FOUR-TIME 500cc GRAND PRIX CHAMPION EDDIE LAWSON
P98
INTERVIEW
in really hard and power was abrupt and
it didn't handle. I didn't find that to be the
case at all. The only way I can explain that
is ask Wayne Rainey or Kevin Schwantz
if that was a bad motorcycle. They're not
going to give me any credit for it!
Have you got a favorite race that
you won in your grand prix career?
One that stands out?
Not really. Any time you win a grand
prix race, that's not an easy thing to
do, so I enjoyed all of them. If I had to
pick one, maybe at home. It would be
like Wayne Gardner, Mick (Doohan) or
(Casey) Stoner winning in Australia. We
won the 1988 Laguna Seca race. That
was fun because you win in front of your
family and your friends.
What was Kenny (Roberts) like to
work with?
Kenny is Kenny. He was good. He re-
ally put in a big effort on trying to get the
bike right and trying to get an edge. You
just have to know how to take Kenny.
He's great once you know him.
Have you got any good stories of
riding with Kenny Roberts from back
in the day?
There was some crazy stuff. The one
story I like to tell, and he (Roberts) hates
that I tell it, is a pretty funny story.
My first year in '83, I couldn't quite get
up to speed on cold Dunlop slick tires
when they were new. It took two or three
laps just to get them up to temperature
and working. Kenny would go straight out
and after three corners he'd just go. That
was a hard thing to learn.
At Monza, one of the fastest tracks we
rode at, Kenny said, "You stay right on
my back wheel. We're going to go out,
brand new tires, and you stay right on my
back wheel."
"Okay, okay," I said.
I'm like, "oh crap, here we go." We
go out. We go down the hill at the back
of the track. We're flat out in sixth gear,
Lawson (left)
with his old boss
and mentor
Kenny Roberts
back at Laguna
Seca in 2008.
Rainey leads Lawson
and Schwantz in
1989. It wasn't always
just serious racing
back then.
