Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/127949
Max Biaggi (right) has teamed for a second time with noted tu ner Erv Kanemoto. So far the res ults have been amazing , with Biaggi winning In his 500cc Grand Prix deb ut and qua lifying on the front row in every race but one th us far. and he was still only four behi nd leader Alex Criville. Arriving in a class u nt il now ut terly d ominated by Doo han, the rook ie Biaggi had joined the elite group of serious cha lle nge rs w itho ut pausing for breath. Biaggi has always bee n kn own as a ruthless comp etitor as we ll as a rider of su perlative skill and d etermina tion . But past ex perie nce suggested that even a racer of th is caliber sho uld take a little time to learn the r opes of ri d ing the . world's fiercest racing mach ines. Of course, he has been helped in the . move up to a wor ks V-four 500 Honda by the sim ulta neo us switch to unleaded fuel - which has taken the snap off the throttle response and th e ed ge off the power, making it easier for an ex-250cc rider to use the sweeping lines and high lean angles with which he feels comfortable. The scale of his achieveme nt remains remarkable. The man himself has changed so mewhat. Always rather remote and aloo f, a watchful and guarded interviewee, he is now h ard er than e v er to pin down . Obviously intelligent, by now h e ha s highly developed skills at finding ways around awkwa rd questi ons while at the same time producing sound-bite quo tes. I interv iewed him wi th on e colleague in th e M arlboro motorh om e a t t h e French GP. Biaggi com plained to the PR girl in attendance that th ere w ere not mo re journalists; he likes to get things out of the wa y. Then he swit ched off his carbo n-fiber cellu la r phon e and tu rn ed his full attention tow ard us. This is, after all, ano the r on e of those things that a truly grea t World Ch am pion need s to do well . . Were you surprised to win the first race and lead the championship? I had done three or four tests in a few weeks, and I didn ' t touch a b ik e for three or four months. The firs t b ike I touched was comp letely different for me - a 500. But I can say it was not a very big su rprise, because during the tests I w ent very fa st, a nd I broke th e lap record many times . Was that a surprise? Th at w a s a surpri se . But a fte r th at, I knew I would d o so mething goo d. Of course, I was surprised to wi n in Japan I think it was a surprise for everybody, even Honda, because nob od y had ever run under 2:06 (his lap time) before. Should you have come to 500s earlier? Ma ny people say that. Mick (Doohan) says that. Bu t I had some job to do, wit h Ap rilia last year. For me, that was the biggest challenge I had in my life. (Failing to reach an agreement after lon g and bitter negotiations, Biag gi had ded icated himself to the task of provin g it was the rid er who had wo n the last thr ee titles, not th e Ap rilia . The factory hired Tetsuya Harada and Loris Capirossi, both former cha m p io ns, to pro ve th e op posite .) Some people can th ink it is very cr azy that I decid ed to run one more year and risked to ru in wh at I d id th e last three yea rs . But this one pro ved my ridi ng talent. Maybe the other riders need to look in the mirror and ask themselves if the y were giving 100 percent or not. Because I came from three yea rs on Aprilia to Honda, a n d I w on . (O liv ier) Ja cque , (Toh ru) Ukawa and (Ra lf) Waldmann had ridden Hond a for man y years and they never won . With some luck, I did win . But I also had some bad lu ck - like be in g blackflagged a t Assen, crash ing in Donin gton ... Was the way you split with Aprilia a big disappointment for you? Of course . And also for many people in Italy. Now I have mo ved to 500s, they (tile Italian ra cing fa ns) h a ve m oved with me. Last year, the TV audience was 3 million for 250 and 2 milli on for 500. Now in the first race, wh en they didn't know if I was good or not, 3 or 4 milli on people watched the 500 an d 2 or 3 million wa tched the 250. I don 't live in Italy anymore, bu t I can feel for the fans. I was born in Italy. Have you had any contact with Ap rilia, or with the owner Ivan Beggio, since negotiations broke down at the end of 1996? No. I never spoke to them again. After the end of la st year, you were .without a ride for a long time. You had talks with Suzuki and Yamaha. Did you come close to joining them? I was not close to going to another factory before signing to stay wi th Ho nda. I wanted a Honda if there was any chanc e of getting one. Some people think you were too hard in your demands with Aprilia. Do you think you are a hard bargainer? Other people say I am tough. Beggio (of Aprili a ) a n d th e p eopl e at Dain es e Leathers say that w hen I quit mo torcycle racing, they want me to come and work for them - negotiating contracts for them. Ho w often do you go back to Italy? In o ne m onth, thre e or fou r d a y s . I moved to Mon aco in 1992, and I enjoy it very much. I have a good life. I feel I am wit h friends. I see Mick (Doohan) very often. Are y o u and M ick Doohan good friends? "Good friends" is... big words. But he will ask me if I wa nt to go ride bicycles with him and so me times we go to have dinner. It's a professional relationshi p. We are okay toge ther. You are a devil with other riders, about psyching them out. What do you mean? I'm th inking about the front-row press conferences; many times with Ralf Waldmann la s t year - saying clever th ings. And this year, when Mick was complaining that the bikes were less powerful, you put him in his place by just smili ng and pointing out that the lap times were quicker now. Well, the bikes are almost the sa me as las t yea r . The tire s a re be t te r . I jus t mea nt wha t I sa id . The fact ory loo ks only for the lap time . But if we always go quicker, quic ker, quicker, then they stop wo rking on the bikes . I'm talking about the ps ychology - it's a clever game that you pla y. I a m not a devil. I a m a ve ry si m p le man. I am ve ry norma l. I thin k tha t is my streng th, that I am so normal. Peop le thin k tha t I li ke pa rties, and like tha t. But I never smoke, I never d rin k. I don't like wine. I don' t like beer. Sometimes I d o n't want to do anything . If people cou ld see my life, they wou ld thin k I am boring. Because I am d oing so m uch in rnot orsport, sometimes I wan t to be t90 mu ch norm al. " Lonely" is perhaps not the right word - but you do like to be alone. I remember once you told me how you like to leave the paddock im med ia tely after. the race . Is it still the same? Yes. I like to have my per sonal life. I' m loo kin g to ke ep this pla ce (the race track) always strong and witho ut people. I like to ge t away, and the n I never speak about motorcycles. I speak abo ut movies and music an d any ot her things. Whe n people start to talk about motorcycles, you kn ow wh at I say? "Phew" - and I lea ve. "O ka y," I say , "I'm n o t working. I'm leaving." . Do you follow the news - keep up with world events? A little. I follow the economics, the bu siness news. Becaus e I have some inves tmen ts. I em ploy some people, but I d o my ow n managem en t. There wa s a story going around that you told an Italian newspaper, NI am too big for thi s sport; I am going to Fl ." Did you say that? I thi nk nobod y said tha t. I ne ver said that . I never rea d it. And I read everythi ng. If I d on't read it; I have p eople w ho read it for me . When there is so methi ng wrong, I do so met hin g about it. Do you have trouble with the press, in Italy or elsewhere? No. I am so good wit h them . But if you give to o much to th e pres s, they are goi ng to eat you . Mick is giving too little. But you don't have to give too mu ch. It's easy to do that, because people like su ccess . But I don' t wan t to d o that. Then they eat you , piece by piece. What about the fa n s ? They almost mobbed you on the slowing-down lap at Mugello. . It's true. People like to have an idol. And I don 't think I ever made a mistake. I am very n ice with the fa ns. I spend time wit h the m. I work on my front page on my Internet site, and I always want to develo p it, ma ke it more bet ter , extra pages. An y fan who writes a letter to me gets back an au tograph and a picture. What is it that drive s you, makes you get up on Sunday to go racing? Is it money, fame or something else? I only enjoy racing. I was born for that. And if you weren't winning? I don' t kn ow . Becau se it is a lon g lime since I was not wi nning. Of course, winni ng gives you the energy to wo rk harder, to rid e faster and to d o mor e. And I want to win, not to lose. I on ly th in k abou t tha t. What car do you drive now? I ha ve had the same one for three yea rs. A Porsche Ca rrera 4 - I don't reme mber the exa ct model number. I had a Mini Cooper that I gave to m y father in Rome th ree yea rs ago . Th a t was sto le n la st yea r. What's your favorite night out? Din ner w ith my girlfriend . I like Itali an or Ja p a nese food. Not sushi - but all th e rest. Te pinya ki, s ha bu sha bu and so on . fX 31