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/1520301
VOLUME ISSUE MAY , P127 man had won his final champi- onship in 1977, and the following seasons were filled with injuries and frustration. Race teams rep- resent their manufacturers and their sponsors; for them, there is no substitute for winning. Fresh faces were on the scene and they were standing on top of the podium now. Like the Eagles said, "They will never forget you 'til somebody new comes along," and though maybe the 1977 champions weren't ex- actly forgotten, their glories from yesteryear also weren't selling motorcycles in 1980. DeCoster told Cycle News' that he had begun to notice his relationship with Suzuki deteriorating in 1978. In 1977, DeCoster lost his stranglehold on the 500cc World Champion- ship to longtime rival Heikki Mikkola and Yamaha. Mikkola repeated in 1978 and DeCoster, frustrated with the performance of his machine, hoped to use the off-season to develop a better motorcycle for 1979. But while DeCoster wanted to test, Suzuki wanted to race, and sent him to America to defend his Trans- AMA Championship. Though he would win a now-legendary battle with Bob Hannah at the Unadilla round, the hold on the Trans-AMA title would also slip through his grasp. Marty Smith had experienced frustrations of his own during the 1978-79 seasons. Team Honda was in a state of flux. A new team manager and many new riders were competing with motorcycles that suffered the same problems as most of the other manufacturers; in a nutshell, the Hondas, Suzukis and Kawasakis weren't Yamahas, and during those seasons, anything else just wasn't good enough. In America, the yellow bikes won every major cham- pionship in 1978. Even privateer riders were turn- ing in excellent performances on Yamaha's production bikes. An all-out effort by Honda in 1979 netted the factory few wins and no AMA titles. Smith told Cycle News that, like DeCoster and Suzuki, his own relationship with Honda had soured. Negotiations at the end of the '79 season had stalled, and America's first MX superstar was on the market. DeCoster told CN contributor Len Weed that he could've stayed at Suzuki but doing so would've meant taking a huge pay cut. He added that the factory told him they could no longer provide him a new race bike every year. Champions are winners and winners have egos; Smith and DeCoster both went looking for new teams. Honda had been courting De- Coster for years, but the Belgian had spurned their many offers, which, he added, had been for significantly more money than what he was making at Suzuki. Smith had been very happy at Honda during his six-year stint with the team, but, borrowing Honda's popular slogan, he now told CN that "you meet the nicest people on a Suzuki!" Each new rider/team combo had a successful season in 1980. Smith finished third in the 500cc AMA National Champion - ship series. In Europe, Roger DeCoster had a good season with Honda; in true champion- ship style, he would win the final Grands Prix race of his career, going 1-1 at the season finale in Luxembourg. Ironically, both men would eventually return to their old employers. DeCoster served as manager for Team Suzuki's U.S. motocross effort from 1999 to 2010 and Marty Smith finished his pro career back on Honda in 1982. DeCoster on Suzuki, Smith on a Honda. Some things just go together better! CN Subscribe to nearly 50 years of Cycle News Archive issues: www.CycleNews.com/Archives CN showed you Marty Smith's new colors in the same issue in August 1980.