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/128320
--- MOTOG ~ MOTO GP 2 0 0 4 Se ason , ever mind how long it has been since Yamaha won a Gran d Prix (more tha n a ye ar, by the w ay), it is we ll over 10 years since it won a World Championship. That was in 1992, th e th ird in a ro w for Wayn e Rainey. Nearing the end of the 1993 season , he was leading on points for a fourth title when he suffe red a career-e nding crash at Misano. His caree r-long Suzuki rival Kevin Schwa ntz finall y too k t he crown. The racing situation back then was not much diff r ent from what it is now in the e amaha and Honda. relationship between Y The latter had the big guns, with more horsepower, more money, mo re riders, and more enginee rs. It went racing to win. Just as now. Yamaha was a relative unde rdog in every department - not least tec hnically. Less horsepower meant less top speed , for one thing. For Rainey, that was just the way he liked it. " I really loved beating Hond a," he said. "You weren't just beating the riders - also this whole big co rporatio n that liked to think they we re th e best. I t hink [Valentino] Rossi will like it too." The relative status of the rivalJapanese companies has been much the same in the yea rs since, reinforced since the start of N MotoGP. At the st art, the MI Yamaha was the closest thing to the Hond a - but just not quite good enough . The second year saw the smaller factory run still deeper into prob lems. Now Valentino Rossi has arrived to rescue Yamahafrom a decade of despon dency. Acquiring the Italian demigod is crucial, says Rainey if , Y amaha is to win the title again. But, he adds, that's not the only thing that has changed. "Yamaha's commitment is amazing - so met hing I never had, mo re than ever before," he said. "They really want to w in. Rossi couldn't have come at a better time." Who better then to question abou t the com ing season th an Rainey... Do you think Rossi can win this year's title on the Yamaha? Sure . I've said that since before they signed him - put him on a Yamaha, and he'd be champion. Put him on a Kawasaki,and he'd be on the rostrum. Racing bikes is so much different from cars. The rider makes the difference; and he Wayne Rainey was Ya m a ha ' s last Wo rld C hampion; he thin ks Valentino Ro ssi can bring success back to the tuni ng -fork company Is there anything he'll have to change about his approach? I think he will probably have to train more to keep the pace up. The Yamahais more difficult to ride in racing conditions, so he'll need to be in a little bit better shape than when he rode the Honda. Were you surprised by his test results • getting fastest times and winning the BMW at the IRTA test? Oh no. I think the Yamaha's been a very good bike, all along. They just have not had the riders to prove it. In the meant ime Honda built a bike that rem inds me of 1992 (when Honda introduced the rider-friendly Big Bang), wh en all of a sudden guys you don't normally race with are very close, because the bike is so ridable. Then you put a good guy on it [Mick Doohan in 1992, Rossi in 2002/3], and it's very difficult to beat him. Take the same guy and put him on the Yamaha, that is not on the same level, or we didn't think was at the same level... and it's very close . 20 APRIL 21,2004 • CYCLE NEWS is the only guy who could be going for the pod ium on any bike . Look at his history. He is very consistent, and he knows exactly how to ride the motorcycle. He rides clean, and he' s aggressive w hen he nee ds to be. It seems the Yamaha has a lways asked more from its riders, Why is that? It's always been like that. I think it is because, until this yea r, Yamaha's comm itment from the upper-management level down has just been to participate. Not to dominate or to prove to everybody that they build the best bike. Just look at the commitment Honda makes. They make all those bikes for all those riders . And they're still racing 2S0s, and they 're still do ing something in the 12Ss. You loo k at their commitment in England, in America. But Honda comes to race. They have a budget and a mentality that , as fo r as racing goes, they are going to dominate. Honda seems to know how to make a 40th Anniver sa ry