Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

Teardown BYPAUL CARRUTHERS When one + one - one n the next few weeks, a decision wi ll be made on exactly how to forma t the combina t io n AM A Su perbi ke a n d Worl d Superbike eve nt at Laguna Seca. More th an likely, th e wron g d ecis ion will be mad e and the two races will be h eld as indepen den t even ts over th e course of the same weekend. If tha t's the case, we'll have miss ed the boa t entirely. A bad d ecision w ill lik el y be made because the teams wil l want it that wa y, the AMA will want it that way and, perhaps, even the rid ers who are as ked wi ll want it that way. As is usu ally the case, the decision will be made by those w ho either ge t paid to race (i.e., the riders) or who race because it increases their exposu re (i.e., the manufacturers, tea m owners). Tho se who actuall y pay to a ttend the race (i.e., the fans) wo n' t have th e opportunity to say a damn thi ng abou t . it. You' ll ge t wha t they give yo u - and like it. What we have here are two options. Give n the fact tha t there will only be one motor cycle weekend at Laguna Seca in 2000, promoter Dan Murphy has op ted to bring both the World Superbikes and th e AMA Su perbikes to th e Mont er ey Peni n sula o n one weekend. S ta rti ng with a clea n p iece of p aper (and th e approval of both the FIM an d SBK International, the series promoter), Murphy came up with tw o options on how th e event coul d be ru n. The firs t is tha t the AMA Superbike race will take place as a separate en tity fro m the World Su perbike race. Th is gives us an AMA Superbike race on Saturday featurin g the likes o f Du Hamel, Mladin, Chandle r, Hayden, Picotte, etc., in one race. There's no doubt it wo uld be a goodrace, as a re the rest of the Natio nals that take p lace across the country. The World Superbike race will then be ru n in two legs on Su nday, fea turi ng the likes of Slig h t, Edwa rds, Foga rty, I Chili, Haga, e tc., in those two races. And perh apsthe odd Ame rica n (not "od d," like Larry Pe gram, bu t "od d" as in "rare"). Choice num b er two is to run both races as a combined race. You p ay the World Su pe r b ik e g uys th eir p oin ts based on where they finish in relation to th e o ther World Superbike guys, an d yo u d o the same for the AMA guys. If Migu el DuHam el finishes fou rth in the race but is the first AMA regular, then he gets first-p lace AMA points. If Carl Foga rty fi nishes second a nd he ' s th e best World Su perbike regular, he gets his 25 points toward the World Su perbik e title. Plu s, it instantly adds ano ther round to th e a lw ays- tao-s hor t AMA Superbike Ch am p ion ship. Sudd enly, you h ave DuHamel vs . Fogar ty, Chili vs. Chand ler, Edwards v s, Mlad in, Ha yd en vs. Slight, Pico tte vs . Haga - all in the same race . How can you no t want to watch tha t? After all, if the Wor ld Su perbike race at Lag una Seca has lacked in anything ove r the past few years, it' s in the number of AMA regu lars w ho pa rt icipa te . Last year was a prime exa m ple. Th ere was no Mlad in, no Chandler, no Yates. In fact, it's easier to men tion those from th e AMA who d id co mpe te : Ben Bostrom, An tho ny Gober t, Eric Bostrom, Jam ie Hacking and Mike Smith. That's it. A Wo rld Su perbike r a ce h eld in America and only five of our guys race in it. O ne of the argu me n ts agai nst Grand Prix racing whe n it was held he re was the fact that the locals di dn't get to compete beca use they d idn't ha ve G rand Prix bikes at the ir d isposal. Bu t now with AMA Superbikes and World Superb ikes being m ade virtually the same, wit h a th rottl e-bod y change her e, a jetti ng cha nge th er e - we still don' t ha ve a lot of loca ls taki ng p ar t in the World Su perbike race. Wh y? Becaus e th ere ' s n ot a lot to ga in, and every thi ng to lose. If you' re an AMA team, yo u r rider can get injured a n d it co u ld e n d up cos tin g yo u th e AMA title (or your rid er could end up making such a favorable impression that he'll get signed up by a World Superb ike team for the fo llowin g ye a r and yo u' ll lose him - or you'll have to pay Fogarty vs. DuHamel vs, Edwards vs. Chandler vs. Chili vs. Mladin vs. Ben Bostrom vs. Hacking vs. Haga vs. Eric Bostrom vs. Yates vs. Slight. It would be sick. hi m mor e to keep him her e). It also costs th e tea ms extra .mo ney to run a n additional race, thou gh the majority of them have to bring everything to Laguna anyway (truc ks, bikes, mechan ics and ot her tea m perso n nel) in ord er to run th e 600cc Super sport cla ss that runs as a supp ort cla ss for World Supers and is pa rt of the regul ar AMA Series . So now we are .presented with th e perfect oppo rtunity to make certain that the very bes t su perbi ke racers in th e world a re a ll o n th e race track at the same time. And they all have something to gain. Tha t's a n opportu ni ty tha t we can' t pass u p. Sud denly, July in Laguna Seca would be like March at Dayton a in the 70s an d ea rly '80s, when th e 200 was in its heyday. Fogarty vs. Du Ham el vs . Ed wards vs , Chandler vs . Chili vs . Mlad in vs, Ben Bostrom vs, Hacking vs. Ha g a vs . Eric Bo strom vs . Yat es vs . Slight. It would be sick. A nd you cou ld forget he arin g the annua l whine about backm ark ers - there wou ld n' t be a ny. Th e s tre ng th o f th e field would be unmatched by any other racing series in the wo rld . Ditto for the spectator lumou t. From a fan's stand po int, I can 't see a drawback to running the ra ce in th is manner. But it still likely won't happen this way. Certainly , th er e w ill b e argument against doing it this wa y and so me of it who kn ows wh at it cou ld be - w ill be strong enough to prevent the World ' s Grea test Superbike Ra ce fro m every materializing. Instead , we'll opt for the norm. H ey, it's easier th at w ay. Less work, less though t requ ired. If it ain' t broke, don't fix it. On e argu me n t for not combining the two races wil l be that the Harley-Davidso n VRI 000 isn't homologated for FIM World Superbike raci ng . But given the fact tha t SBK In terna tio na l has given Murphy the okay to pursue ru nning the co m b ina tio n race, ce r tain ly there 's a way of twis ting the FIM's arm to ge t a o ne- wee ke n d exem p tio n for th e VRI 000. Aft er a ll, Fogarty ha sn 't had the pleasure of feeling the grou nd move a n d h e arin g the roar of th e V- twi n Harley as it runs up the insid e of him in tum 11. And the worldwide televis ion a u dience th a t follows th e se ries has never seen the Harley ra ce - unless they've come stateside to see an AMA N ational. So what do you peop le think? You 're the ones who are go ing to be throwing d own yo ur har d-earn ed cash for a ticket, taking the time off work, etc., to head to Mo nterey, Califo rn ia, in Ju ly. Do yo u wa n t to see the World's Greatest Superbike race, or not? Drop me a line and let me know. Perhaps it'll help the powerswho-be make the right d ecision. Pro bab ly n ot , but maybe. Hope full y, we' re not too late. _ Looking Back 30YEARS A GO... N VME O E B R18, 1969 2 E SAGO... 0Y AR N OVEMBER 14,1 79 9 10 Y ARSAGO... E NOVEMBER9, 1989 acing on to th e cove r of o ur Issue #44, the Hopetown G rand Pri x was billed as the biggest r a ce in the United Sta tes, with h un d red s of entries repor tedly being turned away , a nd classes that started at least 72 rid er s. At the e nd of the d a y , Pres to n Petty (Mail bea t Dave Aldana (Oss) and G unnar N il sson (Hus) for. the wi n in the 250cc Expert ran ks . Then the re was this kid who won the 500cc Ama teur class. Brad Lackey (A-E) was his name... Elsewhe re, Lackey' s hero Bengt Abe rg (Hus) easily wo n the 500cc Inte rnationalclass Salem, Oregon, Inte r-Am MX. Bob Leach (Hus) was the top finishing American, p lacing eight h... Speaking of the Inter-Am, Ameri can Eagle motorcycles was planning an assault on th e Pepperell, Massach u setts, rou nd of the series. Its three-rider team would consis t of se asone d Briti sh MX veter a ns Dave Smith and Tom Ledbetter, an d American Mike Runyard... A 4-mo nthold 1969 Rickman Metisse Triumph 650 was for sa le in the Want Ads sectio n for a p rincely $1400. e rn i e S chre ib e r was our cover boy and was also plastered all over the inside of Cycle News. We profiled Schreiber, who, at 20 ye ars of age, became the youngest American to win a World Champi ons hip, his title coming in th e sport of observed trials ... Bern ie Sch r e iber (Bul) a lso climbed back aboard h is bike for the first time since winning the championship in Czechoslovokia to win the fou rt h annual VOTE Trick or Treat Trial in Littlerock, Califo rnia. Sch reiber dropped 96 points en ro ute to the wi n over Ma rland Wh ale y (Mon) and Dan Suffin ... We took a look at some more T rans-USA motocross ers. This time, Kent Howerton' s Suzuki RN400-79, Chuc k Sun's Husqvarna 390CR and Mike Bell's Yama ha OW-41 we re profiled ... Developing poli tical clout for mo torcyclists in California was the aim of two organiza tions profiled in this issue . We talked wi th key figures in the California Mo torcyclists Polit ical Action Co mmi ttee (CaMPA C) and the California O utdoor Recreation Poli tca l Actio n Commit tee (CORPAC). Both groups' main goa l was to get only th ose persons who understand th e needs of motorcyclists elected into public office. - e tt in g Awa y was the cover li ne of o ur d ua l-sport issue. Inside was a feature i n which the Cycle News staff embarked on a two-day adventure, exp loring th e p aved and un paved roads of Moun t San Jacin to, which stretc hes be tween Redland s an d Palm Spri ngs, Califo rnia, aboard a gaggle of rather tankish stock dual-sport bikes.., Gu y Cooper (Hon) scored overall wins in the 125cc and 250cc Pro classes during the Kawasaki Race of Champions MX held at Englishtown Raceway Park in Englishtow n, New Jersey... Ed Lojak (Yam) scored his thi rd Na tional Har e Scrambles w in in a row by capturing the vic to ry at th e Lead Belt Natio nal in Fla t River , Misso uri ... O u t i n the d ez, Dan Smith (KTM) won hi s fou rth straight AMA Na tiona l Ha re & Hound Ch ampionship title by winn ing the 100's MC Na tiona l H&H in Luce rne Valley, Californ ia. A Suzuki-mo unted .cha rger by the na me of Danny Hamel managed to force h is way th rou gh the dust and other riders to cap ture secon d ove rall on an RMX250. - R B G .8 o E ~ o Z 79

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