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/128340
The Dream Day ve n If t here had no t been an American on the podium, April 10, 198 8, would hav e gone down as a good day in mot orcycle-racing history because it marked the first time that a World Championship Grand Prix visited the United States in more than 20 years . But Marlboro Yamaha's Eddie Lawson and factory Honda fill- in Jimmy Filice made the first U.S. GP since 1965 oh so much more. The two Californians not o nly got on the podium on the ir home soil, they owned it, legitimizing America 's return to the World stage in front of 80,000 screaming fans at Laguna Seca Raceway in Monterey, California. After qualifying second, just .2S2 of a sec o nd beh ind pole sille r an d fe llow Ame rican Wayne Rainey, Lawson , who wo uld late r say t hat the w in was the biggest of his career, got off to a bad start in the 40-lap SOOcc Gp, his factory YZRSOO bogging off t he starting line . He was a disappointing ninth as the field so rted ou t, while Scotland's Niall Mackenzie found himself in the lead, followed by de fending World 500cc Champion Wayne Gard ner of Australia. Kevin Schwantz was the first American , running third at the end of the first lap. By the third lap, however, Lawson was inside the top five, running fo urth after following Rainey past Schwantz. Lawson was st ill some 3.S seco nd s behind Mackenzie by lap six, and he was having a tough time passing Rainey. Finally, on lap eight, Lawson knifed underneath Rainey on the exit of tum two. Lawson was still 2. 14 seconds be hind Mackenzie , who was still leading Gardner, but Lawso n appeared to be picking up the pace while the competiti o n slowed . Lawson was clocking lap times in the low one-minute, 30-seco nd range as he caught up to Gardn er, making a pass on the Australian in turn two the same way t hat he had overtaken Rainey. With clear tra ck 3D YE4RS ACiD••. September 10, 1974 E ahea d of him, Lawson got dow n to the business of cutting into the two-second gap that Mackenzie st ill held ove r him. On lap 17, Lawso n was breathing dow n Macken zie's neck, and he made a pass for the lead in the exact same spot that he'd made his passes for second and third, outdriving Mackenzie off the exit of turn two. A footnote is in order here: Lap 17 was also the lap in which a young Italian named Pier-Francesco Chili, aboard a Honda NSR500, would crash out of the race in turn II. Lawson imme diately pulled clear of Mackenzie, cont inuing to run in the low 30s en route to a huge win, his marg in of victory a clearly supe rior 6.447 seconds by the end of the 40-lap race . Not one to display a lo t of emotion , Lawson elected to stop his bike on the side of the track, jump the hay bales and throw his helmet into the crowd. "I got a real bad start again, and I thought , 'Thi s was it, thos e guys are go ne,''' Lawson said afterward. "It was a lillie bit tough to pass, but I was gett ing a good drive out of there [turn two], so I slippe d it up the inside and it worked . I tho ught I'd worn the tires out catc hing up, - ----.::==-- - Jimmy Filice 94 SEPTEMBER 8, 2004 • CYCLE NEWS but they hung in the re . "This is the most demanding track we race on , wit hout a doubt," Lawso n continued. "But I rea lly like it now. This [an America n Grand Prix] is what the sport need ed to get it going in t he right direction. Winning here to me is like win ning the World Championship." Wh ile Lawson's win was spectacular, pre-race speculation was that it would not be all that une xpected if the 1984 and 1986 World 500cc Champion were to pull it off. The same cannot be said for the 250cc result turned in by Filice, who didn't even have a ride leading up to the event. Filice was tabbed by Honda to replace injured Japanese rider Masahiro Shimizu, who had suffered a bro ken wrist wh ile testing for the Japanese GP. Even with such top-notch equ ipment as a factory Hond a NSR250, no one held out much hope for a Filice victory in what was to be his first GP start. After a botched start, the field regndded for a restart, with Fran ce 's Do minique Sarron pulling the holeshot, on ly to yield to another you ng American, re igning AMA dirt track champion 8ubba Sho bert • the Texan also making his GP debu t - w ho came fro m row t hree to lead the first lap of the race . Filice, how ever, cut t hro ugh the field like a we dge after running fourth early, jetting past anot he r fellow American, John Koc inski, and then Sarron and Shobert to take the lead. Filice ran in the I:33s fo r most of the race, leaving the field in his wake, finishing 9.843 seconds ahead of Spain's Sito Pons. Sarron was thir d, followed by Kocinski and Shobe rt . "Do you think I'm on my way?" Filice asked on the pod ium. "Someone employ me , please. I'm unempl oyed ... The only problem I had was when I started day. dreaming about winning and getting a job." That's easily understandable. Laguna Seca '88 was the stuff that dreams were made of. Sco tt Rousseau 40th Anniversary Lisa Wright models the 1975 Puch 125 MX bike on the cove r. We did a small write-up about the bike in this issue...Ga ry Semics won the final round of the Nat ional Motocross series in New Orleans, Lo uisiana. Semics won the 500cc class, while Kent Howerton won the 250cc c1ass...ln his custom-streamlined motorcycle, Don Ve sco att empted to set a new land-speed record at the Bonneville 5alt Flats. He failed because of a broken crankshaft.. .We did a feature on how to tum your motocross bike into a short-track rac e r and discovered that it actually isn't that difficult...Th e re was a test done on the Bultaco MV VII Pursang, and we fou nd it to be an exce llent bike. However, it wasn't a trial bike; it was for serious racing. i!D YEARS ACiD.•• September Ii!, 1984 ~: . ; ,. We tested Ricky Johnson's Y2250. It's always fun to get to ride champ ionship-winning bikes, and this was no exception. We had a blast ge tt ing to ride the bike, and we were sad we had to give it back after only one day...Loretta Lynn's took place, and there were no shortage of future motocross stars in attendance. Kyle Lewis and Shawn Kala s were amo ng some of the 80cc stars at the race. Today, Lewis still races nationals, but Kalos is retired fro m the national, scene...Mike Ba ldwin won roun d 26 of the AMA Grand Nation al Champi onship Series in Braine rd, Minnesota. Baldw in won after the early race leader, Wes Cooley, fell. 10 YEARS A CiD .•• Sep tem b e r 7, 1994 Appearing on t he cover were so me of the faces that were going to be at the upcoming USGP to be held in Monte rey, California. Fresh off clinching the 1994 champ ionship , Michael Doohan was looking to take the win over the popular American riders ...John Dowd took the overall win at the I Ith round of the National Championship Motocross Series in Binghamton, Ne w York . Finishing in second was Larry Ward, and in the third spot was Jimmy Button ...Chr is Carr won roun d 16 of the AMA Grand National Championship Series in Indianapo lis, Indiana. Going into the race, Carr was the points leader, and with his win, he left with an I I-po int advantage over Scott Parker, who was in second.