Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

Can y o u w in t he World Ch a mpi o nship? . For sure. I mean, thi s year I'm feelin g better than ever, the testing's gone bet ter than ever. It' s funn y you mentioning my age (33); it's not a problem. I'm as fit as ever. Age has got not hing to do with it for me. I'm getting wiser and better at it. In what wa y? You just learn and pick up things along the way. It's a bugger it's happened th is wa y - I'd rather just go out and win it. I mean, I haven 't wo n it, but I've bee n in the to p five for the las t six yea rs so that's not a bad outing, either. I haven' t won it because I haven't prepared myself properly, and I thi nk I have now. You know, . I did n't d eserve it those ot her years. In '96,Troy (Corser) had some bad luck ; he could've bee n further ou t in the points. In '94, I was close all the time, bu t they took points away for the fu el (a rules infringement). That was -a bummer of a year, too, but the bike wa sn't nea r quick enough, yet I was still leading the champions hi p . I' ve led the champions hip eve ry year. I just haven't finished it off. People alwa ys as k, "Will it be yo u r year?" and that's a compliment in itself . I think it'll be a d ifferen t vear. I've made a lot of changes to my team, I've got a new cre w chief thi s yea r - Norris Farrow. He was with our team a few vears ago . It jus t spices things up a bit. We've go ne through a lot of things. I could go on all day. It's already making a d ifference. You' ve been testing du al - fork swinga rm s and th e s in g le Pro-Arm. How has that been go ing? We're s till testing bo th. Some places I like o ne , s o me pl a ces th e o th e r . A t Malaysia , I could d o the sa me time on both, really, but I could be more consistent on the d ua l arm. What about Phillip Island? I' ve gone quicke r on the mon o-arm. It's the same thing with the other one (dualarm); it's mo re consistent, wi th tire wear as well, bu t I can' t ge t the times yet. It's all part of development. What's new with th e engin e? It's got a bit more hor sepower, apparently. You can' t feel it? othing yo u notice, just smoo ther and stronger, Has the s teeri ng and d ri ve ou t of th e corners im p ro ved in the la s t y ear or tw o? N o. You can ' t cha nge the cha ssis, yo u know. But you can change th e link. Yeah , but we're pretty set on wha t we use on the back, and it's wo rking well. Wh at about thi ngs like ride height? That was don e in the firs t eight weeks of '94 and we haven' t changed it sin ce. You can' t cha nge the chas sis . If yo u change the chass is, you' re cheating, and Honda d oesn't cheat. Who'll be your major threats ? I d on' t see anyo ne as a major thr eat. I just see the competition as myself.show fast I want to go. This year, I'm looki ng at it a little d ifferentl y. I'm looking at it in terms of winning races, and if I'm not in front, th e h elm et in fron t of me is the guy I w ant to beat . I' m not sing ling ou t any nam es. I'm not gonna pu mp someone up when wh o knows how they'r e gonna go. They don' t need a label just yet. What are your p lans beyo nd thi s yea r? Woul d you qu it if you won the cha mpion sh ip? I d on ' t know. I'd have to think abou t it. I reall y enjoy my racing - tha t's why I do it. If I got to the en d of the yea r and won the cha mpionship, and thoug ht that' s all I w a nted ou t of it, th en maybe - but I (Oppos ite page) For the third time in three years, Aaron Slight (foreground) will have a new teamma te. For 1998, that man Is Colin Edwards II. (Right) The New Zealander was the fastest of the World SuperbIke men in the recent Flammlni test at Phillip Is land In Aus1ralla. s till think I enjoy racin g . But I thi nk I know when I'wan t to give up. I'm not go ing to ha ng a ro u nd ju s t to rid e . If things start to slow up, I~II ge t out of it ma ybe even race a car. What sort? Whatever I can ge t, rea lly . Last yea r I had a play in a British Touring Ca r an d things we nt really good . I qua lified really we ll, but got knocked off in the race.. It was a good exp eri ence with a go od bun ch of people, so I'd like to do so mething like that. Wh at are th e stre ngths of th is team? W hen it' s wo rking well, ev eryb od y' s working toget her a nd strivin g for th e sa me thing - which probably goes back t o Honda . With H RC, it 's n ot t h e a mount o f money, it's how keen they are. They'll kee p d eveloping, keep try ing new things. If yo u requ es t so mething , t h e y w on 't turn yo u d own they' ll just try it. Everybody here wan ts to w in ra ces. They're not doing it for adver tisi ng, or fo r p oli tic al reas ons . They're d oing it because they love racing. Does it get yo u do wn, all th is tal k about be ing the b r id e s m a i d o f the Worl d Superb ik e Series? No, it d oesn't ge t me down. It probabl y gets to every body else, bu t not me . I mean, hell , I' m d oing great. I ha ven ' t won this cha mp ionship, bu t like I said , it' s almost a compliment to be up there challeng ing for the cha m pio nshi p. Don 't ge t me wrong, I'm pissed' that I haven't wo n it , bu t no o ne else ha s bee n th e brid esm aid so it may as well be me! I'd rather be finishing there than fifth . Have you been approached by man y teams over th e years? Every year there's thr ee or four offers at leas t. Have th ere been any tempting ones? The re have, but so meti mes it's the d evil you kn ow . Even last yea r, I could 've rid d en for a cou p le of good teams bu t I decid ed to stay here. Getting bac k to John Kocinski, is there a ny th ing g o od about him ? Bec ause th ere s ee m to be a lo t of bad th ings said about him. He's very clea n. Is th at a good th ing? Better than being dirty, I suppose. How do yo u th ink he 'll go in the SOOs? I think John will go really we ll as 1 g 00' as the team backs him. Bu t if he starts to bu ll head s, it cou ld be a d ownwar d spiral. If the team works with him, there 's no stopping him. Can he b eat Mick Doohan this year? A couple of times, yeah . He can't wi n the title? I don't know . I haven't seen any times yet. He wen t faster than Dooh an at Eastern Creek. Yeah, that' s John's track. He won on the Cagiva there and he wa s faster than me at ou r tes t last year. That' s p ro of th at he's u p there and on the pace, so good on him. Th er e's no d en yin g he' s got a ta lent, and I'm jus t gla d I was ab le to beat him a couple of limes last yea r on the same sluff . D id yo u an d he ge t the sa m e equip me nt? I don 't kn o w . I w a sn 't in th e sa me garage and I never saw w ha t his se ttings were. Wh at's th e deal with Colin Edwar ds? We are bo th em ployed as eq ua ls, gelling the same slu ff. An d yo u' re good mates ? Yeah , ve ry good ma tes, w hic h is a bit s tra ng e in a team environ men t, so I thi nk it' ll be testin g on the relationship for su re . But th at 's ra cing, th at' s bu siness. It's hard tr yin g to bea t your teammate eve ry weekend . You' re go nna butt head s a few times. You 'v e got to beat your tea mmate first? Well, yea h, it's ge tting like tha t, beca use he ge ts the same stu ff. It' s no t so bad w he n you ' r e ru n n in g 1-2 but whe n th ere ' s a cou p le o f rid er s run ning in . between, it starts to wo rry you . What about you and Carl Fogarty now? Are th ings an y better? I' ve given up on need ing friends in the paddock - I've go t my own life. We ge t a lon g fine, we say hello a nd have th e odd chat, but we 're not going to go ou t to d inner toge ther. But y o u we re clo se fri e n ds at o ne stage? Tha t was a learnin g ex pe rie nce. We were good matesat one stage. But in '94, whe n I joined Hon da, he was baggi ng me every time he cou ld because I wa s beating him . I was bea ting h im in the cha mp ionship, so he need ed so meone to take hi s anger o u t on in th e press to keep himself in a job . He ' s burnt too man y brid ges as far as I'm concerned . You also had a p re tty inte nse ri val ry w it h An thony Gobert. Where do you th ink hi s career' s heading? . I've go t no commen t, really - it's up to him . Everybody' s tried to tell him w ha t to do with his career and tried to guj de him , so it' s purely up to Ant ho ny Gobert . I don't need to tell him. He kn ow s w hat he' s go t, and w ha t he has to d o. It' s up to him . Th ere's a lot of tal e nt th ere, so I hope he ca n wo rk his way th rou gh it and get on with it. Wh y do you th ink you' ll win the champ ionship this year? I ha ven ' t w on beca use I wasn' t go od enoug h, or there we re pr oblems bu t I' m no t 'using them as exc uses. I'm happy wit h the way I'v e been d oin g things and I' m happy wi th thin gs now. I thi nk I'm stro nger tha n ever and st ro nger than an ybod y ou t there a t the momen t. I~

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