VOL. 55 ISSUE 23 JUNE 12, 2018 P97
the wheelbase shortened up,
some things like that. But it was
fast. It would have been compet-
itive if they kept going. I'm a little
bit sad that they didn't go.
You go to Yamaha then.
That must have been like go-
ing to the enemy almost in a
way.
Kind of it was, but I wanted
to go to Europe and race. No
different than (Wayne) Gardner.
He wanted to go to Europe and
race. You can be the top in your
country in superbike, but, of
course, then, the world champi-
onship was a big deal.
With Kawasaki, we won four
national championships in three
years, two 250 titles that nobody
really talks about. It's always the
superbike. But Kawasaki put in
a big effort with the KR250. We
won those two championships
as well.
When you went to Europe,
that must have been a big
culture shock, a big differ-
ence compared to living in
California.
Absolutely, it was, for sure.
Everything was different. I think
Australians and Americans, they
adapt to anything. We just kind
of adapt and we go. I was like,
"okay, this is how it is."
You won your first race '84,
the year you won the champi-
onship?
Yup, South Africa in the rain.
You won the championship
1984, '86, '88, '89; what was
your favorite championship, if
you have one?
I can't have a favorite. They
were all really tough. If I had to
pick one I'd pick '89. A lot of
people were saying we weren't
going to be able to adapt, and
we weren't going to do anything
that year. HRC really worked
hard.
That 1989 Rothmans Honda
NSR500 has gone on to have
a fearsome legacy. Was it as
bad as people say?
There was nothing bad about
it. I don't know why (it has the
reputation it has)…Mick (Doo-
han) and Wayne (Gardner) kind
of bagged on it a bit. I thought it
was a good bike. It wasn't that
hard to ride. They said it came
It's hard to beat
winning at home!
Lawson took first in
the inaugural American
500cc Grand Prix at
Laguna Seca in 1988.
