3rd Place ... Eddie Lawson

3RD Place ... Eddie Lawson

For a champion, only first place is good enough

EDDIE LAWSON WASN’T SMILing after the 1989 USGP. The race didn't at all go according to plan. At least, it didn’t fall into place like the 1988 race had. Last year, Laguna Seca couldn't have been any sweeter, with Lawson sweeping to an effortless win in front of thousands of adoring fans. A repeat would have been too much to ask for.

Things first started turning on Lawson at the Australian GP the week before. He collided with Kevin Magee and injured his hand—not so badly that he couldn't ride, just enough to be a constant bother. Then, upon arriving at Laguna Seca, he found that he wouldn’t have enough practice time on the track. Lawson had been fighting handling problems during the first two GPs in Japan and Australia, and he knew that those problems would be com-

pounded on the tight and difficult Laguna track. More than anything else, he needed laps, laps and more laps to sort out the machine and make tire selections. When Thursday’s practice session was canceled, it made things that much worse. “We’re struggling,’’ Lawson said. “We’ve been stuggling all week.”

So when Eddie Lawson found himself dicing with Magee throughout the race, far behind Rainey and Schwantz, he wasn’t surprised. Eventually, fuel-starvation problems would force Magee off the pace and let Lawson past. Lawson just shrugged: “We'll take it any way we can get it.”

And to top it all off, Lawson barely avoided going down himself in the cool-down-lap crash that injured Shobert and Magee. He could only watch as his close friend Shobert tumbled along the track right beside

him. Lawson was so distraught he didn't even show up in the winner’s circle.

So, despite getting third place at the USGP, Eddie Lawson wasn’t the third-happiest rider at Laguna Seca. Far from it. When you’re used to winning, anything but first place is losing.

Ron Lawson