Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

because I have good experience now. That has helped me this year. And I think my riding has improved. My aim this year is that I don't want to make any more mistakes. I want to be more consistent. You must always try to improve. You never finish learning." His style this year has tended towards the runaway win, as achieved very convincingly at Shah Alam and also at Assen. But Max is not averse to close racing. "It's much nicer when you win in the last lap. It is more exciting for me and for everybody else. But it's also important to be able to go away by yourself. It depends on the track. Here at Le Mans it's a short track and easy for everybody to learn. It will be a close the corners. He's fast. If he was on a Honda he'd be difficult to beat. .. though maybe he would not have the same feeling on a Honda. I also think Kenny Roberts Jr. is good. He's also smooth. Maybe that is the Yamaha's nature. On my bike it is impossible to be smooth. The engine is strong, but it's also peaky and nervous. "That's the big advantage of the Honda, especially like here with the low gearing and three first-gear corners. They are very smooth when you open the throttle, and their riders can have greater control in very slow corners. Shah Alam is also slow, but there are no first-gear corners, so I was able to go away in front." ever)'\>ody wants to go. To be the best you have to win in the 500 class." Max is coy about rumors linking him with Suzuki. "If I really want to move soon, I have some opportunities. But I think the middle of the season is not the time to be talking about it." And in any case, does he think he'll have the same feeling on a 500 as on a 250. '1've never even tried a 500, so it's difficult to say if I could ride one well. I'm very curious to find out. But I think when you have good comer speed, you have the basis to go fast." Max is an Aprilia man through and through, and is proud to affirm: '1 have won the Italian, the European and the World Championships on the ApriIia." Biaggi usually can lap his 250 within tenths or even hundredths of Reggiani. At Suzuka he was almost a full second faster than the bigger-engined bike; at Assen within half a second around another long-fast track. There are different ways of showing "respect for other riders", and in this case he manages to belittle Loris by refusing to comment on why the supposedly faster 400 is not circulating more quickly. "1 would expect it to be about a second faster than the 250 at most tracks," he adds. But he does not see himself as the man to prove it. "The bike is very interesting, and it . has potential, but I think what it has' now is right for the development - a good rider at the end of his career. No young rider who is coming up would accept to take on a development like this. Fifth place is always fifth, and it's not the same as winning. It's bad for you to give too much of what you have and only come fifth, when on another bike the same effort might make you come first." 50 what will he do? It has been widely rumored that a cash demand of more than $1 million had put him out of Aprilia's price range, and team boss Carlo Pernat was quoted as saying: "Max is not the only 250 rider. We have many other young riders. We would prefer to miss the championship for one year than to pay his price." Rumors and hearsay? It was rather too widely circulated not to have some credibility; but negotiations had apparently moved on, and rider and factory were now closer to agreement than ever before. '1 am meeting the factory owner next week and we will try and work it out and make a decision," he said at Le Mans. '1 think we can do it. "It's not a money ·problem. It's because I worry that Aprilia try to do too much with too many riders. We are not big like Honda. But the factory is racing in the 500, 250 and 125 classes. But we are only getting results in the 250 class, and we woul,d do better to continue to work in that class. With too many things to do you can lose power for the main thing. "At the moment, maybe there are too many riders. I think the maximum should be two in the 250 class." (Aprilia supports three: Biaggi and JeanMichel Bayle in the Aprilia team, and Roberto Locatelli on a 1994 works bike in the Nastro Azurro team, where they al 0 back 125 riders Stefano Perugini and Giovani Scalvini.) I do not expect to be the only rider... though that may be better. Honda has only one factory rider." race. Assen is much harder. It's long and the ground is very flat, so there is not much sign of where to brake or find the cornering line. I love that track." Max was right about a close race at Le Mans; and he was in fact narrowly beaten by Honda-mounted Ralf Waldmann. A fortnight later in Britain he drew still further ahead, with another dominant win. He admires the Honda, but is rather dismissive of the riders, reserving his praise for the Yamaha jockeys. . "Basically, Yamaha has the best frame, Aprilia has the best engine, and Honda has a good compromise. "At Jerez (where Harada's Yamaha won) for sure the Yamaha's chassis was better than ours. I rate Harada as the best rider for the way he takes his line in Biaggi prefers fast comers and flowing tracks. "1 think my riding strength is corner speed. That is where I find my big advantage over other riders." He has managed to translate this advantage into class superiority that should, all things remaining equal, translate into a second title, provided nothing untoward happens on the way. But where does that leave him? Top man in the secondary class, with his great rival Loris Capirossi already getting established in the 500cc class. Biaggi plans to join him there soon. '1 am still only 24, so I have some time maybe 10 years more racing. Luca (Cadalora) is 33 now. I have time to learn. But for sure I want to move to the 500cc class within two years. It is the Formula One of bike racing, where (His single year on the Kanemoto Honda on Michelins in 1993 was crashstrewn, and preferably forgotten.) But it seems unlikely that he will be the man to campaign for them in the SOO class. At least not just yet. Not while they're trying to go against the flow of V-four dominance with their lightweight 400cc V-twin. The project is interesting, but fighting against the odds doesn't fit Max's career-plan. He hasn't even asked for a quick gallop on the current bike. It's Reggiani's machine, after all. "I've never tested the 400. I've never been asked to ride it, and I've never asked to ride it. I think it is not nice to take the bike of another rider. For sure I would be unhappy if someone took a ride on my bike. I have respect for other riders." Biaggi is not forthcoming about his relationship with current teammate Bayle. "Basically our bikes are the same, and the factory try so that if something new comes we both get it at the same time. We go our own way on development, with no discussion between the riders, though the technicians have discussions. I can't say anything about him. I don't think that would be nice. "1 would like to take the chance to say thank you to my team. We've never had a problem together. If you hear that we are arguing in the pit, tha t is just some journalist's dream. "We' are always happy. I am happy. I am a happy man." Which leads to one final question: is there anything that you fear? Max smiles. He's had this one before, no doubt. "Only that racing is finished. That this world dies and that nobody ever races again. That is my only fear." 0'

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