Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

I I .,he Cynical Dpti...is~ 30 YEARS AGO••. MARCH 24, 1970 Dick Mann (Hon) graced the cover of Issue #10 as the winner of the Daytona 200. It was Honda's first appearance in the 200 and Mann took advantage of a well-built motorcycle and the mechanical failures of his competition to take home the win and the $4000 that went with it. The 250cc support race was won by Kel Carruthers (Yam) ... We traosformed a 580-pound Mota Guzzi street bike into a lean, 331-pound, road racing machine. We did so with the help of a Triumph racing seat and Ducati megaphones along with a few other knock-off parts ... It was announced that four-time World Speedway Champion Barry Briggs had just signed a contract with Great Bear Enterprises, Inc. that would guarantee the New Zealander $100,000 for 1970 as Vice Presid.ent of the company ...The Flyin' Hawaiian John Desoto bought an add promoting his motocross school to take place at Baymare MX Park. A $10 fee included group and individual instruction. 20 YEARS AGO... MARCH 19, 1980 Patrick Pons (Yam) graced the cover of Issue # 10 as the winner of the Daytona 200. Yamahas dominated the event, filling 17 of the top 20 positions... "Rocket" Rex Staten (Yam) took home the big money at the Daytona Supercross. Donnie "Holeshot" Hansen (Hon) did just that but fell on lap three to hand the lead, and the win, over to Staten... Graeme Crosby (Suz) defeated Freddie Spencer (Hon) in the Bell Superbike Production 100, and Eddie Lawson (Yam) defeated Anton Mang (Kaw) and Spencer (Yam) in the International Lightweight division. A 17-year-old Californian by the name of Jimmy Filice (Yam) won his first ever 250cc race in the 76-Mile Novice Road Race at Daytona... We profiled road racer Freddie Spencer as well as up-and-coming Supercross and national motocross star Chuck Sun as they both gathered momentum into what seemed to be very bright careers. 10 YEARS AGO••• MARCH 14, 1990 Rick Johnson (Hon) g raced the cover of Issue #10 as he won his first AMA pro race since he severely injured his wrist one year before at the same track, Gatorback Cycle Park. Defending series champion Jeff Stanton (Hon) finished second ahead of Suzuki's Ronnie Tichenor. In the 125cc class, Mike Kiedrowski completed the Honda sweep as he defeated Frenchman Jean-Michel Bayle (Hon) and Jeff Matiasevich (Kaw) ... At the Atlanta Amateur Supercross, many notables earned wins. Ricky Carmichael (Kaw) won the 65cc and 85cc 7-11 classes, Kevin Windham (Kaw) won the 85cc 12J 3 class and Ezra Lusk (Hon) won the 85cc 14-15 class ... Jeremy McGrath (Kaw) won his second consecutive Ultracross race at San Diego's Jack Murphy Stadium. Ryan Hughes (Kaw) and Mike Craig (Kaw) rounded out the top three. CN our correspondent has been described as many things. Some are embarrassing publishers' puffs "most insightful and respected", or even "doyen of GP reporters." Some are self-inflicted - such as "wastrel" and "tosser." But some actually worry me - as when I'm called "anti-GP rac- Y ing," and (usually in the same breath) "anti-Spanish. " I would vigorously deny both these charges. In fact, I'd consider them self-evidently untrue. Yet, I admit to being one of nature's skeptics - and if expressing thoughts other than lavish praise of GP powerhouse Dorna's every action, and if refusing to share in blind optimism about the future of GP racing - if these make' one anti-GP racing and anti-Spain, then I suppose I must be guilty. The forthcoming season, let it be said, has all the signs of a vintage year. All sorts of things could hardly be better - and the 500cc class, quite rightly, will be the best of them all. . Just look at the front two rows of the grid. In the absence of a single dominant figure, three factory teams each have at least one rider capable not only of winning individual races, but also the title itself. Kenny Roberts Jr. has vowed to dominate in his second Suzuki year; Alex Criville has vowed to defend his title on his Honda. And at the same time, Max Biaggi can muster four 250cc titles' worth of experience in his Yamaha challenge. All three should be taken very seriously. Even Criville - though he often appears rather wispy and ethereal. In HRC's most recent series of tests in IRTA Jerez tests, shading not only But I am driven again to risk the accusations again of being anti-racing because I can't help forgetting that there's not much .backing all this up. Marlboro and Telephonic are bigtime, big-spending sponsors, and Repso.l too - though the last two did get their deals rather cheaply by earlier racing standards. But who else is there? Red Bull is not a big player, while Gauloise is said to be sniffing around, but hasn't so far actually come up with any goods. Meanwhile, Sito Pons, abandoned by Telephonic, has confounded critics who previously called him the meanest and greediest man in the paddock by actually risking having to dig into his own pocket to keep his Honda Pons team alive - Capirossi has brought some Elf backing, while Pons dumped Borja in favor of Barros in the hope that he'd bring some Brazilian cash with him. At the time of writing, however, this was by no means certain. There are the absentees. Erv Kanemoto's team Biaggi but even Roberts. You want more? Can do. I haven't even mentioned the other Honda riders yet - Sete Gibernau, in his second year on a V4, after a splendid debut mid-season last year on Doohan's vacant bike; and GP winner Tady Okada, defending the dying days of a long career. Nor Yamaha's candidates - Carlos "The Otter" Checa (so nicknamed more for his propensity for taking a dive), another past GP winner; as is Regis Laconi - though he too is a frequent diver. And Garry McCoy, the very small but very spunky Australian, who makes up for what he lacks in all-out 500cc class experience by being so light that he regularly posts the highest top-speed figures, and can out-accelerate anyone. There's Japan's Norick Abe on yet another Yamaha, and he is another All sorts of things could hardly be better - and the 500cc class, quite rightly, will be the best of them all. Australia, the poor boy had to be rushed to the hospital after suffering fainting fits ... what great-grandmother used to call "a fit of the vapors." There are sub-plots aplenty especially the three-cornered Italian scenario. Four-time 250cc champ Biaggi is the most senior, but Loris Capirossi has three titles in his arsenal - two 125cc class and one 250cc, and a reputation for riding as hard as you like: he has been twice disciplined for knocking other riders off. Valentino Rossi is the class novice, but he has two titles, plus a sparkling personality and vaulting popularity. Not to mention the kind of talent that saw him only marginally slower than Criville at pre-season tests. Meanwhile, Capirossi was fastest at the has gone, and though the Japanese-American has promised to be back next year, we'll have to wait and see if he can find the former winner - now and then; though his countryman Nobu Aoki on the second Suzuki has rather more to prove to justify his works ride. Expect hard 250cc charger Jay Vincent and teenage newcomer Leon "Son of backing to make good on that promise. Likewise the former BSL team, which had a package together to take over the four-cylinder MuZ, but has had to put that on hold for at least a year. Or the MuZ/Swiss-Auto, absent from the grids for no other reason (apparently) than that the people running and backing the team last year basically just couldn't get on with each other. There are less than 20 factory 500s on the grid, and a few injuries early in the season could leave the start-line looking pitifully small by mid-season. And it's hard to imagine that opening the class to four-strokes (as is planned for 2002) will do much to address the problem. Ah, well. Let's sweep the cynicism under the carpet for another season. The only thing that will save GP racing is not blind faith, or Spanish castles in the air. It is the quality of the show on the track, which needs to Ron" Haslam. In all sincerity, there really is plenty to feel good about in GP racing this coming season. be so electrifying that fans and sponsors just can't stay away. Luckily, that's exactly how it's CN shaping up to be. a Spanish rider on the bike next year (I hope nobody interprets that as an anti-Spanish statement) to please new Spanish sponsors Telephonic MaviStar. And there is still more - like Jezza McWilliams on the Aprilia V-twin, likely at least to keep new teammate Tetsuya Harada honest (the Japanese rider blew a bit hot and cold last year, though he did make the rostrum). One could go on about the other classes - the arrival of Aprilia star Marco Melandri among the 250s, the second (and probably faster) year of the factory Yamahas with the contrasting Chesterfield-backed pairing of sweet-faced Shinya Nakano and cavalier French tough guy Olivier Jacque; one could also go on about how GP racing is on the up in Britain, with new terrestrial TV coverage, as well as interesting riders including Daytona Bike Week - Daytona 200 - Daytona Supercross - Dirt Track Season Opener - GNCC Opener In next week's Cycle News eye I e n e _ s MARCH 15. 2000 87

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