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/625324
CN III ARCHIVES BY LARRY LAWRENCE S o many times in motor- cycle racing the story is about a talent who seemingly comes out of nowhere and rapidly rises to the top. The Colin Edwards', James Stew- arts and Jay Springsteens of the world are the ones that seem to capture our attention. But even though that type of meteoric rise is satisfying, the truth is those types of riders are the excep- tion to the rule. Generally, it takes hard work and a lot of racing to gain the experience needed to become a cham- pion and such was the case with three-time AMA 250 Grand Prix Champion Chuck Sorensen. Unlike a lot of his competition Sorensen came to motorcycle racing without years of motorcycle riding experience as a youth and as a result his learning curve was a steep one. Often under the tutelage of his good friend and eventual rival Rich Oliver, Sorensen methodically worked his way up the ranks. Sorensen was a self-described motor head as a kid. He built up an old Camaro starting at the age of 13 and had it ready to go by the time he got his driver's license. But soon Sorensen discovered keeping a Camaro on the drag strip was a bit beyond his teenage budget and that's when he first considered motor- cycles. "My first street bike was an [Yamaha] RZ350," So- rensen explained. "I saw motorcycles were an afford- able way to go fast and maybe get to the race track." Sorensen ripped around the backroads of Liver- more, California, and ended up falling off a couple of times. Fortunately, he wasn't hurt, but realized that if he was going to go fast on the bike that he should probably take it to the race track. So he signed up for a school at Sears Point and just about the time he graduated from high school he was entering his first club race. Sorensen was working at Dublin Kawasaki. It just so happened that Rich Oliver was in between racing gigs and took a job in the parts department at the dealer- ship and that's where the two met. That friendship would prove key to Sorensen's career. Oliver became a mentor. Chuck began training with Rich at Kenny Roberts' ranch and it was Oliver who encouraged Sorensen to get on a 250cc GP bike. It proved to be a good move. As soon as Sorensen got a Yamaha TZ250 he clicked with it right away and immediately started getting strong club-racing results. Oliver said he recognized how smart Sorensen was when watching him club race at Sears Point. "On the surface Chuck just always seemed to be this happy-go-lucky guy," Oliver said. "But I watched him race that weekend and realized that even though he looked like he was having fun and hanging out with friends and things like that, when it came to racing and prepping his bike he was on top of things. And then you'd watch him on the track and even from the start he had that classic style, very smooth and very quick without ever getting over his head. I knew then that he had the talent to go to the next level." Having Oliver as a mentor was a big advantage for Sorensen, but it also meant he would get his feet wet right away at a higher level of competition. In 1992 Sorensen made his AMA Pro debut in a couple of AMA 250 Grand Prix Championship races. His best result was a 12th at Texas World. He also honed his skills in the WERA Pro Series, traveling with Oliver. In '93 Oliver got a sponsorship deal with Perfor- mance South out of Wilmington, NC. "They already sponsored some club guys back east and I'm sure P104 SLOW RISE TO GREATNESS