Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

. '". 1 M "l O .. to '" e ::> ..., lJ) ~ w Z W ..J o > o •• Jimmy weinert A f ew y ears ago (abo ut six really) th ere was a brash , eg o tistic al scrambles and motocross rider from Middletown , N. Y., who let every one k now that he cou ld r i d e fa ster and better than cvcryone else around. He co uld also crash neater and walk away better than any one else. That was th e early j im m y Weinert, cool an d co nfident. Today the coolness rcm ains, the raw , und isciplined talent has been harnessed into a dynamo of action and; at 21, j im rat es as on c of th e top m ot ocross rid ers in t he U.S. Wei n ert 's stra ight f orward. shoo t from the hip attitude in euery th ing do es not always endear him to cveryo nc; ask j im a qu est ion and you can alwa ys be sure of getting ex actl y what h e th ink s with n o pulled p unch es. Th e on ly other th ing that anyonc can be su re of is a 100% effort on th e track 100 % of th e time. J i m m y sp eaks like he rid es: no wastcd ef f ort just charge ah ead li T O be cause th e finish is really the on ly thing that ma t t ers. b y Gary Van Voorhis CN : Well , What's happened since I saw yo u at Da ytona? JW: Oh, I just regrouped in Middletown (New York) after the Florid a series which was a dis aster. I t hen went b ac k ( to California, got a little more used to the bike and did some work on it. Wen t t o Texas and did a lit t le Texas seri es; got a little more used to the bike this time and did a little better. I go t a first at Opelousas in the second National MX but I didn't do too good in Hialeah aft er having a few troubles. Now we're here in downtown Memphis or wherever and I think I 'm getting it all ba ck together. Heyl I got my hair cut. CN : It was longer? JW : Oh yeah , y o u should hav e see n it. It was a first. But then I figured I better no t . Not yet. So I figured I'd get it cut and st rai gh ten up a little and it's been working out pretty good. CN: How did it fee l to win yo ur first Na tio nal? JW: Oh, I don't know. I don't have any feelings about those th ings. It was just another win because now I'm getting back int o win n ing aga in . It did prove to m e th at I ca n win : Actual ly Don J on es told me I co ul d n't win and then ca me o ver an d to ld me w hy I wo n (at Opelo usas ). So I figured I go t second that day eve n tho ugh Gary U o nes) didn't finish, That's wh y I'm w ait ing fo r my nex t win ; t hey'U probab ly let me d o it again and I'll be very gra teful to t hem. CN : Go ing back to last year for a minute, did y o u learn anything from you r first factory season? JW: I learned a heU of a lot . Keep away fro m fat old men with bald heads and listen to what your father h as to say be cause he's smarter than that fa t old man, and don't tell them any secr ets ; let them learn for themselves. I told them too much; that might sound ironic that a young man' like me would be telling Don Jones something but it's tru e. That's why he doesn 't like me too much this y ear be cause I always told him off and he wan ts you to do the "Yes sir and No sir " bi t. That may be fine for his children but I'm not his kid. Hey, wh at can I say. C N : Do y o u think th e jump to Kawasaki wiU be good for you ? JW: Boy, it hasn't hurt me. I think I'm a lot be tter. It makes me hungry 'cause I'm th e underdog now by rid ing the Kaw . People think it's some old monster that came o ut three ye ar s ago b ut it's not and we 're really getting it on. CN : How is racing wi th Brad going to work o u t ? JW: T he re's nothing to really work o ut . I j us t think of him as Brad and I want to b eat him j u st like he wants to b eat m e. It's the same thing we've been doing for the last 3 or 4 years: it's a retty hea battle. Yo u know wh en it co mes down to t he end of a race an d you're reaUy tired an d it 's me and Brad lef t-no matter whether it 's first o r last p lace we just wan t to beat each o t he r . CN : Are yo u still invol ved in th e heavy t rai ning you did last year? JW: That rigorous tra ining program th at was quoted wasn't really an ything; th er e was som e training, yeah. This is th e truth. .He (Don Jones) tried to get us to train in . the motorhome as we were mo ving. ] said, he y, if we're go ing to t rain let' s stop alon gsid e th e roa d and do it . Yo u kn ow h e' s got ide as . Yo u can't t rain going down th e road in a motorhome b o un cing from side to side. They (Gary an d DeWayne J ones) we re ma d because I didn' t ha ve to do as much training as they di d. I still do n't. I train--I wa nt to-but I d on' t have to as much as t he othe rs. On ce you get into sha pe it's all up here (in yo ur head) . CN: Can you co mpare the two b ikes: Yamaha and th e Kawasaki? J W: It 's a b ig differen ce from last year. Whe n I h ad Ya mahas th ey broke. The 360 b rok e. I also .wasn 't getting t he best hel p and Yam ah a fin ally realized that b ut I had so much trouble and agg ravatio n wi th the whole tea m t hat-what can I say. They tol d me it was go ing t o get b etter . I raced again st Brad and he ne ver brok e: I co uld ca tch hi m an d .star t ra cing and maybe eve n ge t ahead but th en I'd b reak and it would j us t dis courage m e. So I figured maybe I sho uld b e riding his brand. Yo u kn ow they 're pretty dire ct when they want yo u and it doesn't matter what y o u're riding or what you go for . They co m e right to th e point. CN: When did you make y o ur final d ecision to chan ge and go with Kawasaki? JW : One Day J just stopped in to say good-bye because I was going hom e to Middletown fo r a whil e and I signed the co n trac t . It was just one of those things. I was supposed to go and re-sign with Yamaha and I read theirs (Kawasaki) and I signed. I w as j us t unsu re. Now I have a much b etter p icture in my mind of how I want to do things so I won't have that problem again. It was really an on th e spot th ing. I w en t o n home and t he ne xt thing I knew I wa s rid ing th e Kaw . CN: Do yo u h ave an y European raci ng pl ans in the wo rks? J W: WeU, if I do good this year I want to co ntest th e 250 World Ch amp ion sh ip nex t year. Bu t if I don't do good here th is year then there's no sens e in goi n g 'ca use if you c an 't win here you're sure not go ing to w in over t here. So t hat 's my plan , my o utl oo k ; it's what I want to do. CN : Will yo u and Brad b e run ning the same class in the Inter and Trans-MIA series? JW: Ye ah . It 's go ing to b e a knockdown, dragout fight . It 's goin g to be heads up ; I think I can get him in th e e 250 but it's going to be a ra ce in t'!Open class. CN : I'd say you were a better small bike rider. JW: A lot o f people say th at . I really am and ma ybe it's because it's in my head and bec ause it 's easier to get used to and ride. I think that once I get used to the 450 like I was in Texas th en I'U be OK but un til then, Brad 'has it on me 'cause aU he rides is th e 450. What do I ride? The 250 on e week, the 4 50 t he next. It's lik e being the whole team and th at's no t fun. I don't get t wo salar ies , right ? CN : Ho w does it feel to b e getting ou t d oing PR work and meet ing dealer s and people ? JW : It 's part of my contract an d if it'U help me ma ke a buck I'U do it. It h elp s Kawasaki and it helps me ; it helps all the way around, If Kaw asa ki sees us making an effort to ge t aroun d-hey , yo u're going to go place s, That's th e way I see it and it feels good , important. CN: Who's y o ur biggest threat in the 250 ri ht now?

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