Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

BRIEFLY••• In a widely anticipated move, Telefonica MoviStar and Suzuki announced in separate press releases that their three· year collaboration had come to an end, For its part, Suzuki thanked the Spanish telecommunications giant and said they hoped to announce their 2003 sponsorship and rider lineup soon, Kenny Roberts Jr" who won the 500cc World Championship in 2000, the first year of the partnership, has two more years on his contract. Spaniard Sete Gibemau, who gave Telefonica MoviStar Suzuki Its last win at Valencia in 2001, will move to the Gresini Honda team, along with the Telefonica MoviStar sponsorship, He'll team with current Gresini Honda rider Daijiro Kato, Speculation on the second Suzuki rider is focused on American John Hopkins, Suzuki also announced that they'd have a new machine for 2003, "Next year Team Suzuki will continue to contest the MotoGP World Championship with an all-new Mk2 version of the 990cc four-stroke machine V4 GSV-R," team manager Garry Taylor said, Telefonica MoviStar chose an unconventional method to celebrate the ending of their relationship with Suzuki: they decided to burn them in effigy, "La Falla" is a traditional event in the Valencian community where the climax is the buming of a gigantic monument of wood and paper, topped by emblematic figures, This "Falla," Telefonlca MoviStar bumed the riders and teams in effigy, "in accordance with the ancient traditions of the local community," the sponsor said in a press release, The Satunday night torching took place at the town hall in Cheste, a nearby city, The effigy was impressive: a giant wood and paper effigy of a rider doing a stoppie on a Suzuki GP bike, with smaller effigies of the riders surrounding the base, Colin Edwards, the newly crowned World Superbike Champion, was at Valencia to meet his future employers and soak in the atmosphere he'll be working in next year, Edwards said he was 99,99 percent sure that he'd be riding for Aprilia on the RS-Cube. There were details to work out. including Edwards' preference of Michelin tires over the Dunlops the team currently uses, He said there could be an announcement as early as Wednesday, November 6, though team manager Jan Witteveen said it might be as late as Friday, November 8, Witteveen said there was a 99-98 percent chance Edwards would sign, but" some questions are again open," The second rider is expected to be Noriyuki Haga, Edwards' Yamaha World Superbike teammate who raced the Aprilia World Superbike this year, "I just went and saw the bike and heard it the first time today," said Edwards, who'd been courted by Yamaha, Kawasaki, and Honda, As to why he would 90 to an unproven machine, he said: "Where they might be at is they don't know if it's tires, the bike, the motor or its chassis, because they're not on the same tires as everybody else, Once they get on the same tires as everybody else, then you can start weeding out what the problems are, It just takes time, The bike's not that far off at the moment. " Five-time 500cc World Champion Mick Doohan weighed in on Edwards' choice, "I think Colin's quite sensible, I think he can work with them a little bit better than [Regis] Laconi. He's [Laconil a nice guy, but I don't think he has the ability to develop it. So I don't think you've seen the real potential of that bike yet. I don't think he really understands how to really make it go forward," As for Edwards, "I think he's just focusing on, here at Honda he's just going to be another rider," Edwards tumed down the chance to bring his entire Castrol Honda team to GPs, the only stipulation being the use of Bridgestone tires, "That could be a good thing," Doohan said of the Bridgestones, "That could also be an advantage for him too, Bridgestone is the only company that Michelin is worried about. And they haven't even really put in a big effort, I'm sure that Michelin breathed a sigh of relief when they heard that he actually signed with Michelin down at Aprilia because they don't want a good rider on a Honda developing Bridgestones either, " There was a pair of retirements among the senior members of the Japanese community, with Tetsuya Harada and Nobby Ueda both calling it quits after long, distinguished careers, Harada, 32, began his career in the World Championships in 1990, finishing seventh in the 250 Japanese GP, In 1993, Harada captured his first 250cc World Championship, In his 13-year career, Harada won 17 times in 145 GPs, mostly in the 250 class, but with 48 on a 500, and split among Yamahas, Hondas, and Aprilias, "At the end of a very difficult season, I took this difficult decision, as I see no chance to pursue further success." he said in a statement. "During all these years, my winning determination has been my faithful companion, but now my rivals are way ahead of me and there is no reason for me to compete if I can't stay in the front row," Quite the opposite; Harada qualified dead last. Ueda said he knew it was time to retire when he thought about retiring, The lifelong 125cc rider entered the GP paddock in 1991, his best finishes a pair of championship runner-ups in 1994 and 1997, Ueda's career ended ignominiously with a crash on the first lap, KTM announced it'd be joining the 125cc World Championship beginning in 2003 but had postponed its entrance into the MotoGP class until 2005, That may be a smokescreen, however, with rumors that it will be ready in 2004, "The first rider is Roberto Locatelli [the current 250cc rider who's moving back down to 125sJ," KTM CEO Stefan Peirer said, "Based on that. we can succeed." Peirer said the engine would be a conventional reedvalve engine, The team will be backed by fellow Austrian company Red Bull, The budget is three to four million euros, which currently has the same value in dollars, The team will make its public debut at the IRTA practice on February 14 of next year, "At the moment we are producing the first prototype pieces and parts for the engine and chassis, and the plan Is to have the engine on the dyno in December," Peirer said, Austrian Harald Bartal is heading the technical team, with former Suzuki engineer Warren Willing joining the team at the end of this year, What Peirer would say about the MotoGP machine is that the engine was a V-four configuration with development beginning seven months ago, He said they would make no wild card starts in 2003, The strongest American contingent in years showed up in Valencia, Riders, mechanics, and crew chiefs filled the pits and hospitality areas, First among them was American Honda's - and soon to be Repsol Honda's - Nicky Hayden, who came to Valencia with mechanic Dan Fahey to get the lay of the land, Hayden absorbed everything he could, spending considerable time with Mick Doohan and Jerry Burgess, Doohan's former crew chief who now heads Valentino Rossi's team, "What I've seen so far is tight around here, It's first class for sure," Hayden said soon after his arrival. The next day, he and Fahey took pit scooters around the track for a closer look, Hayden, who hasn't officially been named as Rossi's teammate, brieRy met the four-time World Champion, "He seems like a pretty cool cat." Hayden said, Hayden is expected to test the Honda RC211 V for the first time in two weeks, then join Rossi for the testing schedule which continues here at Valencia and in Jerez, Spain, in mid to late December, Erion Honda's Kurtis Roberts joined his brother at the race, bringing crew chief Dave McGrath, Kenny Junior and Kurtis arrived late on Thursday night following the death of their grandfather, Buster, earlier in the week, Colin Edwards was in Valencia to watch his new team in action. Chuck Sorensen had a number of visitors in his pit, including Tom Montano, who was helping out. and Valvoline EMGO Suzuki crew chief Keith Parry. Valvoline EMGO Suzuki's Chris Ulrich was also at the race. Doma CEO Carmelo Ezpeleta confirmed that he wouldn't waver from the current number of 12 two-rider franchises, 24 riders total, for the 2003 and 2004 seasons. The question arose when it was asked whether KTM might join the MotoGP class in 2004, which they deny they'll be ready to do. If they come early, they'll have to make an alliance with another team, Ezpeleta said. "We do not expect them to come as KTM. They know very well they accept they must come here and make an agreement with a team here. I think this is the way to do it. We are not increasing the number of teams." Among the possibilities is that they would come as part of the WCM team, running this year as Red Bull Yamaha WCM. The team hasn't announced their plans for 2003 or beyond and may be amenable to a partnership. "Our problem is they need some help for sure. We will look at some help. Not economically, but there are other ways to help them, You can suppose we are speaking with them many times, and you can be sure they will continue. I'm sure they will survive. Yestenday, I was speaking with Peter [Clifford] and I was speaking with Bob [Maclean] normally." Ezpeleta didn't rule out increasing the number of teams in the future, if the situation warranted it. "I'm sure in the future there will be many people approaching. If one day everybody has a team, everybody's happy, we together, the MSMA and the teams, can increase. " Ezpeleta also said the championship needed more British and German riders. "If I have any possibility to choose, we must bring British and German riders. We are good with American, good with Australian, too many Spanish and Japanese and Italian, but we need British and German riders," Mick Doohan agreed, but went farther, "We need to push a broom through this paddock. There's a lot of guys who have been there and just circling around for such a long time, Essentially the guys racing out there are the same guys I was racing. Next year a lot of them are just going from thiS team to that team. The results are going to be the same. Ten years ago, you used to get two years, maximum three, If you didn't perform, away you go. Now it seems like a lot of these people think that. okay, once you get a relationship with a manufacturer, then you stay there until you're doing nothing. I think people are missing the point. I would like to see some more young guys. some young British guys, get an opportunity, some young guys get an opportunity. We need to actually get back to being a World Championship instead of a Spanish Championship or a Japanese Championship. Fair enough for some of the Hondas and Yamahas to want a Japanese rider, but we don't need three or four of them. " Yamaha hasn't given up their legal fight against International Racers Inc., the management company that represents, among others, Nicky Hayden. according to a senior Yamaha official. "The matter between Yamaha and IRI is not closed," said lin Jarvis, Yamaha Motor Racing's Managing Director. "I cannot make any further comment." The matter began after Hayden signed a contract with Yamaha to race on their MotoGP team in 2003, then went to negotiate with Honda, which had the right of first refusal. Believing they had a valid contract and a teammate for Carlos Checa in 2003, Yamaha said they were going to pursue legal action. There were no IRI representatives at Valencia. Repeated attempts to reach them in the past have been unsuccessful. John Hopkins's future was a matter of much speculation in Valencia, with three options, then two by the end of the weekend, being seriously discussed. The company dropping out was Kawasaki; the two still in were his current WCM team and Suzuki. and the question was whether WCM, which has him under contract for 2003, would let him out of the deal. WCM, which ran the Red Bull Yamaha team this year, has lost their Red Bull backing cue and hasn't announced a replacement. Earlier plans to run Honda V-five engines in Moriwaki frames have since been scrapped. Suzuki boss Garry Taylor said that they had to make a policy decision on whether to take an older rider or bring up a young rider for the future. The older riders he named were Dutchman Jurgen van den Goorbergh and Frenchman Olivier Jacque, the younger rider Hopkins. Hopkins' manager Doug Gonda was in Valencia to negotiate the deal and announced in the pressroom on Sunday moming that an announcement would be made in two hours. No one at Suzuki knew anything about an announcement, and none was made by WCM. The smart money would be best placed on Suzuki, which, having lost their Spanish sponsorship money, is under no pressure to sign a Spanish rider and could enter the 2003 season with two Americans: Kenny Roberts Jr.. under contract through 2004, and Hopkins. If Hopkins does get the nod, his first test would be at Sepang, in Malaysia, on November 15. He'll be joined there by Roberts and former 500cc World Champion Kevin Schwantz, in his first outing on the Suzuki four-stroke GSV-R, Nicky Hayden came away from his first Grand Prix impressed. The AMA Superbike Champion, and soon to be Repsol Honda rider, spent the weekend meeting people, including his mechanics for next year, senior Honda management. race officials, and the media. He watched the MotoGP race from the Repsol Honda pit wall after doing interviews for Speed Channel and French television. "It was pretty cool," Hayden said. "I had a good time. It was weird coming to a race and watching them go around, After a while, it was 'I wish I could be riding.' It was still cool. I had a good time and felt like I met a lot of cool people, all the team people and a lot of my mechanics. It was just cool to find out what I'm getting into and see how it all goes down," he said. Did the experience in any way give him second thoughts? "I mean. a little bit. It's definitely... It's going to be different. I'm not going to act like it's not. A lot of it with the travel. like even here eating, some of the food I ate, I'm like 'What is this?' I ain't going to try to sugarcoat it," he said. "The guys were great. They all look like they're fast. The riders are awesome. It's hard for me to say exactly how I think I'll do. I never rode with those guys. That's not my style to talk a lot of smack." What impressed Hayden most was the track, how wide and safe it was, and the amount of motorcycles he saw in town. The race drew close to 120,000 spectators. Many of them recognized him, which was something of a surprise. "More than I thought recognized me. It's cool. A lot of people seemed excited about me coming, guess just being an American champi· on." But nothing like the amount that chase after Rossi. "The guy runs around the paddock, everybody chasing him like duck, duck, goose," Hayden said. "They never catch him. He never stops." Hayden said he wouldn't mind the same treatment at some point. "Well, in a way, I hope so, that means I'm doing good, I hope when I leave they're doing the same thing to me," he said, J To the crusher. That's where 25 Yamaha YlR500's are going in the next week, according to a Yamaha official. Essentially all of the 500s that they've run in GPs over the past four years will be crushed some time in the next week. Late in the race weekend came word that Australian Garry McCoy had come to an agreement a three·year deal with Kawasaki. Though it could not be mdependently confirmed, WCM's Peter Clifford said he'd signed a release to allow McCoy to go to Kawasaki. What was known is that McCoy was one of several riders scheduled to test the Kawasaki at Valencia in the coming week. The list also included Alex Barros, the ValenCia MotoGP winner, and John Hopkins. though Hopkins pulled out as negotiations with Suzuki continued, as did Barros, who is increasingly being linked to Yamaha. German Alex Hoffman may also get a spin on the bike, Ditto for Regis Laconi. Kawasaki is likely to be the only MotoGP machine running Dunlop tires last year. The AnglolJapanese firm started the season with four teams, then lost Telefonica MoviStar Suzuki early on, Colin Edwards insisted on Aprilia's switching from Dunlop to Michelin as a condition of his employment. with Aprilia apparently complying. Pramac Honda. which ran Dunlops on Tetsuya Harada's Honda NSR-500 this year, will likely run a Honda RC211V on Michelins for Max Biaggi next year. The Red Bull Yamaha WCM team will no longer exist, Red Bull pulling the money plug. WCM will likely continue in some form, though on what bikes, and with which tires, is completely unknown. All things considered. Max Biaggi was happy with how the season turned out. especially given how primitive the Yamaha M1 was when it began. "It was very bad, it was very, very struggling. I fall down twice here during the winter tests. We had a lot of trouble, The engine braking was so bad. the chassis couldn't make the tum very well. We were slower than two-stroke, When we come back, we test here again in the middle of the season and was a little bit better, and then when we test and yesterday final qualifying, I can put my Yamaha on pole position." Regis Laconl's final race on the MS Aprilia RS Cube came to an end on the second lap. At the end of the home straight after the first lap. just as he was about to take the first left-hander, he made contact with Nobuatsu Aoki and crashed. He'd been in a serum of riders and thought he saw an opening. only to see it shut in his face. "I saw a gap open up on the inside, up against the curb and immediately tried to get through it, but Aoki closed in and came back to the center of the curve, so it was inevitable that we would collide," Laconi said. "My neck's hurting and I took a hard hit on my helmet. but there's nothing to worry about." I e n e _ s NOVEMBER 13, 2002 15

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