[Fot] Laguna Seca

[Bill Babcock]

I was there. I was also there when KR started at the back of the pack and
passed everyone in three laps.


-----Original Message-----
From: Greg "Lunker" Hilyer [mailto:Lunkercars at earthlink.net]
Sent: Tue 11/27/2007 7:15 PM
To: Bill Babcock
Cc: Kas Kastner; Gary Horstkorta; westerneagleracing at att.net; Tony Drews;
FOT at autox.team.net
Subject: Re: [Fot] Laguna Seca

One of the most exciting/scary/superhuman spectacles I ever witnessed
was Kenny Roberts racing against his protigi Freddie Spenser at
Laguna Seca [1978?].  I was watching from the inside of  turn 8B.
Coming off the top of the cork-screw, Lawson had the front wheel off
the ground for 100ish feet - when it hit the ground again, it was
already turned counter-lock for the next turn and on down the hill he
went [every lap]. Spencer wasn't quite there yet. At the infield
carnival they had a sit -on-the-bike video game going [very crude by
todays standards I'm sure]. Still have my "I beat Freddie Spencer at
Laguna Seca" button somewhere.
Greg Hilyer
TR4 #314
Albuquerque NM
On Nov 27, 2007, at 4:04 PM, Bill Babcock wrote:

> I raced there some on a motorcycle, the corkscrew is a lot less
> scary on a
> bike--you can see where you're going. First time I went around in a
> car I
> nearly freaked out--no idea where I was going. I followed a 77 year
> old
> motorcycle racer through the corkscrew once--he was on a Ducati 916
> racing
> bike, I was on my stock 916. As the front wheels started loading
> after the
> downhill chute he rolled his front tire off the rim. I watched him
> go down
> like it was slow motion, bounced once in front of me (body only)
> and cleared
> the Armco barrier. I assumed he was either dead or his bones
> snapped like
> castanets. I pulled off and ran back to find him brushing himself
> off casually
> while he looked for his bike--it went over the armco too.