Laguna Seca Track Called Dangerous, Boycott Urged

Barry Sheene, a former world motorcycle racing champion, said Tuesday in Brisbane, Australia, that the United States Grand Prix cycle race should be moved away from the Laguna Seca track in Monterey, Calif., and urged a rider boycott if the race is held there again next year.

Sheene, the 500cc world champion in 1976-77, made his plea after Australian Kevin Magee was critically injured when he crashed in the race there last Sunday.

Magee, who broke a leg in a fall at the same track last year during an incident in which Bubba Shobert suffered serious head injuries, was still listed in critical condition Tuesday at San Jose Medical Center, where he had surgery to remove a blood clot on his brain.

Australian Wayne Gardner, another former world champion, and American Kevin Schwantz also fell during the race, and four-time world champion Eddie Lawson broke his right heel and left ankle during a fall in practice.

Sheene, a commentator on Australian television, said of Laguna Seca in the Brisbane Sun: “The place is a dump. If I was still riding, there is no way I’d race there.”

He said the main dangers at Laguna Seca were the lack of runoff areas and the skid-inducing white markings.