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/674407
CN III ARCHIVES BY LARRY LAWRENCE I t's been 20 years now since the last issue of Motorcycle Road Racer Illustrated rolled off the presses. The magazine, while relatively short- lived, set new standards on how the personalities of road racing were covered and was seminal in making the stories of the sport's personalities the stars versus the more technical oriented, or lap-by-lap race coverage of previous generations, a legacy that continues to this day. And as the title implies, the magazine featured some of the best racing photography of the day and showed the photos large, sometimes spread across two pages, bringing to the forefront the spectacular imagery of motorcycle road racing. Motorcycle Road Racer Illustrated was launched in 1988 and initially came out as a bi-monthly. Cycle News editor Paul Carruthers would also edit the publication with Brian Cat- terson serving as associate editor. The maga- zine also relied heavily on a strong bullpen of contributors, including Henny Ray Abrams, Alan Cathcart and Michael Scott. Ace photographers such as Abrams, Nick Cedar, Patrick Gosling, Bert Shepard, Tom Hnatiw, Rich Chenet, George Roberts and John Flory, among others, provided impactful images. Since race coverage was the domain of sister publication Cycle News, MRRI focused on going more in depth with the riders, team owners and mechanics of the sport. This was one of the first times readers would be taken to Eddie Lawson or Wayne Rainey's house and got a glimpse into their regular every-day lives away from racing. There was Doug Polen or Miguel Duhamel swinging away at golf right outside their back- door in the golfing communities where they lived. There was Scott Russell on the balcony of his high-rise condo overlooking downtown Atlanta. There was Wayne Gardener on his 46-foot speed- boat docked in the harbor in Monaco. Or Kevin Schwantz blitzing around Texas Hill Country on his mountain bike. It was an insight into the lives of the racers fans had rarely seen before. "Road Racer Illustrated was ahead of its time," said veteran racing photographer Tom Riles. "In the other [motorcycle] magazines rac- ing was the back of the book, mostly with tiny black and white images. And they might cover the race itself or a particular machine, but rarely did you get to know anything about the riders. I think Road Racer Illustrated came at a time when road racing was just starting to peak and they were on the forefront of that trend." MRRI Editor Paul Carruthers, who now heads up communications for MotoAmerica, agreed that the timing seemed right for a road racing glossy. REMEMBERING MOTORCYCLE ROAD P104