Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/128151
By 30 YEARS ABO••• MAY 2, '972 A young lad was photographed shackled to a helmet for the cover of Issue 16. Inside, we revealed that Assemblyman W. Craig Biddle's mandatory helmet· law bill had reached the Assembly Transportation Com· mittee in the state of California and passed. It was then on to the Assembly Ways and Means Committee... In the "Oops" department, a letter by Mike Guardian was printed that said that, althol.lgh we reported Gary Wells to be paralyzed In a previous issue, Guardian thought he was doing quite well for being paralyzed, as he raced against Wells at a motocross race after the issue was published... Mark Brelsford, a two·time winner of the Ascot IT, won the first IT of 1972 to be held at the facility on his factory Harley-Davidson. He led home a fieid of Triumphs, as the next 11 finishers were on the British machines. Eddie Mulder and John Hateley finished second and third, respectively. '* 20 YEARS ABO••. MAY5, '982 An artist's interpretation of Russ Collins' new Honda Top Fuel motorcycle was placed on the cover of Issue #16. It would be powered by an in·line fourcylinder engine and, although the measurements were not given, the wheelbase of the mock· up had to approach 15 or more feet... Donnie Hansen (Hon) won both days of the Pontiac Supercross doubleheader, rounds eight and nine of the AMA/Wrangler Supercross Series. He was followed home by Jim Gibson (Hon) and Mike Bell (Yam) on Saturday, and Johnny O'Mara (Hon) and Gibson on Sunday. The two wins extended Hansen's points lead to 33 over defending charnp Mark Barnett (Suz) ... Kerry Peterson took his 1000cc Harley-Davidson over the top of the WIdowmaker HiIlcilmb in atah twice In as many tries to win the overall at the event, and the $3500 that goes with it... Paul Denis won the Yamaha YZ80 Race of Champions at the World Mini Grand Prix, while Lowell Thompson topped the YZ60 division. 10 YEARS ABO••• APRIL 29, 1992 Two pictures were used to fill the cover of Issue # 16. The first was of Chris Carr celebrating his win in the Sacramento Mile with his tuner Kenny Tolbert. Scott Parker and larry Pegram rounded out the top three at the event... The second picture was of Wayne Rainey (Yam) and Michael Doohan (Hon) as they battled at the front of the Australian 500cc Grand Prix. Doohan won that battle while Daryl Beattie (Hon), Kevin Schwantz (Suz) and Doug Chandler (Suz) rounded out the top five... Danny Hamel (Kaw) woo round four of the AMA National Hare & Hound Series on his KX500, while second went to KX250-mounted larry Roeseler... American Trampas Parker (Hon) topped round two of the 250cc World Motocross Championship in Switzerland, while Bob Moore (Yam) and Stefan Everts (Suz) rounded out the top three overall. After the two rounds. Everts already led the championship by 27 points. GEOFF MEYER hat is it about the Australian Motocross scene at the moment? Once ignored in major-league motocross, riders from Down Under are coming out of the woodwork names like Chad Reed, Andrew McFarlane, Brett Metcalfe, Michael Byrne, Kim Ashkenazi, Craig Anderson, Cameron Taylor and Troy Carroll are making serious waves on the World Motocross and U.S. Supercross scenes. There are two Aussies in the EA Sports Supercross series (Byrne and recently crowned 125cc Eastern Region champ Reed) and three on the Grand Prix scene (McFarlane, Ashkenazi and Metcalfe). Perhaps the first significant look Australian raters got at big-time MX came at a major Aussie race back in November of 1972, when Roger DeCoster, Joel Robert, Bengt Aberg and other Grand Prix stars competed. Of course, the European riders were much too fast for the Australian competition, but the race showed Australian promoters that it was possible to bring International riders to compete Down Under. Eight years later, DeCoster and Robert were joined by Americans Jimmy Weinert and Gary Semics at another Oz event, a stadium-cross organized by promoter Phil Christensen at the Sydney Showgrounds. Weinert and Semics won their respective races, and every year since, young Americans have been brought to Australia to race for the Christensen promotional team. Australian racing has benefited from its exposure to top talents. Such major series as the Mister Motocross (run from the mid-'70s to the late '80s) and the ADB Thumper National (begun in the early '90s and currently the biggest outdoor series in the country) have gained enough prestige to bring strong competition to Australia. World Champions like Danny LaPorte, Hakan Carlqvist, Gaston Rahier, Neil Hudson, Shayne King and Joel Smets have taken part, as has such American talent as Jimmy Ellis, Marty Smith, Marty Moates, Neil Hudsen, Jeremy McGrath and Travis Pastrana. While Reed is already the most successful Australian racer to leave his country, his way was paved by adventurous Aussies like Jeff Leisk, Kim Ashkenazi, Craig Dack, Lyndon Heffernen and Mick Scott. The success of these riders varied. Leisk won a night at the Bercy Super- W GP Insider cross and finished second in the 1989 500cc World Championships (disappointed with his 1990 MX GP results, he retired shortly afterward), while Ashkenazi claimed second in the 1996 125cc Western Region SX Series (distraught after not picking up a strong U.S. ride despite having run with Kevin Windham and James Dobb, he also returned home to begin road racing, though he recently switched back to MX for the 2002 125cc World Championship MX Series). The new breed of Australian riders is more talented, and Reed, McFarlane and Byrne have really taken the Aussies into the spotlight. Reed finishing second in last year's 250cc MX GP Series before switching to the U.S. and taking the Eastern Region crown, and McFarlane claimed ninth on the '01 500cc World MX circuit; Byrne also picked up a top- 10 fmish in EA Sports Supercross despite seeing his team collapse partway through the season. At the last MX· des Nations, three Aussies won the qualification races against countries like England, Germany, Holland and France - a feat that would have been unheard of five years ago. Why the increase in speed? The main reason is the aforementioned Thumper Nationals, which has brought together four-stroke riders on natural-terrain tracks in a professional environment. In addition, pulling strong crowds of 15,000, the series has periodically drawn big-name racers, against whom the locals can gauge themselves. (The Christensenrun Supercross Masters Series should also get some of the credit; run on arenacross-type tracks, it also featured several cameos by stars, and it is primarily responsible for the supercross craze in Australia). Despite the new attainment of an elite level by some Australian racers, the country's junior base is quickly running low. "We don't have too many good riders coming through the junior ranks," Reed said recently. "Maybe two or three. I'd like to help some of the young talent. Once I've retired in maybe five years, I'd like to start some type of training program, maybe supporting the best junior riders with financial help. When I was young, my parents didn't have too much money, so I was never spoiled. I know what it takes to make it." With the lack of depth, and top riders departing for more lucrative envi- rons, Australian race fans are suffering somewhat. "It's a pity," says Kevin Williamson, promoter of the Thumper Nationals. "The Australian Grand Prix opened up the door for McFarlane and Byrne and eventually Reed. Had it not been for the Australian Grand Prix, we might not be seeing Reed in America now. He'd have eventually made it, but not as quickly. Look at Andrew [McFarlane[; he got picked up by the Yamaha Rinaldi team in 2001 because of his 2000 Aussie GP result; at least it helped him." Still, there are some respectable rides to keep talented Aussies at home, where a top rider can earn up to 100,000 euros. CDR Yamaha and the Leisk-managed KTM squads have put decent money into backing the riders. This, of course, means that Reed, McFarlane or Byrne are likely doing better than that in order to move overseas, a fact that's fairly significant when you consider that MX GP star Josh Coppins (a native of Australian neighbor New Zealand) paid to ride for the Suzuki factory team the first few years he was in Europe. Reed's recent U.S. title is the first for an Australian, and you can be sure that American teams will be headhunting Down Under as a result. No matter what the '02 GP results of Ashkenazi, Metcalfe and McFarlane, it's likely that European teams will do likewise, though the yanks tend to win out in the bidding wars. Reed's cousin, Craig Anderson, has reportedly signed to replace him at Yamaha of Troy in '03 (Reed himself will be moving to Yamaha's in-house team), and don't be surprised if one or more of the Aussies in Europe follow Reed to the States. "I think Metcalfe will do one year in Europe, then head to America," Reed says. "He's a very good supercross rider; he'd fit in over in the States... There's talent in Australia, but once the top five or six riders are in Europe or America, then the talent is very ordinary." Still, just as there is always someone bigger to steal a country's riders, there is also always someone smaller from whom to steal: Don't tell the Euro and American teams, but there are currently several Kiwi riders campaigning the Australian Thumper Nationals... eN • Dallas Sllperr:rDSS • South AfrIcan IfIlfDSP • SlIgo WSIIIC • IJhID MIA DItt TrIIcIr • I.Dn1IIlI Lynll's BIICt: cue. _ n _ _ so • APRIL 24,2002 107