Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/104739
VOL. 50 ISSUE 3 JANUARY 22, 2013 ment contradicts that. What do you know that they don't? Well, if I did know anything different I probably wouldn't say anything anyway. But the bike is, it is a bit different from… okay, a lot of the main parts are the same, but as in some positioning of different things it is a little bit different to from Jerez. Honestly, the Valencia test was crap; everybody saw that, I didn't miss anything. The Jerez test really wasn't a perfect test. One of the days it was damp, one of the days it was dry and even when it was dry it was cold and when it's cold like that, if you have a base setup it's okay, but to try to change the bike and find different setups that work better or worse, it's not that great, because you can't go to the full max potential of the bike when it's that cold anyway. So when you start changing things it's really not the best place to do it. So it would have been okay to ride the bike, as in, you know, doing anything major; I mean just riding around in cold weather for a day and a half it's not going to make a difference come Qatar. I actually say the second Malaysia test and the [March] Jerez test is the main part and when you get everything done. The first Malaysia test, even for people who are healthy, it's knocking cobwebs off and getting used to the bike and learning new bikes, and for me it's just getting on a motorcycle again after four months. So that's all we can do and that's how I got to go about approaching it. >>Coming into this year where do you see your level? Would you like to get to where Cal Crutchlow was and Stefan Bradl will be in their second year on the bike? Your bike is an unknown and you're used to fighting for podiums and race wins? Yeah that's still the goal. I mean last year was bad, but it's… I mean Bradl, he's fast and Crutchlow's definitely quick. He hasn't won a race yet - we did in our second year - so it's not that I'm worried about chasing somebody else in that way. Dani [Pedrosa] and Jorge [Lorenzo] are definitely the top riders. Everybody else, I think, is a very close level and now we just have to… I have to focus on my bike and get it as good as we can. I've been racing long enough to know what I'm capable of when everything's right. What that is with this bike, I don't know yet. We just have to get back to where we were, basically to 2012, 2010-2011 were okay, not perfect, but we showed good speed in 2012 even though I made a lot of mistakes and I'll raise my hand when I did. And when we were in contention of finishing on the podium, we had a mechanical issue with the bike, so it was just a disastrous season, basically. But I don't think there's going to be many changes of many riders. I think Jorge and Dani are going to be the guys that you've got to chase and then basically the speed of everybody else that we saw this year is going to be pretty similar. >>With a new bike and new team you're going to have to spend more time working with your crew on the data analysis. Some people say you haven't done enough of that in the past. Is that a fair criticism? I like to get involved and know what's going on, but also not try to P65 Ben Spies poses with his new ride. dissect the data like I'm an engineer, because I'm not. And all I really do with the data is I'll look over things; I'll overlay my laps with my teammate's laps and just see what they're doing different from what I'm doing different. If I have a big problem, I find it on the data, I show them exactly what's happening, what it's doing there and what I don't want it to do and what I want it to do, but I don't study the data like the engineers do, because I don't know. They know everything. The rider is supposed to ride the best they can and just feel what the motorcycle's doing, relay that to them, and they fix it. That's what they're there for. So some people, I think, just get too involved with that and they can end up going full circle and nothing gets better. But in saying that, with a new bike, yes I definitely will at all the tests and the first couple races, I will be looking over the data a lot more than I have. It's something I'll be more involved with, but something that I'm still a firm believer that you don't do too much of it or try to, you know, learn too much, because that's not your job and I think a lot of riders kinda can pretend they're engineers and then they end up requesting stuff that's not what it needs to be.