I love 80s Racing: Billy Liles
The image above shows a sticker that Billy Liles gave out to his fans in 1988. And in the summer of '88, Liles must have needed quite a few of them. The American from Georgia was at the time in his second season in the 500cc GPs. In July of that leap year, Liles recorded his first GP victory: the Grand Prix of San Marino in Baldasserona. That victory came as a surprise because the week before Liles had not been anywhere in the GP of the Netherlands. On a sweltering “concrete circuit”, Liles won the first series, in the second series he had to give up on Eric Geboers and Kurt Nicoll.
Inveterate Kawasaki man
The victory in Baldasserona was good for publicity because Liles was on a KX 500 from the Italian Kawasaki distributor Cinti. The Italian Franco Rossi was his teammate. The fact that Liles rode a green motorcycle was no coincidence because he had almost always ridden a Kawasaki in the States.
Contrary to what Liles' promo sticker suggests, Liles did not win that GP on a bright green Kawasaki. The KX 500 with which Liles won in San Marino had a remarkable livery, to say the least. To distinguish their machines from other Kawasakis, Cinti had devised a yellow/purple color scheme. A move that makes people fundamentally doubt the concept of “Italian design”.
In the next GP, at the Citadel of Namur, Liles can no longer show the same regularity. He finished third in the first series, but will finish eleventh in the second series. A week later, Liles wins his 2nd after a lap-long pursuit of Jacky Martense GP series in Ettelbrück. Unfortunately, the second series is again a disappointment because Liles does not get further than a 15e place. The man from Georgia finished 500th in the final standings of the 8cc World Championshipe and just precedes Jacky Martens. One day later, Liles rode in the Half Harvest Classic on the Keiheuvel in Balen. And that's where I got my hands on this sticker.
KRC?
What I still find fascinating about this sticker is the “KRC” logo. Did that stand for “Kawasaki Racing Corporation” and was it an Italian attempt to outdo the official Kawasaki (Team Green) Team? Perhaps, although Cinti had few reasons to envy the (British) factory team. In 1988 Kawasaki actually rode with improved standard equipment. In this way, part of the R&D costs could also be written off via the GP team.
Or does KRC simply stand for Kawasaki Racing Cinti? That is of course also a possibility. Do you know what KRC stands for? Then you can always let us know. You can email to max@motocrossmag.be
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