Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

goes a ll th e way th roug h to scooters. Grand Prix ra cing builds up the reputation of the w hole Hon da ma rque. 15. Although you have won the Dutch TT three times, yo u don't like the track. Once you were asked if there was anything good about Holland, and you answered, "The border." Funny answer, but what don't you like about the Netherlands? It is funny, but I don' t recall saying it. Maybe I wasn't feeling good at the time. I do like Holland. I enjoy visiting Amsterdam. I like the people. But I th ink I was mistreated in hospital after my accident at Assen (in 1992 ). I' ve noth ing aga inst the Dutch IT. The atmosphere there is hard to beat. Irs more the circuit I don't like. It's an out-of-date concept past its use-by date. Their plans fo r a modern circuit look really good. nice power and feel. And, if you want to change the gearing, you just swap the rear sprocket. A 500 has more power no t bu ndles mo re, but it accelerates harder up to the corner. You get less feel off the tires, and it spins up more. The ha rdest th in g is learn ing ho w to set it up. A 500 must be set up right: suspension an d gearbox and chassis geometry. If you have two riders of the same abi li15', the one who se ts th e bike up be tter will win. 16. What is it like 10 be away from home so long, spend ing so much time in your motorh ome? Doesn't the travelling get to you? I do n' t s pend tha t much time in m y mo torho me. Thursday to Sunday, then back to Monaco. I limit my time in the paddock. It's good to have a steady base in Monaco. I feel at home there no w . Wh en I was testing in Austra lia, though I love it there, I was also keen to get back to Europe. 10. What do yo u think of th e twins and. triples in the 500cc class ? Do yo u th i n k it s h o u ld be a cl a ss fo r fo urcylioder bikes only? The twins have surprised everyone this year. I did n't ex pect th e p ro du cti on twins would be better than the fourcylinders (privateer bikes). The handling is like a 250 twin, which has helped pe0ple from th e 250 class, who would have found the tra nsition more difficult on a V-fou r, I thin k the three-cylinder is the way to go, to bea t V-fours. If Kenny Roberts succeeds, then the Japanese will spend more and d evelop th e V-fo u rs mo r e. In the late ' 80s and ea rly ' 90s, developments came in big steps. If th e engineers ha d an open checkbook, the same thing woul d happen again. It's all good for the sport. 17. Do you find time to do other things, like vi siting famous places or mu seums, in the days be fore practice begins? Not really du ring the season. No rma lly, I ju s t see the race track. I m ight see a place I like and go back there when the racing's over. I've been 10 the m useum in Mona co - us ually when I have peo ple visiting me there. 18 . Do you get to keep your racing .bikes? Do you have your own private museum? I don't have any of my early bikes. I had an o ption to bu y m y Yama ha superbike - it was a factory 750 FZR, which I'd like to hav e, but I did n't have any money then . At home in Aus trali a, I have one each of the Honda NSRs from the years I'v e won the champions hip - 1994, 1995 a nd 1996. Th e fi rs t o ne is o ne of m y actu al race bikes . The 1995 one is still a . real bike, but it was put together o ut of parts. For 1996, I asked if I co uld have one of th e ac tu a l bi kes I r ac e d o nce agai n, and Honda gave it to me. 11. Wh at do yo u think of Troy Cors- er's sw it ch to GPs, and what do you think of hi s results so far? Tro y Corse r is fin di n g it toug h. He mustn't put too much pressure on hi mself - which is di fficult , because he is a World Champ ion. He's shown he can ride a motorcycle. He has to learn to adapt, and to un ders tand the motorcycle more. And to watch out for the tires. 12. Who do you consider to be the up-and-coming men for the future? I'm no t really looki ng around at it - Troy Corser and Colin Edwards are two guys I see who are sens ible enough and have realistic goals. They're consistent, and they loo k at w hat's happening on the race track. Other than.them, I haven't really looked. What about Anthony Gobert? (This was a sensitive question, since the upstart Aus· iralian was, at the time, engaged in a public war of words with Doohan about an incident in practice, where Doohon had grabbed the line and Gobert had been obliged to run across thegrovel trap. Gobert's obviously ta lented, but is there room in his helmet to learn? Can yo u learn this way? A few years ago , r guess it's generally kn own, I w anted him in my team. But the ne xt year, he see med to go off th e rai ls. He won a couple of races, and won his home title round. But there have alw ays been pe0ple who win their hom e GPs, too . Even 19. How would you describe your own character? Fairly laid back . And in te nse, on the other hand . I like to think I'm qui te approachable. I hope I'm quite normal. 20. if you are immensel y talented, you must also be willing to lea rn. 13. What do you co nsid er the best learning gro und for GP racing? For instance: motocross, superb ikes, pro-duction-bike racing, etc.? Just motorcycling. I raced dirt bikes for eight yea rs, a n d I'm certai n that i t helped me - just to u nderstand the feel. 14. In so me countries, the public interest in GPs and World Superbike race s is low. Do you think it would be poss ib le to combine the two World Championsh ips in one weekend : a 250((' class, a 500e( class, superbike race and supers port? The show might be be tter, but I d on' t feel it should go tha t way. Other than in G rea t Britain, the superbikes don't d raw big crowds or get b ig coverage. The Grand Prix series is w here the image of the marque is built. It' s like Ren ault. Their image is built by ra cing in Form ula One , n ot sa loo n- raci ng La gunas . Ho nda se lls a broad ran ge of motorcycles, not jus t sports b ik es - the ra nge Do yo u lhink you could be a team manager, or a mentor for promising young riders? I would n' t like to be a team m ana ger. This paddock is not like Formula One. The manufacturers ru n it all. There isn' t really room for tea m ow ners like there is in car racing, th ou gh Kenny Roberts is trying to cha nge that. I wouldn' t like to be a me ntor, either. It' s a hicky role to play. Nobody likes to be told wha t to do or how to d o it, and I wo uld n' t like to try . If a rider's good enoug h, he' ll lea rn it for himself. Wha t I would like to d o is, p erhaps, o pen some d oors for yo ung talented riders, especially from Aus tralia. t~ 31

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