Two Stroke Revolution

Yeah! Hitze! Hitze! Hitze! Hitze! 2-Tact Bikes came in the early 70's in the top sport. Before that, most bikes were big, heavy 4-Tacters. But then everything changed. 2-Tacters were lighter, easier and cheaper in the production. But the true magic was in the performance. These tiny engines were much more powerful than the people expected. The performance weight was insane. At first, people didn't believe that they could keep up with it. But companies They built fast, aggressive machines that started to win. And when the first pokalas were sealed, everyone else had to get up. In the late 1970's, almost every team in the 500R class was on 2-Tact. They were harder to control, but faster. That was the beginning of the 2-Tact era. An era that should be the MotoGP for the next 30 years. In the 1980's and 1990's, 2-Tacters were dominated. That was their golden era. The bikes were fast, brutal and scary to ride. But the best riders in the world had a look at them. Honda, Yamaha and Suzuki were all there. They built bikes that were slender, loud and full of pure power. The Honda NSR 500, Yamaha YZR 500 and Suzuki RGV 500. They became legends. Drivers like Kenny Roberts, Freddy Spencer, Vaynerhyny, Kevin Schwanz, Mik D They didn't just ride motorcycles, they also raced them. They raced every turn, no traction control, no electronics, only pure skirmishes and courage. Honda had the NSR 500, a V4 2-Tact monster with over 180 hp. Yamaha presented the YZR 500, a brutal V4 with sharp handling. Suzuki had the RGV 500, lighter, more nervous, but in the right hands, deadly. Kawasaki tried it with the KR 500, a single 4-cylinder engine. Kaji was also a fire-fire engine. His V4 C593 would have won almost everything. The Honda NSR 500, the KR 500 and the YZR 500. When the 2-Tacters won the upper hand in the 70s, the championship scene completely changed. Barry Sheen came and wrote fast and fearless stories. He declared Suzuki the first world champion title and became a legend. Then Kenny Roberts came out of the USA. This guy won not only, he brought a completely new style with him. He drove with slippery rear tires and put him back It was wild, but it worked. And so Yamaha was unstoppable for a long time. It was even more intense in the 80s. Honda did something with all power and Freddy Spencer did something that no one had ever done before. He won both the 250 and the 500 R championships in the same year. A man, two classes, total dominance. Looks Why did you decide to be a G-Rig and do both? Or is that normal? You have to do both. Well, I've always wanted to challenge myself to new challenges and try new things. And two years ago I won the 500 of the world championship. And this year I decided that we would try something that everyone could do. Why did we try? I mean, many people started with the bike race. When did you or when did someone else decide that you had the talent to keep going? That you're just a little better than the average bike rider? Have you been racing very early? Well, you can say that. Many people ask me why I'm racing. I said, well, I really didn't have a big choice with six years. But they put you on the bike with six years. The family was the most important thing. My father said, get out and ride. I said, sure, but no, I started racing with six years. And then, at about 16, I became a pro. I decided to do that professionally and I had the feeling that I had the talent. And I was very lucky. The title fights were brutal. Wayne Gardner, Eddie Lawson, Randy Mimola. Every year was a war. But then the golden rivalry came. Wayne Reini against Kevin Schwanz. Two Americans with two different styles. Both gave everything. Their fights in the early 90s were the purest chaos. Aggressive, risky and unforgettable. The first reaction of the rider was as long as possible. At least that was my reaction. And I think, of course, it depends on the situation. If you lose the rear, it's a pretty good fight. You will hurt yourself with great probability. If you are on the loose side, the probability is to hurt yourself much less, because you are already much closer to the ground on this side. The bike seems to slip away under a wall and you just have to keep your eyes open to see who you can hit or if you are near your driver. Everyone says that you should relax and just ride a sleep. But I can't do that. If I fall down, I only think, oh, I'm panicking But if you can, you should try to keep your eyes open, to see who you can hit and try to stop or turn. That happened to me a few times and I didn't actually turn to not hit somewhere. But often you just slide into the air and you just take the risk of hitting. Every situation is different. You have to know how to get away from the bike. The best thing is, if you get away from the low side, if you just lose the front and push down. You have pretty good control, because you only fall 30 cm on the ground when you are on the open. Because the bike is already on the side. You just try to hit the ground and hold it as fast as possible but not to stand up or do something else. In the end, what the descent on the other side does, when the bike is halfway through and you are sliding over the saddle, takes away as much as you can do. Then from Australia, Mick Dohan came. After a severe injury, most thought, he was at the end, but he came back stronger and from 1994 to 1998 he conquered the world. Five titles in the following on the Honda, he couldn't have anything. It was me, no matter if I went first in the first turn or 10th. I knew that the race was 45 or 50 minutes long. Main thing, I was at the end of the race in the beginning. I knew that I could ride constantly and that was my opinion after my most important strategy. Many didn't make it. That was my key to success. In a sport with constant accident risks, Mick'success was difficult. Almost career end of 1992, severe accident in Aarsen. I knew that my injuries might mean a decrease in my level, but maybe a renewed victory and the world championship could have a similar performance. At the beginning of the season 1994 Mick decided to go to the start. He won the first of nine seasons at the big price of Malaysia. If you come to the point where you really believe that you can win the world championship, then you fight for the world championship and then you achieve it. I think that's definitely the highlight. But there were certainly many highlights in my career. But do At the big price of Chechnya, he finally secured his first world championship title and wrote the bike story with his second world championship title in 1995 at the big price of Argentina. You keep racing your competitors. I didn'think that a driver really had to hit. I had to hit every one. So I had to work harder than these guys. M, do But it was also interesting not to know who would challenge me next year. It seemed And finally a young Italian, Valentino Rossi, brought style, speed and this calm two-stroke fire with him. In 2001 he won the last 500 world championship title. That was the end of the two-stroke era. After that the Moto GP was turned into four-stroke, but the legends were made in the smoke and madness of the 500. In 2001, the last dance of the two-stroke, the world changed. But the smoke, the sound and the legends, which they make, will never be forgotten.