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/128166
30 YEARS AGO••• AUGUST 15, 1972 Triumph-mounted Brian LaPlante slid across the cover of Issue it31, announcing the San Jose Mile preview located in the issue... We rode Kawasaki's 350cc F-9 Bighorn. We found that the $968 motorcycle was comfortable at moderate speeds both on and off the road ... Dick Mann (BSA) topped the Homewood Mile in Illinois over Mark Brelsford (H-D) and Rex Beauchamp (H-D). Brelsford remained in the points lead, however... In Greenfield, Indiana. more than 30 motorcyclists signed up to jump into (or over) a man-made lake. They were paid by distance as follows: $50 (50 feet), $250 (100 feet), $1000 (125 feet), $1500 (150 feet), $2500 (175 feet) and $5000 for making it all the way over the 200-foot gap and onto dry land. Duane Newman almost made it (he went 198.9 feet) but broke his back upon landing... Marty Tripes (Yam) beat Gaylon Mosier (Mai) to win the 250cc Expert class at CMC's Saddleback Park MX. Rich Thorwaldson (Suz) won the 500cc Expert class. 20 YEARS AGO••• AUGUST IB, 19B2 Paul Denis and Willie Surratt diced on the cover of issue *32 as they battled for the win in one of the many mini contests at the NMA Grand National Championships in Ponca City, Oklahoma. Denis was a multiple class winner, and other winners included Colin Edwards, Buddy Antunez, Denny Stephenson, Kyle Lewis, Ron Lec:hlen, and Billy U1es... Jeff Ward (Kaw) and Mike Bell (Yam) topped the 125 and 50Occ: classes, respectively, at the Washougal MX National. Bob Hannah (Yam) and Jim Gibson (Han) rounded out the top three In the 125c:c class, while Chuc:/< Sun (Han) and Goat Breker (Kaw) did likewise in the open division... Mike Baldwin (Han) won round 17 of the AMA Grand National Championship, the Pocono Cycle Jam road race. Baldwin not only won the premier Formula One event, but the Superbike class as well... Larry Roeseler (Yam) rac:ed to victory at the Riverside Grand Prix and Riverside International Raceway in Southern California. 10 YEARS AGD... AUGUST 12, 1992 Ducati's Doug Polen and Yamaha's Colin Edwards both raced across the cover of Issue *31 from the MidOhio Sports Car Course. Polen won the Superbike event after Sc:ott Russell (Kaw) broke. Edwards won the 250cc: Grand Prix event, clinching the title with one race still to run, over Kenny Roberts Jr.... Chris Carr (H-D) won the Peoria TT, round 12 of the AMA Dirt Track Series. With the win, over Ric:ky Graham (H-D) and .Mike Hale (H·D), Carr took over the series points lead as well... In his first-ever 500cc National Motocross start, .Mike Kiedrowski (Kaw) came away victorious with 3-1 mota finishes in Washougal, Washington. Jeff Stanton (Han) finished second via 1-3 finishes, while Jeff Ward's 2-2 was only good enough for third. Jeff Emlg (Yam) swept both 125cc: motos to take the overall, ahead of Steve Lamson (Suz) and Ron TIchenor (Suz). It was Emig's third win in a row. t is clear from the reception I get in the World Superbike paddock that I am viewed with some suspicion. Even so. it was surprising recently to be approached by a TV commentator who asked me, I quite seriously, whether I really hated World Superbikes, or whether I just pretended to hate them for the sake of creating controversy. In his next breath, he admitted my perceived hostility to his bread and butter was so offensive he would stop reading my columns altogether for weeks at a time, making it redundant to suggest that he hadn't been paying full attention. Instead, a brief summary of why I actually love World Superbike racing (how could anyone not), but rail against a skewing of British interest that to some gives the productionbike series an importance greater than purebred prototype Grand Prix racing. My wife, the cunning vixen, later suggested it would be more amusing for me just to have agreed. "Yes, Jack. I hate Superbikes. I hate the wheels. I hate the handlebars. The seats, the engines. And the oil. I hate the air in their tires. I hate every lap they do. I hate all the bikes, and all the riders. I hate everybody involved, and therefore - sorry - I obViously also hate you." Perhaps not. There's always the danger of being taken literally. As evinced by the number of times I got a "What are you doing here?" at Brands Hatch this past weekend. "Having fun" was the answer. My bread and butter happens to be Grand Prix racing, and it's a rare day that I can kick it all back and lean over a barrier and seriously study technique. Just enjoy racing. And there are few better places to do that than Brands on a sunny day, on the stretch between Dingle Dell and Stirling's - a piece of track as challenging, interesting and revealing as any in the world. The revelations weren't surprising. That Troy Bayliss is pretty much in a world of his own, where he can open the throttle 20 or so yards earlier than all but a handful of other Ducati riders, and 10 yards earlier than the best of the rest. That Colin Edwards is crisp, neat, relentlessly fast and very aggressive. That Neil Hodgson was trying his very hardest to justify his succession to the Bayliss/Ducati hot seat next year, and is knocking on the door persistently enough to be taken very seriously. These three aside, the Ducati Cup slower, slightly heavier and more than slightly less brutal - lined up nicely as an excellent stepping-stone class to the GP-series prototypes. Patronizing nonsense? Think a couple of years ahead. By then, Honda will have a 990cc Y-five on the road; Yamaha probably also an Ml clone; Suzuki a rorty Y-four sportbike. And surely not far behind, a Yfour Ducati. This must be true, in is a funny sort of a show. The main purpose of the other riders seems to be to show the British wild cards in a good light. Michael Rutter was riding particularly well in early practice, making the very most of his intimate track knowledge; Shakey Burns and Stalker Walker showed well too on race day. But it must be considered a side-show in the sweep of history. This was, of course, a pivotal event in racing. Brands Hatch is Britain's biggest crowd-pulling motorcycle event of the year. From the other side (try not be too insular now), it is also SBK's showpiece of the year. It's important from both sides. And this was the first year it took place within weeks of the other World Championship race, now in an all-new, four-stroke-friendly, 990cc format. A first chance to make a fairly direct comparison of the new MotoGP four-strokes and their production-based counterparts. The result was comforting not only to myself, but should be also to all fans of logical racing. Because the Supers - slightly quieter, slightly ClHnIllg up In Cycle IIews OlODI ~ order to make any sense of the notion that these are prototypes. From these ranks will come the next generation of Superbikes. A Grand Prix concept downgraded for production, then upgraded again to go racing. So, by the time the promising James Toseland (for example) starts hitting his peak, he'll be much more ready to jump off that and onto a full GP prototype than (for example) Leon Haslam, currently swimming against the tide in the ultimately doomed 250cc class. Which brings me back to whether or not I hate Superbikes. I love 'em. Especially since the rules have been rewritten by the new four-stroke GP bikes to change World Superb ike from a dead-end for talent to a main road instead. A main road that will surely lead Bayliss straight into the highlights next year. Let's hope it's not too late for that other giant Edwards. Then we'll really see what's what and who's who in world racing. CN • Belgium MX GP • EIIdIart Lake FUSA Road Race • OhIo AMA IIIIIcII8Ib cue I _ n _ _ S • AUGUST 7, 2002 111