Superbikers Ii

SUPERBIKERS II

Once again living up to its billing as a made-for-television event, the Superbikers proved to be not road racing, not flat track, not motocross and not speedway. Instead it was a good day of racing, provided heaps of raw material for bench racing and should be a fine television show.

This was the second running of Superbikers, but to repeat, it’s put on for ABC television, at Carlsbad Raceway, on a course that’s partially narrow paved road and partially flat semi-motocross. The organizers invite the best road racers, motocrossers and AMA pro riders, plus any world champions with a weekend to spare. The machines can be two-strokes up to 500cc, four-strokes to 750cc; the 1980 and 1979 races showed that the quickest combination is an open class motocross bike, lowered, with TT disc front brake and dirt track tires.

We got a good rider mix. Overall winner was Honda motocrosser Steve Wise, on an RC450 and looking comfortable as he^ backed through the road portions, Winston Pro style. Closely following and nearly winning was Andre Malherbe, the new world 500 motocross champion and also Honda mounted. (The other teams said Honda shipped in two special 45Ô barrels and Wise and Malherbe got them.)

Third place went to Eddie Lawson, best known for road racing but riding as a dirt tracker, complete with lace-up boots and steel shoe and mounted on a Kawasaki KX420. Motocrosser Kent Howerton was fourth, the only Suzuki in the field, and all-rounder Dave Aldana on a private and last-minute Yamaha YZ, was fifth.

Underdog class winner was Randy Goss, the new AMA national champion.

Goss rides for Harley-Davidson and Goss and Harley racing boss Dick O’Brien were there to fly the flag. The XR750 was too big for the track and they knew it, but Harley would rather race fair and lose than not show up.

For Kenny Roberts the race was disappointing. Much of the promotion was to have been based on Roberts, who is the only motorcycle racer who’s well known outside motorcycle circles. But he decided to ride a friend’s YZ465 rather than a factory bike, and the private entry was first slow and then broke. (The camera helicopter, perhaps by chance, landed when KR retired.)

But don’t worry about that. The actual event was several hours of close contest. By the time it’s edited down to two onehour shows, the action will be even more intense. ABC will broadcast the show sometime in February, so watch your local listings.A