Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

th e bikes are no w, they're much forgiving and safer for the ride rs , w hich is impo rta nt." It was Raine y's first Grand Prix since Portugal 2000 and his first in t he fourstroke era. Schwantz comes more often and disagre ed that t he fo ur-str o kes were eas y to ride. Fo rme r 500cc rider, and se rial crasher, Christian Sarron , was quoted as having said the fou r-strokes were fo r girls. " No t to pick on C hristian , but I bet him and myse lf included cou ld find a way to crash one of these things," Schwantt said to The Fab Four The four 500cc Worl d Champions fro m I th e 19905 gat he red for an extraordinary press conferen ce at the Grand Prix in Ca ta lunya, Spain, on June I I. Wayne Rainey ( 1990-92 ), Kevin Schw antt ( 1993), Mick Doohan ( 1994- 199B) and Ale x C riville ( 1999) took questio ns on a number of issues, includ ing ho w t hey wou ld fare agai nst Vale nt ino Ross i. Schw a ntt answere d: "So me bo dy asked me that quest ion a co up le of years ago , and t hey just included Wayne [Rainey] and me , but I t hink if Mick [Doohan] and Alex [Criville] were there , Valent ino would be fifth." Raine y was mo re d iplomatic. " I mean, I have my thoughts, and the y'r e similar to Kevin's. But I t hink Valent ino would need guys like us to e levate his rid ing eve n more than it is." Mick Doo han w orked close ly w it h Rossi for t he past three seasons and knows how good Rossi is. "He's push ing th e bike and himself 100 pe rcen t, " Doohan said . "So , sure , it wou ld be difficult to race against Valentino, but it was d ifficult to race against some bo dy like the ot her t hree sitting beside me as wel l. I do n't t hink he wou ld have had it all his own way. I've raced against most of the ot her guys ou t the re on the grid as well, and not too many of those guys were as difficult as t he se guys sitting beside me here." - Kevin Schwantz The group was warmly rece ived, their has yet to be matche d . There was nostalgia, to be sure , and some envy at missing the fo ur-str o ke era . "Today I went out there w ith Kevin [Schwa ntt] and Kenny [Roberts], and we just took a full lap wa tch ing everybody go around," Rainey began . "Iwas really just surprised how no nvio len t they looked . You watch t he riders get on the t hrott le out of the hairpin comers, and they acce lerate, but they're not moving aro und . It's just real nice and smooth. I was te lling Kenny, "Wh y coul dn't you get my 500s to work like th is?'" Rainey was impr essed by t he top speed and how much feed bac k and wam ing the bikes gave. " Eve n w hen they get into troub le, the bike he lps t hem get out of trouble beca use they don 't react," Rainey said. "I remember on my 500 , if you w ere offline a little bit or you ge t in a little bit of trouble, no rmally it w ou ld be a big m istake . It loo ks like th e way ! waves of laughter. "No doubt, the power t hey 've got , even w ith the best t ires unde r t he m, they' re still very, very hard work to Continued fro m p age 7 Rizla Suzuki's John Reyno lds is vowing to race at Brands Hatc h on June 20 in th e sev e nth ro und of the 2004 British Superbike C hampionship - despite breaking his left collarb on e just over a week ago. Rey no lds is con fide nt he w illscore as many po ints as po ssible and def end his e ight-point cham pionship lead. He has be e n und e rgo ing regu lar lase r and pu lsed magnetic field therapy w ith mo torsports specialist Brian Simpson since bre aking his co liarbo ne at the prev ious roun d at Thruxton on June 6. Yukio Kagayama also re tu rns to action with Rizla Suzuki at Brands Hatch after he broke his right collarbone two weeks ago w hile racing in Japan . He has had a titan ium plate inse rted in his shoulder and will be looking to keep his championship hopes alive. "I am feeling be tter than I tho ught I would just ove r a week after breaking my co llarbone ." Reynolds said . "Do n't get me w ro ng, it is still so re . bu t I have a lot o f mo vement and strength in my should er, and th at is e nco uraging - it is certainly a lot be tter than last year w hen I broke it and managed to race two wee ks later. I am do ing everyt hing th e speci alist is telling me, and I am sur e I will be riding this weekend. I will be go ing out to score as many points as possible and make t he best of the situation. How many po ints I score wi lldepend on how co mfo rtable I feel w hen I get on the bike . It' s no t going to be an easy weekend, but t he good news is that I am up for it ." to go and race fo r a title . O bviously, they feel now the y haven't done anyt hing since Wayne was injured . Wayne w as leading a race when he crashed and leading a champion ship, and they have n't be e n in tha t position , and they needed somebody, and I t hink it was on ly just rece ntly they 've w o ke n up and deci ded the y have to be committed, and back w hen we were talking, I didn 't fee l they were still committed." Henny Ray Abrams r ide: ' For the first time, Raine y adm itted how close he'd co me to signing Doo han to his team in the mid-'90s. "Yea h, w e ta lke d abou t it, and it was ve ry close, but in the end , Mick had to make the decisi o n, and the deci sian he m ade w as to stay w ith Honda, and that was the de cision that w o rked for him," Rainey sa id. " It w as obviously a good decision. He w ent on to w in many ch a mp ion sh ips with Honda. I thin k at MOVED : Engine Dynamics to 2040 Petaluma Boulevard No rt h, Petaluma , CA 94952, 7071763-7519, 7071763-3759 (fax), (From left to right) Randy Mamala, Schwantz, Rainey, Didier de Rad igues, Kenny Roberts and Mick Doohan celebrate Schwantz's 40th b irthday in t h e paddock at the MatoGP in Spain. Battlst, a forme r American 5howa R&D suspension man . For more information, call 909/371-5045 or visit www.mb lsuspension.com. www.enginedynamics.com . OPENED: MBI Suspension , based in Corona, California, effective immediately. MB I is a suspension service company own by Mike HIRED: Greg Zanghi by Ducati North America as the national after sales manager; John Cupp by Ducati North Ame rica as area 23 sales manager, which includes California , Arizona , Hawaii , and Nevada. www.cyclenews.com Briefly••• so nal wate rcraft dealership. The two-level facility has been des igned by no ted automotive retailing architect Steve Kro h and will increase t he usable space of Malcolm Smith Motorspo rts by nearly four-fold to 55 ,000 square feet. The grand opening is projected for late summer o r fall 2005. Malco lm Smith Motorsports is a full-service retailer, cu rre ntly ca rrying products from BMW, KTM, Suzuki, Yamaha, Husqv arna, Bombard ie r, Sea Dao and Dinli. For more informat ion, call 909/6B7-13oo. (From left to right) Wayne Rainey, Kevin Schwanzt, Mick Doohan and Alex Criville. "Not to pick on Christian [Sarron], but I bet him and myself included could find a way to crash one of these things." presence invoki ng an era of excellence that that time, too, we weren't quite ready fo r Mick. Th e w hole progra m - I think he made t he right decision." Doohan agreed . "Th e re was numerous times that Wayne and I had spoken, and then some oth er peopl e would ge t involved and break things do wn, but t hey neve r showed me t he true commit me nt that Honda show ed me afte r they found ou t that Yam aha w ere inte rested ," Doohan said. " Honda seemed more committed . If Yam aha didn't seem that com mitted, it didn't seem like we're go ing It' s great to be fast , but o nly a handful of individuals in a ny spo rt ever achieve financial security as an athlete. That's o ne reaso n that a solid e ducatio n is so important fo r any young person, and also th e reason th at Cycle News will once again be presenting the Cycle News Fa st Brain Award at t he AMA Prog ressive Insurance Dirt Track G rand Championships at the Illino is State Fairgroun ds in Springfield, Illinois, on July 4. The Fast Bra in is presented to a sch olarl athlete based on academic record as well as race performances at the Dirt Track Gran d Championships. To be eligible for the 2004 Cycle News Fast Brain Award, you must apply in writing no later than June 28 and include the following info rmat io n: I) Your name; 2) Your fuli mail and e-mail add resses & phone number; 3) Classes yo u will ride in Springfield; 4) Your grade po int average, ve rified with an official re po rt card o r tran script. Mail or fax you r applicatio n to : Cycle News, Dirt Track Fast Bra in Award, 3505M Cad illac Avenue, Casta Mesa, CA 92626, Fax: 7 14n5 1-66B5 . CYCLE NEWS • JUNE 23, 2004 11

• Cover