Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

for September 18, it seemed that his last shot at individual glory had gone. However, Bobby Schwartz, Reg Wilson and Norrie Allen rescued him from the hospital in London and took him to Dr. Carlo Biagi : the wonder doctor in Galashiels, Scotland - to weave his magic and get him fit enough to race in the Final. Shawn had already visited Biagi earlier in the year when he broke his arm in the USA. This time he inserted two pins as big as carriage bolts into his left leg, and it immediately began to feel better. Therefore, Moran's thoughts tumed to racing in Marianske Lazne, Czechoslovakia. But healing time was at a premium. Kevin Godden, a physiotherapist in the Sheffield hospital, put Shawn through the pain barrier to get him walking again. With a week to go, Shooey - as Schwartz had now christened him - threw away his crutches and began practicing at Belle Vue. After studying X-rays, Biagi and his team agreed that he could put his foot down, and Shawn informed his sponsor, Maurice Ducker and Tigers' boss Ray Glover, that he intended to ride in Czecho. He put in around 40 practice laps at Scunthorpe, and then followed this with another long stint at Sheffield's Owlerton stadium on the Wednesday and Thursday before the big event. Shooey's practice sessions were intended to get him race fit, because if he was going to ride he needed to be as sharp as possible to compensate for the leg injury. "He didn't like the idea of me racing in the Final," said Shawn of Biagi. "He thought it was too soon after he began working on my leg. He thought we were taking a bit of a risk, but it was the only World Championship meeting of the season left for me. In the end he let me go with a letter to the track doctor in Czechoslovakia saying it was okay for me to race." In Speedway Magazine Biagi told journalist John Chaplin: "When we watched Shawn set off to ride in the Long Track Final, one of my colleagues turned to me and said, 'He shouldn't even be out of bed!'" He left for Marianske Lazne on the Friday and arrived at the track the following day for the practice. However, the track doctor was not happy about the American's wish to ride, and at one point he wasn't going to let him participate. But perhaps that letter did the trick because he was allowed to take his place in the meeting. He bumped his leg during the practice, but his Godden engines were going really well and despite the injury, he felt reasonably confident. "I didn't take any tablets or have any injections. When I was racing I didn't think about the pain, and the track was in good shape. Tiredness was the big problem," he said. Fortunately, Long Track doesn't require quite so much pressure applied to the left foot as conventional speedway, and this helped Shooey in his quest for glory. Thankfully he started making the gates when he needed them, and his Kelly Moran, circa 1979. confidence increased with each race. He was beaten only once in the qualifying races by Germany's Alois Weisbock. And against all the odds, he entered the final knowing that the World title was his. "After I had dropped just one point I knew I had a chance of winning," . recalled Shooey. "Karl Maier passed me in the last race, and I was just hanging on. I was tired and my arms were hurting, and I was sure pleased to see that chequered flag. But it was worth it. I was a dark horse and no one expected me to win." It was a courageous effort in front of over 25,000 fans, and he won the title with 22 points, with Jiri Stancl second on 20 and Maier in third place with 18. My enduring memory of that day is of Shawn hobbling toward the rostrum to step up as a World Champion. It was a brave performance and one which is worthy of any Hollywood script. "It really meant more to me than perhaps winning the World Speedway title, because although the immediate prize money was not as high as the one for winning the U.S. Nationals, the benefits will come from riding in Europe next year," Shawn told Speedway Magazine. "Don Godden himself and his two mechanics prepared my Long Track bikes. I switched to Weslake for speedway, but the Goddens do a better job on the Long Track." A celebration at Sheffield's Pine Grove Country Club, as Shawn recalled: "I bought some champagne in Czecho, mainly to use up their currency because it's no use to you when you get back. The trophy was a crystal vase, a very nice thing, and I put the three bottles inside. They weren't wedged in there or anything like that, but when I got them out, the last bottle knocked the bottom out of the trophy. It was like, 'Oh God,' you know. I got some scotch tape and taped it up." Shawn Moran was the first, and so far, the only American to win the World Long Track title. But the speedway crown still eluded him, and his main aim for 1984 was to qualify for the World Final. Originally, the venue for the 1984 World Final was to be Britain. But Wembley closed its doors to speedway racing, and then it was discovered that White City was closing too. Therefore, the Final was switched Sweden's magnificent Ullevi Stadium in Gothenburg, with Britain allocated the 1985 World Final instead. Kelly had aimed to show that you didn't have to race in the British League to qualify for the World Final. As the reigning U.S. National Champion he seemed to be better prepared, both mechanically and mentally. There was never any doubt that he had the talent, but with a good sponsorship package behind him and a more relaxed outlook, he was racing better than ever. Consequently, he made light work this time of qualifying from the American Final in second place, and was only beaten by eventual winner, Bobby Schwartz. Shawn took third with 13 points, and Lance King completed the quartet with 11. The event saw Dennis Sigalos crash out with a nasty broken ankle which would lead to his eventual retirement. Don Godden, who supplied the engines that Shooey rode to World Long Track glory, then ruined the relationship by sending the reigning champion a bizarre letter. This highly personal attack made its way onto the back page of the tabloid paper the Daily Star, as well the sport's usual weekly publications. With headlines like: "No Sex for Shawn Moran?" and "U.S. Speedway Star's Sex Ban", it did little for the credibility of Godden or the image of the sport. In the letter, which he admitted that he sent, he was disappointed with Shawn's early season form and said that he had "no future." He went on to outline the following requirements: n cucle "If you want to continue using my equipment you will have to observe the following: 1. You must be race fit - that means train hard. 2. You do not drink the night before the race. 3. You do not have sex the night before the race. Only if you observe these rules, which I know are necessary, will the bikes be unloaded at the tracks." "Looking back on it it's quite funny, but it wasn't so funny at the time," admitted Shawn. "What happened was we were going to a Long Track meeting in Herxhiem, and I was talking about having some fun that evening and scoring a few points with the girls. I had a few beers and had some fun, but it wasn't a particularly late night or anything. Well, at the meeting the next day, I wasn't going very well and the Goddens were not getting me out of the starts. So I tried somebody else's bike and it just flew. Don didn't like it; it was like 'Oh you gotta ride my bikes' and all that. As a racer, you want to win and sometimes you just cannot get the set-up right, and you jump on someone else's and it's just right for you. It's one of those things. For example, when I was at Belle Vue I rode one of Shawn Venables' bikes, and it was just hooked up right for the track and it flew. He couldn't understand that and moaned that I had to use his stuff, that's how petty they are sometimes. "I used to do Grass Track for him [Godden] and I absolutely hated that. Simon Wigg was brilliant doing that kind of racing, but I couldn't see the point. The tracks were full of ruts and stuff, and it was a lot different to speedway or long track. It wasn't for me. I was never a works sponsored rider, and I paid for everything, so he had no reason to send me that letter. And yes I'd go out and party the night before, that's how I relaxed myself for the meeting. I can't remember who I gave the letter to, it was ridiculous really." eN UUD@ []iJ@[?fi][JlJ [fJ[J@fJUD@[f0 $24.99 Published by Tempus Publishing Umited The Mill, Brimscombe Port, Stroud, Gioucestershire GL5 200 England Available through Sherbourne Publishing P.O. Box 81 Colfax, CA 95713 530/346-6963 e _ s NOVEMBER 20, 2002

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