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/126614
~ .~ IN 00 '- . ~ Interview: Graeme Crosby Success with Ago By Alan Cathcart (j') 1""""4 IN 1""""4 ~ COd ~ .. Three months ago Graeme Crosby's Grand Prix career hung in the balance. Rejected by the Suzuki team in a controversial move which seems bound to have season-long repercussions, th e popular 26year-old New Zealander seemed set for a season of fou r-stroke racing in the relative backwoods of the u.s. Superbike series . But sin ce then he's become th e number one rider of the newly-formed Marlboro Team Agostini, with th e lat est OW60 square-four works Yamaha at his di spos al, looked after by Kenn y Roberts ' form er mechanic T revor Tilbury; won the Daytona 200 in hi s first ride for th e team on a TZ7 50; led the first lap of th e Argentin e GP before retiring with a run big end bearing; and emulated Ago himself in landing a Da ytona-Imola double by scoring a con vincing win in both legs of the Italian 200 miler, defeating World Champion Marco Luchinelli's NS500 Honda in th e process. .- 44 I cha tted with Crozas we relaxed in his motorhome after th e Imola race, polishing off hi s victory cha mpagn e. Could wh at happened with Suzuki at the end of last year have proved to be a blessing in di sguise? " I' ve certa in ly learn ed a lot about life the last few months - not taking things for gra nte d of one thing, and a lso not allowin g m yself to get kicked in th e teeth without fighting back . Ri ght now I co u ld n 't be happier: Obviously winning two out of the first three races had helped a lot, especiall y wh en people were questioning if I had wha t it took. But the whole set-up is fan tastic - good me chan ics, the best bike at the moment, and Ago: he's brilliant. Quite apart from the fact that .his English is probably better than mme, his experience is invaluable. He has genuinely given us a second a lap each place we've raced at so far. I'd been used to gearing for the comers, following Ra ndy and gearing it up and up to get the drive out of the turns. Bu t while the Suzuki has better low end power it only revved last year to 11,000, whereas the Yamaha makes all its power at the top en d an d goes to 12, so you have to keep it up there. Ago rea lized this and made me gear for peak revs: he was quite right, too . T ha t's just an example - there are other things I' m learning from h im all the time. He seems to have picked righ t up where he left off when he went car racing four or five years ago." H ow's he getting on with Grazia no Rossi, his teammate? " Oh, he's great, too - absolutely no problems a t all. He's not pushy, always very friendly - even get a smi le in the mornings. We've been helping each other - I gave a hand pulling his engine apart yesterday because one of his mechanics was sick . That's the good thing about it all: We're a very close team - none of this 'I'll look after my bike and you look after yours'. We're all working together." Any problems about riding for an Italian team? " No, except a bit with the old lingo a t the moment, but we're all learning it a bi t at a time, especially Trev, who's picked up enough to chat up the local signorinas, as yo u can see right now! (He was !) You just understand two-thirds of wh at they say to you, and hope the other third is wha t yo u think it is. Trouble is, I catc h myself spea king in broken En gl ish a ll th e rime!" H ow a bo u t living in the cou nt ry? "Well , th e best thi ng a nd the wor st thing is that the food 's too good: pizza, lasagn a - vino ro sso, tha t's a problem . The local stuff in Bergamo wh ere Ago li ves an d we're based is fine , but I don 't lik e that fizzyred pop - Lambrusco, I think it's called justa bit rough . Can 't remember the last time I had a beer - seems bread-