The Hurricane When He Was Just a Tropical Storm
In this week’s Throwback we dial back the clock to 1975 when Bob Hannah was still being referred to as Robert in the pages of Cycle News. Hannah got a late start in the pro ranks and was just emerging as a new up-and-comer in the So Cal motocross scene. He was fast enough to earn a support ride from Suzuki that paid him a couple hundred a week and they even gave him a van to haul his bikes around to all the area races. This photo was shot during those early days, but as soon as Suzuki heard that Bob had signed with Yamaha, they escorted him off the Suzuki HQ premises and took his van keys away too. That was Bob’s only form of transportation, so he had to bum a ride to get back home. Fortunately things worked out just fine for him at Yamaha and apparently there were no hard feelings at Suzuki because years later he came back and closed out his pro career with the company he’d started with.
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