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/128141
F.wrtte city? New York CIty. F.wrtte VlIQtion spot? The MlIIdIves (Islands in the Indian OceanJ. Fawrtte 1DCIlIie? American: "MoulIn Rouge." Favortte Actor? An italian actor named Alberto Sordi, and my favorite American actor is Nicolas Cage. F.vortte Ac:b'ess? Sandra Bullock. Favorite music group? Aerosmith and Quns 'n' Roses.. Whet Idnd d car do you drive'? Mercedes 500CL AMQ and a Porsche Carrera 4. Whet was your first motorcyde? Honda 125cc two-stroke. Where was your first race, and how did you do? It was in Italy, in Magione, and J crashed. Favorite food? Of course, pasta. Whet Is your favorite sport, outside of motorsports'? FootbaU (Soccer), and running. Newspaper or Internet? Newspaper. FBVorite book? "The Akhemist" by Paulo Coelho. Favorite megazIne'? QQ. Favortte way to relax'? I go to the spa, bath and sauna. have a big advantage over the others. Still, I believe the four-stroke, at race one, they will be in the front. What circuits are going to favor the fourstroke, and which circuits are going to favor the two-stroke? Yes, I would think that high-speed corner and track will suit the four-stroke, because the power will be more, with more acceleration and speed. But I'm sure at the moment that if we go to a very twisty track where there is no straight, I think the two-stroke will still be the most difficult bike to beat. Somewhere like the Sachsenring, or Le Mans, or Donington, very short tracks where you only go, top speed like 260 kph [161 mph], which is almost nothing compared to other tracks where you go over 300 kph [186 mph], I think the two-stroke will be very strong. How much testing have you done this year with two-stroke riders at the same venue? And how do they compare side by side? I have only done 1000 kilometers [620 miles] on this bike to test, and by myself and with my teammate, and we never compared with the twostroke. But at the end of January, once again, we will be testing, just the Marlboro Yamaha team, and in the middle of February we will be at Valencia in Spain for the IRTA test, and all of the manufacturers will be there and it will be the first real test to compare with the other manufacturers. How is the bike on tires? Q problem compared to the two-stroke. Maybe at the end of it all, after training, preparing and getting more used to using the fouT-stoke, maybe it will be its strongest point. So I think there isn't very many weak points with this bike. So I believe it has a lot of potential. What has been the most difficult trait of the four-stroke to adjust to? I believe the engine-braking. Because our bikes are almost 1000cc, the more you increase the bore and the cc [cubic centimeters], the more it engine-brakes. So deceleration is going to be the toughest point approaching the comer. So I believe that it's going to be spectacular going into the corners, sideways and something like this. I believe that Moto GP will be even more spectacular. Do you think that the four-strokes are going to be competitive right away? Of course, with 1000cc you can have more horsepower than 500 fcc]. I think the trick is to find the combination with the electronic stuff to compensate for the high power on the exit of the corner. I think the electronic stuff will make the power delivery more easy. The first manufacturer that figures out this equipment, I think they will A Of course, the big thing this year is going to be up to the tires. And this year, in 2002, we have Dunlop coming back to MotoGP, and Bridgestone for the first time ever. So, three manufacturers of tires will make things more interesting, because, as you know, tires are very important. At the moment, our four-stroke is not so tough on tires, but if we start testing something stronger [motor], or different, maybe it will be more difficult - but at the moment, not so much. Do you think four-strokes are good for the sport, after the past two seasons have been so competitive? I think it's a good thing. First of all, it's the same sound as the street bike, so commercially I think they have a straight link with the street bike. And also because the last championship was so close and spectacular to see, I think it will not change, because [all of the] top riders are still there. If there isn't a big difference between the bikes, I think it will be very tough again this year. Is a four-stroke going to win the 2002 title or a two-stroke? Sure, four-stroke. But I don't want to bet (laughs). lAST SEASON How frustrating was last season for you, with the front-end problems you had at various tracks? Enough to have a bad stomach all the time. It was very frustrating, mainly with the chassis and the front end, which I hope with this new bike will be easier, and I have a good feeling [about the new bike]. The bike is not completely different compared to last year - the chassis - but it has some different strengths. So I hope to be less frustrated this year. Did you ever discover what the problems were? No, not me, or the engineers, but I think that it was something that related to the engine position, and chassis angle with the front end. The engineers don't know the answers, but we switched to another project, the four-stroke, so now we don't cue. e n e _ os • FEBRUARY 13, 2002 21