Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

HOWL BY DENNIS NOYES f John Kocinski doesn't win the Spanish Grand POx on May 3, the United States will have gone 50 Grands Prix without a win. So, after giving it a lot of thought on the jumbo back from Malaysia, I think I've figured out what we can do to help.. Last year, when Kocinski was battling for the World Superbike title, the British weekly Motor Cycle News enlisted the help of spoon-bending psychic Uri Geller to organize and focus the positive energy of British fans to help Carl· Fogarty beat "the Yank." It didn't work because RC45 conrods are stronger than your average teaspoon, or maybe just because John is better than Carl. They are already talking in Spain about a force known as la magia de Jerez (the magic of Jerez), which is generated by 150,000 fans who desperately want a Spanish winner. Lt'worked for Alberto Puig in 1995 and for Alex Criville, who won the Spanish GP last year. (In 1996 they overdid it and Criville, spooked by a crowd invasion that brought his fans right to the edge of the track, lost concentration and high-sided.) The best idea I can come up with, short of trying to get the Pope involved (besides, the Pope is probably a Biaggi fan - they met this summer at the Vatican) is for all American fans to turn our though ts to better times. . It wasn't that long ago that Kenny Roberts, Freddie Spencer, Eddie Lawson and Randy Mamola combined to set an FIM record for consecutive wins by riders from the same country. During the motller of all winning streaks - September 5;1982, to May 19, 1985 - American riders won 28 straight, and the only music played after 500cc GPs was the U.S. National Anthem. That's a tune that hasn't been heard since the British GP at Donington Park in July of 1994, when a bruised and battered Kevin Schwantz shook off a spectacular practice crash to win his last GP and the last GP won by an American to date. That was 49 races ago. Hopefully, this is just a slump and not a terminal condition a it seems to be with our British cousins who have not had a win since Barry Sheene won at Anderstorp, Sweden, in 1981... 221 races ago. Just how good were our riders? From the beginning of the 1978 season until the end of the 1993 season, American I riders won 13 of the 16 titles up for gra bs in the 500cc class and won just under 75 percent of all races during that period. Even now, after going 0 for 49, the United States leads in total 500ccclass victories with 142. In Malaysia, however, I thought Kocinski was going to bring us out of it. But, while in third and closing in on Biaggi and Doohan, his Honda developed a high-rpm misfire that dropped him back to fifth. As a veteran John-watcher, I know he is coiled and ready to strike. He loves Spain, he's on a Spanish team, and he has always done well at Jerez. We have two other 500cc riders, but until Team Roberts takes delivery of their new tlrree-cylinder engine and new chassis, it will be unrealistic to hope for a win from Kenny Roberts Jr. - unless it rains somewhere twisty, like Donington. Meanwhile, our 5OOcc-class rookie, Matt Wait, just got his first points last week in Malaysia on his Honda twin. Okay, let's do this. Adopt a yoga position, tie your belt around your head and meditate on tha t amazing period of 16 years 0978-1993) when a rough-andtumble bunch of American ex-dirt trackers ruled the world. They were famous in Paris, mobbed in Madrid and Milan, and loved in London, but when they got off the plane at LAX or JFK they just disappe.ared into the crowd like your Uncle Fred home from a sales convention in Topeka. 1'0 visualize success in Spain we need to remember "the Martian." That's what the Italian press called Kenny Roberts in his yellow leathers on that Carruthers-tuned, black-and-yellow works Yamalla with Goodyear tires. The Italians said he was "a little yellow man from another world." He won three straight 500cc world titles. This, by the way, is the 20th anniversary year of Roberts, first title. Are you ready? Breathe deep and remember the guys who got us here. Pat Hennen made a name for himself racing Suzukis in New Zealand. He won not just the first but the first three Grands Prix for the United States. Had he not been injured at the Isle of Man in 1978, he would certainly have been a major player in the 500cc class during the late 70s and early '80s. America's first GP winner deserves more recognition for his accomplishments. Steve Baker, with his long hair and round glasses, looked like a hitchhiking hippie, but he was one of the world's best riders. He was second to Sheene in the 1977 500cc World Championship. Had Yamaha continued to look after him in 1978 he would have continued to be a contender. He never won a 500cc Grand Prix, but he was America's first FIM road racing World Champion when he won the Formula 750 title in 1977. Randy Mamola did everything but win the 500cc title. He was probably the most popular rider who ever raced a 500, and even today he is recognized and adnUred by fans all over the world. He loved racing and he loved people, and it showed. He came in second in the 500cc World Championship four times. "Fast Freddie" Spencer's true GP career was only four years long. From his first year on the Honda triple with Erv Kanemoto in 1982 until that unbelievable 250-5OOcc double in 1985, Freddie was pure talent. His name goes in the books as the youngest-ever wiruler of a 500cc GP (20 years old - a month younger than Norick Abe at the time of this first win) and the youngest-ever 500cc champion (at 21). . "Steady Eddie" Lawson could just as easily have been called "Seldom-Seen Slim" (like the legendary Baja loner). He had a reputation with the press for being "difficult," but that may have been because he suffered fools badly. As testimony to his "steady" reputation, in addition to his 31 wins, 31 seconds and 19 thirds (second to Giacomo Agostini in total podium appearances), he holds the FIM record for 42 consecutive frontrow starts. His will to win was matched by his mental discipline. He never beat himself. Kevin Schwantz, number 34, the lanky Texan who looked to Europeans like a rodeo rider both on the bike and off, ga ve tile California Mafia a run for their money. He was the sentimental favorite of most European fans who perceived him as a win-or-<:rash challenger on a bike that was never as good as he was. He was leading the championsbip with a comfortable margin with five races to go in 1993 when he was taken out by Mick Doohan at Donington Park. After Wayne Rail).ey's crash in Misano, he recovered the lead and very deservedly won the crown. He is tile last American to win a 500cc world title and tile last to win a Grand Prix. Wayne Rainey, tile consummate professional, was a lot like Eddie in many .ways, but more accessible. He won three titles in a row witil a bike that was very rarely tile best machine on tile grid, but he could always figure out a way to win - or to make the other guy lose. He won tlrree straight 500cc titles. Somehow his accident in Misano seemed to end the American Empire in 500cc racing. His book, 'Wayne Rainey - His Own Story," captures his fighting spirit and his humor and contains his frank views of his rivals and himself. Fans in Europe didn't realize how much they admired him until he was no longer riding. Fans in the States didn't get to see him enough. Kenny Roberts: Everything you've ever heard about the King is true. I once saw him shoot from tile hip at his ranch at Hickman and drill a rabbit 50 yards away. r saw him beat the Harleys at the San Jose Mile on a Yamaha. r saw him smoke the tire of "Old Yeller," his nasty 500cc Yamaha, out of the Bugatti hairpin at Jarama in practice with his left hand on his hip. I saw him lose $2 million at Laguna Seca without blinking because he wanted his country to have a Grand Prix. Right now we're all watching while he takes on Japan Inc. witil a carton of Marlboros and a pocketful of devalued Malaysian ringits. If he can see his target, he'll hit it. There were others, too - Mike Baldwin, Bubba Shobert, Miguel DuHamel, Doug Chandler and Scott Russell - who had their days in the GP racing sun. They provided the depth that clearly established that North Americans (to include DuHamel) were tile best in the world. Now, after so many years of glory, the only guy standing between us and a ofor 50 is John Kocinski. John was never really one of the good old boys, but he' 5 clearly a product of the same school of dirt track and attitude that made the Martian's generation so hard to beat. When they race Kocinski, they race the last of a generation of American desperados. John won't have Uri Geller's help or La magia de Jerez going for him in Spain, but it might help if he knew we were pulling for him. I'll tell him you all said good luck. 1'N 1----'---'-~8AC_K._·· _ 30 YEARS AGO... MAY 23, 1968 20 YEARS AGO..: MAY 10, 1978 10 YEARS AGO... MAY 4, 1988 e caught Larry Bergquist bounding along on his Bultaco at the Foothill Hawkes Championship Hare Scrambles, and put him on the cover. Mike Patrick (Yam) won the event, however. It was Patrick's second straight 0-37 victory ... Dick Chase (Nor) dropped only two points to take the overall Sweepstakes win in the l20-mile Shamrocks MC enduro in the Mojave desert. Bud Houseman (Nor) dropped four points but still took the win in the Heavyweight A class... Dan Haaby (H-D) was the man to beat in the IS-lap Expert half mile at Ascot Park. Haaby led the race wire to wire over DeWayne Keeter and Randy Say, both BSA-mounted, who were second and third, respectively... We brought you photo feature coverage of the Cycle World Show for motorcycles. Included in the feature were some pics of freaky choppers, prehistoric classics and new machines in realistic action settings. ob "Hurricane" Hannah (Yam) remained unde.feated in tile 250cc ranks, and Mark Barnett (Suz) once again held off the charges of Broc Glover (Yam) to win the 125cc class at round four of the AMA/Mr. Pibb 125/250cc National MX Series at the Omaha (Nebraska) Moto Park... Americans ran 1-2 in tlle Spanish 500cc, as Pat Hennen (Suz) topped Kenny Roberts (Yam). Roberts also finished second in the 250cc class... Brad Lackey (Hon) was featured on the cover as a result of his victory in the Austrian 500cc MXGP. Lackey, who was aboard a works Honda RC450, was also featured in a full-page win ad for BelRay motorcycle lubricants... A superb grass-track test was all that separated winner Frank GaJlo from his KTM teammate Kevin LaVoie at the Alabama two-day rSDT Qualifier... Novice rider Jeff Haney (Yam) and Junior rider Wa¥ne Rainey (Yam) were once again unstoppable in dirt track action at Ascot Park, as each took the heat race and main event wins in his respective class. ick Johnson (Hon) was the man to beat in the heat at the Tampa Superc;ross. Johnson finished ahead of Jeff Ward (Kaw) and Ron Lechien (Kaw) to pull out an advantage on Ward in the series points standings, 192-177... Former AMA Superbike Champion Wes Cooley was Team Suzuki's ace in the bole as it went on to score a victory at the Willow Springs sixhour endurance road race in Rosamond, California. Team Suzuki inherited tile win after Team Hyper-Cycle retired during the fifth hour... England's Dave Thorpe (Hon) put together two moto wins for the overall victory at tlle World 500cc MX Championship Series-opening Austrian GP... And there was more good news for England on the world speedway scene, as the British national team soundly defeated Team USA, 57-33, in the Diamond Jubilee International Speedway Series round at Bradford, England. Shawn Moran (GM) and Lance King (GM) were the top scorers for America, tallying 10 points each. L' W B R

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