VOLUME 57 ISSUE 10 MARCH 10, 2020 P53
The Roberts Revival
I
t's been a tough time
for Americans in grand
prix racing as of late. The
country that dominated the
Class of Kings from the late
'70s to the early '90s has
had little to cheer about
since Ben Spies' last win
for the country in August,
2010.
That was until Roberts'
brilliant pole position at
the Moto2 curtain raiser in
Qatar. Many were caught
off guard. The 22-year old
had, after all, only managed
two point-scoring finishes
in all of 2019 and a grand
total of 15 points from his 41
previous starts. But at Qa-
tar, the American Racing Team
was a threat from the very first
session. The dramatic change
lay in owner Eitan Butbul's winter
overhaul. Gone was the horribly
uncompetitive KTM chassis,
replaced by the more rounded
Kalex.
Ex-racer John Hopkins ap-
pointment as rider coach entrust-
ed the rider with real self-belief.
"Having John here to help with
my mindset has been great,"
Roberts said. "But also, on track
I could not figure out a lot of
places. He told me two or three
different things and I was able to
change it."
Then there was the appoint-
ment of Lucio Nicastro as crew
chief, a technician that enjoyed
World Supersport success with
Chaz Davies and Sam Lowes
in the past. Communication
within the garage has drastically
improved as a result.
Working on small details
such as wind-tunnel testing, to
ensure the 5'9" Roberts has
less aerodynamic drag on long
straights, also helped out. "He's
a little bit bigger than the rest of
the riders," said Butbul. "Some
stuff we improved, some stuff on
his riding style, the position, the
hands, legs and everything to
give him the advantage to get a
bit more speed."
All this combined led to the
Californian appearing a changed
man for the new year. "In a
championship that's so tight it's a
combination of everything, self-
belief is his biggest thing," said
Hopkins. "He has just as much
talent as any other guy in the
championship. I would say his
biggest improvement is confi-
dence, he's got a crew chief that
he is working well with, a bike
that he feels comfortable with
underneath him. It's a combina-
tion of everything."
This can only be a good thing
for American racing. As Butbul
said on Saturday, "We came
here to stay for many years and
not just to play. We took last
season as a learning year, to
understand what we need to do
in the future, and I think we're on
the right way."
Neil Morrison
Big changes behind the scenes
have played into Joe Roberts'
hands. Could this be the start of
something special?
