Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

By 3D YEARS ABO••• FEBRUARY 17, 1fJ70 It was Houston IT and Short Track time agajn, and our cover showed that there was plenty of action at the legendary doubleheader that marked the beginning of the AMA Grand National Championship season. As it turned out, reigning AMA Grand National Champion Mert La_ill (H-D) started the "On Any Sunday· season with a victory in the short track main event, whUe Jim Rice (BSA) earned the first of his six National wins for the season in the TT final. .. There was related news, as Harley-Davidson unveiled its XR750 at the Houston trade show. The stop-g.ap, iron-barreled successor to the KR750 was destined to give the Harley wreckjng crew nightmares... Longstanding BSA guy Dick Mann also announced that he had signed on to ride a Honda in the upcoming Daytona 200... Elsewhere, J.N. Roberts (Hus) chalked up another win in the desert, this one coming in Lucerne, California. 2D YEARS AGO••• FEBRUARY 13, 1fJBO Our AMA Grand National Championship/Winston Pro Series preview issue posed the question. "Can Steve smoke 'em again?" The Steve was, of course, reigning champion Steve Eklund. who had become the first privateer since Dick Mann (1963) to win the Grand National title... We interviewed stunt folks Lane and Debbie Leavitt, getting a unique insight into the sport of trials from a couple who lived, breathed and rode it... Ron Turner (Suz), Chuck Sun (Hon) and Danny "Magoo" Chandler (Mai) were the winners at round of five of the CMC Golden State Series in Sacramento, California... Tumer won the 125cc Pro class, Sun the 250cc Pro, and Magoo the Open Pro ... Montesa showed off its 1980 family of motorcycles, which still included motocross machines as well as trials bikes ... We tested the 1980 Honda CB750F Super Sport, saying, "For those that wish to road race with a street-legal machine, the CB750F is the lInswer." 10 YEARS ABO••• FEBRUARY 7, 1!IfJD Damon was da man at the opening round of the AMA Supercross Series in Anaheim, California. That's right, 17 -yearold Damon Bradsbaw (Yam) earned his first career AMA Supercross victory in front of a packed house, 'leading reigning ,-T:":''':''-C= World 250cc MX Champion Jean· Michel Bayle (Hon) and Jeff Matiasevich (Kaw) to the podium. Mike Craig (Kaw) won the 125cc Western Regional main event... We got to test a pair of siblings in the Honda CB-] and Honda Hawk GT, the latter a 647cc V-twin... Ascot went Hollywood: A one-page news feature told of how the legendary Ascot Park was once again being used by the filmmakers. This time it was for the Nick Nolte/Eddie Murphy flick Another 48 hours. The opening scene of the movi was to take placE' during the running of a TT event Sever,,' of Ascot's famous faces v,ere involved 10 the shoot, including Eddie Mulder, Dave Aldana and Alex Jorgense. CN ~ ~· ... 4 ,~ I j~' :l:t) ~ : Da.mod· . DAVID VUILLEMIN Guest Column W ell, I'm three races into my first full-time season in the U.S. (Editor's note: this column was writ- takes. When he has somebody behind him, he can maybe gain a second a lap. He's very consistent, so I knew ten between the San Diego and Phoenix rounds), and although the that to beat him I needed a good start, and to make no mistakes. I hoped I could do that, because that's kind of why I'm here. Unfortunately, at round three in San Diego, I came up short on the small triple in Friday's practice. It was kind of a tricky jump, and I just flew over the bars; it was a pretty good crash. My wrist swelled up a lot, so I went to the hospital. They took some X-rays, and nothing was broken, but it was all blue. My back was also sore, but I had to deal with it. I didn't want to say, "I won't have a good race because I'm hurt." I didn't want anybody to know about it; I just wanted to ride. first round wasn't great, things have been getting steadily better. At the first Anaheim round, I didn't get a good start in the main, but I was catching up very fast. I passed a lot of people and finished fifth. I guess my speed was just okay, considering it was the first one, but I was hoping for better. I think I may have been feeling some pressure in Anaheim. At the Paris Supercross, for example, since I'm a French guy racing against the Americans, the .fans obviously scream for me. Here, I must prove I can do well, and also I must show that my number - 934 - is not my rank. Maybe a lot of people in the crowd do not know me, so I have to ride well to make the crowd happy with some good results and some tricks, and maybe I can become better known. I've also been feeling some pressure from back home. After the first Anaheim race, a French magazine said, David VuiLlemin didn't have a good day and finished fifth. The problem with the French magazines is that they always take the negative point of view. They should be more positive. They're always looking for controversy, or trying to find something bad that a rider says. The atmosphere is not so good, and I don't like that. I do a good job, and my sponsors are very good, and I try to do everything I can to be a good guy. I don't like the French magazines much now. Anyway, round two was better, and I was happy, but I was not content. I got the holeshot in the main; then Jeremy came up and passed me. I was a little nervous about get· ting my first holeshot in the U.S., and I was tight when I rode with Jeremy, but I still held on and finished second. Afterwards, I decided that I wanted to be more relaxed the next time, and to race more with him. One mistake I made was that I didn't think about racing' Jeremy; I was kind of surprised with my good start, and I was thinking too much about making the podium. I was riding not to make mistakes, so I wasn't riding well. I didn't race the track; I was thinking about the results. I think Jeremy's strong because he rides 20 laps without making mis- for Jeremy, who is maybe one step above), so the starts are very important. This time, when I got out front, I was concentrating on the track more than on the other riders, although J did look every lap to see where Windham and LaRocco were. I tried to ride every lap smooth, nice, safe and fast. I made a couple of mistakes in the whoop section, but no big deal. For most of the race, I just tried to keep my five- or six-second gap on second place, but I started to think about the victory three laps before the end. With two laps to go, I slowed down a little bit, and the last lap was just, "Do the jumps." Jeremy had problems with his brakes, and I didn't want to win because he had problems, but it still David Vulllemin collects the Yahoo! Sports $1000 Hol.shot award after leading every lap of the 250cc Supercross maIn event In San Diego. I was very mad at myself because at first I thought the season was over for me, but I rode the second practice on Friday and I was feeling good. Still, my goal was just to be in the top five or on the podium, but I got the start that I had been wanting for a long time. Yamaha gave me a bike that that gets awesome starts, and that made me confident. Ever since I moved up to the 125cc class, I've had problems with my starts (I always got good starts on 80s). Now I'm beginning to start better, and I'm very proud about that because in every race that I get a good start, it's like I cut out one obstacle. All the riders are about the same speed (except Maybe they will think about me to be up front, so it might be more difficult for me to win again, because they know I can do it. From now on I must forget about my first win and just think about the next race. eN • Houston Supercross • Rrst Ride: Honda CBR929 • Hampton Arenacross In next week's Cycle News cue I felt very good. It's a credit for the team, because they worked very hard. I'm very happy to win for Yamaha, and also for my teammate Jimmy Button, who was injured earlier that night. I missed him a little bit in the race, and I think that win was for him, also. It was my goal this year to win one. I knew I could do it. It may be a surprise for everybody, but maybe in the future it will not be a surprise. e n e _ so • FEBRUARY 9.2000 63

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