Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

LDOKj" ~.II'I~ 3IJ YEARS ABO.•. AUBUST 8. 1972 Yamaha's Gary Jones was wreathadorned on the cover of Issue #30 after clinching the 1972 Inter-AMA MX Series Title - the first American ever to win an -.---lIeldWNF, upect these two domII..m V......... , •• Me, lIP _ T here's an old saying in racing. Well, there are lots of old sayings actually, but the one that springs to mind is that uttered by wise men whenever they see a rider overcome by red mist. "Rostrum, or hospital." It needs to be modified. The 2002 version, as applied to the MotoGP class, must be: Honda, or hospital. Because when the season resumes at Bmo, the rostrum places will have been taken already. There are only three of them, after all, and from Brno there will be three Honda four-strokes, with Daijiro Kato joining Valentino Rossi and Tohru Ukawa on the coveted V-five, the bike that has won every race so far this year. Of course, the others will be hoping to reverse the trend. The Yamaha has improved a lot since its early disappointment, and there is more in the pipeline. Ditto Suzuki, though they are coming from a little further behind. Both will turn up at Brno with significant improvements, while Kenny Roberts Jr. will be back with a whole new right arm. Will it be enough? Only if it's a lot, one thinks. The nature of the Honda is such that it has hardly needed any changes since the start of the year. It is so good that it makes an average rider (average in the World Championship context) like Ukawa good enough to win races, and brilliant riders (Rossi) actually appear divine. This is not all. Four races before the end of the season, there may be a fourth V-five Honda. Ex-250 champ Sito Pons, boss of West Honda, announced that he will also have a V- five from Motegi onward. This should be a good way of destabilizing his team ... he has two riders, Alex Barros and Loris Capirossi, so whichever doesn't get the bike will be seriously miffed. Then again, it will also be a good way of getting one or the other of them to sign up for next year. This follows news three weeks ago that there may be as many as eight Honda V-fives next season. A prospect to strike a chill into the hearts of everybody else. And a thrill for the lucky ones. The way things are going, we'll all have V-fives in a year or two. Might even get them to replace the fleet of pressroom scooters, currently supplied by Gilera. There's nothing new about this swamp of Hondas, with the marque now building a winning streak of 13 races. Their previous record is 22 in a row, in 1997 and 1998, in which years Honda also took the first five places in the championship. Mick Doohan first each time, of course. There's nothing new either about one-brand domination, though it's been a long time since it wasn't Honda. Back in 1976, Suzuki took the top six places behind Barry Sheene, and actually 11 of the top 12 title spots, the dozen spoiled by Giacomo Agostini, seventh on the MV Agusta. And in 1979 Suzuki took nine of the top 10. But not the first place, which went to Kenny Roberts on a Yamaha. Yamaha has had its turn as well, though only in the 350 and 250cc classes. What makes it more piquant this year is that the overall situation is more fraught than ever. Next year, as well as the rumored eight Hondas, ""1.- _ enry .... WNF, tilt aN h\IIl ' - fold. there will also be four Yamahas (two for the Gauloises team as well as the factory pair), plus the two Suzukis and the new Ducatis. And Aprilia. For the first time for years, there are more good bikes available than good riders, which is good news for young hopefuls. More disturbingly, there are more good bikes available than there are good sponsors. And the best bikes are all Hondas. Thus the holidays begin in an amazing state of flux. Of the top riders, only Rossi, Kato, Garry McCoy and John Hopkins are signed up. All on Hondas. Olivier Jacque and • Shinya Nakano are all but signed up to stay with Gauloises. The rest are floating, and the marketplace is seething. The sponsorship situation is even less secure. Gauloises and Red Bull aside. Marlboro is quitting Yamaha and moving to Ducati. That leaves the factory Yamaha team hungry and hunting, and ready to poach. One target is Telefonica MoviStar, not yet signed up again to Suzuki. But they might prefer to take the Pons option and get Hondas. They will need a Spanish rider, and with Carlos Checa currently earmarked for Ducati, Sete Gibernau is a highly possible choice. Stand by, because soon after the GPs start again at the end of August, things will have to start to fall into place. And you can expect a lot of change from this year, both in who is riding what, and what color the bikes will be painted. And the ones in front? Unless there are some big changes soon, they'll be Hondas. eN • Brands Hatch Woltd 5uperblke • IIld-otdo AlIA Superblke Doubleheader • WashougalllX IatIanaI • CbarIoIle AlIA DIrt Track • KIIItucky FUSA DIrt Track 128 JULv31,2002' c u e I e n .. _ s International MX title. In addition, Yamaha took the Manufacturer's Trophy at the final round at Mid·Ohio. Arne Kring (Hus) and Torlief Hansen (Hus) took first and second in the event, with Jones taking third for the championship... CMC hosted a motocross event on the beach in Ensenada, BC, Mexico, and, despite the dust, complete absence of a water truck, and heat, no one complained. It may have had something to do with the many bikini· clad women in attendance. Dave Rodgers (Bul), Tom Rapp (Bul) and Terry Power (BSA) won the 125, 250 and 500cc Expert classes, respectively ... Roger DeCoster (Suz) won the British and West German 500cc MX Grands Prix on consecutive weekends, extending his points lead in the process. 20 YEARS ABO... AUBUST H. 1982 Honda's Freddie Spencer graced the cover of Issue #30 in honor of his interview inside. At 20 years old, Spencer was the youngest rider ever to win a 500cc Grand Prix. He said that, if things go right, he might even be back racing dirt track at the Astrodome in a couple of years... Unadilla hosted the 250cc World Motocross U.S. GP, and KTM-mounted Kees van der Ven took the overall with 3-1 mota finishes. Ricky Johnson (Yam) finished second, while Danny laPorte (Yam) fmished third and extended his points lead over Georges Jobe to 14... Americans Bruce Penhall, Dennis Sigalos and Kelly Moran all qualified for the World Speedway Finals through the Intercontinental Final in Sweden. The World Finals were to be held for the first time outside of Europe, at the LA. Coliseum... In our New Products section, we featured Husqvama corduroy walk shorts, which were available at local Husky dealers. 10 YEARS ABO••• AUBUST 5. 1992 Will Davis (Hon) slid across the cover of Issue after winning the Oklahoma City Half Mile, his second win in a row in the Grand National Dirt Track Series. Scott Parker (H-D) still held on to the points lead at the conclusion of the event by a mere seven points over teammate Chris Carr... Jeff Stanton (Hon) clinched his third 250cc National MX Championship in four years at the fmal round of the series in Troy, Ohio. Teammate JeIlO-Michel Bayle won the race, but Stanton's second place won him the championship. Jeff Emig (Yam) and Mike laRocco (Kaw) once again split moto wins at the rain-soaked event, with Emig again getting the overall with his 2·1 scores. LaRocco's ) -2 scores kept Emig at arm's length for the championship, however... Wayne Rainey (Yam) won round 10 of the 500cc World Championship Road Race Series in France and moved to within 37(1) - 130-93 - points of injuTed Michael Doohan for the championship lead. Doohao had missed the last three races due to a broken legl .30

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