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/128102
" I t w a s g o od . Nob od y ha s s les y o u there. I st art ed skiing for t he first time, and I re all y wan t to do more of t ha t , and try snow bo ard ing maybe - I' ll pro bab ly spend the whole of next winter th ere ." He pauses , then add s: " M ay be yo u' d better not sa y that, in c ase people t rack m e down there too . I like to be able to get away ." M cC o y d e fin i t el y is bi g n ews now , w he re ver he goes - a situation he co u ld hardl y hav e exp ected t h is time last year, an d o ne w hich puts hi m and the team u nd er a lot o f ( not entirely un w elc o m e ) pressure as he approaches the season as one of t he fa vo ri tes . " It' s been a pretty quick step c om pared w ith th e end o f '9 9 : he agrees . " A t the m oment, I'm not t hi nki ng an y differe ntly . I'm happy to be one of the top guys , but th at 's no rea son t o th ink differently o r do anything d iff erently ." Nor is he o ve rw he lm ed b y his success in testing - th ough of co urse it is encouragi ng , th ing s o f te n turn ou t d i f f er en t l y o n ce t he ra cing b eg ins, and he d o esn ' t w ant to set too much st o r e b y t hes e lap tim es o r positi ons . "I'm no r m a ll y n ot m u ch of a tes ter , and I don ' t g ive 110 p er cent at t r y ing to ge t th e l ap ti mes. W e're j ust try ing t o g et the bi k e ri g ht, and I'm really lookin g for ward t o go in g rac ing . It's j ust one more test to go ." Which brings us nea tly back to the p its in Barcelona , wh er e I spoke t o Garry during a break in test sess ions that.they were sh a r i n g w ith Hond a. And where McC o y was well up to speed fr om the beginning. " I' m a lot more used to th e b ike now , and I can set th ings up to su it m e m ore ," he sai d . A statement that req u ir es a bit of ex p la nation , fo r McC o y 's unu sua l st y le requires unusual settings, as h is crew ch ief Hamish Jam i eson ha s co nfi r med . Th es e uni q ue requi rem ents have t o do wi t h " fee l," as in th e Au st rali an ' s rej ec t ion of rad ia l -mou nt brak e c ali pers last year. A ll the othe r rid ers preferred th e more positive feel of th e new type of Brembos. McCoy alo ne went back to th e m ore fl ex ibl e ol d er m ounting , bec au se he preferred m ore m ovement at th e leve r, and m o re feel. A s a resul t , M c C o y ha s a lread y co n sign ed some of Yama ha' s 200 1 stuff t o the back of t he tru ck , t o sw it ch back to oste nsib ly less well -d eve lop ed but f amiliar k it from la st year. "I pr efer a lot of th in gs from last y ear ' s bike . W e test ed th e new stuff and th e ol d , and the o lder st uff su it m e better. " What ol d stu ff? " O n e t h i n g is th e s te e r i n g tr iple c lamps, " McC o y sa id . " Y a m a h a has made some n ew ones tha t are 20- to 30perce n t st iffer. T o me, it takes away the fee d back I' m getti ng from t he bike . But I have spe n t 12 mo n t hs on it, so it' s al so what I' m used to ." Just wh at is it th at he sets up so differ ently on the bike , com pa red w ith th e ot he r riders? "Well, we a ll u s e different steer ing ang les and offsets . Where I may be different is I like a stiffer chassis and softer sus - pension . The ot her thing I use th at is rea ll y differen t from th e others is t he placi ng of the swinga rm p iv ot ." After his p at c h y for m l ast yea r , so m e h ad M cC o y down as a ci rcu it speciali st, onl y go od at tight tra ck s. H is Red Bu ll t eam boss Peter Clifford re sponds firmly . " If the r e i s some kind o f circui t th at doesn ' t suit Gar ry 's style , we ha ven 't found it yet," he says . "T here were some tracks last year when we weren 't able to g iv e him the bike he needed, o r Michelin didn 't have th e tires - bu t when the bike was rig ht , he'd just ride it ." M c Coy ag rees . " I ju st go to eac h tr ac k one by one . Po ssib ly I p refe r ti ghte r t racks , bec au se yo u get close r racing ." He p au ses , and I remi nd him th at o ne of hi s wi ns last y ear , at ultra -tight Val en ci a , ha d been b y m il es, going awa y . Th e qu ick laugh is th ere again . "Act ua lly I was j us t think ing about that. But - normally yo u get cl os er racing ." If he does have a we akn ess, it is in slip pery - especia ll y wet - c ond it ion s. But that is a fu nction of his light weight, rather than any deficit in technique or courage . " T he o ther rider s can put mo re weight on the rea r wheel to st op it spi nning so m uc h. M y th ing slides a lot at the bes t of ti mes, and I fi nd it quit e d ifficult when it' s wet. " Mu ch o f this is also a fun cti on of t i res w hich have pla yed a cru c ial ro le in putting M cC o y where he i s. And v i ce v e r s a .. . McCo y a nd hi s team e n ti re ly pioneered the use of 16.5 -inch tires . He had t o persuade M ichel in t o le t hi m use th em , but aft er he won the o p en ing round of course ev er yb ody wanted t h em . Odd ly en ou gh , th i s worked ag a in st M cC oy b ecause , instead of bringing t ir es i n t he so ft com pound s that su it h im best , Mi c heli n sta rte d to m ak e th e ne w size in m o re u su al ha rd er co m pou n ds , t o su it t h e o tl'te r r i d ers . It took a se ve re t a lk i ng to fr om c rew c h ie f Jamieso n be fore M ich eli n agai n started to b ring softer tires for M cC oy , an d it was eve n longer before th ey sta rted to bring wet tires in that size as well. M c Co y ' s rea so n fo r likin g t he 16.5 s is th e broader profile and bi g g er sid ewa ll s tha t come with the smaller rim si ze . "I like to ope n t he throttle when t he b ik e is still leaning over, befor e the other guys, to sta rt it sp inni ng : he wil l explain . The 17 -inch t ir e, with less sidewall an d narro we r contact pa tch, spins too m u ch , whil e t he extra fo otp r i nt of the wider t i r e m a k es t he d iffer enc e th at allows McCoy's st y le t o work . (M cCoy surprised M ichelin in an other regard , says crew chief Jamieson . "T hey sa id his wheelspin wo uld destroy th e tire , but ins tea d it has th e o p po site effect. It only heats up the surfac e of th e ti re, rather than the whole c arc ass. ") But hold o n - isn 't this all a t hing of the p ast ? Di d n 't we co me in w it h McCoy t ry in g t o work o ut how to sto p spi nn i ng and sliding? " O h no - t ha t' s m y style . I ca n't cha nge tha t . I'll sti ll be sli d in g this y ear - but we 're hoping I won 't be quite as sideways as I was in 2000." eN eye. e n e "" S • MAY 2 , 200 1 41