Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

,., ' , "';; .... ._--- with your friends . But now, it's like , it' s ove r. This thing is so much more professional now, with the motorhomes and trainers and all. It's like I said, this sport is getting so much more profess ional, and the bo nuses and the salaries are going so much higher that Iwas actually talkingto [jeff] Emig with his bonuses from like '97 co mpared to now, tha t's ridiculous. It's almost 10 t imes more now t han it used to be . So that's also a reaso n why everybody's mo re ready, because if you win, you win way more. N ot t o pry into your personal finances or anything, but what would a factory rider expect to get paid nowadays? A Basically, if you win a cham pionship, it's at MJeast a million. So that 's a lot of money. Plus yo u have race bonuses. And it depends o n the ride r and the ir co ntract, but back in the days, I think Jeffro got like $200 ,000 for a championship in '97. Th e top guys now are more than a million for a championship. Q c a n you compare racing with Jeremy McGrath at his best in 2000 to racing with Ch ad Reed now? Q A I think the pace is highe r now. The trac ks are way difMierent, too. Th e tra cks are rea lly easy right now, so it makes allt he riders really close toget he r, so it's difficult to make up time and to pass. So t he start is really important. Back in the days, it was rea lly tech nical, and not every lap you could jump eve ryt hing. That was a good point for me, beca use I was pretty consistent at that time. I think, with the evolution of the sport, I think the riders are more profess ional and more ready, physically. And I think Ricky [Carm ichael] just changed it from one year to the othe r. When he stepped up in 200 I, Ricky was n't a rider; he was an athlete. MC was a rider; he wasn't an athlete anymo re. Th at' s wh y Ricky wo n. I saw him at Anahe im come fro m like 13th or 14th and w in in '0 I. and since then I t hink every body 's hiring t raine rs, and it' s not a co incidence that all the tra iners come fro m cycling and all that. You need to be an at hlete to be a rider now. To be only a rider, you can go fast, but not for tha t long. The re are many more ride rs w ith w ives a nd fam ilies no w, too. It seems like less of a pa rty Q atm os phere no w. A Oh, yes. There 's no partying. I think before, at the ~nd of the '90s, you were a rider, but you were a rockstar. You had a rockstar image and kind of part ied Did you happen to read what McGrath sa id about you needing to be stronger a nd sm a rte r Q a t Anahei m III? Y eah. I don 't know. It's always easy fo r somebody to watch a race and say, "Oh, he should've done this, this and tha t." So I'm not too worried about what Jeremy's saying right now. He's saying really bad things abo ut me in his book, too, so... I don't know. It' s we ird because he says bad things abo ut me in his boo k, and t hen he takes Kevin's side in an interview on Mo to new s.com, too , w hich ifJerem y was in my shoes, he wo uld make the biggest fit eve r. So, t hat' s easy to say, "Oh, he should've let off, or he should've done tha t." It's too easy to be wat ching so me thing... I cou ld watch roa d racing, I could watch Formula O ne and say, "Oh , d ude . What did you do ?" It's too easy. Th at 's the point. A S ince you brought up Kevin Windha m , w ould you be upse t if the y gave him his po int s bac k Q t h is coming Tues day (Feb rua ry 10)? A I do n't know. The t hing is, if they give him his points JIoo\b ack, it mea ns noth ing. I can pay him back for it. But the thing I didn't like about Kevin's side is, he said basically in the co nference interview that it was payback because I took him high in the berm before , and a week later, you watch ESPN, and he says, "Really, if you watch the tape and my bike, David hit me." You can't go from black to white in one week like that. That's someth ing I didn't like. He's trying to save his ass by being a nice guy and joking abou t it, but if it's going to be like this, I can take someone out and wait five weeks and get my points back anyway. So I think they should do something. I t hink the racing's be en better since then . The fans do n't want to see , on t he first lap, like the last few weeks, see Chad take ou t Kevin. The race is done. They do n't want to see t hat. Taking somebody out, that's the easiest thing to do . It's so easy to make somebody crash . EVe ry bOd Y'S do ne it tho ug h, r ig ht? Q A That doesn't make any , " "ense. I mean, how much Yamaha is paying me , how much Honda is paying the ir guys, t hey're paying us to finish races. They don't want me www.cyclenews.com to have a race like Phoen ix. So somebody hits you, I mean , I lose points, too . Yamaha is not very happy becau se I'm not on the podium. I do n't think anybody wins in that situation. It makes a big cont roversy, but you can block-pass somebody without taking the m out. And I think, after that , the racing's been better for t he fans and everyone. lf you were dishing out punishment , w ha t would yo u have given Windham fo r that? A I don't know what they should've do ne . But I th ink "",",o ney is not a big dea l, because we have a bunch of money. You're going to fine me I0 grand? So w hat! That's rea lly no help. I th ink th e po ints o r time are best. I wo uld say t ime, because time means po ints. So, t hat' s the thing. I do n't rea lly know, tho ugh. What I t hink is go ing to happen is they 're going to give him five points back. I'm not really sure, though. {Editor's note: This interview was conducted before an AMA appeal board voted 2-1 to give Windham all his points back.] Q much has working wi th David Bailey helped you t his ye a r ? Q A You know, it's good . We kind of started together kind #-\of late, but I dec ided that I wanted to go back to him afte r time , and I t hink that he has a lot of know ledge and eve rything. I mean, he tries his best to make me ready for the races . I think I have t he potential to learn o n the track. H OW Q IS he a coach o r a trainer? A He's bot h. He plans out my physical tra ining, and he #-\comes to the t rack in practice just to help me wit h my motos and work technically on the tracks and everything. c o nside r ing the disparity in your rid ing styles, how does he manage to coach you r riding techQ niq ues? A He do esn't want to cha nge my style . My style, I """'roved t hat I can win races with it. What we do , it's so diffi cult to change somebody's style. It's more about mental things and physical preparation and working on the track during t he week. It's not about changing my style. If I can put eve rything together, I can win races . W hat are your immediate pla ns for the next few races? I just want to w in a race. Just do a strong 20 laps and get a good sta rt and ride good . I have parts t hat I've rode really good in the last five races , but I need to do it bett er. And it' ll be good to sta rt winning. Q A Q Are yo u going back to a 450 o utdoors ? A I think eve rybody [on Team Yamaha] is. I th ink so. I .l-\do n't know for sure , but that's what I t hink. eN CYCLE NEWS • FEBRUARY 25.2004 43

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