Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

Burgess Talks Rossi Y amaha's garage guru je rry Burgess believes that Valentino Rossi's recen t back-to -back MotoGP wins have struck an important blow against Honda afte r five races of the Grand Prix seaso n. At one -th ird distance, five races ou t of 16, Italian ace Rossi is now just five points beh ind main Honda rival Sete Gibe rnau of Spain. The points gap has dosed dramatically afte r do uble victor ies at Mugello (Italian GP) and Barcelo na (Catalunya GP), tracks that were expected to be dr eam circuits for the high-horsepower Honda V-five against the Yamaha M I. "What wo uld be eating at Set e right now is to see that his lead has disappeared by 10 points, from IS down to S, in just seve n days fro m the Mugello race, " said Burgess, who runs Rossi's race garage for Yamaha. "But who knows, Sete may be better off for that because now he has to be on the attack rather than think about being defensive with a IS-point advantage. Perhaps he is a better chaser than leader of the champions hip. To win at Mugello Continued fro m pa ge 9 ry, hea rty food, great accom moda- Burgess says that the performance level for riders has been lifted to new heights in 2004 and it has caught some big tions, inte rest ing cultures and lots of camaraderie, according to the AMA. The Spain and Portugal tou r builds on the A~s many years of names out . N ot sur pr ishe no minates ingly, ex pert ise gained from runn ing men who have respond - organized tr ips th rough the Alps, the British Isles, South Africa and Ne w Zealand, as we ll as numerous ed the best to the pres- t ours across North America. On sure-cooker inte nsity of this new excursio n, AMATours handles most of the deta ils, such as hot els, meals and support van, and it also includes a selection of BMW motorcycles . Prices start at $4S3S Gibernau and his own rider Ros as the two si the 2004 season. O f the main Honda rivals and his own man Rossi, Burgess had this to say... Max Biaggi: "The rise in pace may have caught Max out a litt le bit, like some othe rs like [Colin] Edwards and [Nicky] Hayden. Every year Max gets older, and it probab ly gets tougher for him." Colin Edwards: and Barcelona was icing on the cake for us at "It's high pressure out there, and co nsisten- Yamaha because we knew we had a deficit in speed compared to the Hondas at these tracks. cy is great, but consistently being sixth wo n't win you the championship - you need plenty of "What Valentino has now shown Honda is that he is the best rider." - Jeremy Burgess Going into the Italian GP with a IS-point advantage, Gibernau could hard ly have expected to concede so many points on horsepower- friendly tracks such as Mugello and Barcelona. As the champ ionship heads to the Dutch TT at Assen on june 26, Burgess expects that Honda w ill continue to respond to the Rossi- good races . I thought Colin might do more than this." Nicky Hayden : "We have seen that Nicky can do some fast laps, but he made a real mess of the start in Barcelona and was back to 16th; he was never going to win from there . But increasingly w hat inte nse development of the MI . "Y amaha does not have the most pow erful we are seeing in MotoGP is that it is perhaps taking longer to make the progression to the very to p. Now you have to be in MotoG P for engine, and w e may never have the most pow er, so we just have to utilize everything th ree or four years. not just two. Remember that Sete was never r eally a threat in any year else to our advantage, like handling and tra ction," Burgess said. "Hopefully, we are giving Yamahaeno ugh information and enough incen - before 2003, when he finally got the feeling of Yamaha threat and that Yamaha must co ntinue tive to deliver more." Y amaha stayed on at Barcelona last Monday for a test. but it was primarily for tires and suspens work. includinga revised swingarm. ion being a contende r every week with Valentino . Nicky w ill be fine given another year or so, and I do n't see anyone else who co uld take his spot at Honda. But if he doe sn't want a job at H onda some time in the future, we could probably try and squeeze him in up here [at for a single ri der sharing a room Yamaha)." Sete Gibe rnau: "I'm not surp rised at his performance, and he is riding very, very well and has moved forward from last seaso n; he has responded. But as I said, his lead has been cut by 10 points in just one week. No do ubt Set e will be out to win races every week, just as Valenti no will be." Alex Barros: "Everyone knows wha t I've said about Bar ro s in the past , even Barr o s. H e mentioned Accord ing to a re lease fro m Suzu- it in an art icle recen tly, and I'm glad he did because I like a man who can fight back. His ki, Motovision Suzuki UK ride r Tanel Leak will be given a factory RM-Z 4S0 for the remain der of the Grand Prix season and the British Motocross Championships. The Estonian will remain within his Moto vision squad but upgrades mo to rcycles from a stock two stroke, with whic h he has blazed a way through the inte rnational scene, to the 4S0cc four-stroke, the model currently undergoing its debut GP campaign and natura lly in need of further deve lopment. The bike will carry the colors and sponsors of the UK-based outfit but will be kept at Team Suzuki's workshops in Belgium as well as being prepared by the factory squad. Prior to his 10th place in Italy (due to rear brake fade), Leok had response to my criticism of him was to say, 'How would I know, as I've never worked with him?' But you don't have to work with a rider to see what goes on. What happe ned in Barcelon a? Well you wou ld have to ask Alex. But it looked a lot like amat eur hour to me [Barros crashed out on lap five while chasing Gibernau and Rossi]. Valent ino Rossi: "W hat Valentino has now shown Honda is that he is the best rider. They have some very fast riders, but not the best. And what is good for us at Yamaha is that at every race w e are virtually starting from zero with Valentino, and we have to get the whole package with the bike worki ng in just four hours of practice and qualifying. And we don't have any releva nt data to work on fro m other ride rs. 50 w hen we get all of this information laid down as the season goes on , w e w ill have an even better under- sta nding of how to get the best out of the Yamaha and hopefully be even faster." Co lin Yo u n g It's Good To Be A Wood Travis For Pikes Peal< The road racing Wood brot hers , jeff and Eric, swept the four Formula USA featured events during the 81 st Loudon C lassic at New Hampshire International Speed way on june 20. Riding a Bett encourt's Suzuki GSXR-600 , jeff Wood won the red -flag-interrupted SportBike class (billed as the Loudon Classic) over Scott Gree nwood , also Suzuki mo unted, and the Yamaha R6 of Robert jensen. In Supe r Bike, jeff Wood won again, with jensen and Travis Pastran a w ill compete in the 82nd running of the Falken Tire Pikes Peak International Hill Climb, acco rding to event promot ers . Pastrana will be driving a Vermont SportsCar-prepared Subaru WRX STi in the Open Class of the SCCA Pro Rally Greenwood SWitching finishing positions. Eric Wood too k his lone victory in Formu la SportBike, toppi ng Scott Harw ell and Scott Greenwood. All thr ee rode 5uzu kis. jeff Wood 's third win on the day came in Th underbike, the Ducati-mount ed Wood topp ing Buell-mo unted Bryan Bemisderfer and Suzuki SV6S0-mounted Rick Doucette. A rt O 'Ne ill with another ride r (excluding airfare ). For a com plet e itine rary, motorcycle selection and price informatio n for Spain and Port ugal 2004, as well as information about each of the I I ot her AMATours curre ntly available, please contact AMA Tours at 800/AMA-jOIN , extension I 190 or 1196. Division . taken a string o f top- five positions and has risen to seventh spot in the standings. Wor ld Rallywas only Pastrana's seco nd gravel rallyevent ever and is considered one of North America's most difficult rallies. Pastrana got his start in rallying after having the chance to test a Subaru World Rally Car several years ago with the Subaru World Rally Team. This helped him get hoo ked on the sport, and he soon said that driving in the World Rally Championship is a dream of his. "The Pike's Peak Hill Climb has always been something I was Last summer, Vermont SportsCar invited Pastrana to partic excited about doing," said Pastrana in a ipate in an intensive rally school session release. "I am looking forward in comw ith 2002 and 2003 SCCA Pro Rally peting in the (SCCA) Open class this Ch amp ion David Higgins, w here he year and am thrilledto be a part of it." received one-an-one driving instruction Vermont SportsCar has run in a high-powered Subaru rally car. Pastrana in two SCCA Pro Rally Pastrana performed so well at the rally events this year (2004) with success. school that the Vermont SportsCar rally He set two fastest stage times and team set out to help ente r him into a finished fourth overall, third in Class, ProRally event as soon as possible and at the Rim of the World ProRal Iy just kick off his new career in rallying. over a month ago. The Rim of the Travis Pastrana's new ride. www.cyclenews.com CYCLE NEWS • JUNE 30, 2004 11

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