Dateline-
Laguna Seca Raceway
September 20, 1980
Nestled among the rolling hills of
the Monterey Peninsula Laguna
Seca Raceway has played host to
a number of motor sports events
The racetrack is s well known and
respected by Grand prix drivers
and superbike riders the world
over for its challenging layout. On
this day it opened its gates for the
second annual Laguna Seca
Downhill. The course for this event
started at the highest point of the
tree-lined track and ran opposite
the direction taken by cars and
The crection foxen by cars one
motorcycles, down through
Turn 4
and proceeded to the Bridge
which served as finish line. Just
being on the track at Laguna is an Paco Prieto holds his tuck as Bob Denke bears down
experience, but to fuck this downhill
section on a skateboard is awe-
some. Fast and demanding the hill
produced speeds in excess of
45
5mph
Twenty-two riders gathered early
Saturday moming to battle the
windy conditions for a qualifying
spot among the top seen. Con
the frend set af
tinuing the
at Capitola a
majority of the
of the racers opted for ski
racing suits or wet suits to lesson
wind resistance. Several riders also
employed t
I small fairings on
on their
boards in an attempt to further
reduce air drag. True to form, John
Hutson turned in the fastest e
quality
g time, followed closely by Paco
ing 1
Prieto and as
da surprising Gib Lewis
As round-robin, head-to-
head eliminations got underway.
tum 4 proved to be the spot for
used the
heavy action as racers used
comer to
to slingshot past opponents
Racing stron
strategy involved grabbing
cruises
a draft where one rider cru
behind the other through the furn
only to move out and pass in the
lower part of the course.
Drafting
has proved to be a big factor in
head-to-head competition, and
many riders used it to their advan
tage. There were a few spills in the
comer -almost all but slides
resulting in minor scrapes and
burns but all racers were able to
return to the top of the hill Gusly
winds proved to be a major factor
during the day's competition, but
feting racers all the way down the
strong
course. Att
At the finish line as
headwind tested body fairing
techniques to the fullest
As round two of eliminations
he found two
22
The pride of San Jose, Alck Blackhart, sans the thes
drew to a close, four veteran racers Masked Man Floger Hickey lads Cut Coleman out of Laguna's Tum 4
look
to battle for the money
were left to
spots. Round f three opened with
John Hutson facing long-time rival
and fellow Santa Cruzia, Mike
Goldman. The "Huf was in com
mand in both races of the round
and s
I glided into the final in the
In
other third round match, Paco
Prieto narrowly defeated team
Madrid's Roger Hickey. Although
Paco had t a nasty beef at
taken a r
he was t
Capitola only three weeks before,
s back in t top form for Laguna
and ready to face Hutson in the
final. In a very close race for third
place Roger Hickey barely edged
out Mike Goldman in the consola-
fion round
There is no question that John
Hutson has been the dominant
racer in downhill competition. At
Laguna Seca he again proved his
superiority by handily defeating
the talented Paco Prieto for the
number one spot, not to mention
DP sidekick, Chris Barkley, sports the latest in board aerodynamica
setting the fast time of the day and
winning every match-up along
the way
Each race has a flavor all
own. The atmosphere at Capitola
was tense and pressure-packed
while at Laguna 1 the skaters were
more relaxed and out to have a
good time. This was evident during
the early practice sessions as skat
ers chaffed amongst themselves
while rolling three and dow
four abreast
down the hill Of course, no downhill
would be complete without a
post-race party to wrap it up. Log-
una was no exception, with the
only fuel consumed this race day
in the form of high octane bever
ages that kept party-goers warm
and in high spirits despite gale
winds and a veritable late after-
noon dust storm. As the sun s
set
over picturesque Monterey Bay,
skaters and friends parted ways
and drove down the winding
wooded paths, promising to return
on July 4th of next year for the third
annual Laguna Seca Downhill
CONVERSATIONS WITH ROGER
HICKEY 11/7/80
Hutson's the king, no doubt
about that. He's the racers' racer
But Ive been studying his fuck
push techniques, and especially
his foot placement, that's the key.
because the way he places his
front foot, it allows him to pivot it in
turns fve learned quite c
a lot just
from racing against him
thim
1 would just like to race him on
my courses on my grounds. If he
can beat me there, at GMR, or
Baldy, then I would know for sure
that he's absolutely the fastest
racer. Right now, I'm not so sure
The racing at Capitola and
Laguna was great. Especially of
Capitola where Hut and I first
squared off. Hurtado the r
race
announcer
between us for the race
the crowd, saying
the
that Hutson was the winningest
racer, that I was the Kid who gets
no respect. The race was just per
fect for the crowd, I was out i
I in
front, not knowing where Hut was
then about halfway down the
course, Hut pulled up alongside of
me, we bumped shoulders, then
he passed me by. The crowd ate
fupr
"Close racing may intimidate
others, not me. I've been racing
GMR at high speeds with six or
seven guys standup, we bump
shoulders all the time. That style of
racing close tight r
ght racing is the
best part of downhilling"
Let's face it, I'm a racer. It's no fun
for me to be way out in front in a
race. There is no challenge. That's
why sometimes at GMR l be way
out in front in a race, l stop, wait
along the side of the road, wait for
the guys to pass, then get on my
board and chase after them
Hickey's not just your bosic
downhiller either. He's a super
showman drawing crowds when-
ever he can just do it for the
sport
Hutson and Hickey just may be
the new downhill rivalry for the
eighties. Hopefully, we can see the
two race soon af GMR or another
similar course. 1 have all the
respect in the world for Hut, but I
also have confidence in my racing
ability too. I just can't wait for
another race, it should be great."
John Hutson
Byron Miller
Steve Evans
Rick Fike
Roger Hickey
Gary Furnish
Rick Blackhart
Don Bostick
CAPITOLA RESULTS
$700
LAGUNA SECA RESULTS
ខ្លួនននន ននន
350
250
100
100
75
50
35
$200
125
50
35
John Hutson
Paco Prieto
Roger Hickey
Mike Goldman
John Hutso
what can you say??
Gary Fumiah leads an early morning practice session
TOWER-
GRAND
STAND
FIRST
LAKE BED
PARKING
FINST AID
Laguna Seca
Raceway
START
THE COURSE-19 MLS
SMOOTH ASPHALT
30 FT IN WIDTH
FINISH
Downhill Sponsors
Sims
Independent
Tracker
G&S
Madrid
Santa Cruz
Variflex
Kryptonics
Norcon
21