Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

familiarity here. I feel good. There's good chemistry with the team, with Kevin Erion, with Rick Hobbs, my crew chief. We're in the hunt, and I feel really good - the best I've felt in a long time. good racing in both classes - no doubt. Phoenix, in 1995, is a long time ago. Can you remember the feeling of what it's like to win a race? I remember what it was like, and that's what drives me. That's what I race for - I race to win. I'm not out there to fill up the grid or take up space. I want to win. I do everything I can to succeed at what I'm doing, and that's why it was so hard for me personally those years that I went to Europe - to not get the results that I trained for and expected. I put my heart and soul into it. I think not racing the last two years is what I needed. I feel good again. It's like a fresh start. Q What did your attempts at car racing teach you? It really taught me the business of racing. The years I was trying to get into car racing, I got some seat time, but going to these races, I got to see what really drives racing. It's a huge business on the NASCAR scene, and it gave me a different perspective on the whole thing, on racing in general. I know what makes this business succeed. Anywhere there is a lot of money involved, there is going to be a lot of politics involved. Here, racing is about these manufacturers selling motorcycles that's the bottom line. In auto racing, it's a lot about the outside-the-industry stuff. That's what I came to realize. Here, there's not a lot of outsidethe-industry sponsors. When you left the Smokin' Joe's team to race World Superbike, you also were forced to ride on Michelins - rather than the Dunlops you'd spent your career on. Was it really that big of a change? This is the first time I've raced on Dunlops since I left Smokin' Joe's. As hard as I tried to adapt, I couldn't win at the world level on Michelins. I tried, I studied, I watched race tapes - I did everything I could to succeed and win on those. I finished topfives and did okay at World Superbike, but I never won - and that's what I race for. Watching Ben Bostrom his first year in World Superbike, Going back to that year with Smokin' Joe's, you caught a lot of people by surprise that season. We had a great team, and we had great bikes. It was one of those years when everything was right. I trained super hard, and I worked really hard at what I was doing. Ray Plumb and Merlyn Plumlee, Bobby Weindorf... all the guys that were around me - we just got along really good. We had all the elements there, and it showed. And with Miguel [DuHamel], too. A lot of those people are still around and helping me. "Basically, at the end of the day, you look at the stopwatch and that's what's going to detennine who's right and who's not." when he rode with the Ducati/ Michelin combination, could you feel for him - knowing what he was going through? It was like deja vu. I could totally relate to Ben. I don't want to say lucky for him, but I'm happy for him that he was able to keep the Ducati factory support behind him and get on Dunlop tires. I do think that's a key element in his success. They could have given up on him - hey, I've been there. Was the season with Ducati more frustrating than the Suzuki deal? Yes. The year I rode the Ducati, their end of the agreement was not held up - from my team owner's standpoint. I wasn't given the tools that were stated in my contract that I was going to get. I wasn't given equal machinery; I wasn't given the proper tools. I suffered that year. I had injuries, but I put everything into it. I ended on a high note, missing a podium by three feet - and I wasn't on the top-level Ducati machinery. The following year, when I rode the Suzukis, it was a development model and I felt good, but we had to work hard on the development side and we had a lot of mechanical failures. That really hurt our championship. But the Ducati thing was tougher. A How much did you Jearn during the season of racing the KR3 for Kenny Roberts? That year I learned the most riding for Kenny Roberts of any team I ever rode for. I never had somebody ever take me under their wing like Kenny did. He explained to me what I was doing wrong. He helped critique my riding to make me a better rider. He did that, and I was able to understand more of what it takes and how to ride around some problems. The only person before that who really influenced my riding was Merlyn Plumblee [Nicky Hayden's current crew chief at Honda]. Obviously, he boosted my career immensely. But riding Kenny's Proton in 500cc Grand Prix, I had to dig really deep. We didn't get the results that we wanted, but I was learning and digging and learning things about myself to become a better rider. Did you have to sell yourself pretty hard to get this deal with Honda? I just sat down with them and told them exactly where I was coming from. I told them that this is where I am. We have history, and there are still people there who believe in me. Honda believes in me, and they gave me this opportunity. We have a good history together. This' year is like coming home for me. This is where I started my career, with Honda. There are a lot of ingredients and With hindsight being what it is, you would have stayed here with Honda instead of going World Superbike racing - right? I've answered this question a thousand times. I made what I felt were the best decisions based on what was at hand at the time. I just have to know that I made the best decision that I could. Looking back, I wish I'd never left Honda because these people were truly behind me. They truly supported me, and I had my best results with them. I'm looking to pick back up being on the podium and winning races - that's what I enjoy about racing, and that's what makes me happy. You have to remember; there was a very, very big gap in salary for me to stay in America or go. Don't get me wrong, it wasn't all about money - no matter what picture was painted of me after I left. It was not all about money. Those people just kept loading the table and loading it and loading it. They made it so I would have been crazy not to take it. But it's water under the bridge. I learned a bunch. I had my eyes opened, and I took notes through all of this that I went through, and a lot of it was hell. It was personally devastating. When you put as much effort and heart and soul into it as I do, it kills you. But I think it made me stronger. It's the past, and I'm looking forward now. I think my future is bright again, and j'm excited about that. I'm happy to be where I am. I feel good about the future. eN cue I e n e _ s • FEBRUARY 6. 2002 25

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