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►ABC Television didn't
exactly build its Superbikers event, held at California's Carlsbad Raceway in
early December, upon the things that have made motorcycle racing great. Duels
between Heikki Mikkola and Brad Lackey just weren't exciting enough. Steve
Eklund and Jay Springsteen hooking handlebars at 100 mph seemed a tad esoteric.
No, what ABC really wanted was a confrontation of motorcycle racing's biggest
stars—from flattrack, motocross, roadracing and speedway—on a single track
combining dirt and pavement.
The Superbiker's event easily could have failed. It showed
the same brand of thinking that has given us the Battle of the NFL Cheerleaders
and the Guinness Game. Promoters Gavin Trippe and Bruce Cox had only a month to
prepare a track unlike any ever built. The racers could have dismissed the event
with the same race-weary attitude that had killed the Motorcycle Olympiad of
1977-1978. But as it turned out, a real race went down and some real things
about motorcycle racers were learned.
The track
itself measured about two miles, half dirt and half pavement. Carlsbad's
drag-strip was linked with a flattrack section incorporating a TT jump and then
to a tighter motocross section without berms. The format followed flattrack
practice with a series of heats and semis to qualify riders for the main event.
The first heats featured riders competing against others in the same discipline.
But from that point on, all bets were off.
Television
money insured that the entry list would be impressive. Three World Champions
were included, Kenny Roberts (500cc GP road-racing), Peter Collins (speedway)
and Hakan Carlqvist (250cc GP motocross). National No. 1 Steve Eklund attended,
as did desert ace Larry Roeseler and Trans-USA winner Kent Howerton. Even a
casual follower of motorcycle racing would recognize all of the names that
filled out the 40-rider field.
Practice
began a week before the event and it soon became apparent that the track favored
TT bikes. Dirttrack and roadracing competitors selected four-stroke singles
mounted in standard TT frames. Mike Kidd decided to ride a Triumph twin with
laid-down shocks. The motocross aces from Kawasaki and Suzuki sized up the
situation, went back to their race shops and returned with big-bore MX bikes
sporting 105-mph gearing, front disc brakes and Goodyear DT2 flattrack tires.
A week of
practice was just enough to insure that all the racers could turn competitive
lap times. But it proved a day too long for Kenny Roberts. He had begun clocking
incredibly quick lap times and clearly looked like the favorite. On the last day
of practice though, his Yamaha spat him off into a guard rail and Roberts spent
raceday as a commentator instead of a competitor.
As the heats
shook out, Howerton and Kidd had the edge on the field, winning their heats with
the quickest lap times. Kidd commented, "It's a neat track and pretty fair for
everyone. More fair than I thought it would be." The final event had 12 riders
with motocross or desert backgrounds, 13 racers used to going sideways, and one
roadracer, David Emde.
Kawasaki
rider Jeff Ward took the holeshot, surrounded by a pack of motocrossers and Mike
Kidd. When Kidd laid it down in Turn Five, the race became a motocross benefit.
Warren Reid passed his Kawasaki teammate Ward for the lead, but Howerton pushed
his Suzuki past both of them. Photographer Ron Hussey noted that when Reid came
past the pits hard on Howerton's fender, the Kawasaki pit hung out a sign that
said "Boss says $20,000 for a win."►
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Competition 
