Racing the 500 GPs - End of Series (Part 10) 10

First here’s a quick recap from my last blog (Part 9). I had just raced three GPs (Carlsbad, a round in San Gabriel, Canada; and Farleigh Castle in England). I had parted ways with my mechanic and now was living in my new mechanic’s apartment. Since we had three complete weeks off from the GPs, most of the riders, including myself, were going to race a big international race close to home.

The first two weeks went by fast, and soon it was time for the international race. The track was fairly flat but with a lot of uneven ground and short hills, nestled in an open, partially wooded area. The soil was grass-covered medium terrain that quickly got rough and choppy. There were plenty of practice sessions, and now that I was feeling healthy again, I was taking advantage of them all. Ben was taking my lap times the entire time and comparing them with the fastest times, which were being held by André Vromans. The practices were pretty long, so I would sometimes stop where Ben was standing and he kept telling me I was three seconds a lap slower than Vromans. I would try harder and harder each time and Ben would say two seconds slower. I was surprised because I felt like I was riding very well and fast. Between practices back in the pits I would be looking over the bike and doing other things. Ben kept telling me to relax, sit down and eat something. Ben’s wife had prepared a lot of good food, that Ben pointed out and soon I was sitting in a chair eating baked chicken, fresh bread, etc.  It was nice and funny at the same time, someone as wired up as Ben was telling me to relax!  After all the practices were over Ben told me I was only 0.5 seconds slower than Vromans. I came to know that’s the way Ben was, he thought that was a good idea to make me go faster. I didn’t think so, but who knows? Maybe it did help that day.

Now we were in the last week before the next GP race, which was the next-to-last round in Namur, Belgium. Since we were all tired of traveling from the last three rounds, it was nice to be so close to base for this round. This was one of the oldest and most historic races on the circuit. It was laid out in a park right in the township of Namur. Downtown Namur is only several blocks away. The park had a lot of elevation changes and is littered with big, tall, long-trunked trees. Many of the straightaways and corners were right next to these massive tree trunks. There were hay bales on a few trees, but most are left bare. I remember one section where the best line brushed your shoulder on a tree while in 3^rd gear on the 500 2-stroker. There was no room for error on this track. The ground was pretty hard-packed, with some rocks. One section actually came off the dirt and onto the road for about 100 yards. The start was held at the highest elevation in an open area with a large set of bleachers on one side. The gate was lined up so when it drops the riders race across a 3^rd gear straightaway, into a sweeping right corner. The corner kept circling around, and ended up behind the starting gate into a chicane before dropping into the hilly tree-littered park. Towards the end of a lap there was a long uphill with a few jumps before the final jump which jumps back into the citadel.

That first year in Europe, I was a privateer on a wing and a prayer, and I wanted to get to all the races on good equipment, gain experience and do well enough to have a factory ride for the next year. It seemed like all of my plans for the GPs were falling into place. Team Kawasaki wanted me as their main guy for next year (1983). Their current top guy (Dave Thorpe) would be leaving and going to Honda. This Factory-backed Kawi team, financed by Kawasaki of Japan, was run by Alex Wright, and based in the UK. Alex and I had been talking a lot at many previous rounds.  At this time I had all but signed the contract. I just wanted to do good at these last two rounds, get back to The States, and come back next year healthy, more experienced, on a factory bike and then getting myself into the hunt for the championship. But first I had to get through the rest of this year and sign that contract.

The first practice was already finishing up as the crowd of fans poured in. By the time all the practices were complete the place was packed with thousands of fans under clear, warm skies. This was the best I’d felt all year, my practices went well and I had good gate picks. Now there was about 1.5 hours of down time before we’d be called to staging for the first moto, time to eat a little, stay hydrated, and relax while the mechanics made sure the bikes would be ready to go.

In the 1st moto I started somewhere in the top ten and finished sixth. The top five were Vromans, Lackey, Noyce, Hudson, and Thorpe. I was doing better in the second moto, pretty sure I was running third, but broke the rear wheel on the last lap. It didn’t break completely, but enough spokes broke that it would barely carry me back to the pits in first gear. It happened on the furthest, lowest part of the track and since it was on the last lap all the people were walking back, and walking everywhere, including on the track. If I kept the bike rolling I was okay but if I stopped it was hard to get going again. Most people got out of the way as they heard the engine and rubbing noise of the tire on the swingarm, but some did not. I managed not to hit anyone, at least not too hard, maybe rubbed them a little…LOL. It was quite a job getting myself and the bike back to the pits where Ben and the Honda Team Manager were wondering what happened. I don’t know if the Team Manager was more concerned for me or their works bike…LOL.  Of course, I was disappointed as I would have had a good overall. But I had to get over it and stay prepared for the next and last race of the series. That was the next weekend in Luxembourg. The overalls for Namur were: 1. Vromans. 2. Novce. 3. Lackey. 4. Thorpe. 5. Jukka Sintonen.

During the week's training, eating, and hanging out with Danny and the two sisters, it came up that I should be eating more, that I was too thin. I said it doesn’t matter how much I eat I’m just a thin body type. Danny and the two girls convinced me that I have to eat way more, that I have to be eating all the time. The food was really good in Belgium, so I thought I would give it an honest effort. It was crazy, how much I ate. Besides three big main meals a day I was eating fresh baked bread, butter, fresh baked pastries and other goodies between meals. An example for dinner; I would have a big steak with a side of pasta and then pie and ice cream for desert. For breakfast I usually had a big bowl on Muesli cereal with whole milk. The quality of food was much better then what I had in The States. For example, I would not even drink milk in The States, because I had a mild food allergy to it. The milk in Europe is processed differently. It’s shelved warm in cartons, and I could drink it with no problems. All this eating and drinking milk put about 20 pounds on me in one month. Hank had to stiffen up my suspension…LOL. I don’t think it made much difference, as I felt the same on the bike.

Either way, thin or heavy it was time to race the final round in Luxembourg. For this race we had to stay in a motel, and we ate in the motel's restaurant in the morning. I think the idea of eating a lot got to me that morning. Well something in my breakfast food must not have been good since I ended up with food poisoning. So at the track I had to stay near the outhouse. I never threw up but I felt like I wanted to.

The weather was good, and the track was in great shape. There was a lot of hype and tension in the Suzuki pits and amongst the fans because of the close points for the title between Belgium’s Andre Vromans and the American, Brad Lackey, both riding for Suzuki. I don’t remember the exact points difference but they were very close. Like Namur, this track had a long history. In circumstances like these, Belgium fans have been known to get out of hand. Brad was worried that a Belgium fan might throw something in front of him on the track.

At the riders meeting the organizers explained that on the start we were not to take the big uphill. That was a good idea as it was right at the end of the start and it would have been a long start straightaway right into a giant, narrowing uphill straightaway. So they had a sweeping left corner just before the uphill that we took, and it soon joined the track. I don’t remember getting any practice starts for it but we must have at least walked through it in order to get an idea of the soil condition. I do remember it was covered in mowed grass.

It was time for staging for the first moto, and after one final stop at the outhouse (LOL) I was headed for the start. We were all lined up on the gate, card was up, then sideways and we were off and racing. I got a fair start and was inside the top ten while feeling; I guess I could say, out of sorts. The mild case of food poising had zapped my energy and it was all I could do to hold my position. While I was managing to survive the moto, someone threw a big lawn chair right in front of me on a fourth gear straightaway. Remember, this works bike was only a four-speed!  There was no way to miss it, so I pulled up the front end and wheelied over it. The big 500 spit it out the back like nothing. My friend and teammate, Graham, wasn’t as lucky as someone threw a rock at him, hitting and breaking his hand.  I guess some of the Belgium fans didn’t like the Englishmen either.

Once I got back to the pits, I found out Vromans forgot to take the sweeper on the start and went up the big hill instead. Of course, he had to turn around and give chase from dead last. He was a man on a mission coming all the way back up to third, with Brad finishing second, and Carlqvist taking the moto win. Now the championship between Lackey and Vromans was coming down to the final moto with Lackey at a slight advantage.

There was a lot of excitement in the pit area, but you wouldn’t know it in the Honda pits. Honda’s top rider (Andre Malherbe) had been out since Carlsbad with a broken femur, now Graham would miss the second moto with a broken hand. I wasn’t even on the team officially and I was out of sorts…LOL. Well, nonetheless, I was going to do my best and that would be it. For me the second moto was much the same as the first, with the exception of no flying lawn chairs. One thing was different and surprising, when I caught Vromans with several laps to go. Then I noticed he wasn’t even trying. He must have known by then that the title was Lackey’s.

By the time I rode back to the pits, all the Lackey fans were going nuts. A big crowd of them had Brad hoisted up on their shoulders with a bottle of champagne. He didn’t even have time to take his helmet off. The other half of the Suzuki pits (Andre Vromans’ pit area) were in utter defeat. I’m sure the Japanese would have much rather had Andre win the title. Suzuki and Brad didn’t get along well. But it was what it was. After ten years Brad had finally won the 500 World Title! 

Although I didn’t have a good race for the final round, I did feel like I ended up pretty well in the series considering where I was way back in February when I first came to Europe. I had a final meeting with Alex Wright from Team Kaw to read over my tentative contract for the next year (1983). I was very happy with it, and he was going to mail the official contract to The States in a few weeks. Now all I had to do was take my bikes, parts, and van back to Honda of Germany and fly back to the good old US of A.

After a few days of getting organized and saying my farewells, I was on the road to Honda in Germany. It was a nice, warm, sunny day as I parked the van in the familiar parking lot...unlike the cold, damp wintery day when I first arrived there, sick and with no support to even get to the GPs, let alone do well. As I stood there looking around, I felt the rewards of believing in myself and having faith that things would, somehow, work out. I ended up with a 7^th in the 500 GP Series and had a factory Kawasaki ride for the next year.

This brings us to the end of this series and will most likely be my last blog on Vital MX. It’s been fun sharing these GP stories with you. Maybe I’ll pick them up again if Vital wants to. Or maybe sometime in the future I’ll pick them up again somewhere else or even write a book.

Thanks for reading,
Hope you enjoyed them,
Gary Semics

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