Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

OOKIN' •. By ~ m~tzr 30 YEARS AGO••. OCTOBER 27. 1970 Cal Rayborn was photographed for the co ver of Issue #4 1 after settin g a new World Motor cy cle Speed Reco rd of 265.492 mph in his Har l ey - D a v i d so n st reamli ner ... J ef f Smith won round one of the Tra ns AMA Motocross serie s in Unadill a, New York. Other notable finishers were Dick Burleson in seventh and Jimmy Weinert in eighth... Whitey Martino (Hus) picked up the win at the Rams' desert race at Soggy Dry Lake, California. Points leader Rich Thorwaldson finished eighth and handed over the lead in the point s to Martino... John McGilliv ray broke the track record at a Willow Springs road race. His time of 1:42.5 was faster than the old record by 1.5 seconds... We tested the new Puch 125 Motocross and found that it was a capable motocross machine, but .to our disappointment, road testing was not an option. 20 YEARS AGO.•• OCTOBER 22, 19BO A mystical rnotocrosser t looking into the futu re of 198 1, graced the cover of Issue #41... The final ro un d of the AMA T ra ns- USA Mot o c ro ss s e ries ran in Braselto n, Georgia, with .Kent Howerton (Suz) sweeping the two motos to retain hi s cham pionship. Donnie Hansen and Danny laPorte rounded out the top three. The Support -class championship was won by David Bailey (Kaw) .. . Bruce Penhall swept the U.S. Speedway Nationals in Costa Mesa, Cali fornia, winning every heat he was in. Finishing second and third were Alan Christ ian and Dubb Ferrell , respectively... At Bonnevill e, th e fastest record set was in the MPS-AG-2000 class as Dave Matson set a new record of 178.246 mph. He also set the fastest speed of the wet weekend with a 195.0 16·m ph run in a different class, but it didn't break the record for that class. 10 YEARS AGO•.• OCTOBER 17, 1990 Harl ey -D avi d son's Scot t Parker and his ,trusty tuner, Bill Werner, ce le brate t heir th ird straight AMA Grand National title on the cover of Issue #41 . The title came down to the final round at th e Sac ram ent o Mile, and Parker not on ly cl inched t he championship . he won the race in con vincing fashion as well... At the penulti mate round of the AMA National Championship Motocross Series in Budds Creek, Mar yla nd, Mike Ki edrow ski and Jeff St ant on rode their Hondas to victory in the 125 and 500cc classes, respectively. , Going into the final round, the · MX Kied" led Suzuki's Guy Cooper by a mere one point.. . Suzuki' s Randy Hawkins won round seven of the AMA National Championship Enduro Series in West Greenwich, Rhode Island... Doug Henry (Yam) won all four motos in which he competed en route to victories in the 125 and 250cc Expert class es in Broome Tioga, New York ... Kenny Roberts Jr. competed in five classes at the ARRA Road Race at Willow Springs in Rosamond, California. He decim at ed all five c lasses (60cc Superstock, 400cc Stock, 400 cc Superstock , 80cc Superstock and 400cc ModiCN fied Production). - • r! ven though I have h ad absol utely nothin g to do with his career, it wa s impossi b le fo r m e n ot to fee l p roud on Sat urd ay afterno on wh en K enny Rob erts Jr. f in ally c ro sse d t h e fini sh lin e to win th e 5 0 0 c c Wo rld Ch am p ionshi p. I kn o w wh at h e 's bee n t hrough , and I also kno w wha t he 's accomp l i s h e d . H e ' s j us t w on th e m o st p resti gio us titl e in all of m o torc ycl e rac ing - a fa ct I do n 't beli eve even ha rd en ed Gr and Prix nay say ers can argue aga inst. And it coul dn 't ha ve ha ppened to a nicer you ng m an . Althoug h his fat her st ill says t hat J unior has p le nty of tim e t o turn int o an · · &% ho le" (h is w or d, not m in e) , I do n 't b e l i e v e t he re ' s mu c h o f a c h a nce of that h a p pe n i n g. Th e y do n 't get mu ch m ore groun ded than Junior. He 's le ve lhe ade d and po lite. A true gent lema n . Go figure. I ju s t hop e h e g et s hi s d u e . I ho p e th at Am eric an s treat h im th e wa y he d eserves t o be t reat ed. Like a K ing . He 'll be t re ated th at way in t h e rest of t he w o r ld , and tr eat in g him as anything less here wou ld b e em barr assi ng . He's a W orld Ch am p ion . A n America n Worl d Ch ampio n i n a ti me wh en yo u ca n co u n t thos e o n a han d th at' s be e n th rough a m eat g r in d er. Th ro w in the fa ct that he ' s the son o f a th reeti me Wo rld Cham pion - th e son o f a l e g en d. It ' s a h ell o f a st o r y , n o matter how you sl i ce it. I don 't wa nt to h ear that he didn 't bea t anyo ne to w i n t his cham p ion ship . I don 't w ant to hear th at h e d idn 't win e no u g h ra c e s . I d o n ' t want t o hear an y crap a b o u t t h e championship no lon g er be i ng real b ec au se Mick Do oh an is n o lon g er t here. I al so don ' t want t h e 20 00 20 01 o ff- seas o n t u rn i n g i n t o a G ra nd Pr i x v s . W o rld Su p e rbi k e , K enny Rob erts Jr. vs . Coli n Ed wards piss ing match . Ro b e rt s co ns is te nt ly b e a t t h e g u ys wh o gri dde d ne xt to h im a t eac h an d eve ry Grand Prix . The lis t i n cl u d e d W o r l d Ch ampi on s Ale x C r i vi ll e , Va len t ino Ross i and M a x Biagg i. T hrow HRC into th e m ix . He b eat them as we ll - no m atter ho w man y NS R- m o u n t e d r i d e r s t h e y th rew at him. A s for not wi n nin g en ou gh ra ces, he didn 't have to. He b uil t an early le ad , and t he n he ma in t ain ed it. If h e ' d c ras hed o ut of any o f t hese ra c e s l at el y , he wo u l d h a v e been l ab el ed a fo ol. Jun ior i s nobody 's E TearllollllD PAUL CARRUTHERS fool. He ro de to a c alcu lated Wo rld Cham pi onship . It's not hi s fau lt t ha t th ose around h im wer en 't up to the challenge. A s fo r Doo han no l on g er b ein g th ere, that 's tru e. He's not. B ut let's remember bac k to t he beg in n ing o f la st ye ar w hen he was th ere. Junior beat him. O nce in the w et , o nce in th e dry. No w can you say he hasn 't beaten anyb ody ? As for World Sup erbike vs. Gr an d Pr i x , th a t' s a b att l e fo r so meone else . I' m one who favors both series , an d I'd like to see th em bo th contln ue in the ir p resen t form. I also do n' t thi nk it 's fair t o dra w co mpar isons be t ween Edw ard s an d Roberts. I' m p rou d to h ave seen Col in E d w ard s w in the W orld Superbi k e Cha mpi onshi p . He too did what he needed to d o t o ge t h is jo b d on e . Thin k about it : T wo American s, t wo former A MA racer s, winning Wor ld C ha rnp ionships in the sa me sea so n. W hy t ry to k nock do wn eit he r one with silly co mpa riso ns? I still bel ie ve t h at t h e 50 0 c c World Championsh ip is the p inn acle of our spo rt . Perha ps I' m j ad ed, ha v in g sp en t a lo t o f m y li fe in Gran d Pr ix padd o c ks . I al so don 't beli ev e I'm alone - at leas t if y ou includ e the opi n io ns o f t h ose ou ts id e o f the Un ited Stat es. This is a Superb ik e co u nt r y at th e m om ent. Th e AMA rac es Su perb ik es , we h av e a Worl d Superbike ro u nd at L a g u n a S ec a . Th e re st of t h e w or ld , h o w ev er exce pt for En g l an d - i s st il l m ore en amo re d w i t h Grand Pr ix raci ng than it is with Wo rld Su per b ik e. Why not j us t conside r you rsel ves luc k y? You have Wo rld Ch am p ions in bo th . Imagin e if En gland , or Italy , or Fra nc e, or Spa in , could lay cl aim t o th at. .. T he y 'd be da ncing in t he stree ts . I also thin k if you caug ht Ed ward s in an h o n e st m o o d , h e w ou ld tell you t ha t wh ile w i n n i n g the Wo rl d Supe rb ike Championsh ip has been a go al o f his, w inning the 500 cc Wo rld Ch ampi on shi p ha s alwa ys been h is dream. Ju n ior h as g ro wn u p k no w i n g no thing but th e 5 00cc W or ld Cham p ionsh ip. He says his qu est for t hi s title has b een akin t o a 27 -y ear -ol d season of ra cing . In a w ay , I imagi ne t hat' s true . He's li ved it for 27 years. Now it's h is. Si nce I' v e a l re a dy a dm itte d t o being partial to Gr an d Prix racing, I might as w ell a dm it g uilt t o be ing par tia l to t he Rob er ts fam il y . Coming up in Cycle News e • • • • T h ro ug h t he goo d t im e s a nd t h e bad , t h e C a r ruthe rs f am il y ha s a bond wi th the Robe rt s clan th at goes way bac k . How ca n y ou not pu ll fo r a kid y ou've known since he w as in di apers? Su re I' d lo v e to b e able t o sa y t h a t I k n ew th en t ha t Litt le K en ny wou ld end up be ing Worl d Champion, but you can 't pr edict greatness no matt er w ho you r fath er is . Th e odds aga inst anyone growing up to be a W or l d Ch ampion in a nyt h in g are sta cked - no matter th e gen es . It's als o ea sy t o say th at Junior wa s lucky t o have grown up the son o f a leg en d , b ut t ha t goo d fort u ne ca n also brin g heavy expecta tio ns . An d he even had an id en tica l n ame t o t h at o f t h e le g en d . I st ill fi nd it o ffe n sive wh en I r e ad Juni or 's name w i th t h e Juni o r o mi t te d . T h er e i s o n l y o ne K enn y Rob erts. And ther e i s o n ly o ne K enny Ro berts J r. T he y ar e no t th e same. T h e y n eve r wil l be . T h ey are two i n di vi d u a l s . Whe n t he Sp an i ards drop th e J r. f ro m A ngel Nieto Jr. , that's t he day I' ll drop th e J r. from Roberts Jr. A n e a r l i fe- lon g b on d wi th the Ro b erts fam il y , howev er , is n 't the only reason why J unior's titl e m akes m e smile. It also p leases m e t o see that his c rew c hief Warre n Will ing is al so livin g a dream. I' ve known W illing si nce th e early 19 7 0 s. A s a you ng Aust ra lian road r a c er , Willing - li k e most Au s tr a li an s who v en t u re d this w ay w o und u p at o ur fa m ily ' s home in San D iego a tim e o r tw o . I recall dri ving from Cali forn ia t o Daytona with W il li ng in my f ath er ' s D od g e va n, t h e Eagl es bl a ri n g throug h t he ste reo , the re st of m y fami ly in tow behind us. W il lin g 's own ro ad racin g career was c ut short b y a se ve re leg inj ury bu t , mu ch lik e my fa t he r, he w as fo r t u n a t e t o h a v e the tec h n i c a l k now -ho w t o co nti nue hi s career as a crew c h ief. N ow h e' s won th e Worl d Ch am p io nship as the techni cal gu r u b eh i n d J u n i o r ' s Suzuk i effo r t. It ' s so m ewh at iro n i c tha t a former Austra lian road racer he lped t he ori g in al Kenn y Roberts w in his 500cc Wo rld Champ ionsh ips. Now an o t h e r Au str a l i an fo rmer roa d race r hel p s the newe st K ing Ke n ny obta in the title . Sma ll world . B ig World Ch am pi onships . Co ng .. ra tu la t ion s, J un ior. CN Brands Hatch World Superbike Finale Japanese Grand Prix Road Race THQ U.S. Open from Las Vegas Duquoin AMA Progressive Insurance Flat Track Finale ye .... n ... _ S • O C TO B ER 1 8 . 2000 87

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