Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

pete. Last year, I wanted to reac h a good lev el so I prac ti ced abo ut fiv e d ay s a week. I trained really ha rd. So I stayed very busy last year . So yo u don't feel that superbikes is a ste p d ow n for you? How is that p ossib le, with a red bike like that? Di d you r past p roblems also st em from yo ur rel atio ns hip wi th the press? The problem is that the toba cco compa' n ies pay th e journalists . This is th e Mafia . So they have the power to make you look like they want. And sometime in the past - I d on' t know w ho it was bu t there were some people very jealous of my talent and they wanted me to go down. Jealousy is one thing I don' t like. I' m born the wa y I am , I can not control the ability I have, wh eth er it's learn ed or natural. I am who I am. I cannot cha nge that. Last year, I had offers to go ba ck to GPs. But now, for me, it's important to have a competitive bike, team and sponsor. I want the whole combination to be competitive and then I really feel that I can win. Nowadays, in the 500s, you need a Honda. That's clea r. But Ducati , th ey ca n offer me a ve ry competitive motorcycle and a team that on ly knows how to win. And thi s is what I'm int erested in : winning. Plus, I hav en't really cha nged te ams . I've s ta ye d wit h he same family. I don't like to change. I'm a very loyal person. It was not m y choice to chang e so mu ch in the la st th re e yea rs. N ow , I do want to make this clear. I want to ha ve a good relationship wit h yo u, the journalists in wo rld superbikes. I' m n ot a di fficult person. I don't have any negative feelings abo ut the journalists. Do you feel more at ease because there is less sponsor pressure? No, th ere' s a lot of pressure her e. It's.not that , it' s jus ttha t Ducati can offer me a wi nning bike. I was no t su re if Kenny (Roberts) cou ld offer me 'a winning bike. Fro m wha t I could see, last year th er e was a lot of confusion in that team. I'm fini sh ed with confusion. It's no good for me. I need to ha ve a com petitive bike with com petitive people. For me, Kenn y is a competiti ve .per son , bu t there we re some other things involved. You've done a lot of w inter testing with Ducati, Is that so m e th i n g you specifically asked for? Traditionally, Ducati doesn't do much winter testing. These p eople h ave got so much con fid en ce in my ability that they' ve reall y tried to d o everything they could to help m e . I spo ke w i th Virginio (Fe r rari , Du cati t eam ma n ag er) a n d Cl a u d io a bou t th e te s ting sc he d u le and they accom m oda ted me in a ve ry p os iti ve way. How different is that Ducati to ' ride com p ared to a SOO? For me, it makes no difference whet her the bike' s a 125, 250, 500 or a superbike. I always seem to find a way to reach a good solution . I like the Du cati a lot. At last , I hav e found a bike which mak es power how I want it to mak e power . I tried very hard with Yamaha and Cagiva to have this kind of powerband, but we could neve r get that. So the Ducati' s power cha racteristics suit my style very well. I also think that the Ducati is closer to the 500s t han the four-cylind ers, because they (the four s) ar e wider - the Ducati is a narrower bike and tha t suites me because I'm a sm all p erson and I need a small bike. The Ducati looks smaller, butthe weight is the same this yea r. So now, for sure, the y can 't complai n. What ab ou t thi ngs like engine-braking on a four-s troke? That doesn't bother me a t all. But it 's st ra nge because fou r-stro kes now have slipper clutches to contro l the effect of engine-braking coming int o a tum. But I do n't like to use that. I prefer the stan dard clutch and get the feeling that I'm controlling everything. We've tried the slipper clutch on the Du cati, and w e'll probab ly still keep on tryin g it, but for right now I'd rather not us e it. But Du cati riders have been asking for that ty pe of clutch for years... Things lik e clutche s a nd b ra kes are 'a very personal thi ng to each rider. That bike was designed around Carl Fogar ty, so we've gone in a di fferent direction to ad a p t it to m y style. It's th e sa me for Ne il (Ho d gson, Kocinski' s 1996 teammate). H is bikes had to be adapted to him. You don't think the Ducati still ha s an advantage? For me this is crazy, what they d o with the weigh t. I d on 't understan d why they don' t lighten the fours ins tead of making the Ducati heavier. Racing is abo ut maki ng things lig ht, trick and fast . So w hy n ot le a v e th e Ducati t h e sa me weig h t and make the four-cyli n ders lighter? I'm sure they would be very happy. Has the level of com petitivene ss of the riders here surprised you ? No. I n ever underes tim a te anybody's talent or their ab ility . And there are severa l talen ted rid ers here. And remember that I've not spent more than one season on the sa me bik e for quite a while. So for me to come in an d be this com pe titive this early is really a special feeling. It' s a good sig n, an d I am sure tha t as the se as on goes on I w ill ga in more strength. I'm sure there's sti ll a lot mor e to come. What do you think of Honda's NSRSOO V-twin Grand Pri x b ike? I thi nk H onda has shocked the world . It' s unbelievab le how co mpetit ive that bik e is from the word go. When I saw th e pho tos of th at bike, a few mo n ths ago b efore I s ig ned with Du cat i, I thou ght I w ould like to try it . But now, John Koc inski retook his place among the worl d' s best wit h an impressive performance at the World Superbike seasonopener in Misano. I d on 't reall y care if I never rid e in 500s aga in . The import ant thing is to be happy. And when yo u've been in th e p o s it ion t h a t I' v e been in th e pas t years, it's a difficult life a nd it makes you feel old very quickly. So now, I'm happy if I' m co mpetitive. Even if w e have p ro blems. Here (a t Misano), we had a suspension problem in the qualifyin g sess ion . But I' m still very happy because I know we're competitive. So even w hen I haven' t got the best time, I'm no t go ing to start to cry because I might not have the best bike out ther e. Whether we finish last or first, I know that bo th my team and my bikes are com petitiv e. My mechanics have been great. They do everything for me , even the sma ll things that I like. Thi s mak es m e even m ore pow erfu l, motivated and d et ermined to gi ve them a good result. Did you bri n g over so me of the guys that you had wo rking for you in GPs? No. Virgin io organized eve ry thing for me. But I think he has a special talent for pi ckin g ou t the good apples in the basket. I' m happy with my cre w. Is it true that you've started learning Italian? I can speak a littl e bit, but m y English is s till better (la ughs) . But ye ah, I fee l I need to communicate with my team bet ter. No American has eve r spoken a second language. In a way, it's normal because Am erica is such a big cou ntry. I mean it' s normal for Europeans to speak mo re than one lan gu age. But I think that the more I broad en my perspective, the better my result will be. If no t as a race r, the n at least as a per son. H ow difficult was it to get back on a bi ke after a year off? Whe n I carne to Misano in December, I was u nsure - bec ause I ha ve not even b ee n on a bicycle in o ne year. I' v e touc hed nothi ng with tw o wheels . But I got on the Du cati and after three laps, I was alrea dy d oing good lap times. At tha t mo me n t, I answered that question inside, I s t ill h a v e th e power to b e strong. Now, we've don e q uite a lot of testing, and I need to ge t so me racing miles under m y be lt , bec ause racing conditions ar l;! totally di fferent to testing co nditions. So afte r four more rac es I think I wi ll be stronger. Wh at is your stra tegy for the year, to wi n or go for points? I wan t to win races. I don't think about the champio nshi p. I want to wi n races. So meti mes it mi ght be harder to w in than oth er tim es . I m a y have to dig deeper in myself, but it' s goo d for th e fans when you let it all hang ou t. I want to fight. That's what I enjoy. Did crashin g a cou ple of weeks ago (in private tests at M isano) bother you? No, because after I crash ed, I hurt my back, but I got ba ck on the motor cycle and within three laps I'd set a new lap record for the circuit. And when I got back to the pits th e mechanics had to carry me off the bike because I was in such pain . So crashin g d oesn't bother me. It never has. Will you ge t 'discou raged if you don't win everything right away? , I don't u nderstand w hy people exp ect so much of me. I can 't get close to any mo torcycl e without peop le thinking I have to win. Th e ex pecta tio n level of John Kocin ski is unbelievab ly high . But no, I will not get d iscouraged because I have so mu ch confidence in my orga niza tio n and the word discouraged d oes not exist in our d ictionary . And you've se en th at e ven th ou g h man y peop le hav e taken cheap sho ts at me , I'm still s ta n d in g. I can fig ht with the best of , them. What I ask o f p e op le is to t r y to understand me as a person and forget what ha s happened before. That's not ,im po rta n t. Wh at mat ters is what will happen tomorro w . So you m us t judge now, on facts, no rumor . It' s like with our sponsor . I p racti ced sa y ing th a t name, Kremlyov skaya. It's very difficul t. Many people practice for months and still th ey ca n' t say it. Bu t I th ought it w as importan t for me to be perfect for the tea m p resentation and be able to say tha t name. And after the presentation , one guy came up to me and told me that the preside nt was very happy because I cou ld pronounce that name so well. He . told me that he heard John Kocinski wa s a mo nster and now tha t he knew me , he cou ld n' t u nderstand wh y thi s had been so distorte d . Anyway, I won' t get di scouraged. I don' t like to get beat, but I'm no t afraid of it. What matt ers is what hap pens after you get beat, how can you prep are you rself for corning back. Is that a different state of mind for you than before? Yeah, I'd say I'd gained expe rience ov er time and it helps. Now I try to u nderstand things more and maybe I'm not as ner vou s as I was befo re. I've been to the school of hard kn ocks. I've dealt w ith the mea nest, baddest people in the business, so fo r sure , th at w ill ma ke you stronger. c.~ A ~ ~

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