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/128377
The Bomber eam Suzuki's Mark "Bomber" Barnett, so nicknamed by Oakley magnate Jim Jannard, was the first million-dollar man in motocross, and Barnett was definitely worthy of the dough. From 1980 through 1982, Barnett was practically unstoppable, claiming the AMA 125cc National MX Championship for three consecutive years and also landing the 1981 AMA Supercross Championship. Although he captured 125cc National MX wins in 1978, Barnett really burst onto the scene in a big way in 1979, claiming several important victories, including the 1979 I25cc United States Grand Prix at Mid-Ohio and his first career AMA Supercross victory, in the Superbowl of Motocross at the LA Coliseum. He also won the last three AMA I25cc MX Nationals of the season to finish second to Broc Glover in the series standings. T "I won a couple Nationals in '78, but then I broke my shoulder, so I didn't really do much after that," Barnett says. "But '79 was a pretty good year. I won that U.S. GP and the LA Coliseum in just a few months." Barnett still looks at that LA Coliseum win as his biggest. "Suzuki didn't really want me to ride Supercross because they didn't want me to get hurt before the I25 Nationals, but I got to ride the Coliseum and ended up winning it," Barnett says. "It was big because I didn't ride that many of them, and they had 70,000 people [the actual attendance figure is 76,064], which is still the biggest crowd ever." Barnett continued on a roll in 1980, winning four of the seven AMA 125cc MX Nationals to land his first career National Championship. He also earned a victory on the second night of the New Orleans Supercross doubleheader and ultimately finished fourth in the series standings. "I knew I could do it from the start, but I was just making dumb mistakes here and there, and Glover was riding so good you just couldn't afford to throwaway a moto. It ended up going down to the last moto in St. 102 MAY 11, 2005 • CYCLE NEWS Pete [Florida], and whoever [Barnett or Glover] won it would win the title." Barnett landed the title, but if he was just warming up throughout the '79 and '80 seasons, 1981 was the year that saw his talent reach a full boil. He went on a tear, winning six of the 12 AMA Supercross Series races to dethrone 1980 Champion Mike Bell and land the AMA Supercross title for Suzuki. He also landed seven wins in the eight AMA 125cc MX Nationals to amply defend his 125cc crown. Unfortunately, Barnett was robbed of a perfect season when he crashed and broke his collarbone while practicing in Alabama on the Tuesday before the final 125cc National. ''A week before Carlsbad, I was just out riding, and I decided to go one more lap," Barnett recalls. "I just hit a braking bump off a jump, and when I landed, I just broke the collarbone. I could have rode if I needed to, but I didn't, so I just sat that one out. I went out there and watched." Barnett's stellar 1981 season led to an unprecedented three-year, $1 million deal with Suzuki. "It was a million dollars, but it was for three years, and it wasn't a million a year, but it still totaled up to pretty nicesized checks," Barnett says. "I had it deferred out for 10 years." Barnett immediately paid dividends on Suzuki's healthy Investment in him. Fully healed from his collarbone injury, he rebounded and won half of the eight 1982 AMA 125cc MX Nationals, doing more than enough to land his third successive I25cc National MX title. Only Broc Glover and Ricky Carmichael match Barnett as a three-time 125cc National MX Champion, all three riders having earned their titles in successive seasons. Barnett also proved that his AMA Supercross Championship was no fluke, either. He won four- races during his title defense and wound up second to Honda's Donnie Hansen, who also had four wins that year. In 1983, Barnett was strong again, winning five of II I25cc Nationals and finishing fourth at season's end. He was still strong in Supercross, however, once again earning another four wins and finishing second in the standings, this time to David Bailey. By Barnett standards, 1984 was a down year. He went winless in Supercross, finishing seventh in the series standings. He also made the move to the 250cc class for the MX Nationals and fared no better in the win column, though he did finish fifth in the series standings. "Guys were getting faster," Barnett says. "If I hadn't been winning all the time, that year wouldn't seem that bad, but when you win a lot and you're on top for years and then start getting fourth and third, people want to know what's going on. I don't know if the bikes weren't as good or if I was just getting tired, or both." Barnett's illustrious tenure with Suzuki came to an end in 1984. He landed a ride with Team Kawasaki in 1985, winning the Atlanta Supercross and finishing sixth in the series as well as 10th in the 125cc outdoor Nationals that year. After being bumped from Kawasaki, which elected to continue with Jeff Ward and add exYamaha star Ron Lechien to the squad, Barnett was unable to land a factory ride for the 1986 season and elected to retire. 'There was no place for me to go," Barnett says. "Back then, if you weren't on a factory team, there wasn't much need for you. Nowadays there are all these outside teams, and it's good to have that." These days, Barnett, 45, resides in Tallasee, Alabama. He spends his time as a master practice track designer for some of the biggest names in the sport, such as James Stewart, Tim Ferry, Kevin Windham and Davi Millsaps, just to name a few. Barnett still holds the record for the most AMA National (MX and Supercross) wins for Suzuki, with 41, those victories coming in an era of multiple superstars, not just two or three. From 1979 through 1983, Barnett never went without at least one AMA Supercross win. The Bomber indeed. CN