AMERICAN MOTO2 ROOKIE JOE ROBERTS
P38
Interview
It must be a pretty strange
time for you because you have
set the grand prix paddock
alight with an incredible turn-
around performance, really,
and then you've had to put the
brakes on.
Yeah. It's a really weird time,
for sure. I was expecting to be
doing back-to-back races and
getting on with it and having a
really good start to the year. We
already had a great one, but it's a
funny time for sure. It's the same
thing for everybody, right? In the
end, I think we'll be fine. The
speed will still be there.
Last year you scored four
points. This year you scored
13 already.
It doesn't make sense, does it?
That's a huge turnaround.
What was it that lit the fuse
under you?
It is a lot of things, honestly. A
lot has changed this year. I have a
good, solid team around me now.
I've got a great new bike as well
(switching from KTM to Kalex),
which has won the championship
many times.
I think that is something I was
always struggling with, that feeling
that I didn't have the bike exactly
where I wanted it. So now when
I'm on the bike I actually feel like I
can ride like myself again and do
the things that I want to on a bike.
Even in Jerez [preseason test]
we had a really good start, but it
wasn't like I lit up the whole test.
It was just kind of getting things
started. Once we got to Qatar I
kind of knew we could do some-
Roberts' allegiance
with former MotoGP
podium finisher John
Hopkins has been
instrumental in his
progress.
Chilling with good
friend Edgar Pons on
the Portuguese coast.
Embracing the European
culture has greatly
improved Roberts' love for
the job of racing.
