Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

TIME REMEMBERED National MX and Supercross Champion Mark Barnett Mark Barnett · perhaps the greatest 125ccMX racer oJall • tIme. . ' .. . Team Suzuki's Mark Barnett ruled the 125cc class in the ear ly 1980s. One year, "The Bom ber" won every moto on th e Nati onal circ uit and , to th is day, he holds t he record for the most 125cc Nat ional wins . By Eric Johnson 24 s the grim y yellow bulldozer clanked, rattled and hummed up the long start hill, belc hing d eep black s mo ke into th e s ky w hic h w as b eginnin g to d ar ken fro m ominous, fast-approaching storm clouds - Mark Barnett sat quietly atop his factory Su zuki 125, d isplaying a ' so mbe r, thousand-yard stare thro ugh his Oakley gogg les and [ofa mouth guard . Th e yea r w as 1983, a nd Ba rn ett, already a three-time AMA 125ee National Champio n, was deep in the throes of a ferocious title defense in w hich he was beginning to hea r the footsteps of three raveno us, title-starved competitors, Lined up around him behind the Mount Morris, Pennsylvania , sta rting ga te were Tea m Hond a's Johnny O' Mara, who, after coming close to winning the 125ee title in 1982, was desper ate to topple Barnett from his throne; Team Kawasa ki's Jeff Ward, eager to claim his first AMA title; and a sensational newcomer to the class, 16-year-old Ron Lechien of Team Yamaha . By the time the 1983 125cc National C ha m pionshi p Series ha d h it Moun t Morris that Memorial Day weekend, it w as beco m in g vi vid ly clear tha t th e fig ht fo r the AMA nu mber-one pl at e wo u ld be an epic war for wo rld wide 125cc supremac y . Barnett , who with th ree co nsecutive champion sh ips a nd mor e than 20 Nationa l ove rall victories had established himself as the grea test 1'2Scc p ilot th is n ation had ever produ ced , was desperate to hold on to the titl e th at the other th ree ca mps - w ho had a lloca ted eno r m ous amou n ts of mone y and manpowe r to the battl e - so desperately lusted after. So as th e bulldozer wen t abo ut its d irt-moving bu sine ss , Barn e t t silently wa ited for the signa l to kick his bike ove r fo r the second rnoto, a nd b egan to mentally prepare himself to fend off coll ective th e attack of his ad versaries. Now that 11 years have pas sed since his retirem ent from the spo rt in 1986, it is easy to see that Mark Barnett was an anoma ly in American motocross. Qu iet, and shy, and fro m the humble sta te of Illinois, w hich at the time was abou t as far awa y - both literally and figur ati vely - fro m th e s h im me ring and d a zzling motocross Mecca of Californ ia as it could be, Barnett was an intensely determined r acer who cut h is own w ide s w a t h throug h the sport. From his ear liest da ys as a rank a mateur, wh en h e raced fo r pu re enjoymen t and the thrill of competition, Barnett possessed a strong desire to take on - and defea t - all comers. As he quickly progres sed through th e thenfled gling Ll.S.:a ma te ur ra n ks, Barnett began to crea te a larger-than-life reputati o n fo r ' him self in th e m id w e st ern regi on of th e United Sta tes . Thr ough these trial-by-fire experiences, he began "I s tarted rid in g in 1970 when my da d traded a car for a minib ike wit h a Tecumseh eng ine," said Barne tt, after a few momen ts of tho ught. "Not long after that , we were out lookin g for par ts for it a nd saw a Yama ha Mini Enduro. My dad bough t it for me and I started ridin g it a lot. A few months later, my sis ter s ta r ted d ati n g a g uy th a t ra ced motocross, and he took me to a race. We started racing shor tly the r ea ft er a n d I began to progress to a po int where I started to race for a local shop in Indiana. As I im p roved , I wo u ld ra ce a t p la ces li ke Buchan an, Michigan, and all over Indi an a and Illinois. We traveled a ll a round to look for com petition, bu t I had no idea of going all the way wit h it. I lived to race, and the entire family was involved with it. We would load the van up, get in, and drive all over to find places to race." As the Barn ett clan tra veled the Midwest on a sort of seek-and- des troy mission, you ng Mark bega n to d evelop into a seri ous racer. The ultimate test came at the 1976 AMA Amateur Cha mpions hip, wh ere he would be able to test his ability aga inst the bes t up-and-comin g racers in , , ...my sister started dating a guy that raced motocross and he took me to a race. We started racing shortly thereafter. .. , , to stoke an intense compe titive fire tha t would ultimately take him to the highest levels of the sport. To get inside the head of the 1980, '81 and '82 AMA 12Scc National Champion, and '81 AMA 250cc Supe rcross Champion, w e tracked down "The Bomber" a t his home in the suburbs of Orland o, Florid a. Poli te, anima ted and quite lucid in regard to the devel opment of his career, Barn ett was more than willing to sha re the experience of his long and illustrious tour of d uty in American mo tocross.

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