Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

INTERVIEW on the By Michael Scott Photos by Gold & Goose l 28 t all seems to have happened ra ther su ddenly for Simon Crafa r. Until last year he wa s a nearly-man in World Superbike racing, often thr eatening but never a race winner on the lim e-green Kawasaki. Then he switc hed to Grand Prix racing, riding the Red Bull Yamaha. And almos t immed iately he sank from view, obscured by the dazzling up- front action. But while the heroes were taking the limelight in the closest racing season for several genera tions, the u nassumingly friendly Ne w Zea lande r was br ewing up a storm . "If you' ve been watching TV, it looks a s tho u gh it ' s been s u d de n," he ex pla ine d of his' ri se in his so ft New Zealan d accent. "But it's been a steady progress ion from Mu gello (round four) . That was wh ere I started to feel good, and the front tire felt good for the firs t time. An d we found a good setting for the bike. That set ting has changed only very littl e since. It' s a good, basic bi ke for all sorts of tracks. Mind you, I say self-effacingly. He gives hi s opini on, then asks yours, breaking off as the kettle whistles to make us each a cup of tea. But while Crafar' s mild manners ana soft-spo ken wa ys ma y make him seem somehow tentative, there is something very definite abo ut this man who has, a t th e age of 29, ac h ieved his ch ild hood goal in s uc h an una ssuming wa y. The nex t d ay, he went one better . Starting from pol e, he cha rged to a runaway lap-record vic tory at D oningt on Park, leaving h is n o..,·· ..·.... _..... longer-so-fri endly rival Mick Dooh an R trailing by a massive 10 seco nds - the sort of treatment Doohan has met ed out to his own rivals over the yea rs. Now it was Doohan 's turn to complain abo ut bad tire choice . Crafar's first contact with racing was watching his uncle motocross at the age of 6. He decided then and there that he wanted to be a professional racer wh en he grew up. He had to wait, though ; and then he took it step by s tep - rid ing a friend 's farm bike at the age of 10, and finally starting to motocross himself at 12. He first road raced at 17, won his a tio na l 250, 600cc Produ ct ion a nd Superbike tit les, th en worked his way onto th e world s tage via a Mal aysi an Su p e rbi ke t it le - th en a yea r in the British Champions hip riding for Honda U K. In 1993 ca me a mixed season, incl u di ng superbi ke r id es , a mixed 250 /500cc GP season, and then t h e move to four years in World Superbike, the last two as a works Kawasa ki rider. He finished fifth overall in 1997. It was a long road, compa red with th at ta ke n by many of to d a y ' s whiz kid s, especially si nce Crafar combined his early years with training as a motorcycle mechanic, so as to be able to maintain and modify his racing bikes. But he is happy that the journey has all beery in th e rig ht d ir e ct ion , a nd at h is own speed. "I've always done wha t 1 wan ted," Crafar said . "When I left Honda UK at the end of 1992, I had no rid e, and no mon ey. But I wa nted to move on, and 1 think it's importa nt to keep yo ur motivation. If you' re bor ed doing some thing, then yo u shouldn' t keep doing it." Tha t first career change led to half a season on a pri vate SODcc Harris Yam ah a - scori ng po in ts w it h a nint h a t Assert, then the rest of the yea r replacing meltd ow n victim John Kocinski on the works 250cc Lucky Strike Suzuki. " I kn e w as soon as I go t o n to it 1 would never be a 250cc rid er," Crafar said. At 6 feet tall, it's no t surprising. • In the same way, he re jected morelucrative offers to stay in World Superbikes to come to the GPs this year. "I cou ld have stayed with Kawasaki, a nd there was a good offer from another team ," he said. "Or there was this - the GPs . Without wanting to sound mushy, it was in my heart to go GP racing. I gave up somethi ng good in superbikes, poss ibly even wi n ning th e champi onship, and I know some people thin k I'm an idiot. But I decided it was worth that about the Yam ah a, but I' ve found I, it to com e here." that a lot with d ifferent bikes I've ridden On e of the first things that happen ed, - that once I ge t it to my likin g, I ten d to abou t th e sa me tim e that Crafars la p keep it like tha t." times " and consistency started to become I w a s talk in g to th e Ki wi , n ewl y threatening, was that he found himself moved to Andorra, in his motorhom e a t in a h ead -on co n fro n ta tio n wit h the Donington Park paddock. Thou gh of Doohan. It happen ed a t Madrid , when regul ation palatial size , it some ho w has Max Biaggi rammed into Doohan in the a n ai r of rela xed modesty. Hi s pretty fir st corner, se n d ing h im rico ch et ing wife, K ir~ten, sits to one side pl ayin g into Crafar, who had already committed com pu ter games, the n comes across and hims elf to the corner on the ou tside line. joins us . Simon lounges on the sofa and Crafar was se nt bouncing ac ross th e gra ve l tra p , rejo ini ng in last pl ace to cha ts ra ther th an is in terviewed . He ' s work th roug h to eigh th; Doo han was friendly and inte rested, an d tal ks very

• Cover