Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

~ Interview: John Kocinski ~ "This O"l 00 O"l ....... ~ 00 ....... 8 . is where I want to be" By Henny Ray Abrams n 1988. no one domin at ed th eir class in road racing like T eam Nordica Roberts' j ohn Kocinski. Beginning with th e season o pener a t Daytona in March and winding up a t Sears P oi n t i n Octob er, Koci nski's year was a lmost perfect as he wo n every AMA 250cc Cas trol Grand Prix Seri es race that he fini shed - the on ly blemi sh on a n o therwise perfect record was a pi ston seizure a t Road America. Still, he cruised to h is seco nd consecutive title a fte r h is stron g es t co m pe ti tio n. tea m ma te T homas Stevens, jumped th e start a nd was pen alized a t Sears Poi n t. A th ird 250cc Na tional Championship, how ever . may not be in Kocinski's future. T hree-time World Cha mpion Ken n y Roberts pl a ns 10 ge t the 20-year -o ld as m uch tra ck tim e as possibl e o n a 500cc GP bik e in preparat ion for the 1990 season when he wi ll a lmost certainly join the Lucky Stri ke Ro bert s 500cc team, Ro bert s has said that Kocinski will contest th e 1989 AMA 250cc champio ns hi p , but will a lso do th e j apan ese and Am erican rounds o f the 250cc Wo rl d Cha m p ionsh ip, exte nsive testin g o f a 500 in Europe, and selecte d Europea n GPs o n either a 250 or 500. . Bu t Kocinski 's association with Ro bert s nea rly ended last fall wh en it a ppeared that Robert s wou ld ha ve no th ing for him to ride in '89, Ro berts let it be known that his protege was avai la ble and Kocinsk i is kn own to ha ve . spo ken to bo th Giacomo Agostini a nd Honda Racing Corpora tio n. Understanda bly, little serio us interest was sho wn since it was ge nera lly a ccepted th a t Kocinski wou ld fill a Roberts' tea m vaca ncy in 1990 a nd no one wa nte d to in vest in him for on e year. We met with Koci nski in midDecember a t R o berts' Yam ah a deal ersh ip wh er e he was assem bling his new Yam aha YZ250 wh ile an o pe n house was being held in the sho wroom . Robert s sho wed up in mid-aft ernoon a fter a two-day tri p to j apan . Ko cinski exp ressed displeasure a t recent stories tha t painted him as " brash" and "cocky" a nd o f " d iminutive sta tu re." H e would lat er ad mit to a certai n coc kines s and wh en Rob ert s entered th e worksh o p it was evident that his sta tu re was slightly m ore diminu t ive t ha n J o hn 's. But Koci nski firmly beli eves he owes much to Rob er ts an d he didn ' t need to be as ked a q uestion to exp ress it. As soo n as we turned on the tape recorder he began. " Well, the first th ing is how much tru st I have in Ken n y. He's gotten me to wh ere I a m today as far as mak in g th e righ t decisions. H e's do ne a lot for me a nd I'v e go t 100% trust in him a nd in wha t he says. ' It's never a p ro blem co ming to a decision of wha t we're goi ng to do. " We have to start with the premise of wh at he just told me , which is that you don't have to race for the AMA championship if you don 't want to, No. I don ' t, bu t as I'v e to ld him if I'm goi ng to co me here - being as how there' s o n ly five or six races, or however many races are scheduled - I John Kocinski and Miss Camel Pam Kendrick beca m e well-acquainted in 1988; Kocinski won six of seven races en route to the 2 50cc title, 1 want to do them a ll to try to be the cha m pio n. I do n 't th ink th ere a re go ing to be too many races that are go ing to conflict with th e Grands Pr ix or the j apa nese races. Bu t if there are, we're go ing to ha ve to ma ke thai decision a t the time. And vou think that it would be more important to do th e races here than to ride or test th e 500 and put a co up le of hundred laps in ? It depends. Actually, no it's no t. I'd be the re rid ing th e 500 because th at 's wh at I want to do. I' d just want to get on th e 500 a nd do th e job. If I had to go o n a 500 thi s yea r, I wo u ld feel a bi t weird because I ha ven 't had any time on o ne. Whether th er e wo uld be an y pressure or no t, I' m sure I wo uld put some on m yself. I have m y own expectations o f how I wa nt to do. I wouldn' t be rea ll y comfo rta ble thi s year o n a 500. . Bu t li ke I say . just ge tt ing th e tim e on it, ge tti ng to test it , gett ing m y confidence in one and kn owing what it takes to go fast o n it. Plus. I'll kn ow more a bo u t how m uch p hys ica l streng th it takes a nd wha t a reas I'm go ing to have to work on so I'll be more p repared wh en 1 do go , And when I do go, I'm goi ng to be there trying to win the Wo rld Champio nship just like everybody else is. It doesn 't so u nd rea listic for me to do it a nd in m y o wn m ind it wo uld be difficu lt to try to bea t Wayn e Ra in ey a nd Eddie (Lawso n) a nd th ose guys. But. hey, I'v e go t to look a t it like everybo dy else does: T ha t I'm there for one thi ng, to try to win a nd that 's wh at I'm goi ng to do. And it doe sn't matter if I come in a t some Grand Prix a nd fini sh 12th as lon g as I ca n co me in and tell Kenn y tha t I've ridden tha t thing as hard as I can ride it. H e says that if you rode th at th in g as hard as yo u ca n ride it a nd you kn ow in you r o wn mind th at the re was nothing you' cou ld' ve do ne to go any faster tha n it does n' t make an y differen ce where vou fini sh ; That'S' also understandable, but it 's easy for yo u to sa y that now beca use . you ' re used to win ning. But wh at happens whe n you don't win? All th e G rands Prix I've done have been , actually , a di saster. They've been th e worst fini shes o f m y life. Bu t o ne th in g I want to lea rn is to master how to ride a mot or cycle fast. I don't wa nt to thi nk abou t win ni ng or losin g. Because if you always think that yo u' re goi ng to win you 're goi n g to burn yourself o ut . at least tha t's the way I feel abo u t it. And I wa nt to last. I wa nt to get done wi th racin g a nd still feel th at I can go anothe r year and reti re and tell m yself tha t I reall y enjoy it, It 's reall y nice to ha ve guys like Kenny a nd Gary (H oward , Kocinski's manager ) around to lead you and keep you o u t o f th e hol es you 'd fall into. I' m set with Ga ry tak in g care o f m y financial stuff a nd Kenny taking care of all th e sponsors and getting the bik es lined up. It feels like I' ve packed about 10 years into three years of rac ing. And all the help th at Bud 's (Akala n d, Koci ns k i 's mech an ic) been in getti ng th e bikes ready. You complained earlier that you're often portrayed in the press as " brash" and " cocky." Some thi ngs I say might sou nd cocky beca use I feel I' m a com pe titi ve person. And if I feel th at someone is trying to do the same job th a t I a m . .. i t's j u st tha t so me ti m es somethi ng ca n be sa id that sou nds cocky, but the mea n ing in my own m in d was n ' t th at way. So you have to be ca reful abo u t - ho w you say th in gs a nd the to ne o f voice you use. Bu t like I sa y I' m p roba bly coc ky to so me poi nt. bu t just becau se I'm competitive. Part of being com petitive is having good equipment, though. When I go to get on the bi ke I kn ow it 's prepared 110%. T here's nothing else that ca n be done. And if I g ive it 110%. Bud (Aksla nd) gives it 120%. And I th ink that's wh y we've done wh at we've done. It doesn 't matter wh at happens. Bud kn ows I'm goi ng to give it a ll I' ve got. Tell us about yo u r first Grand Prix, at Suzu ka last yea r. At Suzuka , m y first G rand Pr ix. I led so me of it. Of cou rse. the biggest th in g th ere was I had the lead o n th e front straigh t a nd go ing into the first co mer I was si x th. And during that , I thoug ht how (Ca rlos) Lavado to ld me how hard he rod e a nd how the Hondas would just pass him o n the stra ig h t. I never kn ew wh at it was like a nd, bo y, did I fin d o ut the har d wa y. And it was rea lly a good race fo r me. It was the first tim e I rod e wit h th e G ra nd Prix gu ys a nd. believe me, I rode m y ta il off. Fin all y th e CDI box went o ut a nd it wouldn't rev over 10.800. And I dropped back and held o n to fifth even though (J ua n ) Garriga a nd I c~s h ed into each ot her in the last chica ne. But that sho ws yo u th at I'll fig ht for fifth as m uch as I'll fight for first. Because I kn ow a lot of g uys who have lo st Wo rld Cha m pionships a nd lo st Amer ican Championships that have sat there and thought abou t their race when th ey were ni nth they didn' t thin k that eigh th wo uld be ' that m uch bett er. But when you start losing cha mp io nships by one poi nt you start thinking about whe re you ca n get th em. Is it harder for yo u to lead a race or to follow ? . I don 't kn o w, For me. it doesn't matter. I ca n keep a pa ce, In qual ifying if I ca n go ou t a nd set fast tim e by m yself, you kn ow I can keep a cons tant pace. Wh erea s a t Mount Fuj i (in j apan ) wh ere the bi ke loaded up o n th e start ing lin e and I was 20 seconds beh in d (Do miniq ue) Sa rron and (J ua n ) Ga rr iga and I ca ug h t them. I was in 40th p lace and ca ug h t them on th e last lap. And I can' t say that if there had been another lap I'd hav e won the race, who knows. I co uld 've crashed, I thought in my own mind. if there had been one more lap I cou ld 've passed juan (Garriga ), but I came up short and fin ished th ird. I rod e th en like I was leading the race. Usuall y you start thinking about things that can happen when yo u start seeing "plus 15" (on the pit

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