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/1539721
M ankind's seven ages of life were laid despair- ingly bare when William Shakespeare opined that "all the world's a stage and all the men and women merely players. They have their exits and their entranc - es." The infant in the nurse's arms becomes the soldier, "sudden and quick in quarrel," who eventually enters the end-of-life days of dot- age, "sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything." The AMA's 1983 road race season, were it a stage produc- tion, would've given the audience a broad range of performances from the racers and the motorcycles, with all ages of both bikes and men represented. There were ris - ing stars and veterans whose ca- reers were waning like last night's full moon. Some of the machines on which they rode might've be- longed on a museum floor, while others were fresh from the R&D board. As a subplot in this play, a feisty privateer combo teamed up to give the factory boys a taste of their own medicine. Racing's Grand National Cham - pionship this season still included results from both dirt track and road racing events, but one wouldn't have known it by looking at the current points standings and race-day results. The Grand Na- tional standings included many dirt trackers who were certainly com- petent road racers, like Jay Spring- steen, Bubba Shobert and Gary Scott, yet none of whom would show up in the top 20 results this day. On the flipside, of the top finishers in the Laguna Seca final, Kenny Roberts, Eddie Lawson and David Aldana had plenty of experi- ence as flat trackers, but, for vari- ous reasons, weren't showing up in the Grand National points battle. In 1983, the race for the number- one plate was going to be decided by Class C competitors; the new, less-prestigious title of U.S. Road Racing Champion was also in play. An impressive crowd of 70,000 fans showed up in Monterey that weekend to watch some of the best road racers in the world (who just happened to be Ameri - CNIIARCHIVES P132 Privateer vs. Factory Racers BY KENT TAYLOR At the Laguna Seca round of the U.S. Road Racing Championship in 1983, privateers mixed it up with the factory riders. The Laguna Seca round of the 1983 U.S. Road Racing Championship had a mixed bag of privateers and factory racers. Two privateers, Nicky Richichi (25) and Miles Baldwin (22), finished fourth and third, respectively. Randy Mamola went 1-2 for the win, while Mike Baldwin (right) was second.