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/141046
Who Won the Richest Road Races in the World in 19721 National Circuit, and Who, Unti'l Mid-February, . ..... N .c " u, / ~ w 2 w ..J U > U PAUL 5 ART! T he Big O ne: Smar t visits V ictory Circle at O ntar io, Californ ia. is wha t w in s the long rac es. Feeling that he didn't have a chan ce at the start of th e secon d heat , he aga in rod e qu ick ly, co nsistent ly and safely, won th e heat a nd took the overa ll victo ry . He feels tha t Cliff Carr co uld have taken the o verall win b y fo llowi ng Pau l in seco nd, in stea d of tr ing to stre tc h his lead in th e seco nd heat a nd br eaking. "Cliff was riding extremely wel and it was a pit y, in a way , tha t he did b low it ." by Pet er C. G rufste dt In spe nd ing a recent evening with Paul at his temp orary h ome in Santa An a a nd lat er ove r a co uple o f beers, t he o ne feeling that im pressed me abo ve all else. was h is grea t sense of f rustration. Here is a man who has devoted all of his recent life to mo to rcycle road racing to th e po int of not taking a vacation for the past fou r years, u n abl e to fi nd a wor th y and suitab le rid e. Pau l An th on y Sm art was born near rhe Brands Hatch Race Circui t On April 23, 1943 to Harry and Nancy Sm art. He expe rie nced a fair ly normal chil d hood and u pbri nging with his sister Penn y, an d , after co mpleting his education . he serve d an apprenticeship as a boat bui lde r. A t fourteen, Paul's par ents had mo ved to their presen t address at East Farleigh, Maid ston e, Ke nt , to become pr op rietors of a trailer park and cafe, an d it was here th at yo u ng Paul 's interest in motor cycles b egan. Th e ca fe "wasfreq ue nte d by mo torc yclist s. It was th e in place in the area where th e bo ys used to coll ect. We used to ~rtIp-roThu n dred-motoreyelerin·fron " Paul ' s fathe r would no t let him have a go at rno t o ( ycle racing un til he had finis hed his a p re nri emip. So upo n com ple tio n in ) 965. he wen t toJ' Charles Mortim er's moto rcycle road ra cing schoo at Bran ds Hatch. He th ou ght that he wou ld b e Wor Cha m pion HE WASN'T AS HANSEN a . - Paul's first road racer was a Bultaco lQ5 wh ich he . pur cha - with. the money from the sa o f his road bi ke. A few "very goo d frien ds" in t he I cal cafe mo tor cycle club elped him out fin nciall y and bo ught him a beat-up v fo r 17 poun ste rling. T he tw o races d At t he end of J anu ary, Pau l was still not co mmitted to a ny factory to ride fo r the ) 973 seaso n. He was j ust " no t very excited " abour any of the offers so far. He ad mit s t ha t recently he has bee n getting a bit up tigh . " I rea lly figu re tha t if I d on ' t get quite a goo d deal ; h is yea r, th en wh en am I going to get a good d eal? ' ve never ever b een paid a lo t o f ;Tclian:~'llf--';"one go racing." T hou gh he has received good start money in Eu rop e. he has never had a good offer from a fact ory. But money is onl y part of it . There also ne ed s to be enthusiasm. met icul ous prep arat ion, 'lL!~~~==~~;';~~~~;~;::.::::::=::=:z::!:;::=:::~~ n~~~~:;~~~f~ tor y's ; a<; HE FEELS T HAT T HE AMER ICANS AND T HE JAPANESE DON 'T PUT ENOUGH EMPHASIS ON HAN DLING. racing was in 196 7-68, Refl ecting on O nt ari o, P;ul feels that it wasn 't the " walk-over" as at Imol a. He scratched for the first fifteen laps or so and settled int o a good steady pace to finis h fift h in th e fir st hea t. Co nsiste nc y, he feels, part, a nd he also sees a ro e o r im sc1 1M resear ch and developme nt, not j ust racing . " I feel th at I need so me one wh o really un derst and s it (racing), who do es get workin g at the end of November, gets th e b ikes read y for Dayt on a co m pet itive bi kes for the next yea r. You have to be in there wit h a better chance." Paul would also like to see T riump h of England get · back into racing pro perl y, as he has great fa ith in the m . " T he b o ys wh o worke d for T riumph Racing in