GP NOTEBOOK
Getting ready
Bubba Shobert
Editor's note: At the end of the last racing season. Buhha Shobert said goodbye to racing in America. Ehe threetime grand national champion gave up the clash-and-bang action of the dirttrack mile ovals and the chance to defend his / 988 Superbike title to pursue his dream of winning a world roadracing championship. Ironically, the company responsible for giving Shobert the opportunity to chase the glories of the grand prix circuit is American Honda. It organized Shobert 's effort, landing Cabin, a Japanese cigarette company, as his major sponsor, and kicked in some additional money. And though Shobert will be riding a 1988 Honda NSR500, it is a bike that has had a year of development, and many of the modifications made to the 1989 Hondas of Wayne Gardner and Eddie Lawson have been incorporated on Shobert's year-old bike.
Because Shobert can be as articulate and perceptive off 'the track as he is talented on it, we've asked him to file a monthly column for Cycle World throughout his rookie GP season. Shobert will be documenting his experiences, and will be providing behind-thescenes reports on the entire 1989 GP season, which should be one of the most memorable of all time.
EVEN THOUGH THE FIRST GRAND PRIX of the season was scheduled for March 26th. my season began in January. In fact, on January 12th, I flew from Monterey, California, to Sydney, Australia, arriving there on the 14th. The purpose of this first trip was not for testing, but to have photos taken for press kits, and also to film a commercial which will air in Japan. The photo shoots and filming lasted eight days, and somebody said we took over 20,000 photos.
Once we finished in Sydney, our next Australian stop was near Bathurst. where we were filming at a street circuit in Mount Panorama. But there was one small problem: Because this was actually a street circuit, w e had to deal with hundreds of rules to please the city council. The bad thing was I never got to make a complete lap on the track. Only small sections were blocked off at any time, so I did a lot of running back and forth through the same turns. But I spent plenty of time on the NSR500. which helped me to get familiar with the machine. and that made me more confident going into the real test sessions later on.
The photo sessions were very hard work, but everyone involved made me feel like a movie star. One day during a shoot a helicopter followed me around the course, but probably the most exciting part was when the film crew brought in a race car and driver Collin Bond, w'ell known in Australia. Cameras were mounted at the back and front of his car, and he followed me around the course for some high-speed action shots. The final day of the trip was Friday, January 20th. and I rode most of that day with a camera mounted first on my knee, then on my shoulder and finally on the bike itself.
I hoped I would be home in time to watch the Superbowl, but plans changed and I had to fly to Tokyo to meet with American Honda's Ray Blank and the rest of the team. Stilí. by Wednesday afternoon, I was back home in California, ready to take a couple days off and head for Lake Tahoe to celebrate my 28th birthday with a little bit of snow skiing.
I didn't get too much time away, though, because I had to be back in Australia and ready to test on February 13th. I was excited because this would be my first official test session on the bike, and we were going to be riding at the Philip Island track where the April Australian GP would be run. I was testing with several Japanese riders, and we had our 500 GP bikes as well as a couple of VFR750s and several 250 GP bikes.
By the time we had our turn at the track, the Suzuki and Yamaha (both Lucky Strike and Marlboro) teams had already tested there and rumors were flying about the times they had turned. Kevin Schwantz and Wayne Rainey were supposedly fastest with times in the 1:35s, and Freddie Spencer was right behind them, turning lap times in the 1:36 range. I tried not to think about the times that the other teams had run, and-because I would be there for five days, my main goal was to get a lot of track time and learn as much as I could about the circuit.
Actually, learning the track was easier than I thought it would be, so I was taking things a bit easy. Maybe I was just a bit too relaxed, because I lost the front end in a third-gear turn that had a dip in the middle. The fall wasn't bad. but when I slid off the pavement and into the dirt. I twisted my ankle and chipped the ankle bone. I w as off to a rough start. I iced my foot for two days, then was able to tape it up enough to get back on the bike by Wednesday.
With my confidence lowered, and packing a sore ankle, my lap times were not impressive. But by Friday, my last day at the track, things really got going. My foot was feeling better. Michelin gave me better tires, and I was able to get my times down into the 1:38 range. I was beginning to get the feel of the bike, but I realized that once you get down to a certain point on a GP bike, taking tenths of a second-much less seconds—off your lap times is not an easy thing to do. At first I thought riding a GP bike would be easier than riding my AMA Superbike: now I know that’s not the way it's going to be.
Unfortunately, before I could really get used to the bike and lower my lap times any more, we had to pack up and leave just as I was starting to feel confident again.
Now, I am back on my training schedule at my home in Carmel and getting in as much golf as possible before the racing begins. I just found out my bike has been further upgraded to 1989 specs, so I am expecting it to be even better than the last time I rode it. After years of waiting, my first grand prix season is oil'and running. I can hardly wait to leave for Suzuka. Japan, and the first GP of the season in a couple of w'eeks. I am readv.
