Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

C Y C L E N E W S • JULY 19, 2006 13 30 Years A July 20, 1976... Our coverage of the 125cc MX USGP was highlighted on the cover of Cycle News 30 years ago. The big International race was hosted by the Mid-Ohio Moto Park in Lexington, Ohio, and was won for the second consecutive time by Marty Smith... We reported that KJ, the heir apparent to Cookie, the famous desert-racing dog that rode on the gas tank of John McCown's Husqvarna, was killed when a car hit him after he had disappeared in the California high- desert near Ridgecrest... Kenny Roberts won San Jose's first night National dirt track... Larry Roeseler and Mitch Mayes topped the Antelope Valley Ramblers' Dual European Scrambles at California City... We took a close-up look at the bikes of the 500cc National MX Series, including Tony DiStefano's RN370 Suzuki and Bob Hannah's OW26 Yamaha... We tested the Kawasaki KZ750 and were mildly impressed. 20 Years Ago July 23, 1986... Scott Head, on our Beta TR33 trials bike, graced the cover 20 years ago... David Bailey and George Holland dominated the AMA 500 and 125cc National MX round at Lake Sugar Tree MX in Virginia... Mike Baldwin topped Randy Mamola at the Nissan 200 at Laguna Seca Raceway and set an average speed record of 102.300 mph along the way. Wayne Rainey won the Superbike class... Australian Geoff Ballard won the ISDE Two- Day Qualifier in Tennessee. Tim Shepard and Duane Summer pulled off class wins... Jeff Mabery was the top amateur at Mammoth MX. 10 Years Ago July 17, 1996... The new Honda CBR1100XX was featured on the cover 10 years ago, and we posed the question, "World's faster pro- duction motorcycle?" Jeff Emig was also pictured for winning the 250cc class at the Red Bud National MX in Michigan... Ryan Hughes took the spotlight at the Mammoth Mountain Motocross... Will Davis passed Scott Parker on the last lap to win the Lake Odessa round of the AMA GNC Series... Mark Manniko and Ryan Young split wins at the National Trials round in White City, Illinois... Scott Plessinger beat Rodney Smith to the checkered flag at the Berkshire National Hare Scrambles in New York. BORN: A baby boy, Brandon Thomas Stevens, to former AMA Superbike National Champion Thomas Stevens and his wife, Linda, in Sanibel Island, Florida, on July 9. AUTOGRAPH SIGNING: At Coy- ote Motorsports in Denver, Col- orado, on Friday, July 21, from 6 to 7 p.m. Team Yamaha's Chad Reed and Heath Voss and Yamaha of Troy riders Brett Metcalfe, Andrew McFarland, Brandon Jesseman and Matt Walker are scheduled to appear. For more information, call 303/293-8000. ETC. Be careful what you wish for. That would describe the initial reaction of the first motor- cycle racer to take to the reworked Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca road course. Three-time AMA Superbike Champion Doug Chandler came away from a handful of laps on the slightly changed Monterey circuit unimpressed. A complete repaving significantly improves grip. And critical run-off was added in a number of turns, espe- cially the daunting turn one. But the run from turn six to the Corkscrew was made less safe, according to Chandler, which was not the intent of the riders who requested the change. Following last year's inaugural Red Bull U.S. GP, the MotoGP Rider Safety commission, then comprised of Valentino Rossi, Loris Capirossi and Kenny Roberts Jr., asked for a number of changes, the most drastic being the flattening of the uphill to the Corkscrew. The track spent over $7 million complying with the riders' wishes. Chandler noticed the greatest improvements in turn one, and in the run-off areas along the run to the Corkscrew and the outside of turn three. "Turn one I thought was a lot better than what it had been," he said. "The dip that used to be there, that we always kind of fight, seems like they kind of blended that in really good over the crest. Looking at it, it looks like we might have more camber, just appearancewise from what I kind of remembered going around there today. Where it's really noticeable is going up the hill [to the Corkscrew] on both sides, there's tons of room. And going into three, they cut that hillside back so there's a lot of flat area, rather than just the embankment right there on the out- side of the entrance of three." Chandler was also impressed with all the runoff on the sides of the track lining the run from turn six to the Corkscrew. But it comes at a price. "The thing I think is worse is going up the hill – I wasn't impressed with that at all," Chandler said after doing a hand- ful of laps on the Kawasaki ZX-10R Superbike that he'll ride in the Saturday AMA Superbike Championship round on the GP weekend. "Before, we were kind of down low going up that ridge, and we didn't crest it or get to that crest until that little kink right before the Corkscrew, so you were kind of protected [from crosswinds]," Chandler said. "So now we come out of six and we've got to crest earlier and then a flat run up, so that's put- ting us more on the ridge, and with the hill moved, I was fight- ing a side wind. I could not get the bike over to the left side of the track. I was doing good to run midtrack. Because we're going over that crest early, we're more on the meat of the power of the bike, it's wanting to wheelie sooner and we're still trying to get it pulled back left, and so it's a constant fight the whole way up the hill. What I'm thinking is if it is, windy, you potentially could just cut that whole kink off and run through the dirt and back on the pavement at the top of the Corkscrew and maybe even off. I didn't like that a bit. I didn't think that was a very good move." Chandler agreed that there were solutions to cut the side winds, but that no immediate fix was available for this year's race. "I couldn't believe how bad it was," he said. "We've ridden out there in stronger winds than that, and for the life of me I couldn't get over to the left side of the track." He also said changing lines made little difference. "We've got that crest sooner now, to where before, we had a nice, gradual climb to that little dip, so you just run a nice smooth arc, get it back up to the paint, and then you'd wheelie over that dip and brake in," he said. "Now we're going over the crest way sooner, and the bikes are accelerating... before, you'd want that thing to kind of run out of gear for that first corner. This time there's no way you can do it that way. Trying to pull off the corner, and you're going over a crest and then it's wheelying and now you're right on that ridge, and with the crosswind, it's not so good." Overall, he said, it should make for a faster lap, because of the better grip resulting from the repaving. But there were a few spots, including the exit of turn nine, that he thought weren't as smooth as a new track should be, but that might have been because the track was slightly dirty and he was off line. What excited Chandler more than the new track layout was the recent success of his son Jett. Jett won his first race at an Oregon Motorcycle Road Racing Association event at Portland International Raceway two weeks ago, then backed it up with a second Novice-class win. "The second one, they had him with 1000s, and he come off - he's pretty good off the line - and went down and just 'out- broke' the two 1000s and just took off," the doting dad said. "That was good. That's my other focus - is trying to do as many races as he can out here." Chandler teamed up with his son to finish third overall among 37 teams in a four-hour endurance race. "What Jett really liked about that place is the trees," Chandler said. "Everywhere he's gone has been desolate. He really liked going through the trees." Henny Ray Abrams Chandler Rides Laguna "I didn't like that a bit. I didn't think that was a very good move." - Doug Chandler Doug Chandler

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