LIGHTNING STRIKES
THRICE...WOMAN IS TRIPLE-CROWN WINNER AT WILLOW
The Rosamond Tribune
December, 2000
Willow Springs International Raceway has been around since 1953. In the nearly
three generations since it was built, it has seen a lot of firsts. In fact, the
track itself was the first purpose-built roadracing course in the United States,
pre-dating Daytona. Last month, during the November round of the Toyota Cup
Motorcycle Grand Prix, history was again made when motorcycle roadracer Jodie York
clinched
not one, not two, but three championships in as many classes.
York's
triple-crown status is groundbreaking for a number of reasons, not the least of
which is that, to our knowledge, she is the first woman in the United States to
win multiple production motorcycle racing championships in the same season. In
fact, we're not sure if a woman has ever won a production motorcycle racing
championship in this country prior to
York's.
One thing is certain, though: York's
achievements are huge in the context of both motorsports and women's sports.
Why? Well, when you think of women's sports, what do you think about? Track and
field, gymnastics, soccer, basketball, and volleyball come to mind, as do
bodybuilding and other general fitness sports. But never motorcycle racing. A
very few women have been successful on some level in the auto racing field.
Shirley Muldowney was a top-ranked drag racer who piloted top fuelers and funny
cars to victory some twenty years ago. These days, Angelle Seeling is making her
mark on the motorcycle drag racing scene. But women comprise only a tiny
handful, a minuscule fraction of a percentage, of all racers. To see a woman
involved in professional road racing, even on four wheels, is even more unusual
than in drag racing. Road racing requires strength and endurance as well as
skill behind the wheel. And motorcycle road racing takes the demands for
strength and endurance far beyond anything that auto racing could ever require.
Motorcycle racing at Willow Springs Raceway -- in the classes where
York
races -- puts competitors handlebar-to-handlebar at speeds of nearly 140 mph.
The rider must constantly clamber about the bike, getting into position for left
and right turns, or tucking behind the tiny bubble windscreen on the front and
back straightaways to get out of the wind and let the bike wind up to top speed.
This requires not only a high level of riding skill; it means the rider has to
be flexible, fit, strong, and have a lot of endurance. This is just not
something many women have wanted to attempt, and it's definitely not a field of
motorsports or athletics where women have dominated.
That is, until now. The classes York
won are the 500cc Superstock, 500cc Modified Production, and GT Lights. The
rulebook lays down strict standards for what can and can't be done to the bikes
in these classes. In the Superstock class, the machines must be basically
standard, as they came from the factory. The Modified Production allows high-
tech wheels, tires, and numerous changes that allow the bike to have
substantially more power than in the Superstock category. And the GT Lights, a
longer-distance racing series run during the heat of midsummer, allows any
machine up to the 500cc limit -- even superbikes. The GT events are 50-mile
races held on the Saturday afternoon of the regular race weekend, when
temperatures often soar well above 100 degrees, and track temperatures exceed
150 degrees. In fact, the GT series races are nearly as long as the American
Motorcyclist Association's Pro Racing Superbike race. (The final round of the
AMA Superbike series was just held at Willow Springs, a good indication of the
high caliber of this track, which is also known as the Fastest Road in the
West.)
Jodie York
won her three championships on a single motorcycle which served her well in all
three classes. This machine, a 1989 Yamaha FZR400, is a 400cc production
racebike originally imported to the United States in 1988, 1989, and 1990.
(Production racing machines differ from purpose built racebikes in that they
must be street legal when first imported.)
York's
machine, legal in all three classes because it complies with Superstock rules,
produces just over 60 horsepower at the rear wheel. This is substantially less
than some of the Modified Production bikes she was racing against, which not
only had up to 100cc's of additional size, but had chassis and wheel
modifications to help handling and grip. But
York
displayed a tremendous ability to ride her FZR400 very close to its potential
nearly 100 percent of the time. According to one competitor, she carries very
high speed in the fastest parts of the racetrack (Turns 8 and 9), making her
very hard to catch once she gets a lead -- even if the competitor's machine
makes more power. Complicating matters for her foes is her ability to get the
holeshot.
York
has taken the lead and been first to Turn 1 in almost every race she has entered
this year. Along with that, she's shown remarkable racecraft and consistency --
two qualities that any racer needs to win even one championship, let alone
three.
York
is also known for being extremely smooth and completely unflappable during the
heat of competition. In one race, she actually banged handlebars with racer Joe
Hammond while drafting past him at over 100 mph running into Turn 1. Hammond
came out ahead on that one. He was the only competitor to ever beat
York
in the three classes where she won championships since she started winning races
in May of this year. But during the final race of the season, held last month,
York
clearly showed that if she had the speed and style, she also had consistency and
a head for winning championships as well as races. Instead of riding
aggressively and taking a chance at tossing the championships down the road, she
did the same thing that 2000 AMA Superbike Champion Mat Mladin did at the very
same track just a month before. She rode a conservative race, finishing where
she needed to finish to get the points.
Make no mistake about it: what Jodie
York has done
is indeed historical. It proves beyond any doubt that women are capable of
riding motorcycles as fast as men. Many of her competitors have been riding for
decades, and some have raced at the national level in AMA competition. Others
are employed in the motorcycle industry in a variety of ways, and have access to
resources that let them tweak and tune their machines to maximum performance. York,
on the other hand, has only been racing for three years, and has only been
riding motorcycles for about ten years. Still, she soundly and decisively beat
all of them in the quest for the championships in these classes. What makes her
achievements even more remarkable is that she did not begin competing in any of
the classes until April of this year. Many of her competitors had started off in
January, and had three months of points built up before York
ever put a wheel on the racetrack.
York
is a member of the Women's Sports Foundation, a
non-profit organization dedicated to improving the opportunities women have to
participate and excel in any form of athletic or sporting activity. The
Foundation has also recognized her achievements. She's a member of their
Speaker's Bureau and recently attended their annual banquet in New York City.
Many of the world's top female athletes are members. In fact, the WSF was
founded by tennis great Billie Jean King, who continues to be involved along
with others such as Martina Navritolova, Jackie Joyner-Kersee, and Gabrielle
Reese.
For the 2001 racing season, York
will be wearing the #11 plate overall, which she won by gaining enough points to
beat out hundreds of other riders in the quest for the overall track points
lead. She will campaign her Yamaha R6.
Of next season, York
says, "I'm not making any predictions about championships or results. I'm really looking forward to
racing the 600 regularly again...I miss that bike!
There's tough competition in those classes now. I'm all about learning to
improve myself this season."
While we're not about to make predictions either, it seems certain that York
will definitely be in the hunt. We'll be watching.
Jodie York's
2000 season was sponsored by
RPM Cycles, Ventura, with special thanks to
Jack Ward Photography, G.M.D. CompuTrack Network, Los Angeles, and Moturis Inc. RV Rentals & Sales