Are the Yanks Coming?
ARE THE YANKS COMING?
DAVID HAGEN
RARE IS THE AMERICAN motorcyclist who doesn’t know something about European “Grand Prix” racing. Year after year, accounts of these races are read with enthusiasm. To almost everyone who follows the sport, the magic words, “Isle of Man,” mean the greatest road racing in the world.
The striking thing to followers of the racing scene in Europe, is the almost total absence of American names in the results. After all, we might ask, aren’t American competitors in the limelight in almost all forms of international sport? In the automobile world, for instance, U.S. drivers Ritchie Ginther, Phil Hill and Dan Gurney are ranked among the world’s best. Where then, it seems logical to ask, are their counterparts in the motorcycle world? Although domestic competition flourishes in a variety of forms, American riders are rarely seen in world championship events.
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An exception worth noting is Nick Nicholson, Southern California “rough rider” and Catalina ace. A decade ago, Nick finished 18th in the Senior T.T. This alone was an excellent performance but, in view of Nick’s limited road racing experience, it was outstanding. Jacques DuPont from Delaware, rode his 250cc Aermacchi into a very fine 11th place in the Lightweight race in 1963. Notable too, was Ed LaBelle’s “island assault” in 1959. So far, Ed is the fastest American around the Mountain Course with a lap in 25 min., 37.2 sec. (88.5 mph) on a 350 Norton.
Performances like these do deserve credit. It takes time and money, not to mention a generous amount of imagination, to race against the world’s best on their home ground. The Isle of Man, too, presents a problem all its own to newcomers. You have to learn the course — nearly thirty-eight miles of it — if you take your racing seriously.
Although a handful of American riders haven’t done so badly, Woodman, ISDT Team, etc.), it does seem too little has been accomplished at the international level. In a country the size of the United States, with a competition-minded motorcycle public, we should be able to produce a road-racing star or two equal to Europe’s best; possibly we have and don’t know it.
How can we explain the American motorcyclist’s indifference to classic European road racing? To begin with, only lately has there been enough competition or interest in genuine road racing in America to breed many road racers. Not so long ago, the only established road race in the country was the annual race meet at Laconia, New Hampshire. Few competition riders were exposed to road racing and proper equipment was scarce. Riders usually campaigned on dirt tracks of one kind or another, and machines set up for “Class C” dirt competition were not readily adaptable to road racing. A great deal remained to be learned about adequate brakes, the need for close ratio gears, and the handling characteristics required of a road racing machine.
The question of racing abroad has seldom been raised, for the most part, because American professional riders tend to look at racing strictly as a national thing. The American Motorcycle Association is likewise only national in scope. It has not promoted nor supported international events for its members. Few riders had much road racing experience a few years back, and fewer still thought about racing outside of national circles.
Nowadays, however, American motorcyclists are not as indifferent to road racing as they once were. One big reason for this is the availability in the U.S. of lightweight sports machines suitable for road racing. Further enthusiasm has been drummed up by manufacturers of these machines who advertise successes of special machines in world championship events. In response to demand, the AMA and other groups have scheduled an increased number of hard surface events. Road racing now, is no longer “foreign,” but an established part of American motorcycling.
Can we expect to see American professional riders competing seriously in foreign grande epreuve in the near future? Possibly, if the enthusiasm for road racing continues to grow, allowing us to develop more talent.
Race followers have sometimes voiced the wish to see present National Expert riders competing in foreign road races. This, unfortunately, doesn’t seem likely to happen. The accepted AMA approach to road racing was, until recently, very different from the “classical'’ European idea, and it’s doubtful that any of the top men, the caliber of Dick Mann, Ralph White, or Jody Nicholas, could be persuaded to give Europe a try.
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The foreign road racing man is a specialist. Most AMA men, on the other hand, have been accustomed to treating all types of racing in basically the same way. Whether it’s short track, T.T.s, halfmilers, or mile tracks, the AMA man has used a similar riding style. The result could be termed a modified “dirt track” style for road racing. This technique is obviously effective. In fact, it may be a slight advantage on short, tight courses like Laconia. It seems debatable though, whether some of the AMA riders use larger handlebars, sit up higher, and use their feet on slow corners because it’s actually faster, or simply because it’s a carry-over from riding dirt tracks.
In any case, this style would not be suitable on foreign circuits which, for the most part, are lônger and much faster. It would seem obvious then, that no American professional rider is going to enter races abroad, when it would mean perfecting a new technique while sacrificing a season of the big National races here at home.
The only American-born riders who have competed abroad during the last three years are Lance Weil and Marty Lunde. They have shown great promise on the short circuits, but have yet to run at the Isle of Man TT.
Racing in Europe offers a tremendous challenge. All the star-in-the-making will have to do is travel the length and breadth of Europe during the racing season, racing almost every weekend; memorize the entire Isle of Man course; and learn to hold his own on English short circuits such as Brands Hatch and Mallory Park. After a year or two of this (all the time trying to emulate Derek Minter and Mike Hailwood without having a bad pileup) he will have arrived.
In 1917, a popular war song cried: “The Yanks Are Coming.” Our continental cousins might paraphrase by asking, “Are the Yanks coming?” The answer would seem to be “yes,” if we can cultivate enough riders who live and breathe road racing. A racer of this type will be an adventurer willing to give up the security and comfort of home for a handto-mouth existence abroad; a racer who is confident of making it as a “pro.”
When the American professional road racer does emerge, he’ll be a new rider with a new outlook on racing. Unlike the AMA man who is national in scope, he will be international. His approach to racing will be as a professional, rather than an amateur, as in the AFM. Assuming the American professional aspirant has all the necessary qualifications, including riding ability, the will to win, and sufficient money to invest, he stands a chance of becoming what no American has yet been — a world renowned road racing competitor. ■
