. Roberts was on the cover f eN after he won he Open and Occ Expert class t the Ouster's uropean Scramles in Rosaond, Califoria, after some lose racing with cond-place finisher ick Dean... Dick Mann was appointed o the staff of the Yankee Motor Corpoation as manager, research and develpment and as' competition manager... ann also ended a five-race win streak y Grand National Champion Bart arkel a t the Reading Ha If Mile in ennsylvania. Mann topped Darrell oval with Fred Nix finishing third... onda dealers were complaining that ey couldn't get enough 90 Scramblers r Super Hawks to keep their customers atisfied ... A 1961 Triumph Cub was isted in the Want Ads with the seller sking$200. Anthony Gobert: Hero or hooligan? ing to hit Randy Johnson fastballs. There is a chance that one day both of the two younger Robertses will reach the lofty status their father reached in this same arena, but that day is a long way off. And even then, what bond do American race fans have with them, other than their famous last name? Kenny Jr. was here for a season of WERA racing and one in the AMA 250cc GP class before being whisked away for Spain, and Kurtis' term here was even shorter. Heading overseas so quickly mayor may not have been good for their careers, but it's defini tely not good for building an American fan base. So who do Americans race fans have to cheer for right now? No one, unless you look beyond the North American border. Anyone can relate to Doohan. He works hard, rides fast and wins races. That's a given. He's a joy to watch even if he circulates alone because you know he's giving everything he's got in every single corner. But the rest... nobody here gives a rat's ass about Alex Criville, Nobuatsu Aoki, Takuma Aoki or 20 YEARS AGO... JUNE1,19n merican road racers Pat Hennen and· Steve Baker were bested by Brit Barry Sheene in the 500cc West German Grand Prix, held in Hockenheim. Sheene, who extended his points lead to eight points, beat his Suzuki teammate Hennen by more than nine seconds with Baker finishing third ... Martin Lampkin won the Scottish Six Days Trial With Americans Bernie Schreiber and Cii"1jr71I"l~I"'1~:"!"'! Marl and Whaley finishing 11th and 1 3 t h , respectively. It was Lampkin's second consecutive Six Days victory with the twotime World Champion winning by 31 marks... In A __ Tadayuki Okada. And that has nothing to do with the fact that they ride the all-dominant Hondas. Americans simply can't relate to them because they know nothing about them, don't speak their same language, c don't' share any of the same her'I:: itage. They might as well be co robots tied to NSRs. :::l I am willing to bet, however, o that the average road race fan in >- this country is interested in how 2 Troy Corsj!r does in his first' o foray into GP racing. Hey, he's a former AMA Superbike Champion - they've seen him race, read about him, heard him speak... They also know all about Anthony Gobert. Despite the rumors that he's on the verge of being fired, Gobert was on hand at this past weekend's Italian Grand Prix and I, for one, think Grand Prix racing is better because of it. Okay, I'm not there and I'm not his team manager. But in this case you can call me a fan, a fan of Grand Prix racing. And as a fan, I'd rather see Gobert on a 500cc Suzuki than in the World Superbike Series on a Ducati. They don't need him there. They have a series full of heroes that Americans can relate to: They have Scott Russell, Colin Edwards II, Mike Hale, Carl Fogarty, Aaron Slight... Grand Prix racing needs Anthony Gobert to build a fan base beyond Australia, Spain and Japan. Those who manufacturer and sell motorcycles would like us all to believe that the average motorcycle customer is a well-rounded, clean-cut, taxpaying, 35- to 45-year-old gentleman. Those same individuals haven't looked under a helmet lately. Flip the faceshield up on the helmet of your average sportbike buyer and you'll find someone who looks a lot like Anthony Gobert. Okay, his hair mayor may not be multicolored and his ear lobes mayor may not be pierced, but he is young and usually somewhat brash. Hey, he may even be a hooligan. But he's purchased a motorcycle, he buys motorcycle accessories and he goes to motorcycle races, or at least watches them on TV. He is a fan. And, like it or not, he's going to like Anthony Gobert a hell of a lot more than Tadayuki Okada. Those who work with Gobert obviously tire of his ways rather quickly. But the average race fan can't get enough of him. Teams don't necessarily want their rider bragging about how he's going to break the lap record by the first lunch break. But race fans love reading quotes from riders brash enough to say the ridiculous. Especially, when they back it up. Thus far in his career, Gobert's talent has been able to back up a lot of what his mouth unconsciously spews out. So who will be the next Great American Hope in Grand Prix racing? That's a question I can't answer. At the moment, there are far more riders capable than there are spots available. If Grand Prix racing is indeed the sport's pinnacle, then Colin Edwards should be there. And Russell, too (and to think he was lambasted last year whenever he didn't finish in the top five on the Suzuki. Now he'd be a hero). I think Doug Chandler and Miguel Duhamel are easily of equal talent to some of the riders in the current 500cc GP field. And what about John Kocinski? But it's not like it used to be. You don't win AMA Superbike races one ye'\T and go Grand Prix raciJ'lg the next. In fact, you don't go Grand Prix racing based purely on talent anymore. Now you have to not only have the tal.ent (or not), you have to be from the right country to obtain the right sponsorship - or you have to be willing to ride for less money than you could get in World Superbike, or perhaps even AMA racUlg. . Yes, I'm hopeful that one day the phone will start ringing again: How did Kenny do? Where did Colin finish? What about the Bostrom kid? Hopeful, but not optimistic. £N AMA Grand National Championship second on the day with Brit Ron action, Jay Springsteen held off his Haslam riding the Elf Honda to third Harley teammates Ted Boody and place. The race ran without Americans Corky Keener to win the Oklahoma Freddie Spencer and Mike Baldwin, City Half Yamaha-mounted Hank both of whom were injured in practice... Scott and Kenny Roberts followed the Team Honda's Micky Dymond turned Harleys in fourth and fifth ... Suzuki's in a perfect 1-1 moto. tally to win the Tony DiStefano used consistent moto 125cc National MX round at the High finishes to win the overall in the Red Point raceway, taking over champiBud 250cc National Motocross round, 'onship points lead in the process: pulling out a strong points advantage in Kawasaki's Ron Lechien, meanwhile, his efforts to win a third conse,utive won the 250cc class with a 2-1 tally, finNational Championship. DiStefano ishing ahead of first-moto winner Jeff topped Steve Stackable and Jim Ward...Scott Parker was naturally elatPomeroy in the overall '~17il1"'::IM'~e;d~a~ft:erwinning the 50th anniversary Springfield Mile-. results after finishing second I Parker averaged 101.563 both times out. mph in winning the 12th N a ti ona I of his career. 10 YEARS AGO... Grand National Champion Bubba Shobert finished JUNE 3, 1987 second with former champiover boy Eddie Lawon Ricky Graham third, and son inherited the win Parker left the Illinois racing in the 500cc West facility tied for the champiGerman Grand Prix when onship with Shobert. Doug the Honda ridden by Chandler, who held the Wayne Gardner went points lead going into Springsour, giving Lawson his field, dropped out of the race . first win of the season. on the 18th lap with mechani. Lucky Strike Yamaha's cal problems. {;N Randy Mamola finished Mile. C

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