AMERICAN MOTO2 ROOKIE JOE ROBERTS
P40
Interview
thing really great. The feeling
I had on the bike, turning in
the corners and stuff, it was
pretty sick. It was turning how
I wanted it to, how I've always
wanted a bike to turn.
I think once you have that
aspect, but then you also have
a whole team around you that's
just giving you the great feel-
ing. I have a new crew chief this
year. I just feel really lucky to
have all those guys, honestly.
It's just really such a cool bunch
of people and I think the positiv-
ity that's going around in the
team is being complemented by
the results, too.
And I have John Hopkins
[rider coach] around, too. That's
been nice to have him there,
even if it's just we're working
together we're still also really
good friends. It's nice to have
him around and a familiar Ameri-
can face, an American voice.
How did John's input
change your approach to
racing?
I think the fact was that I
didn't know if I could do it
anymore. I think I reached a
point after two hard seasons
that I was struggling with my
confidence and especially after
last year because
I expected to be
doing what I'm
doing this year.
When we didn't
achieve that, I
think it created
some doubts for
me. I even said to John before the
start of this year, I was like, "if I
have another year like last year..."
I think the real highlight of what
John has done for me is just what
he said, "there's no way in hell
that's going to happen. No." It
was always a definite no, that it's
going to be a great year.
So, when there's no slippage
in the words of, "Well, maybe
A baby-faced
Roberts takes the
win in the Red Bull
Rookies Cup race
at Brno in 2011.
Roberts dazzles with
10th place on debut for
the AGR Team.
