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/128332
By IN THE PADDOCK MICHAEL SCOTT Something Completely Different t was Un derdog City at Rio last weekend. In so many ways. Max Biaggi has been in that position almost all year, but suddenly he's a contende r fo r the championship again , only 13 points beh ind Valentino Rossi and Sete Gibernau . Makoto Tamada likewise - sure ly fast and determined, but the victim of three nonfinishes, and of three high-speed rear tire fail ures, two of them potentially catast ro phic (they were both in testing). Likewise his Bridgesto ne tires, which have made nota ble progress over the past two years but still played second fiddl e to Michelin . And then suffered those failures, to Tamada, Kenny Robe rts Jr. (in testi ng), and most spectacula rly to Shinya Nakano at top speed at Mugello in the race . He was lucky to survive the all-too- public explosion of rubber that pitched him over the bars at almost 200 mph . Bridgestone was o bliged to eat heaps of humble pie, to rush out stronger reinforced tires , w hile admitting it had sacrificed tire perfo rmance in favor of strength I and safety. The speed and of its re spo nse impressed everyone; but the situation seemed dire. Amazingly that spec, tacular Mugello crash was only four weekends ago . And now Bridgestone has won its fi rst race , breaking a 92race run of Michelin transformed Roberts . At Rio, he started fro m pole, somewhat inevitably lost the lead on the long back straight on the second lap, and eventually dropped to seventh . That was still his best finish of the year. What was striking was the way he rode the race. He didn't stop trying pretty much the whole way, battling with the front guys in the early laps, with Colin Edwards for much of the rest of the race , only slacking his pace at the end, when under no t hrea t from the distant eighth- placed Norick Abe's Yamaha. It is the intervening years that have been revealing. For race after race Kenny might try hard for a lap or two , but seldom would the effort last even to half distance. Angry and disgruntled , he had to suffer universal mockery for his sometimes all too co nspicuous lack of effort . I'm as cynical as the next old race hack - rather more so , some would doubtless say. But scorn of Kenny's efforts neve r came easily to me. Because I remember another rider, a do uble 2S0cc Worl d Cham pion and SOOcc GP winner, who was eve n more obviously unwilling to risk his neck for lowly finishing positions . That was Luca Cadalora, riding facto ry Marlboro Yamahas run by Kenny Roberts Sr., in a year when they were in a real tire bind, on Dunlops that were (to be blunt) not up to the job, and even rather treac herous. Anyway, Luca showed such an obvious lack of ent husiasm that fo r race after race he wou ld dro p down out of the to p 10, then pull in to go home early - something Kenny Jr. has also done on ce, at Brno two years ago. Luca was ro undly condem ned by all in the paddock. He was, ran the refrain, treating his team of mechanics and the Yamaha factory with blatant contempt. The next time he we nt home early, maybe he should stay there. Again, I didn't share this view. Sure one had to feel sorry for the mechanics. But is a rider ob liged to do something obviously dangerous for no real reward beyond the financial? Cadalora was a winning rider, and now he w ould be lucky even to finish in the points. And more likely to crash. I couldn't help admiring him, and the perverse co urage he showed in going his own way in the face of universal opprobrium. Was he a really a coward? Or was he showing rare intelligence and personal integrity? Thus it was a real pleasure to see Luca come back later and win races on a Honda. His skill and bravery were unquestiona ble, when there was the chance of a resu lt. It was likewise a pleasure to see Ro berts racing hard and fast, just as he used to when he had a co mpetitive twostroke and won the championship. Just as he has cons istently insisted he has always bee n capable of doing; just as his critics said he was no longer able to do. Let's hope its not the last time for him and his Bridgestone-sh od compadres. And that the Suzuki and Kawasaki sustain the ir marked improve ment. The established order has had it their own way for far too long. eN fij;~::=========::::: wi ns. The unde rdog I have in mind, however, is Kenny Ro be rts Jr., wh o the day before had given Bridgestone its first pole position, his and Suzuki's fi rst pole since 2000, the year he won the SO Occ World Champio nship. The Suzuki, like the Kawasaki, is much improved this year com pared with last, but still down on top speed. The latest upgrade is the revised firing-order engine, which has made the bike much more friendly. This and the improving tires have www.cyclenews.com CYCLE NEWS • JULY 14,2004 107