Throwback Thursday: Massive Peoria TT Crowd of 1980

Larry Lawrence | September 1, 2016

Cycle News Photo Archives

This Throwback Thursday photo of a start of a race at the 1980 Peoria TT illustrates how massive the crowds were on the hillsides at the race in its prime 36 years ago. Peoria still pulls in the fans, but not in the numbers of the late ‘70s and early-1980s. Some people think the missing element at Peoria are the big Grand National Twins. Singles gradually proved faster around the technical circuit and by the mid-1980s nearly all riders were mounted on single-cylinder machines. AMA Pro Racing is expected to mandate Grand National Twins at Peoria next season. If that happens it will be interesting to see how the fans react.

You can read about this race and thousands more if you subscribe to the Cycle News Archives editions at: https://www.cyclenews.com/cycle-news-archives/