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/128637
24 Hours of W illow With .Jimmy sense of un ease as the y to we red need lessly on either side of us. Befor e long we were sc u t t l i n g across the arid , desert basin lik e a giant metal cock roach on a hot pl at e and it was th en that I saw th e tr ack . Right ahead of us, hewn into th e side of the mountains overlookin g th e barren desert vista wa s th e inn o c ent lo oking p i ec e o f tarm a c - sp a gh ett i th at wou ld. over the next 4 8 ho urs , actu all y pro ve itsel f a heartless m is tre ss to many. A s we pu ll ed up t r a c k sid e i n a cloud of dust, I j um ped from the van and headed for some p it -lane actio n . I was g reet ed b y the half-eate n c a rc ass of l ast y ear' s ra c e-w in n in g 1300cc Suzuki 'U ltrabu sa ' rott ing motionless outside the cool rec ess o f the EBSCO/Suzuk i p it gara g e. Per hap s souvenir hunt er s h ad b e en gorg ing themselves o n its rem a ins , desperate to own a pi e c e of endurance -racing history . I introdu ced myself t o Land ers Sevi er , the lanky, Southern Yank ee behind th is weekend 's pa rti cul arly By JIMM Y M ILLE R PH OT OS BY Bo L O RENT ZE N ~ s we neared Palmdale on High14 , the lure of Ei le en ' s roadside gun show proved a lmos t irresistible. The sun , now directl y abo ve u s, seemed t o be div ining th e l a st droplets of moisture from our bod ies and spiriting them awa y into the hazy California heav ens . My m ind howev er , was spinn in g with possibilities. It was not be yond the real m of feasib ility to presume Eile en to be a six foot ta ll , 275 -pound Sh e-G imp a nd her ass istants , ci r c u s-tr ai ne d , amputee dwa rv es in rubber ballerina c ostum es... Carry Andrew , EBSCO Suzu ki 's crew chief, chuckled to himself as he watched me fi d g et uncomfortably next to him . " Yo u have to acclim a tize ," he offered, unapologetically , as the open window whipped the drying strands of my hair into a grotesquely unappealing mess. The further we drove from the com forting plasticity of North Hollywood, the more serious my situation seem ed to become. There was no turning back now, and the m ountains , the proud manifestations of a torturous, tectonic lega cy, only contributed to my overall C7T way 26 N OVEM B ER " 2000' C II C brilliant p iece of m ed ia man ipul ati on. He beckoned me into th e garage to look at the machine I w as t o be rid ing, a Y2K GSX -R750 w ith a Yo s hi m u r a , full -stainl e s s r a c in g exhaust. I e n e vv s The ra g-tag t eam of journalists w ho made up t he second EBS CO Suzuki team at the Willow Springs 24-Hour: (from left to ri ght) pit tootsle , Kent Kun its ugu , Evans Brasfield, Andrew Tre vitt, Sonic , pit toot sie, author Mad Jimmy, pit t ootsie. There were two bikes , one for journalists and o ne for real racers. Int ere stingly enough, as well as the Amer ican j ournos I was to be riding wi th, o ne of the team members was Son ic from Superbike, an oth er British magazine fu ll of girly shots. Oh , and m otorc ycl es, o bv io usly . Th e fi rst surpr is e wa s th a t o u r mach in e was t o b e w earing stree t ru bber - al beit Dunlop Stars - the latest vers ion of th e renown ed 207 GP tire . W ith Ohl ins hardware out ba ck and standard forks re -j igged by lin demann Eng ineering in San Jose, it was clear that this was no supa ex p en siv e p i ece of race -dev el op ed exotica . The most striking th ing about the bike was the extraordinary front brak ing platters . Manufa ctured by the imaginati vely named Braking Com pany , they were simply unique; beau tiful steel flowers bo lted to either side of the standard , 17 -in ch front hoop pure art. We s ettled down for a spot of lunch upon our arrival on a beautiful Friday and were treated t o some delightful Southern BBQ cuisine - I politely spat the bullets into a napkin and transferred them to the side of m y plate. Afterward, it was practice time fo r most. Sadly, m y stunning new, custom -made Dainese catsuit fa iled to turn up thanks to an unparalleled level of appa ll ing inc om petenc e fro m th o se self-styled "de livery" gurus , UPS. This resulted in Jimarillo running as t he "No Show" in this first , and frank ly , m ost important practice ses sion. Instead , I spe nt the time feverishly worki ng on an a ntidote for t h e (ad mi t ted ly d el i c i ou s ) BB Q b ean s w ith the EBSCO "Kitc he n Kr ew ," as my potenti al second Engl ish roo mma te (So nic being t he ot her) was st arti ng to bl oat painfu lly. Nighttime practice was always going to be interesting . In the words of Jimmy Moore , a top -ranked racer in the AMA 750cc Supersport Ser ies and m ember of the ' A ' t eam , (so to speak ) ; "It's byutiferl ou t th ier - yo u can see th e st aa a rz ' c u r ze it' s real clear 'n rart ah id you gotton that big 01' moon ju st hangin' in th e skaa and whin you look 't tra c k sarde , if ya 'Il rea lly watchfl yo u can see the arz of all the little dez'rt cri dders...• Good to know that someone was concentrating on th e '0' ring quivering ly dangerous. flat -out , top-g ear entry to turn eight... At this point, I would just like to say that, in order to create th e necessary journa listic ambianc e for this piece, I decided to log the events in a diary. Th e followi ng, untouched j ournal doc u me nts 24 of the weirdest hours I have spent arou nd m ot orc y cles wi th some of the weirdest people I ha v e ever met. Ho w ev er , it does more than that, it takes you throug h tha t same grueling 24 hours without the sanctity of rose -tinted hindsight. There is no garnishing here . no dressing of events to make it all look better - what follows is actually the gospel truth of each and every moment as it unfolded - the drama, the pa in , the worry , the uncerta inty, the anguish , the elation and the aftermath of some particularly potent barbeque beans . S A TU RD A Y 7 a.m. John Can tl ie (Sonic) and myself awaken bleary -eyed tha nks t o a tough night during which our roommate has subj ected us to a furious bout of 'anal terrorism.' 8 a.m. Reach tracks ide and have to sign on as a temporary member of WERA race club. 9 a.m. John and I decide that we will look more professional in EBSCO racing shirts. We do.