Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

Road racerJohn Kocinski Atime orc an e "But for sure I had lost a bit of confidence last year, trying to override something that we couldn't seem to get the Yamaha factory to fix. I didn't enjoy being on the ground, and when you're riding just for a finish it's hard to keep your enthusiasm. Though things started to come around when we got the new INTERVIEW testing before the other factories. They haven't been to these tracks yet, so there's no base-line. There's nothing to measure against. "Everybody on the team and at the factory's really trying their hardest. Suzuki is real serious about this. They were planning to run the team them- ~ e By Michael Scott Photo by David GoLdman mid the buildup of excitement for the forthcoming Grand Prix road race season, the atmosphere is particularlyelectric in the 250cc class. It would be so in spite of the departure of World Champion Luca Cadalora the reJativel)'-Glm waters of the 5005. For as well as the rise of Aprilia, the arrival at Honda of the meteoric Massimiliano Biaggi, the renaissance of Yamaha and the threat of Gilera, something big has happened. It is the return of John Kocinski, conquering hero in 1990, winning the title first time out, and subsequent double GP winner in the 500cc class. The former terror of the 2505, third in last year's 500cc class, has abandoned the Marlboro/Roberts/Yamaha ship to sign on with SuzUki. There he will ride alone, in Lucky Strike colors that match those of the factory 500 team. And even though the bike has after two years yet to win~ GP,.the new combination is enough to get the 250cc establishment shaking in their boots. or is this merely a paper threat. Ever since the enigmatic one-time Kenny Roberts protege climbed aboard the single-crank V-twin Suzuki, he has been breaking lap records and pole position times. rhey were admittedly last year's times, but he was also riding last year's ostensibly ill-favored bike, on which Wileo Zeelenberg dropped from fourth to 11th overall. Reports from continuing tests of next year's prototypes continue to describe dazzling speed and fluency. One shouldn't expect anything else from the one-time Little Rock, Arkansas, resident, more recently of Modesto, California, where he moved to be close to Roberts. For the only time Kocinski is ever predictable is on the track. We spoke to him during his New Year tests at Eastern Creek in Australia, and found him in a subdued and serious but very positive frame of mind, as he spoke about his change of life. The simple reason for his unexpected switch back to the 250cc class is somewhat whimsical. Disillusioned with Yamana and Team Roberts, he was looking for a 500 ride and had opened discussions with Suzuki when the idea of taking on their not too marvellous 250 surfaced almost as a joke. "Basically we were looking around and trying to figure out what we thought would be good for '93 when the 250 came up as a crazy idea. When that got back to the factory, they were so enthusiastic that even Suzuki's guys at the track were surprised. The idea became more and more serious, and then we thought: Why not?" He is full of praise for the factory's enthusiasm ("The team gives new meaning to the word work.") And he is of course just as determined, and rather less full of bravado and arrogant threats than in the past. Gone is the upstart kid who called his 250 rivals "a bunch of pussies," and also said, "If you ain't American, you ain't shit." "Riding anything 100 percent like you have to in Europe is never easy. The size of motorcycle doesn't matter. When I won in '90, I was on a Yamaha up against Honda - just one other factory. Now it's a lot tougher. The riders are getting better, and there's Honda, A Aprilia - and Yamaha. I'm against three factories - four if Gilera makes a big jump. "We're taking a motorcycle that didn't prove to be a winner and trying to - if you go from barely finishing top 10 to blitzing them that's a big jump. We're all human. We can only make relative jumps." This sober talk reflects a wealth of complication behind the move; including not only the element of retreat from the 500cc class back to something he should find much easier, but also the divorce from mentor and one-time hero. Kenny Roberts, after a promising relationship that in the long-term failed to gel. Kocinski has always been reticent, given to hiding his private thoughts and obvious if quirky intelligence (you need mental strength to win races and titles) behind a facade of dumb-kid "Huhhow-d'ya-mean?" and big-mouth bragging. But he's been through a tough time in the last few years, his desire to ride his way, with high corner speed and smooth lines, butting up against King Kenny's ideas, and his youthful expectations that he could blitz the 500s as he had the 250s I'.Bttered to pieces in a series of accidents and other frustrations. "Going to 2505 is a positive move for me - it looks like a one-year program. "I wasn't the flashiest 500 rider, but if they were going to run this year's championship only with guys who were better than me, there'd only be two riders. chassis later in the year." (Like the bike he rode at Kyaiami, to a win that he and everybody else rates higher than his 1992 win in Malaysia, because this time all the established stars were there. Behind him.) The atmosphere in the team deteriorated along with his confidence. "I think it was very frustrating for everybody in that team, and people were blaming each other. I haven't really thought about whether it's better for me to be the only rider in a team. But I'm happier now than I've ever been." With the four-month test program only half completed, he had been riding last year's bike, and had just seen the prototype of the 1993 Lucky Strike Suzuki. He was pleased with the progress, after praising the chassis of the old !?ike, and asking for more horsepower, but guarded in his predictions. "We're going away from the '92 bike a little now, and it's improved on power, but it's not the final bike yet. We're in touch with the factory on a daily basis, exchanging information. It's a trial-and-error period. "We have a long way to go. You know where the motorcycle stood in '92. If we can take that and develop it into a winner, Wll say a lot on Suzuki's part. "It's a long time since I've been on a 250, SO I'm still getting adjusted. We're trying everything, and seeing how it works out. You don't always come out of a test with something working better; but you know more." Nor is their room for complacency, in spite of his lap-record speeds. "We're selves if we didn't find a sponsor. (Agreement with Lucky Strike came late in the day.) They want to win. We'll do our best." Thus speaks a rider who has gone through a major change in his life. Not his first - in his teenage oval-track days he used to race with his father, but split up with him abruptly before finding Kenny Roberts as a second father figure. Now he's split with Kenny (perhaps not permanently, of course), and is striking out on his own. The Lucky Suzuki team manager, Frenchman Herve Poncharal (once Dominique Sarron's manager, among other racing roles), recognizes this. "He wants to prove he can develop a bike on his own, and make it into a winner. It's very motivating for him also to have the factory right behind him as the sole rider. They have built the '93 bike to his request. It is a bike for John. "He knows exactly what he wants. I think John is very clever. He applies just the right amount of pressure. He knows exactly what he wants, and as long as he doesn't get it, he won't stop asking. But he gives good explanations for everything." Hmmm - that's twice so far somebody has praised Kocinski's intelligence. Two or thtee years ago, it would have been hard to find anyone to do so. Of course it is important that he should win the title this year, and it is expected. But John Kocinski also has a chance to prove his strength as a development rider and as an individual, and success in these fields will ultimately be more important. (N 23

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