Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

G'I1K!') O \X/ Ejill o o o o Valentino Rossi confirmed the worst-kept secret in racing early Sunday evening, that he'll be leaving the Honda nest to take 'on a challenge elsewhere. Because he's contracted to Honda throu gh December 31, he wouldn't say where he was going, but soon after Rossi's press conference Yam aha issued a statement confirming "that our discussions with Valentino's man agement are proceeding well : The choices for Rossi had been Ducati and Yamaha, with Yama ha by far the greater challenge. Rival Max Biaggi tried not to com me nt on the situation , sayi ng, "What I ca n say is what alread y Kenny Roberts says, [Luca] Cadalora, and I don't know how many others: When you leave Honda, that' s the time you realize how hard it is to beat them . And I agree with this: In an interview in the Repsol team bus on Friday afternoon, Rossi said the challenge of winn ing on a different bik e was his pri m ary motivati on. Speculati on had centered on Honda's demands on his time away from the racetrack, but that was never mentioned. Like other Honda champions, he said that he was tired of hearing "it's j ust the bik e," a complaint that continues to dog five-tim e 500cc World Cham pion Mick Doohan to this day. "From the track , if you are honest , objective , more or less I know the percentage of me and the percentage of the bike," Rossi said. "But this is always a strange thing , Because anyway, if you don't have the right bike, it's not possible to win. Especially if I mo ve for a new challenge to try for a new motivation. To have a very strong motiva tion, to mak e something different: Repsol Honda Tea m's sporting manager Carlo Fio ra ni said they'd done all they could to keep Rossi, but, in the end, it was "not about money, sponsor obligations or any of the standard issues that Colin Edwards is going ho me to Honda , t he compa ny he took to two W orld S up erbike Cha mpio ns hips, afte r agreei ng to ride fo r th e Fausto Gresmt's Tel efo nica M o v iSta r Ho nd a team , The Texan said he made th e final decisio n at o o o o o the Pacific Grand Prix in M oteg i, abo ut a mo nth ago , when the fu ll frust rat ion of rac in g th e un co mp eti t iv e Ap rilia RS · 3 Cube se t in, " I wa s so gung ·ho all yea r, " Edw ard s said jus t before t he M ot oGP Sun day mo rning wa rm-up in Va lenc ia on November 2, " It was going to be good , o o o o o o o we were going to do t his , develop that, Like I had blin ders , I couldn 't see any- thing pas t that. That was jus t my go al. That was wha t I was striving for, It was prob ab ly in Japan that I said t his is the fina l verdict. And I went and gave blood , and I was out riding harder than I've ever ridden but st ill qua lified 12th or l Sth . are negotiated over in more general contract discussions. The area we have had diffi culty in is one of providing Valentino with a new challenge, and it is an area we at Honda totall y understand. This is tot ally a Valentino choice: What has characterized Rossi's entire career has been new challenges. The 24 -year·old Italian started racing in the 125cc Wor ld Championship in 1996, winn ing the title the follow ing year, Then came the mo ve to 250, a 250cc cro wn following in 1999. Next was the premier class, 500cc. In his first year he came second then won the crown in 2001. "To win 11 races and a great champi onship and an especially great championship because it was the last of the 50 0," Rossi said. "The 500 make the story of our sport. [To] win the last of the 500 was for me may be the best m emory in my career." The next challenge was MotoGP, and he mad e It seaml essly, thoug h he had considerable development work to do to the machine he first rode in August , 200 1. At the beginning he was "a littl e bit worri ed about this bike because I think is not possible to go like the 500, but mak e a mistake. but the new RC and Honda are already from the first Grand Prix faster than the two -strokes." He won th at first race in Suzuka, a springboard to his fourth World titl e. "We develop the bike, but we don't fin ish all our work. Because this year we mak e another big, big step during the winter. Because at the end of last year I remembe r the Yamaha was at the same level, but with a good test this year and incredible work of HRC, we make a fantastic step, and we arrive at the first race with an advan tage on the other bike. "So this year was great for me , maybe like th e 500 champi onship. We have a big, big emotion, We make very big race together." In his press conference, Rossi pointed out that the 2002 season ended with the Yamaha not far off the Honda. Then came an extensive winter testing and development season, and the balance had gone com pletely askew. No longer was the Yamaha remotely corn petitive, Only once in 16 races did a Yamaha rider make it onto a MotoGP podium in 2003 , the lone appearance by Gauloises Yamaha's Alex Barros in very try ing, wet conditions at the French GP in Le Mans. In the dry, fourth was the best Fortuna Yamaha's Carlos Checa could do. The top three riders in the championship were on Hondas, Rossi in front of Telefonica MoviStar Honda's Sete Gibernau and Camel Prarnac Pons' Max Biaggi. Next was Loris Capirossi on the Marlboro Ducati, followed by GP rooki e Nicky Hayden on the Repsol Honda. Troy Bayli ss was sixth for the year, just in front of Checa, the first Yamaha. And the first corner I go t pushed o ut into the gra ve l. Still , that w eekend was prob ably th e nail in the coffin that made me mak e t he d ecisio n that I'v e got to do so meth ing ." A sked w hat spec ifical ly o o w as wron g wi t h th e b ik e, Ed w a rd s re pli e d , " T he re' s some t e r m ino lo g y , 'bo rn bad .' It' s got so many th ings that need fixing now , It 's ta ke n too lo ng , I've o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o sat and w eighed up all th e op tions and how this year went, and it w as basically th is ti me last yea r the first test. we need this , w e need t hat. w e need this . First tes t - fiv e th ing s th at we need . A nd I t h ink w e go t o ne o f t he m here th i s week en d, w e got o ne of the thin gs w e w anted . " That w ould be a heavier c rank . Wh en he f irs t go t o n t h e b i k e, t h e powerband w as lik e a lig ht swi t c h, he said . " So got that thi s w eek end, and it' s helped ; it's improved thin gs. Ob viou sly, th e counte rsha ft sp ro cket's about 10 inc hes too high, or it feel s like it, anyway , And we 're alw ays in a stru ggle w ith sw ingarm angle and cha in fo rc e. " O ut of co urt e sy t o t he t e a m , and t he effo rt t hey' d put in, Edw ards dec lined to elabor ate on a ny ot h er short co mi ngs . Edwards get s his fir st taste of the Tele· f on ic a M o viSt a r H on d a o n T ue sd ay , N ov e mb e r 4 , wh en he'll ride it at t he C at alunya c irc uit. Lo ok fo r a fu ll inte r- view with Edw ard s in an upcoming iss ue of Cycle News. al te rna tive, b ut the ride r w o n ' t b e 2 NOVEMBER 12, 2003 • c u e cia l supercross te st track each w eek," Lampkin on the team , M o nt esa-HRC has revealed unt il the Xaus situatio n is clari- Ducati Corse w ill be return ing to the A M A / Chevy T ru ck s U .S . S up e r b i k e Champions hip in 2004 by backi ng a onerider effo rt at D ucati Austin , a D ucati spo kes man said in V alencia at th e G rand Prix . " W e are inv olved with t he AMA n e x t y e ar w ith a f act ory - s u p p o r t e d t e am , " D u ca t i p r e s s o ffi cer J u li an Thomas said in V alencia, " In th is case, a fact o ry tea m m ean s w e 'll se nd over a facto ry e ngineer and pro bably rnech anics . Th e b ike s w ill b e t h e 999 F03 s raced in W orld Supe rb ike this yea r, A s fo r rid e r c hoi ce , w e ma de an o ffe r to Rube n [Xa us] and a re wa itin g for his answer. He' s hop ing to go to M otoG P," If Xaus go es to the d' An ti n D ucat i tea m, as is wi dely as s umed , D ucati has an o o "I try this new challenge and, lik e I said before, maybe make this choice at this point is a little bit crazy ," Rossi said. "We see next year if it' s possible or not: There was a dry spell of sorts when he went four races without a win , though he was on the podium every tim e, Not Winning wasn't acceptabl e to the Italian m edia, regardless of how it strengthened his champ ionship run. "If I arrive second , is shit, shit result," Rossi said. Then came the second part of the season, when he loosened up, started having fun again and started winning , six times in the last seven races. During this stretch Rossi began to have thoughts about a change of scenery. "At this point, especially after Sepang [the Malaysian GP], I like the idea of make the change because I make all already with this bike, win in the norm al condition, win in the dry , win in the wet, win on my favorite track, win in my worst track like today. Basically, we finish our work with this bike , and especially after Sepang we start to think to change. And we work with the contrac t with Honda, but we start to work in another way." Biaggi spent the previous four years racing Yamahas against the Hondas and knows how tough it will be. "And, of course, there is much more pressure on the manu facturer 'and the rider," he said. "They got to prove that they can win. It's one man against one factory . This war is always more and more techno logy : Nicky Hayden, who tak es over the number-one spot at Repsol Honda, is ready to make the leap but wishes Rossi had chosen a different team. "Well, it is a big step, but I've never been the guy to worry about why he's doing this," Hayden said. "I do what I can and not worry about everybo dy else. I was hoping to see him kind of go to the Proton: Henny Ray Abrams said Todd Jendro, dir ect or of supe rcros s w on the ma nufact urer's world t it le fo r fo r C le a r Channe l. " Th is pro gra m is t he last fo ur y ears , " W he n I ca me to M ontesa-HRC , my aim was to matc h tn e fied. S hane Byrn e, th e re ig ning B rit ish S upe rbi ke C hampio n and one of th e riders to uted as mo st likely to move to th e Unit ed S tate s , signed w ith t he A p rilia M ot oG P team for 2004 , desiqned to help the privateers get more pract ice time and hon e their skills on an o fficia l D i rt Wur x -built s upe rcross t rac k, - The da tes are as foll ow s: Janu- C lear C hann e l Ente rta in m e nt' s M o to r ary 15 . Ediso n Field Internat io nal, A nahe im , C alif o rn ia; January 2 9 - Edison S p ort s divis ion ha s ann ounced t ha t seve n titl es that J ord i Tarres had wo n in the past, " Lampkin said. " A nd now my goal is to beat t hat mark. I fee l st ro ng a nd m ot iv at ed , and I k now th at I ca n con ti nue to count on th e best technical Field Internat iona l, A naheim , Calif o rn ia: Feb ruary 12 - Reliant Stadium , Ho uston , and human suppo rt . " Fo r 200 4 , Mon te- there w ill be fo ur p rivateer t e st days fo r th e 2004 TH Q W orld Su pe rcro s s Texas: Ma rch 11 . Edward Jones D om e , and M arc Freixa, w hich mea ns that th e G P/ A M A S upercro ss S eri es . Eac h pr ivateer test day will be held o n the Thurs- St. Lo uis, M issouri. sa· HRC w ill also fie ld Takahisa Fujinami team fo r nex t year w ill be th e same o ne th at t his yea r managed to take the to p day p rio r to t he race at 2 p .m. and is . M o n te sa-H RC a nd seven -time W o rld t hree places in th e W o rld and Sp anish available to any A MA pro-licen sed priva teer co mpeting in the eve nt. ..Unlike fac tor riders, the privateer secto r does not have the luxury of practicing on an offi - Ch amp ion D ougie L a mp k i n have Ch ampi on ships. ex te nded th e ir co ntrac t f rom t he last four yea rs wi th the pairi ng now slated to be togethe r until the end of 2005 . W ith C laudio C a stig lioni, the so le share ho lde r o f MV Agusta Group , ha s e n e vv s

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