Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

nt il no w, th e o nly th in g abl e to stop the Isle of Man TI has been World War. Twic e . O ne postponement dodged a seamen 's strike. Otherw ise , it has been a set- your-watch annua l mon um e nt of racing s inc e 1907. Now a v irus has had the s am e effect. Wha t de va stating pestilence is this th a t c a n thre aten Brita in's gr e at est road ra cing instit ution? Well , of course th e TI is ju st on e e ve nt that' s been foot 'n 'mouthed into abe yan c e. Anoth er und e r th re at is t he Brit is h ca r Gra nd Prix at S ilve rstone, whe re one may find inte resting parall el s . O n e re s c ue p lan m o o ted for that ra c e was to ru n it in Europe inste ad . Anothe r wa s to race at Sil ve rston e as planned... bu t in p riva te , w it h o u t a ny s pec t a tors . F or th e greater au di e n ce , m ulti - m illio n s of TV viewe rs , that wou ldn 't ma ke a ny di ffe re nc e . (An d a nybody wh o s ug gests tha t ra cin g in privat e perfectly U I kn o w. He ' d sai d h e m ig ht n o t r a c e on th e Is la nd agai n . Tha t remained to be s een. It is the rea son for h is absence , a long with a s pate of oth e r Iris h ro a d -racing fa tal ities la s t yea r (not at the TI, let it be s aid ) th at had pr eci pitated a loss of innoce nc e a nd a peri od of soul searchi ng . The loss o f th e cent ral ro ad ra c e is just a no t he r c ri sis to a s port al rea d y foundering . By a ttrition , if for no other re a son , th e st a n dard of th e ra c in g wou ld inevitably have been lowe r this year. Pe rha ps for e ve r. We ar e now pa st the sta ge wh en th e like s of Fogarty o r His lo p wo uld c o m b ine a cl osed -ci rc uit c a reer with a n nu al TI h eroi cs . Not that a rider wh o decides to stick to p ubli c roads is n e c e s s a ril y le s s s kille d than a S u perb ike or GP p ilot, but without a ny yardstick it's ra ther ha rd to kno w. TT or in the Irish ho mela nd. It wi ll t a ke o utsi de inte rventio n to d e cide whether or not su ch a ra m p a ntly da ngero us ac tivity is ac c epta ble , in a reas m ostly th an kfull y b eyond the bu llynann y touch of Bla ir ' s h enc hmen . This ye ar' s c a nc e lla tion makes s uc h intervention m or e , ra t her tha n le s s , like ly. Pe rhaps th is is wh en I s ho ul d express an opinio n of my own. But no - it's tho se old m ixed feelings a gain. My own TI ex perie nces a s a jo urna list started mi d -'70 s a nd las ted m ore tha n a dec a de , an d be c au s e of th e thin g s I ha ve s een it is im poss ible fo r me to th ink of th e TI withou t a ls o conjuri ng up go ry im a g es of s udden death , a nd the ache of losses fe lt pe rsonally. It's likewise im poss ib le not to be lo st in a d mi ration fo r the TI gods Sta n le y Woods, Mike Hail wood and Joey Dun lop am ong the m . Can th ere 0 ..-- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - --, 5 a: a: (j ~ ~ 0 iii ~ Sh orta ge of e ntries isn 't rea lly a n is sue. Howe ve r, s ho rtage of spe cta tors m igh t be . There is a body of people to whom a n a nnua l pilg rim ag e to th e TI wen t without s a ying . The rac ing wa s n't e ve n very important , compa red with th e crac k of bein g there. De ni ed th is pleasure fo r on e ye a r, ther e will do ubtl ess be some who will re turn dou bly fired up next ye ar. But ther e will be othe rs who , once having bro ke n th e habit , may not pick it up a gain . Th ose hapl es s islanders to whom t he TT re p re s en ts the bulk of their a nn ual income must be worried ov er and above the short-term blow o f a barren 200 1. Road racing will probably recover. Pro b abl y . There have always been e nough c a nd ida tes, whether for th e be much less a dmi ra tio n fo r the oth ers - for a ny bo dy who has t he cour a ge a nd c om m itm e nt to g a m ble t hei r sk ill a ga inst th e pitil ess public roads? And no re a l motor c yclist ca n fa il to be to uc he d by a ll aspe cts o f t he s heer libe rt a rian hoo ligan ism of it a ll. Which is wh at a ttracted m any of u s to mo torcy cl e s in the fi rst p lace . I hate the c rashes . But I lo ve the free dom offe re d t o a n yo ne who is prepared to ta ke th e risk. And I rel y on them, the victims, to un de rstand for themselves just wh a t the y a re letting themse lves in for. The loss of t he TI ha s fo r years be en unt hinka ble . Now it has hap pened , for one year at le a s t. Maybe it's time to th ink th e u nth inkable. eN • Glen Helen National MX Opener • Monza World Superbike • Kentucky GNCC 116 MAY 16, 2001 • cue' e ne'IIVs T hr ee d iffe r ent views of winn er 's c lr cl es wer e featured for the cover of Issue 11 19. F itting ly , t w o of th e three win ner ' s circl es involved trophy gi rl s in the pro cess of kissing , or bein g ki ssed by. the w inner o f the ev ent. .. On e o f t he f e a t u re d stories in the issue was e ntitled Homeowner s' Association Seeks Closure of Corona Raceway. According to the story. residents across the freeway from Cor ona Raceway b anded tog et he r and were able t o p er suade t he district attorney o f Riversid e, Ca lifornia , to issue an inj uncti on aga in st the raceway owners. Th e inj unc tion was to forbid night and Sunday raci ng at th e facil it y ... Jim Rice won the 15- la p San J ose Half Mil e eve nt. Altho ugh not a N ation al , m any Nation al -calib er co mpeti to rs chased the vic t ory , incl uding AI K enyon (second place), Gene Romero (third). Cal Rayborn (fou rth) an d Mark Brelsford (fi fth) . The junior m ain was won by Gary Scott, while polesitter Kenny Rob erts fi nis hed a cl ose second on his Yam aha ... Young Ken Zahrt ro de t o vic t ory in the 125 cc Junior an d 25 0 cc Juni or clas ses at t he Ju n ior -Am m oto cross held in Som is, California. 20 YEARS AGO..• MAY 20, 1981 Two a: w des cr ib es rece nt Br it is h b ike G Ps s ho uld c a n go and s it on b roken gla ss.) Th e Isle of Man ca ncellation do es not , h o we ver , le n d it self t o e ith er so lution. You certai nly couldn't do the TI a nyw he re else. An d a s fo r c a nning the s pecta to rs - th is is one of th os e ra r e ev e n ts t hat is act ua lly m o re im porta nt to th e peo p le o n th e s pot than to the world at la rge . Nor does the TI, if yo u have th e prop er respect , lend itself to flippancy, for there is a specia l significance to this year's cancellation, beca use the TI is once aga in at th e crossroads. Hav ing alrea dy surv ive d th e m id -S e ven tie s loss of Wo rld Championship status, this year's ca ncellation coi nci de s with a no the r turn ing poi nt , m a rked by the a bsence of Joey Dun lop. 30 YEARS AGO... MAY 25,1971 an on ym o us Husqvarn a riders were c a p t u r e d cros s i ng a b ri d g e dur in g r ou nd four of t he AMA Two Day Q uali fier Series for the co ver of Issue 11 19. Frank Stacy (S uz ) made that round of the series his third win in four tr ies. and h is sec ond in a row. .. Defend ing Grand Nation al Dirt T rack Champion Randy Goss (H-D) won rou nd seven of the seri es at the A scot Half Mi le in Gard ena, Californ ia . Garth Brow (H -D) and Jay Spring steen (H-D) rou nded out the podium at the event, and Spring steen took over th e points lead by one wi th h is t hird -p lace finish .. . T eam Su zuk i' s Mark Barn ett kep t a perfect 125cc record of eight wins in eight m ot os at rou nd fou r of th e AMA N ati o n a l Championsh ip 125/ 250 MX Seri es. His Suzuki team m ate Kent How erton swept the 25 0cc cl ass on th e da y , whi c h gave him seve n wins in eig ht m otos at that point in the season. He got second in the m ota he lost... Yam aha support rid er Ro n Lec h ien ex ten ded his Speedway 117 MX win streak to 11 m oto s and si x o ve ra lls in a row in 12 5 c c Pro co m petition. 10 YEARS AGO.•. M A Y 22,1991 Team Harley-Da vid son's Scott Parker slid a c ross th e co v er of Issue # 19 afte r run nin g away with the vict ory at the Pomon a Half Mil e, rou nd th ree of th e AMA Grand Na tion al Cham p ions h ip D irt T r a c k Ser ies . Steve Mo re hea d f inishe d th ird in th e m ain but won the . Camel Challenge - and the $1 0,000 th at went with it. It was also reported in our race coverag e that 1982 Grand National Champion Ricky Graham had been arrested. and consequentl y fired, after a DUI incid ent during a drive t o a sho rt -t r ac k rac e. He n ev er made it t o Pomona... KTM 's Danny Ham el won round five of the Nation al Cha m pionship Hare <, Hound seri es in Hiko , Nev ada. Larry Roeserer (K aw ) fin ish ed a clo se secon d t o Ham el in the race and sat only 10 points behind in th e c ha mpio ns hi p ... T h e Hay dens show ed up to dom inat e the Ow ensbo ro In d o o r Sh ort T r a ck , with Tommy Hayde n beating litt le brother Nicky Hay den for the Z5 0- c1 ass victory , J enny H ayde n winning ove r broth er Roger Hay den in the 65cc class, Nicky bea ting J enn y for the win in t h e 85cc c la ss , Ni c k y b e a ti n g Tommy for th e win in the 85-200 c c cl ass. and T o mm y w i nn in g t he 25 0cc and Spo rtsman clas ses.

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