Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
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By HENNY RAy CHICANERY ABRAMS T he American Struggle oUwill find them at the opposite en ds of t he ta ct scale. O ne, a polite young Kentuckian with a mop of moussematted hair framing a creaseless co mplexion , the other a slen der, buzz-cut Texan with a few lines around the eyes that glint with mischief and quick humor. Nicky Hayden is likely to be political, the root of which is polite, which he and his familyare to a fault, though sometimes you might fi nd Rog on the fringes (see DiSalvo, Jason). Colin Edwards is not . Edwards admits his brashness may not be the greatest career builder, but he's done all right. There are the two World Superbike Championships and the three Suzuka 8-Hours wins. Honda Racing Corporati on (HRC) expected to steamroll its wayward son, Valentino Rossi, in this year' s MotoGP World Championship. Leading up to and following his defect ion to Yamaha, senior staff voiced confidence in the product, the mighty RC-21 1V. They wo uld flood the grid with the all-conquering machine there are six this year - and Rossi would do well to finish seventh . It was David and Goliath; the equivalent of bringing a slingshot to a tank fight. What was missing in this eq uation was so meth ing Honda has misunderstood more than once, t he human element . The key to this year's World Championship is not Valentino Rossi. The key is a wizened crew chief from Australia named Jerry Burgess. Burgess began his GP career under the tutelage of Erv Kanemoto, quickly moving throu gh the ranks. It was he who helped Wayne Gardner to his 1987 500cc Worl d Championship. That winter he told me in a phone conversation from his home in Adelaide that he was thinking of taking on a young Australian by the name Mick Doohan. FiveWorld Championships later, a string that would have cont inued had Doo han not suffered career-en ding injuries at Jerez in 1999, he found his next rider - Valentino Rossi. Burgess said at Welkom in South Africa that deve loping the much-maligned Yamaha MI into a GP winner in a matter of 12 we eks was the hardest thing he and his crew had eve r done. Without them, it wou ld not have been possible. Without Burgess and the boys, Rossi's victories in Welkom and Muge llo and Catalunya wou ldn't have happe ned. With another crew chief, he wou ld event ually have gotten to the front. But not this quickly and not this often . Word in the paddock is that Yamaha Y doub led the salaries of Burgess and his crew. A powerful incentive to be sure, but not one that Honda couldn't have neutralized. What Honda should have done is hand Nicky Hayde n to Burgess. It wo uld have accom plished two things: First, it would have accelerated Hayden's learning curve, and secondly, it wo uld have preve nted Rossi from developing a winning machine. Maybe Honda didn't want to take Hayden away from his current crew chief, Trevor Morris. But for a company spending tens of millions of dollars on racing to be so sensitive to the feelings of one employee seems downright human. With Rossi and Burgess develop ing the RC-2 1IV. there was a direct ion, and it was the right one. They refined the best Grand Prix machine in t he world. It wasn't perfect, and Burgess got in trouble for pointing out the fl aws in the rear suspension. But almost anyone cou ld win on it. Honda's philosophy was to build the perfect machine, one with less adjustability than the others, less chance to go gliding down the wrong path . The Yamaha, on the other hand, is a chameleon, eminentlyadaptab le to the vicissitudes of racing. For 2004, Michelin designed a fatter rear tire that takes advantage of Yamaha's adjustability. The tire is less of an advantage to the Honda, eve n though it offers more side grip. The increased co ntact patch does things to the front of the Honda that riders don't like . Edwards has been outspo ken about fro nt-end chatter. Any t ime cha mpionship leader Sete Gibernau is show n talking to his crew chief during qualifying, his hand gest ures suggest the same. The cure is a geo metry change, something the Honda doesn't allow. ' f\t the moment we have fixed everyth ing," Edwards bluntly says. "You can't change anything. We have to change. We have to. If we don't, Yamaha are going to win the championship." Hayden is less strident. "I'm pretty limited," he says. "H RC, o ne thing this weekend, basically Igot the bike and can change a few clickers, but they basically got their bike and want me to ride it." Great things were expected from bot h riders this year. The other Americans were never going to be worl d beat ers. The Suzukis of Kenny Roberts Jr. and John Hopkins are much improved, a lot owing to the influence of Erv Kanemo to, now working with Ro berts. But the Bridgesto ne tires are n't a match for the Michelins. And the GSV-R is 15-20 horse- powe r down, Robe rts says. Kenny's younger brother, Kurtis, is in even more dire straits . He won't discuss the problems of the Dunlops, but his father will, saying the team is "basically out of business until we can come up with a tire that's a lot better." In Kurtis' hands, the Proton KR V-5 has been unridable and prone to problems. From the side of the Catalunya circuit, it was obvious he couldn't get on the gas without the rear stepping out, though he's always had a heavy throttle hand. What's keeping Hayden from winning? "I'd say it's just the pace really," he says with his characteris tic honesty. "Some people wo n't admit it. Other riders I'm sure won't admit it, but the pace has step ped up a lot th is year from last year." Hayden says you might not realize it back in America watch ing on television. "But you go ask [Neil] Hodgson , who was World Champion last year and he's 17th today. I think it's just that the rider talent is really high right now." Edwards didn't look like himself at Catalunya, hasn't all year. "You see me on the track, and it looks like I should be in 15th, and I'm winning a race ," he says about the smoothness he's shown all these years . That 's how Rossi and Giberna u looked at Catalunya. The bigger Michelin doesn't turn on the same radius as t he front on the Honda. The contact patch is moved. They have to figure out how to get t he front and rear turn ing on the same arc. "li ke Y amaha's done, piece of cake, no chatter, everyth ing's beautiful, smells like roses," Edwards said. His machine is quite diffe rent from Gibernau's. "Fro m the swingarm pivot back, our bikes are identical. From the swingarm pivot forward, www.cy clenews.com everyt hing you can think of is different. This comes with the territory. You win races , that's what happens." That said, Edwards says, "Seta's got chatter out the ying yang." A smaller rear rim boosted Edwards' confidence, though he lost some side grip, and he and Hayden were test ing the day after the Catalunya race . It's onlya matter of time before they're back in their customary spots at the front. "I've got to get some front co nfidence and start being smooth, and when that happens and I sta rt feeling in my element, it comes, " Edwards said. "When I'm aggressive and fighting it and I feel like I'm going warp speed , that's not me." For Hayden, "It's bee n frustrating. I mean, sure, I've getting a lot of flak because my resu lts haven't been good, but nobody hates it worse than I do." HRC is not known for its patience. He says the company has been "pretty cool" but wants results. There've been a few meetings that haven't been the most fun. The Honda execs know he's trying; they know he's learning. They know, whether they'll admit it or not, his prob lems are of their making. "It has not been w hat I wanted," Hayden says. "I've had, essent ially, would have had three front rows , a couple of to p fives. I crashed out fighting last we ek [in Mugello], and Le Mans was te rrible. Yeah, a lot of flak. That's all right. Put it on me. I can handle it." CN CYCLE N EWS • JUNE 23, 2004 107