‘I was a kid and I was racing against adults like Sheene’
said was that if you were fast on a dirt track, racing would come naturally and you got used to speed and sliding. None of us, Eddie Lawson, myself and the other guys, were really afraid of speed. By 1977 I was 17 and already had over 600 trophies and 400 of them were for first place.”
I went over to Europe and the rest is history
“In 1979 I started racing for the World Championship on a Bimota. I had just turned 19. Europe was fantastic and one of the best places I’ve ever raced was Hockenheim. It was this big stadium with 120,000 people in it. We would take off and just go into these forests with these really long and fast straights and then we’d head back into the stadium section and you could actually feel the crowd. I finished second there and it was my first podium in Grand Prix racing. I beat Anton Mang on the 250.”
I got the call to race the 500 at Assen
“Things didn’t work out with Bimota and I got with a guy named Serge Zago to race a standard TZ250 and I finished fourth in the World Championship. At the same time Zago asked me if I wanted to break in the pistons and the crankshaft of the RG500 for Mike Baldwin. He didn’t have to ask me twice, man! Anything that had more power, I was ready. Then Baldwin broke his femur and we got a phone call asking if I’d like to race the 500 at Assen! At that time Assen was the longest track on the circuit. It was very narrow. There was water on each side of the race track. I was warned about it by Kenny [Roberts].”
Freckle-faced and red hair “I ended up qualifying 17th and finishing 14th at Assen back when there were 35 bikes on the grid. The very next race was Spa-Francorchamps and in my very first practice I was fastest. The second practice I was second fastest. Here I am, this little freckle-face, red-haired kid and I get to ride this 500. I was a kid and I was racing against these adults like Barry Sheene and all these other guys. I finished eighth in the World Championship. I was able to excel and grow on these race tracks and on these bikes that I had never seen before. There was no such thing as PlayStation back then. You just had to walk the track and learn it.”
Finishing second was the story of my life
“The last race in 1979 was at Le Mans and Kenny had to finish in front of Virginio Ferrari and it was down to the wire. I lead that race for eight or nine laps and it ended up being me, Kenny and Barry because Virginio had an issue. Barry went up underneath me and we had a lap and a half to race to the chequered flag and Barry got me and I finished second. Finishing second was my life story!”
You’ve got Barry’s ride, if you want it!
“It was 1980 and Barry had some sort of an argument with Suzuki and we got a phone call saying ‘you got Barry’s seat if you want it!’ I had a two-year deal. It was the era with Barry Sheene and Texaco and those colours were just sensational. Now Kenny was my competitor. To go head-to-head with Kenny and the rest of the group on really good equipment was just fantastic. Jeremy Burgess became my mechanic. In 1981 we were at Monza and I qualified pole position and we used new pistons and I seized on the warm-up lap. We ended up losing the World Championship that year by 10 points. I beat Kenny that year and so I felt that I beat the three-time World Champion even though I didn’t beat Marco Lucchinelli.”
Left without a ride
“When Suzuki decided to quit at the end of 1983, we were already running out of speed with the bike. Freddie Spencer and Honda won the title that year. It was us four Americans: Spencer, Roberts, me and Lawson were one, two, three and four in the World. Suzuki decided pull the plug because they just didn’t have the budget to build a new bike and now I was sitting without a ride. I went to the Match races, Freddie got hurt and Honda hired me for 1984. I stood on the podium for Honda. I kicked butt. I rode hard.”
Beating Eddie Lawson
“Out of everything, probably my favourite year out was 1987 when I finished second to Wayne Gardner and I beat Eddie Lawson. Eddie was already a three-time World Champion and we were on the same manufacturer and the only difference was that we were on different tyres. It went down to the wire with me, Eddie and Wayne battling it out for the title. The Honda that year was super-fast. Let me tell you, the Hondas were fast back then.”