Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

, ~~":J::~<;: , 't~~' _'liN ~ .. going back and forth for about a month. It just all came together when I was going down there (to Daytona) to test the 600. I would hope they would be disappointed to lose someone like me. I won them their first 600 Supersport race and we were in the hunt the whole year as far as running at the front. I spoke to Robert ( utt, the Kinko' team owner) at Laguna and he can't blame me one bit for my decision. Look what I've got, compared to where I was. Looking back at a career that first saw you burst on the scene in 1987, is there anything you would have done differently? If you had it to do over, would you have left Vance & Hines after winning the superbike title in 1991? At the time that I won the championship, superbike racing was really starting to come back as far as the amount of pay and manufacturer involvement. I wouldn't have done anything differen t because at the time Vance & Hines controlled the riders' contracts and they weren't willing to pay me what I was asking for - and I wasn't asking for an outrageous amount. I was caught in the middle between Yamaha and Terry (Vance) and I had to look out for Thomas Stevens at that point. So I moved on and I wouldn't have changed that part. The only part I would change in my career is that after one year of riding for Suzuki I should have gotten out of there. I held on to the money and that was the mistake I made in my career. Instead of moving on to another team where I had a machine I could win on, I stuck it out for the money. That was a big mistake. But do I regret it? I can't change the past, all I can do is work on the future. Was riding for Kenny Roberts' 250cc GP team back in 1988 and 1989 a positive part of your career? Oh, yeah. I got to work with some of the top guys in the country - Bud Aksland and those guys were really good. I got to work with Kenny and Wayne (Rainey), guys with a tremendous amount of knowledge and talent. I'm still using the knowledge t got from those guys today. That was nothing but pluses. I think it showed up as soon as I got on a superbike - my learning curve went straight up. Are you going to end up with a teammate this year? I don't really know. There might be someone who comes in and rides, but at this point I'm the only guy and we've got to straighten out the bike. At some point there might be a guest rider come in. That's all that was discussed. Looking at the upcoming schedule, are there certain tracks that you're really excited about getting to with the Ducati? I don't know that much about the bike, but you know there are some tracks that it works really well at - like Brainerd. But it's too early for me to tell as far as how well it's going to work. But when it comes to the race tracks, I don't look at them any different. I treat Loudon the same as Mid-Ohio and Mid-Ohio the same as Laguna Seca. Granted, some are more dangerous than others, but I look at 'em all the same. I go there with a job to do and tha t's to g~t the most out of the bike and win the race, or put myself in a position to win the race. I don't favor one track over another. I hope the Ducati runs as well as it did last year. because I think you'll see some good results. It's just hard to say how good they'll get it to run and how fast we'll come up to speed on it. Can you say right now when you'll be running at the front? Have you set any kind of timetable based on your Laguna Seca result? Naturally, I went to Laguna Seca hoping they'd give me the bike to win. We know what we ran into as far as not having all the pieces to the puzzle. We came out of there with a lot of knowledge, but that's not what I'm in it for - I'm in it to win. They have a month before the next race and I'm confident in my guys and the team to give me the bike to win. Whether that happens at the next race, I can't tell. It all depends on how well the next month goes for those guys. Naturally, they're going to get a lot more ou t of the bike as we go ~long. Whether or not they can do it all in a month, that's asking quite a bit. As far as me, r prepare my elf to go there and win. If they give me what I want, then I'll put myself in that position. So if all goes well, you're goal is to win races this year and try to win a championship next year. Exactly. That's how it was put to me and that's how I look at it. This first year with a new bike will be a big learning curve for both of us. We're looking at hopefully having some very good races this year - and if possible winning some races. The follow- ~~;;'~~~I-:J,-_='-:"_~_~ contend for we'll ing year, the title. r feel that with the team and the bike and the commitment from both of us, it's definitely a realistic possibility. At this point, I take it one year at a time. As far as Thomas Stevens goes, all I want to do is win. I know it's very easy to say it and it's another thing to do it. If there was something I should have done better in my career... I should have won more races. I should have kept my head down, used my aggression to barge my way to the front and I should have won. Instead of sitting and thinking about a championship or finishing well in a championship. Especially after I won one. These days you have to win races to win the championship. The superbike field is very strong right now - arguably the strongest it's ever been. Do you find that intimidating at all? Do you really think you can go as fast as these guys are going? I look at those guys and think: "1 can beat all those guys. Just give me the bike." That's the way I look at it. Once we get the thing working, then I'll be right at the front. . Mat Mladin's situation going into an established Ducati team like Eraldo Ferracci's is a bit different than your situation. You have a new team, working with a new bike... He (Mladin) went into a team that has raced the 916 for years. Look how long Ferracci has been tuning on a Ducati engine. Mat comes into the picture and Eraldo has all the baseline settings with the bike. It makes it easier. We come in without any testing. We show up at a race track and we're trying to figure out what springs to put on the thing. It shows. That's why -Ferracci is able to bring these guys in like (Troy) Corser and (Alessandro) Gramigni and they can run right at the· front. They know what works and what doesn't. We'll have to spend a bit more time searching around for that, but the following year we'll be able to show up and know exactly where we're at. We'll have a starting point and that makes it a lot easier on the rider. How much do you know in regard to the political side of working with Ducati? I know we're a factory Ducati team and we have access to some very important people to help us with our learning curve. I know how serious Ducati is, but that's just coming from the rider. You'd have to ask Terry (Vance) about the rest of it. You may be the only Ducati superbike rider in the world using Dunlops rather than Michelins. You stated at Laguna that this will also cause you some more work in setting up the bike. Was there ever any talk of using Michelins? Yes, we're the only factory Ducati team that I know of that runs Dunlops. The 916 was developed around Michelin tires and it still is, so that's just another thing we have to learn. There's no doubt that I feel the Dunlops are just as good in their own way, but it's going to take us a little bit... that's just another factor we have to put into the equation to get the thing to where we can win races. There was never any di cu ion with me as far as what type of tires we were going to use, but I did ask 'em. For "' ;>A ~ ~ "".... ~ 4 , -:.~. ...;,£~ ~::.::..~ "-- _ ------I me, using Dunlops is great because it's one less thing I have to learn - the characteristics of the tire. We came across some of it at Laguna. We tried some of Ducati's setup that they've been suc- • cessful with at Laguna, and it just didn't work for us. It was close, but it's not what we need. What do you think the future holds for Thomas Stevens? At this point in my career, which I know is coming to a close, that's an interesting question because the way I look at it is that I'm running out of time to do what r want with my career. So I wil!'t it more now and I'm more focu ed now than I ever was toward the beginning of my career. In the beginning of your career, you think, "Man, I've got 10 years; easy." God willing, I want to race until I'm 35 or until I win another championship up until the age of 35. As you get toward the end of your career, you want it more than you ever did when you were younger. I still have my youth, but I also have a lot of knowledge and they've come together. Now I know how to win and what I need to do. Now I just have to· put myself in position to win. As long as I can stay healthy, I'm as strong as I ever was and physically and mentally I'm better than I've ever been. I ['...' know what I want to do when I get on a motorcycle. r think knowledge, more ~ than you til and exuberance, is w ha t' s :::E going to win you races. But it's one thing to say it, it's anoth-· er to do it. L~ 21

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