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/128321
CHICANERY By HENNY RAy ABRAMS VVhere Art Thou, U.S. GP? ixed bag for the five-strong American cont ingent in South Afr ica. On the one hand, they were encouraged y the news that they may be racing in their homeland next year. On the other, it's likely they'll be chasing Valentino Rossi. Dorna's Carmelo Ezpeleta insisted the U.S. GP will return in 2005. He's said that before, but now there are choices . The options are Barber Motorsports Park in Birmingham, Alabama, or Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca in the idyllic seaside town of Monterey, California. Ezpeleta can't show favorites . His mandate is to build the championship, which he's done, despite some grousing . It's becoming clear Laguna Seca is moving to the forefront, as it should . It has hosted World Championship events for 10 years and know how it's done. The sticking point, as always, is money. The track isn't up to current MotoGP standards. It can be, but it won't be cheap. Kenny Roberts Jr. to ld them what needs to be done. As a member of the riders' safety group, his knowledge of safety issues is comprehensive. That he lives a short drive from the track won't affect his op inion. Rider safety won 't be compromised for any reason, a refresh ing stance in a country where safety problems go unchecked for too long. Whatever it costs , Laguna Seca has to do it, for itself, for GP racing, for the longterm. Ezpeleta said Dorna would share the burden of costs to ensure the econom ic viability of the event. The irony being that one of the richest countries in the world needs a hand-out . Kenny Roberts lost a pile of money promoting an earlier U.S. GP. When asked how it felt to lose $2 million, the wise-cracking w izard replied, "I didn't lose $2 million: I lost a million; my ex-wife lost a million." That there isn't a facility and Grand rix-Ievel racetrack across the breadth of the country where a safe Grand Prix could be held and be profitab le is distress ing. The Barber facil ity may be the most beautiful in the world, better in its own way than the racetrack it surrounds. The course is too short and too twisty and not safe for MotoGP, though it could be. The 990s would n't get much beyond third gear, maybe fourth. It is the greatest lost opportun ity in motorcycle racing in America . The truth is that Europeans want to go to Monterey, and who can blame them? Cannery Row, the Pacific Ocean, the Gilroy outlets; it's a busman's holiday. Not so for the riders . A The five-strong Amer ican contingent would love to race in front of friends and family. If they have any hope of winning, they need to step up their game . Rossi humiliated his former employers with his greatest victory ever. Certainly he worked harder than he ever had. As did the team in the run-up to Welkom . The slender Italian was drenched in sweat after fending off archrival Max Biaggi in the brilliant South African sunshine , the two danc ing on razor's edge for 28 compelling laps. O nly two of the Americans have a shot at challenging Rossi this year, and both learned hard lessons in Welkom . Nicky Hayden may be the most personable rider in the paddock, little changed from his days as a 14-year-old criss-crossi ng America with his father and brother and a van full of bikes. But racing at this level has a way of changing people . It's happened to the best of them ; Rainey, Schwantz, Doohan, Lawson. If then time was running out. The two Spanish IRTA tests were unproductive. Gibernau and Biaggi raced the newer model, though with reservations. Gibernau sounded defeated on Saturday. " I had the pace in the whole preseason, and I was very confident of being able to run for victory in every race, but right now , here today, I don't have the pace." Did Honda get so caught up in beating Rossi that it lost the plot? It certainlylooks that way. A senior Honda engineer said that the Repsol team wou ld always get the development parts first. That remains to be seen . Biaggi wears the unflattering title as an unreformed 250cc rider. He can't adjust when the tires go away, the experts say. In Welkom, he proved them wrong. Matching Rossi every inch of the bike. By then he'll be two races behind. The Suzukis are a year behind, but rapidly improving. Upper management finally woke up and recommitted to racing. The GSV-R 990 is vastly improved, and the persuasive team manager, Garry Taylor, along with Roberts Jr., conv inced Erv Kanemoto to sign on as crew chief. The transformation has been dramatic. The o nce hangdog expressions have been replaced with faces of optimism. Bridgestone is supplying first-rate tires , rather than the second-rate Michelins of last year. Response time on parts has bee n shortened . The aim is to be ready for 2005, while climbing the ladder in 2004 . John Hopkins qualified a career-best I Ith oIn the race a flash of temper caused him to lose sight of the goal, and he burned up his tire atoning for his sins. The Kenny Roberts Jr. anyone's immune to the suffocating environment, it's Nicky. Ho nda may think differently. He's always said that pressure isn't something he feels, but in We lkom he did. Honda has pegged him as its rider of the future and all that goes with it. For a few laps Hayden hung with the leaders, Rossi, Biaggi and Sete Gibernau. Then the harsh rea lity: They were simply too fast. Practice and qualifying proved that Hayden didn't have the speed of the others. He knew he wouldn't find it in the race and was smart enough not to try. Pundits who picked him for the World Championship suddenly had to wonder. Mick Doohan wasn't among them . Hayden , he said, had "raw speed. " He 'll need more to challenge Rossi and Biaggi and Gibernau, and he'll find it, but patience, on everyone's part, will be needed. Hayden and teammate Alex Barros had the 2004 Honda RC-21 IV from the beginning of testing . The satellite teams didn't get the machines until later, and by way, he made the case that he might be the one who deserves the better gear. Honda has a funny relationsh ip with its riders . Some, like Freddie Spencer, are family Others, like Doohan and Rossi and . Edwards, are outsiders. Edwards won Honda two World Superbike titles and the Suzuka 8-Hour, but he still considers himself Ho nda's "red-headed stepchild ." Weather-plagued testing meant he arrived in South Africa with less confidence in the 2004 machine than the older one . His choice was the more familiar 2003 . In the race a frontend hop developed, and it was all he could do to stay vertical. A test after the Spanish GP will help sort out the new www.cyclenews.com mistake won't happen again. Kurtis Roberts is also looking at the 2005 season for two reasons. The first is that the Proton KR is two months behind . At the same time, engineers should be designing next year 's machine, if only funding were in place. The current season could be lost. The shou lder Kurtis dislocated trail riding in the mud isn't responding . Rest may help. Kenny Sr. said Kurtis won 't be 80 to 90 percent until midseaso n. Surgery is an unpleasant option . It would put him out for the rest of the season and force his father to find a replacement. I heard Anthony Gobert's look ing for work. eN Anyone have his number? CYCLE NEWS • APRil 28, 2004 10 7