Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

il La bo r Da y wee k en d Gobert's n ightmare, Pridmore's dream: a case of being in the right place at the right time. "As far as racing goes , it's been a totally weird year. because so mu ch ha s h appened ," Pridmore said. "I've been disqualifi ed , I've had some injuries, I've ridden for two different teams in one ye a r, I've been able to r ide a compet it iv e su perbike. It's just been a really bizarre year. " I' ve been trying for so long to get on a superbik e ," he continued, "an d I've never had the o pportu n ity . To qualify o n th e front row in m y first time out for Vance & Hines was a big thrill for m e. Hopefu lly, now I' v e o p e ne d up so me eyes and I'll ge t a chance to rid e Superbike full tim e ne xt y ea r . The b ik e (Duca ti) was reall y easy to ad a p t to . Th e wh ol e Va n ce & H in e s cre w , th ey just"did a grea t job for me all weekend and I've got nothing but prai se for those guys , b e cause they work so h ard - Jim Leonard , Nolan and Mike, and all the people involved in the team. I've read so me things earli er this yea r about the m, but a ll I have is totally pos itive feelings for what they did for me." But wh y w as it so easy? It mu st have bee n the setu p, the bike... "I really couldn't tell you ," Prid more sa id . "Th ey just brou ght it th ere a nd sai d, 'Try it and see if yo u like it: I went over ther e (to the Van ce & Hines pit) on Friday morning to check all th e brake and clu tch levers and this and that , to see if it wa s in posit ion . Basically, I said, 'Lea ve it and I'll ride it and see what it' s like: We d id very little to it all weekend. It was pret ty bi za rre . We e n ded u p using so me d ifferent springs in the forks for the race, and that see med to help me ge t it tu rn ed bette r - bu t that was it. The thing just worked great. I kno w a lot of people h ave had trouble adap ting to those bikes in the pa st, but it se emed like it wa s pretty eas y to me . The y mad e a comme nt to me that An tho ny (Gobe rt) says that the smoother you ride it, the faster you go. Well, that's been my way of riding ever since I've been racing. So th at' s what I did. Before I knew it , I could n't believe my lap tim es - even the first d ay. I wouldn't say that I was reall y su rprised , but I was 10th qu ick after the first qualifying session and I kn ew I still had so me time. " And to think that Suz u ki could have put the binders on the entire thing. The fact that they didn't s to p him, and in fact encouraged him, shows a lot about how ih ey feel abo u t Pridmore . H ow man y e m p loy ers would a ll o w th e ir employee the opportunity of a lifetime wi th a rival company? "It basically started with all the troubles that I had th is year, " Pridmore explained. "1 don't hold Suzuki respon sible for the actions of somebody else. They didn't know that my bikes were the way th ey w ere a nd , obviously, I didn't know they were the way they were. When I got d isqualified at Mid , O hio, I was feeling pretty dim at that point. I knew I didn't want to ride for ----,-- the same team. You get discouraged rid ing as hard as yo u can only to find out th a t you ha ve to keep returnin g yo u r trop hies a nd no t getti ng yo ur money and this and that. I kne w something had to ch ange. I ta lked to Jim Leo na rd, I think on Mond ay, and by Friday we had a d ea l for m e to rid e the Duca ti, Mel Harris and everybody at Su zuki were so su pportive of the fact that I wa s going to get th e opportunity on a com p etiti ve su perbike." Prid mo re wa nte d out of the 750cc Sup e rspo rt Seri e s - n o t be cau s e h e didn't think he could win any more, bu t because h e didn't really wa nt to wi n a nymore - given the circu ms tances su rround ing the bike he'd been rid ing. "I d id n' t want to run 750 Su persport a nymo re because I felt that if I did wi n the championship, it wou ld be tainted, " Pridm ore a d m its. "All the guys I' ve been racing against this year have bee n pla ying by the rules, so I felt that eve n though I was still in contention, for the first seven or eigh t races, I was p robably on an illegal bike. I didn't feel it would be fair to them if I went out and won a cham pi ons hip. Suzuk i understood m y poin t. I still wa n ted to repres ent them (Suzuki) and try to help them win the 600 Supersp ort Champion ship if I could . So we came to an agreeme nt for me to ride the 600 a nd they'd let me ride the Du cati for Terry (Va~ce). That was it. It was such an easy deal to do. It's not as co m p lica ted as so me people th in k - it was really easy." Pridmore is at aIoss wh en asked w hy Carry Andrew feIt th e n eed to modify th e bikes to the point of them being illegal. Hey , a little overzealous engine work is one thing - but altering the frames... "I have no idea what would be his reasoning behind doing what he did to the bikes," Pridmore said. "I feel like he has two of the best rid ers in those classes, and that d oesn't need to be d on e to win races. I fini shed fourth in the 600 ra ce at Bra in erd - a ctu a lly , I finished ~ thi rd (Prid more believes he be at Steve Crevier to the line in what was a photo fin ish without a came ra); th e thing is, we ran up front. Both Nicky (Hayden his HyperCy cie Suzuki and now Team Suzu ki Sp ort teammat e) a nd I ta lked about it and we could n't feel any d iffer ence between what we had and wh a t we we re riding at Bra inerd . It's so rid icu lous to m e - it ' s jus t s o ri dicu lo u s . I know that bendin g the rul es in Supersport racing has been go ing on for years. I don't think that 's any big secret, an d eve ryone knows it, bu t there ar e certain lines that have to be drawn, To torque a fra me to help the steeri ng- head ang le, or w ha tever he d id - tha t' s so bizarre to me. It's so mething that I wo uld n't eve n imagine thinking of d oing. It bums me out a little bit. I d on 't und erst a nd his reasoni ng beh ind it . I th in k he blew a really good thing. He had the su pport of a really good compa ny (Suz u ki) behind him, he had good riders, and theguy s involved in the team are such grea t peop le to work wi th . It's really sad , because it let a lot of people do wn. The ramifications of what ha s happened w ith that team - it' s just a drag, because of th e great people who we re involved:' Althou gh his anger toward Andrew is unmist akabl e, Pridmor e is also a bit upset with th e system in ge neral. "I definit ely think we need to relook at an d go a d ifferent rou te w ith how the Superspo rt racing is," he said . "I think th at if yo u' re found (to be) illegal wi th so me thing, th en you ' re illegal. There's just no co nsiste ncy w ha tsoever in th e wa y the AMA rules on Supersport racing. On e week it' s a fine, the next week it's points, and the ne xt week they're disqualifying somebody. When I see so meone get fined for illegal fu el, and then so meone get s kicked out of a class fo r ill egal fue l.. . There ha ve b een so many th ings th is yea r, so many gra y areas. It' s a real drag as a rid er because you never know what's go ing to happen next. If you' re illeg al, you' re illegal. In my particular case, they were disqualifi- J as on Pridmore made the most of a go lden oppo rtunity by finishing fourth In his debut ride on the Vance & Hines Ducati at Brainerd. cations - outright. I got d isqualified for my motor at Daytona and I got d isqu alified for a frame being ben t a t O hio . Anybody who knows me knows that I wou ldn ' t ch ea t. Th at's n ot my way; that's not my natu re. I go t disqu alified , so why sho uldn't so meo ne else get disqualified ? If they' re illegal, they're illegal. I think that a lot of the appeal meetings are a joke. I just think there are a lot of things tha t have to be re-evalu ated in the whole AMA system, unfortu nately." Witho ut qu estion, Prid more the racer has been overlooked . Despite the fac t tha t he has won races, wo n a cha m pi onsh ip and con sistentl y runs with the "big boys" in arguably the mos t competitive series in the world - AMA 600cc Supersport - Prid more has n't had many cha nces to get to where he wa nted . An d th er e' s on ly been one th in g he' s ever reall y wan ted : a fu ll-time AMA Superbike rid e on a factory team . Prior to his per forman ce at Brainerd, it appea red as though the AMA Superb ik e d o or was aga in go ing to b e slam med sh ut in Pridmore' s face . But, this time, he had othe r options - thanks to some good lu ck in a seaso n otherw ise full of bad fortune. Back in July, HyperCycie was sch eduled to en te r H a yd en i n th e World Su pe rsport race at Laguna Seca during the World Superbike weekend. Fortunately, the team built two b ike s, and Pridmore was given an entry. He made the best of it , running at the front and eve ntually finishing a close third behind World Champion Paolo Casoli and class s ta r St ephane Chambon . Though he ma y have gone unnoticed by AMA team owners, his performance at Laguna Seca wasn't overlooked by World Supersport team owners, most notabl y the owner of one of the best-fund ed teams in the

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