Ups & Downs
Ups & Downs
ROUNDUP
UP: To four-time 500cc World Champion Eddie Lawson, for rediscovering his roots. The 40-year-old former dirt-tracker turned up at a recent SuperTT event at California’s Buttonwillow Raceway. With support from ol’ pal Wayne Rainey, Rainey’s father Sandy and machinist-to-thegods Jewel Hendricks, Lawson donned his old lace-up boots and steel shoe to race a borrowed ATK 600 DT. Looking as though he’d never stopped racing, Lawson fended off similarly mounted A.J. Herrera to finish second behind Rick Pierce on the super-fast, ex-Cycle World Project Honda CR500. Afterward, seeming spent in the late-summer heat, Lawson commented that he had fun, though he would have had even more fun on a faster bike. Something, say, like the Husqvarna 610 in his garage...
DOWN: To USA Today, for flubbing the facts. The paper confused this past July’s FIM World Superbike event at Laguna Seca Raceway with May’s AMA National, declaring that, “Miguel Duhamel, on a Honda, nipped Doug Chandler’s Kawasaki in an AMA Superbike competition Sunday in Monterey, California...” In reality, “Duhobble” watched the competition from the pressroom, still recovering from a broken leg. Chandler, meanwhile, crashed out of the first race and failed to start the second. Credit should have gone to Ducati’s Troy Corser and Japanese star Noriyuki Haga.
UP: To Allstate Insurance Company, for caring about motorcyclists’ safety. The Good Hands folks have produced a 12-page brochure titled “Motorcycle Safety Guide,” which covers everything from protective apparel to accident-avoidance tactics and even theft prevention. Along with several other similar flyers, it’s free for the asking from your friendly local Allstate agent.
