| Greatest
riders ever: Jean-Michel Bayle A few stats on Jean-Michel Bayle: 125 World Motocross Champion (1988) 250 World Motocross Champion (1989) AMA 250 Supercross Champion (1991) AMA 250 National Champion (1991) AMA 500 National Champion (1991) 25 major AMA wins in less than four years
I had the privilege of being able to race with Jean-Michel in Europe and the United States. He is from France, but made the USA his home when he rode for American Honda. I saw how he made the transition from being a dominant GP rider to a supercross champion. When Jean-Michel came to America, he didn't fall into the rut of trying to be like every other rider. He was by himself trying to learn a new sport (supercross), a new language (English), and a new culture (American). When he raced here he didn't have the fans behind him. It was a combination of them not liking a foreigner beating the American riders in 'their' series, and the press and promoters hyping the 'us against him' scenario. But the fact is Jean-Michel elevated the sport. Before JMB came along, you had riders like myself and Jeff Stanton who were strong and pushed the entire race. Then JMB brought different jumping techniques and tremendous bursts of speed that hadn't been seen before. The greatest attribute about JMB was and is his intelligence - he is very smart. JMB is self-taught in many things, such as learning the English language, and specifically 'American' English. Even back in the 80's, he taught himself how to use computers out of a manual that was in English. JMB on a motorcycle was one of the most impressive riders I've ever seen. I didn't think he was the most attractive and stylish rider, but his methods were very effective. The way JMB moves around on the bike reminds me of Brian Myerscough (an American rider of the 70's and 80's). Maybe it looked a little unorthodox, but if you took time to study what he did on the bike, then you will see it had a purpose. In 1989 at the Unadilla 250 Grand Prix I felt I was in the best physical condition of my career. That race was America's only chance at competing with the Grand Prix series riders during the year. Jean-Michel was completely dominating in that series. At most races he would be so far ahead after a few laps that the racing for first place was over. In the timed practice sessions I felt I was riding great. I stopped in the mechanics' area to talk with my mechanic Brian, and I was positive I had the fastest lap times. I was flying around the track! Brian looked at me straight-faced and said "You are three seconds behind Bayle." I thought to myself "How in the @#$% can he go three seconds a lap faster than me?" I thought it was physically impossible! So I sat and watched him ride. My style was to ride all out and hit everything as fast as I could, including pounding into the berms to help me change direction thru corners. But in watching Jean-Michel, I saw he had such great finesse. In the loamy Unadilla soil he kept the bike on top of the dirt. He wouldn't dig down into the dirt and have his bike slowed down by pounding into the berms. The way I hit the berms would slow me down. The way he would rail berms kept his speed up. Many people thought that Jean-Michel was a rude Frenchman. But that is not the case. Jean-Michel is very humble, quiet, and shy. Some people took it as arrogance if he wouldn't talk much sometimes. But he didn't talk much because he didn't want to be embarrassed if he pronounced any words wrong. One of the other great things JMB did is make the transition from motocross racing to road racing. In his contract with Honda, he had a clause in it that he could test a 250 GP road race bike. One time we were together at Honda's test track in Japan. Jean-Michel had only ridden on sport bikes a few times in his entire life. He went out on the road race track and his lap times were only a few tenths of a second off the times of the Japanese National Champion and Honda test rider. That's what gave him the opportunity to eventually become a factory rider in the 250 and 500 GP road race series. JMB's ability to adapt to different things from motocross to supercross to road racing is amazing. There are guys that dedicate their entire lives to road racing, and never make it as far as he did. Look at his record: World MX championships in the 125 and 250 classes. The only rider ever to win the Triple Crown: 250 supercross, 250 outdoor, and 500 outdoor titles in one year. Retires from motocross after the following season to race World GP. Any one of those is a great career. JMB did them all! Ricky Johnson |
