Danny Laporte
Danny LaPorte
PROFILE
Practical Advice From the New 500cc National Champion
Jim Gianatsis
His first and only factory ride has been with Team Suzuki. Danny LaPorte was 18 years old when, in 1976, he was hired by the Japanese company to be their top 125cc class rider in American motocross. From Yucca Valley, a small community in the Southern California desert about 80 miles east of Los Angeles, Danny was a quick local hotshoe in an area that's the hotbed of American motocross activity.
Danny had never proven himself in national competition, but Suzuki was taking a chance on a couple of first year rookies. He didn't let them down either, placing third that year in the 125cc National Championship behind Bob Hannah and Marty Smith. Hardly easy competition. The next year. 1977, saw him becoming even quicker as the 125cc title race turned into a three-way battle between Danny and Team Yamaha’s two top stars. Bob Hannah the reigning champ and his new teammate. Broc Glover. The championship went right down to the final race in Texas with a controversial finish.
Hannah was leading the final moto ahead of Glover and LaPorte with just a couple of laps left to go. But because Hannah had not placed as well as he should have in the first moto, if they had finished in that order, the championship would go to LaPorte over Hannah and Glover by just a few points. Then Hannah received orders from the Yamaha team manager to slow down and let Glover pass him for the win. assuring Glover and Yamaha the National Championship over LaPorte and Suzuki by just two points. For Yamaha it was a necessary piece of race strategy, but amid the publicity and ill feelings the situation created no one came away from that final race very happy, least of all Danny LaPorte.
The following year. 1978. Danny left the 125cc class where the competition was limited and he stood a very good chance of clinching the title the third time around. Instead, he made the jump from the least powerful class in motocross to the open class, where brute horsepower was king and where more top factory riders were vying for glory and gold.
“I wanted a new challenge. I was tired of the 125cc class. The 500cc class was the fastest, meanest, and the bikes were the hardest to hold onto. You have to be in better condition to ride an open class bike than any other class bike.
“My weight had also been a difficult factor when I raced the 125cc class. At 175 pounds I weighed a lot more than the other guys. With my riding style I had to work harder to keep the bike on the pipe. And with a 125cc bike you know' how difficult it is to keep them up on the powerband.
“I like the feeling of speed on the straightaways. That’s why I like the Open class . . . that feeling of speed. Especially a good grand prix type course which is really challenging and fast.”
Danny kicked off the 1978 National season with all the determination needed to pull off the 500cc Championship. He won the first race in a runaway, but in the races which followed the new design Suzuki RN-420-78 works bike suffered from teething problems like thrown chains from a poorly designed guide. The bike also had too much suspension travel, which made it difficult to ride on slower tracks. By the end of the series Danny had dropped out of his points lead to a dismal fifth place in the standings.
He never lost hope, though, and with the beginning of the 1979 nationals Danny came back looking stronger than ever. The newly revised RN-440-79 proved ultra reliable and with shorter 280mm front/ 300mm rear suspension travel, it was a better handling bike as well.
Once again Danny kicked off the series by winning the opening race in Massachusetts and he kept on riding strongly and consistently to maintain his points lead right on through the series to the last race. Only a shorted out kill switch, which prevented him from finishing one moto and allowed Yamaha’s Mike Bell to close within striking distance at the final two races, created any serious worries.
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“I really wasn't sure how things were standing before the 500cc Nationals began. There were a lot of good riders.' Burgett. Semics, Staten. Bell. Smith. Mosier, Shultz and the others. Everyone was on new bikes which were really good.
“I trained hard for the nationals, preparing myself. Once the racing began I found 1 had to push myself hard. At each race I had to be the one to set the pace. I couldn't tag along behind someone else and expect to pull ahead for the finish.
“The tougher the race is . . . mud . . . dust . . . the more extreme, the better 1 can do. When the conditions are easier anyone can win. When the track is rough and difficult, that's when it's in my favor. I have strong legs and I like tracks w here 1 have to stand up and use them.
“St. Petersburg, the last race of the 500cc Nationals, was the icing on the cake for me. The sand w hoops were really vicious. Like hitting ledges. You really get a workout. That's why I knew I could do well there. I didn't have to ride a cautious race behind Bell, but could go all out and try U> win.''
Danny is one of the kindest and most considerate persons in the sport of motocross. He w ill never criticize another rider for dubious riding tactics. Nor will he put down his bike or mechanic Pat Alexander when there are problems. He always has^ time to answer to the press or his fans, or tackle promotional work for Suzuki. The one person who has done more to influence Danny's career than anyone else is European teammate Roger DeCoster. the five-time 500cc World Motocross Champion.
“I reallv look up to Roger. He's shown me more things just by my being able to watch him and listen to what he has to say.
“Sometimes I think of quitting motocross. but then I think back on the good times I've had. the fun. and I want to stay with it.
“I'm pumped up now. winning the national championship and all. I feel I'm on an upsw ing that will continue on for the next few years. I feel really dedicated to Suzuki and I want to give my riding everything I can.
“Roger is one who really enjoys the sport. Though I may never achieve all he has. I want to be able to enjoy motocross the way he does.”
Danny offers some advice for younger riders trying to succeed in the rough handlebarjamming sport of professional motocross in America.
“I don’t enjoy saying this, because it may disillusion a lot of young riders trying to make it. But it is a fact of life. I got w here I am . . . being a factory rider ... by being in the right place at the right time. All the factories, including Suzuki, are located in Southern California and that's where they first go looking for new riders. Not out at the nationals or amateur championships.
“Almost all the top factory riders came from Southern California where there’s racing every week of the year, sometimes three or four days a week. You can't help but get good racing in such a competitive atmosphere. I don't think even a world champion like Graham Noyce could just step in and do well in local California racing. It’s so intense.
“I often think about the guys traveling the national circuit trying to get a factory ride. It's certainly the hardest way and not the best. They become burned out. bitter, and build up quite an animosity towards the factory riders who have what they don’t have.
“If I was giving advice to a new rider trying to make it. I’d tell him to load up his bikes, move to California and ride C.M.C. events. I feel the California Motocross Club is the most promising thing for up and coming privateers. Traveling to the nationals across the country will just burn out a rider. But by staying in California a rider can race in top caliber events against top factory stars to gain the experience and the exposure they need. Then when they get a factory ride they'll be coming out on the national circuit fresh and ready to win like I did.”
Such is the advice of Danny LaPorte. the new' AMA 500cc National Motocross Champion for 1979. He’s looking forward to sticking with the sport he loves for manv more years to come.
