Cycle News

Cycle News 2020 Issue 16 April 21

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/1237845

Contents of this Issue

Navigation

Page 44 of 105

AMERICAN MOTO2 ROOKIE JOE ROBERTS P44 Interview there was a track open, but it's hard to know what is acceptable right now. As far as what I could improve, I didn't win the race, right? I finished fourth. So, there's obviously stuff to improve on. I think if I look back on the race, I think the last five laps I could have taken more out of. I could have taken a little bit more advantage out of it. I didn't expect the guys to take that next step again. I think that's all part of learning. I hadn't What were you? 12, 11 or some- thing when you first went over? I was 13 when I first got ac- cepted to the Red Bull Rookies Cup to do racing. How has it been different the second time around? How has it been in terms of living in Europe, dealing with that kind of pressure? This year I haven't had the chance to live in Europe really because obviously of everything that's been going on with the coronavirus. I would say there's ups and downs to it. I think when the racing is down, the living situ- ation can be quite down. I had this house right near the Barcelona track and it was pretty secluded. I moved there because there was a guy I was working with that had a bunch of bikes you could rent from them. It was more cost-efficient than buying all my own bikes and stuff. There was a lot of tracks around there. A lot of riders live in Barcelona. But I found it quite difficult being there because I was living alone. You start to feel a little iso- lated sometimes, especially when things aren't going great. You start to feel a bit lonely and you're always FaceTiming home. It was like I was living on the moon or something. I was never really embracing the culture or anything. But to- wards the end of last year I really started making a lot of friends. I started doing trips around. I did this trip in the summer break last year. I did this trip from Barce- lona. I drove all the way to San Sebastian, Bilbao. Then I drove down to Galicia to where Edgar Pons lives. It was a van trip, so I slept in the van. I love surfing too, so I brought my surfboard. We just surfed in Galicia and then drove down to Portugal and surfed there. Honestly that's probably my fondest memory about being out in Europe. You travel around on airplanes and hotels, you get in a whole routine, and then suddenly just doing it in a van and drive around and sleeping in little campsites and stuff, I loved it. I really did. That aspect is so cool. Portugal is a really nice place. Is there any area with you or the bike you still feel needs improving? Are you able to still train on a bike at least with everything that's just go- ing on now? I haven't been able to train on a bike actually. I heard maybe "AS FAR AS WHAT I COULD IMPROVE, I DIDN'T WIN THE RACE, RIGHT? I FINISHED FOURTH. SO, THERE'S OBVIOUSLY STUFF TO IMPROVE ON." Roberts leads the world's best Moto2 riders during the 2020 Qatar Moto2 race.

Articles in this issue

Archives of this issue

view archives of Cycle News - Cycle News 2020 Issue 16 April 21