Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

..... sr: ;::l co ;::l -< 40 series.Team Alstare Corona &tra' -Fra~ cis Batta. The cham pagne on Pridmor e's leath er s had ba rely dried w hen he was approached by Batta. Th ou gh he freel y ad mits th at AMA Super bike racing is where he wan ts to be, Pridmore says he'll pack his and his wife, Sus ie's, bags and head to Europe if the right offer here d oesn 't mat erialize. "If I had my way, I'd d efinitely be on a supe rbike all yea r next year," Pridmore said . "Up until this point, I've been looking a t s o m e o p po r tu n it ies to go d o World Supersport. At this point, if I'm not go ing to ge t a su perbike rid e over her e, then I don 't kn ow if I'm ever going to. I' ve been chasing th a t dream for a long time. With the exception of winning a 600 race, I've d one all I can d o ove r her e. I' ve never been on a fu ll-fled ged 600 team and I' ve never had the oppo rtunity, until this year, to really go test. I think if I had the opportunity to test for a su pe rb ike team durin g th e off-seaso n tha t my resu lts would reall y su rp rise a lot of people next yea r. I think we probably su rp rised so me peop le at Brai nerd. I'm su re some peo ple will say that it was the bike, and this and tha t - bu t you still have to rid e the thing . You still have to train yo u r br ain into go ing th at much qu icker. To be honest with you, I d id n' t know how good I wou ld do at Brainerd a nd the upco ming racea t Pikes Peak, but Saturday nigh t I slept well with a lot of confidence. With that, I think I could d efini tely tum that into something over the next four or five yea rs if so mebody gives me the oppo rtunity . "Absolu tely, I'd go to World Super s port. At th is p oi n t, I w an t to en joy myself racing. I still love get ting on the bik e and riding it. I love it. But this thing with Terry and the su perbike has kind of reju vena ted me a Ii ttle bit. I'm not goi ng to say th at I d on 't go ou t there a nd giv e 100 p er cen t, b ecause every time I ge t on the bike I d o that, but I' ve been ridi ng Supersport .for six or seven years; I'm lookin g for something new . I want to ge t on something new. I th ink the su perbike help ed my 600 rid ing, to be honest with yo u. I d on't want to just ride Su pe rspo rt only any mo re - I wa nt to rid e so me thing else. "Up until Brainerd and the Vance & Hines thing, I've been thinking that I'm going to go rid e Wor ld Supersport next yea r. I'm tired of pa yin g m y dues, rid ing my butt off and not ge tting to w here I want to ge t to. If I have the opportunity to go and ride for a really good team in Worl d Sup e rs po rt , a t t he World Cham pionship level, then great - I'll go do that for a yea r or two, or wha tever it ta kes. At lea st it wou ld be so me thi ng new for me, so me thing I could ge t motivated for and go ha ve so me fun with. If I ge t th e o p po r tu nity to go a nd ra ce Superbike here next yea r - great. It ' s some thing I look so forward to d oing." The fact tha t he has bee n overlooked b y A MA te am owner s is pu z z lin g . Despite the fact that he's talented, fas t a nd sm art, he' s al so on e of the mos t liked and respected racers in the pad d ock. He also has a raci ng lineage, his fa ther Reg b ein g a th r ee-t im e A MA Su perbike Na tional Cham pion. " I've a l w ays w o nd e red w hy I' v e been ove rlo oked , and I hon estl y d on ' t k now wh a t th e rea so n is be h ind it ," Pridmore said . "It' s kind of crazy to me because I've beat some guy s w ho have go ne on to grea t things. I' ve jus t ne ver had the chance. I'd love to know why I haven ' t go t the cha n ce. I feel like I rep resent whoever I'm em p loyed by the best I can . I d o a lo t of med ia stu ff, I try to pump the spo rt up the best I can. I d o wh atever I can to try and make the spo rt come ou t bett er and I don't know why I haven 't had the cha nce. I'm not going to say th a t I've mad e a hab it of bea ting Migue l (Du Ham el) an d Dou g (Cha ndl er) and those guys, but I know I can run with them . I've run wi th them in the past and I've beaten them and a number of quality rid ers in the past , but a lot of it has to do with hav ing confidence of running at the fron t. I have tha t. "Th e cham pionship that I wo n (last year' s 750cc Supers port cro wn), I feel li ke th at is h o ll ow n ow ," Pr id m o re added. "Espec ially because I kn ow a lot of peopl e think I was on a cheater bike fro m last ye a r. That reall y brings me dow n a lot, beca use I kno w I can always look back and have one championship in my career - bu t it's still a little hollow . To get a n o ppor tunity with a fac tory team to w in a 600 cha m pio ns hi p , and more importan tly a Superbike Cham pions hip - that is the number -on e reason I'm racing. And also to be a fat her-son cha m p ion wou ld be ki nd of cool. I'm pretty self-mo tiva ted . I kn ow I can ride with anyone ou t there." A t Brain erd, Pridmore w as ab le to sneak up on everybody. That won 't happen at Pikes Peak on Sep tember 6. Still, Pridmor e doesn 't think the p ressure to perfor m there will be any greater. "O n e th in g th a t Terry d id w he n I wa lked in ther e was to just lay it ou t on the table, and I respect him so much for th a t. Now I kn o w how a lot o f the se teams wo rk and I've got to do this on a rac e-bv-rac e basis for now. I told him the same thing, that I could n' t make him a ny promises, either - about where I was going to finis h or how I was going to d o. He looked me in the eyes and said, 'We jus t want yo u to do th e bes t you can .' He d idn't put any pressu re on me and I think that was one of the reasons why I d id so we ll (at Brain erd ). His expectations of w he re he wanted me to finis h an d everything else were very realistic. I surprised myself, I surprised him and I su rprised a Jot of people. It was a p leasan t su rp rise. We had a two-race deal for Brainerd and Joliet, but since that (latter) race didn't go down, we'll go off to Colorado and do our best there. Hopefully, I' ll ge t th e o p po r tu nity to rid e it a t Vegas as well. That' s wha t I'd like. "I do n't think there' s any more p ressure. No w I know w hat I have. Now I'm ju st th in kin g abo ut that bi ke a lo t. I talked to Jim Leonard tod ay and asked h im s ome qu es tio ns a bo u t it. I think abou t it a lot. It's so me thi ng new for me. I'rn a t a new learning p lateau an d I can lea rn a 10t. .I' rn reallyexcited abou t the opportunity . Suzu ki wa s kind enoug h to ge t me a su perbike this year. In my con- tra ct, I was su pposed to get a su perbike, but w ith s o me t hi n g s th e way th e y worked out with the team I was on, we maybe were n' t getting some of the parts we thou ght we we re getting. Everybody was in a tou gh situation. I think Suzu ki right now, they wa nt to see what I can do on a su perbike as well. If they have th eir eye on me a t all righ t now , th en they're going to wa nt to know how I'm go ing to do. Still, the Vance & Hi nes tea m has pu t no pressu re on me. They haven' t put me in a bad position. Ter ry was the first one who eve r ga me me the cha nce to run a su pe rbike a few years back, and th is yea r we ca me close to doi ng a deal for this w hole season. I'm gra tefu l to him . It's a good oppo rtu nity to go to Colorado and just show that I can do as well as I d id at Br ainerd." This year Pridmor e was also ab le to take part' in and play a ma jor role in the "Nic ky Hay den Sho w." He was the perfect man for the job. Showing absol utely no jealousy or spite, Pridmor e hel p ed Hayden whenever he cou ld . Wh en he speaks of his junio r team mate, it' s wi th pride - no t poison . . "Nicky is a phen om ," Pridm ore said . "We' re like bes t buddies. We ge t along so we ll and there's never been an y animosity on my side . I knew he was going to win races this year. There wa s a practice session at Phoen ix w hen I cou ld n' t believe how fast he was adapting to the ' track and to the bikes, to the team . He is so far beyon d his yea rs, it's crazy. The on ly th in g I h op e for N icky is tha t he doesn' t get bu rned out. I know he's racing an awful lot rig ht now . No matter (TOp) Pridmore won 't race in any more 750cc Supersport Series events in 1998 despite the fact that he's the defending class champion. After being disqualified from the class tw ice this year, Pridmore has opted to concentrate on the BOOcc class and what he hopes will be a Vance & Hines Ducati ride fo r the rest of the season. (Above) Pridmore led six laps of the Brainerd Supe rb ike National. A loss of concent rati on caused him to ru n off the track , but he st ill fini shed fourt h. wha t he does, he' s going to w in - he' s going to be a champion. I just d on 't wa nt to see hi m get burned ou t. The re we re never any ha rd feeli ngs w he n he was beating me. In fact, I wa s prou d of him." Prid more definitely has the ability to turn bad into good . And things could n' t have bee n 'worse than they have been in 1998. Still, he stays pos itive . "I try to pu ll so me th ing good fro m everything, " he said. "Maybe getting di squ alified will turn out to be the best th ing th a t ev e r ha ppened to me . At Braine rd, I went ou t and sho wed that I could run at the front in the most competitive level th at w e .havehere in the · Sta tes . H ope full y , th a t w ill ta ke th e question ou t of m y championship last vear. I felt like I wa s the best rider ou t there las t year, arid I felt like I was the best rider out there this year - in the 750 Sup ers p ort cla ss. We ra n in to so me problems and hop efully now I' ll gro w from that , an d bigger and bett er thin gs will come for me." n

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