Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

INTERVIEW mented that the thing was SO sma ll and so unstable, watching the guys ride it in japan Uapa nese rid ers at Suzuki's test track). This bike's quite a lot longer now that they've tried to make it stable and done a lut of things to it. The reason for the big change... I d on't know. In som e ways, I felt like they do need a chan ge. The '95 bike was great and it was a grea t year, but that was as far as that bike was goin g to go. And it's telling us tha t a bit now. Even with a few changes to it, it's helping it in a few places, but we're not making a big jump. So, obvio usly, they need ed a big chan ge. But, in the beginning there, it was too big of a cha nge. Me comi ng up inju red, Antho ny being new , w e w ere scratching ourselves . No one cou ld ge t co mf or tab le on it . Bu t now I feel tha t they will make progress. The jap anese seem a little more serious about it th an I've see n all year. Th ey seem lik e th e y' ve go t th eir head s in there looking at the engine a bit more, whi ch is a bit bett er . Because ther e ha sn't re a ll y b een a ny s u p por t from japan, basically, as far as making thin gs better. I d on't know why, but general ly, on the wh ole it's been pr ett y poor. A lot of the new stuff we've asked for hasn't really come from japan , either. To me, th ey sho u ld be ri ght th ere, trying to p us h it , g ive them w ha t th e y wa nt. That ' s w here it's hard fo r Suz u ki as well. We have two rid ers and two bikes. Honda has a lot of guys down there and probabl y a lot of those guys d on ' t all give good input. But with all that bit of input, when they sit down they can pick the best of it and they can work fro m there. Most of it comes fro m Mick (Doo han), as far as I kno w. Everyone asks wh at Mick's doi ng , for their own bikes; th ey hav e a lo t o f info rmatio n coming in and there's no t a w hole lo t coming in from here. Is that because you' re not giving good information at the moment? 26 I say what I feel. Every rider has a d ifferent feeling. I' ve ridden with people before in the 8- Hou r a nd someone mig ht li ke this or like that a n d you migh t not like it, but, in th e end , you just get used to it and you get on with it. I say what I feel; I compa re with '95 an d other bikes that I' ve ridden be fore. To me, I feel it's up to them to come ba ck with something . But a lot this yea r it' s been more of "What d o you wa nt ?" I don't know what I want. I'm a rider, I'm not a tech nician. I tell you wh at I feel and hopefully you can help me. That 's what's really been frustrating this yea r, especially with Stu Avant being brought into the team . It's been pretty frustrating w hen he asks 'What d o you want?" The same with Hamish, wh o' s left, an d Stuart (Shenton) as well. It went to a stage wh ere those guys we re saying, "We're giving you everything you want." But , it's like, why aren' t they coming up with stuff? So you tell me what do we want. Ham ish a nd Stu a rt a re qu ite kno w ledgeable guys, but they're still not engineers. They're chief mecha nics. I think it' s jus t been a lot of littl e th ings. At times it's pre tty fru str ating. I'm mor e than frustrated ; I'm basically fed up. It has just been draggi ng on and on an d on . With ou t ge tting results and seei ng some good things at the end of the tunnel, you jus t get fru st ra ted wi th eac h other and yeu just feel like you ' re wasting each othe r's tim e. It's good to see Anthony with a good resul t today. I feel happy for the guys, more than anythi ng. But, hopefull y, that can carry on not just here. What are you do ing ne xt year? I knew yo u were go ing to as k tha t. I d on' t kno w . To be h on est, I h a v e thoug ht about it. I'll be up-front. I'm not enjoying myself. I come to every race with my fingers crossed, ho pi ng that there's going to be some light or something or, NOh shit, tha t's good we found something ." I ac tually me ntioned to Ga rry (Taylor, th e team man ager) - I haven' t men tion ed to Stuart (Avant) that I probably wo n't ride next year for the team. Actually, I feel tha t I' m jus t b ein g more fr u stra te d th a n any th ing that I'm not givi ng the tea m anything . The results aren' t coming, and I' m just getting fru strated with them. I just feel that I'd be mu ch happier seeing someone else take my spot for a while, or for good, an d see if they can d o anything.'], just mor e than anything, feel sorry for the gu ys in the gara ge, because they're goi ng flat out and the resu lts aren't coming. And I'm just not enjoying it. If the results came toward the end of the year and I st arted en joying it, I' d probabl y fee l a little b it d iffere n t. Bu t , a t the moment, I'm not. So that would d epen d more so at the end of this year w ha t I w ould d ecid e. But I rea ll y feel that someo ne else would be better off giving the info rma tio n a nd see ing w hat th ey can do with it. I' ve said tha t, I' ve openly offered to d o that, but nothing has come of it. And as far as next yea r goes, it's hard to ""y, but if things keep going like the way they are now, I don't rea lly know wh ere I'm going. Would you cons ider World Superbikes? Maybe. I wo uld like to. I feel that I need to start enjoying it agai n first, and I feel that' s p robably my only av en ue. Being out there with Scott (Russell) an d those guys again and just, not necessarily winning the race, but being in the top four or five for the lead an d having a hell of a time. just brin gin g back what it used to be like, tha t's probably my biggest thing a t the mom en t. That's probab ly wh at I really wou ld like to do more than anything. There mi ght even be an option there for me. But, at the moment, that's probably the biggest thing on my mind . I like Grands Prix, and I wo uld like to stay in the paddock , because I rea lly enjoy it here, and two-strokes, at the end of the d a y, is wha t I love th e most . I do n't like four-strokes a lot. I guess they we re dru mmed int o me too mu ch in ja pa n. I feel I need to get back on racing ter ms and s tart e njoying it again . Instead of coming to every race tryi ng to develop and being asked qu estion>, like I said. Instead of trying to just go racing, instead of go-tes t-develop. Whe n did you last enjoy racing? Probably Argentina in '95. That was the race th at d ecid ed th e cha m pions hi p. That race was pr obably one of my bet te r ra ces for the year. Mick (Dooha n) had go tten away a nd then I'd ma nage to start to close the gap a bit. I just felt li ke I really rode well in that ra ce. I must admit , there have been races this year where I feel in mys elf I rod e qui te good for the circumstances. Whe n I say I've enjoyed it, tha t w as probabl y the last time I reall y, rea lly, really enjoyed it. Like I said , there's been one or two this year that I'v e enjoyed . The minute you know where you finish that sort of overri des the race itse lf. To me, finishing outside the top three is just pathetic, and the way I see it, to come to Grand Prix ra cing, you come here, yo u ask everyone the question, everyone' s got the same answer: What's yo ur ultimate goal in life? And it's to win the World 500cc Cha m p io ns h ip . And at t h e mome nt , I feel lik e w e're jus t a long way off that. It may come in the next year or two. I wa nted it an d I was pretty hungry and now, the way things are going, I jus t feel it's going that much farther away and I can't pull it back. I fee l tha t maybe w hen Mick (Dooha n) lea ves Ho nda , Hond a might stru ggle a lit tle bi t. I feel he d oes a lot for them. Without so meo ne to follow, Alex (CrivIll e) and th ose guys might pu sh th e d e vel opment. H onda will tak e over again and go like they were in '90, '89, '91, go for top power agai n and that sort of thing . Mayb e, in th at w ay, w h e n Mick goes, things are going to be be tter for everyone else, bu t for me tha t' s too faraway. It could be next year. Could be, but I doubt it. It would make racing more interesting. You ca n' t really sa y that, because he deserves his success . I've known him for 10 ye a rs no w a n d I know hi m rea lly we ll. He's just a gu y who wo rks so ha rd at it. H e works harder tha n a nyone . I train w ith him on the mountain bike and I just know what he's like. He is a grinder. That's why he gets the resu lts. I think that in some ways it would be sad to see him go. I think the Gra nd s Pri x need s him , but in a way it doesn't need him because when he goes and another man u factu rer s t ar t s w in ning, to m e tha t'd be like, is tha t really wi nn ing ? What would have happened if Mick was still here? I think, to me, the real way is to bea t him now. I was thinking more of him going to Yamaha next year . I think all that's possible, bu t at the end of the day, he 'd proba bly d o the sa me job on th at bike as well. I th ink if he w en t th ere, h e' d take h is crew, hi s mec hanic s and everyone, and they' re the peop le he's used to working w ith. With time, he 'd be a tough contend er. Basically, he' ll be getting beller resul ts tha n they're getting now. It will be sad when he goes, because I wasn' t here that ea rly, but to me it's sort of like the last of Way ne (Rainey), the last of Eddie (lawson), the las t of Mick. I've seen the end of it. Before I even sta rted here, I came and watched a few of them when I was raci ng in japan. It was just sensational. Someo ne asked me about the 8-Ho ur the other day and I said I was pretty young, but it was such an exciting thin g to see Eddie co me o ve r o n the fou r-stroke Yamaha and qualify the way he d id . It was grea t to race with those guys. There are so me y oung riders coming up now, but it will take time. That' s the thin g with 500s: With some of the ri de rs it happe n s, but it takes a w hile. It' s not a real qu ick p rocess. I think at the momen t, as far as rider talen t goes, I think the next one probably will be Anthon y. I've alw ays said that. From the start, I think he's the pick of all the new guy s. As long as he ca n keep himself together and focus onhis racing. The kid's got a lot of talent . I just hope he can stay on the right railway tracks and work wit h the right people, and I think he'll go a long way. '"

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