Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

sure ," Zemke said. "It's a great company to be with, number one . They put a lot of support into their racing and a whole lot of effort Into it. I've never had any presSure since I've been over here. They've never said, 'You have to go and win this race , or you have to do this or do that.' It's never been like that . They just kind of let you do your own deal." Zemke was fortunate to have the 883 class when he did. And he was also fortunate to have come to the top at the time when there was a Formula Xtreme class that featured strung-out, up-to -IOOOcc street bikes that weren't a walk in the park to learn how to ride . They also had slick tires. Perhaps the perfect machine to develop a young superbike rider. "The Formula Xtreme was definitely a stepping class to go to superbike," Zemke said, "That's what Honda was doing by running the class when the other manufacturers weren't . Eventually by the time I got into the , thick of it, the other manufacturers were involved, but they [Honda) brought so many guys through the program - Eric Bostrom , Nicky Hayden, Kurtis Roberts and now myself, They all came from the Formula Xtreme program over at Erion's into a factory superbike ride. That was definitely a good class. Those bikes were a huge handful to ride, but it was amazing to see the evolution of the bikes from the time I started in 2000 with a brand-new 929, to the point where we finished last season on the 9S4 - how much Improvement we 'd made to those motorcycles. It was quite substantial. It went from a beastly, scary thing to ride to a very nice motorcycle to ride. A lot of the tendencies that the original ones had.., we'd sorted the bikes out pretty well." When road racers get to the level that Zemke has gotten to, they start to think about Europe . About MotoGP and the like. Zemke is no different, but he also realizes there is only one , maybe two, ways to go. He's content where he is. For now, at least. '~t the end of the day, you don't want to say you're the best in America - you want to say you're the best motorcycle racer period," Zemke said, "O bviously that leads you into MotoGP, but I also know that it's not worth going over there unless you have the right ride. We can look at the Americans who are there now, the guys who are struggling and the guys who are finishing races in the top five.They are allgood riders, allvery talented, and I think on the right motorcycle they could probably allwin, but that's the way it is. Nicky [Hayden) is doing a great job with it. This year he's had some problems earlier in the season, but he's obviously been solid. He's going in the right direction , I've known Nick since he was a little kid, I've known the Haydens pretty much my whole life from going to the amateur dirt tracks and stuff, and we're good friends. I remember seeing Nick years ago and watching him just play around on a motorcycle . I remember thinking, 'This kid's going to be good, for sure.' As they all are. All those kids are, Nicky got the opportunity of a lifetime, and he's taking advantage of it, and it's great." Zemke 's championship battle with Mladin will sure ly go to the last race. American Honda's Miguel Duhamel was also right in the thick of things, but a crash at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course has made his chance at the title a bit on the slim side. The learning experience of racing with the likes of Mladin and Duhamel all season long is invaluable, "I'm definitely learning this year," Zemke said. "This season is a lot of fun, because we have a new bike, and we're developing this bike and bringing it to a higher level, and that's a lot of fun as well. It seemed like last year, on the Formula Xtreme bike, we were getting pretty much as much as we were going to get from that bike. The motor was as big as it could get, and it wasn't going to get any bigger, and it wasn't going to get any faster. We had a real good handle on the suspension, and we had evolved it to the point where there wasn't anywhere else to go with it. Now we have this brand-new piece, and there's stillplenty left to get out of this motorcycle, and that makes it fun as well. I am definitely learning from ridingwith Mat and ridingwith Miguel. They are probably the two greatest superbike riders of all time. "Back when we were riding 6005, probably around '02, '03, in that area , Miguel would let me follow him a little bit, and he would follow me," Zemke added. "Maybe Iwas stronger in some places, but we could definitely pick stuff up from riding with each other. But at this point, it's every man for himself, pretty much . We know it's going to be a battle every weekend . Myself , Mat and Miguel, Mat is as tough as nails, He's there week in and week out - no matter what . He was down on horsepower for the last two races [Road America and Brainerd) with some big, long straightaways, and he was still right there, knocking on the door, That guy just rides hard, and it's impressive to see how hard he's riding that motorcycle. He gets every little bit out of that bike. He's got the drive and determination. He's won four championships, almost in a row, four in five years, and he's right there for this one as well." For a while early in the season, Zemke seemed des tined to be a bridesmaid but never a bride . Four secondplace finishes in a row, including two heartbreaking losses to Duhamel atlnfineon Raceway, made things difficult for a while. Then came the first win at Brainerd International Raceway, and it turned out to be a bit anticlimactic. At least for Zemke. "I was definitely excited , but it's a little strange because it wasn't the breakthrough victory for me, I didn't think," Zemke said, a few weeks removed from that first victory and before his second at Mid-Ohio, "I'd been so close in so many races; at one point I'd lost three races by less than half a second , I was already right there. It wasn't like... if I would have won the race at Sears Point [Infinean), it would have been like, wow, huge breakthrough. But being so close so many times before I got that first one, I was definitely excited and pumped for my team and my crew, but I was already still thinking more forward and to the championship. I knew I had to start winning races to be a factor in the champl- www.cyclenews.com onship. We'd been closing the gap, closing the gap, but Miguel was winning races and I wasn't . He leapfrogged me, and he was getting closer and closer, and I was staying the same." Now it's Zemke who is in the best position to challenge Mladin. With Duhamel crashing out at Mid-Ohio , Zemke is Honda's hope , But on the flipside of the coin, Zemke crashed out of the Formula Xtreme race in Ohio, all but handing the title to Duhamel. "Obviously,the Superbike Championship is more prestigiousthan the Formula Xtreme," Zemke said before his Mid-Ohio crash. "But either way, either championship, the guy who wins it deserves it. Neither of those championships are going to be handed to anybody." Zemke, whose father is of Eastern European descent and whose mother 's japanese ("she's IOO-percent japanese, but she was born In Chicago"), is a calm young man, the same in defeat as he is in victory. Even when he lost to Duhamel on the final lap at Infineon, he remained a gracious loser, And he continued to smile, "It's just the way I am," he says. "Even as a kid, I was always really calm at the races . Maybe it's part of my upbringing. There's a time and place for everything. Ilike having fun and hanging out with my friends, but at the same time I get paid to do a job. so when I'm here , I've got to do it. Some guys have to be in that mode all the time, and I understand that . It's a tough job that we do, and it's serious, The consequences out there are serious, and you definitely have to have your head on straight when you come to the racetrack. And you definitely have to be prepared when you come to the racetrack, and that involves training and your preparation during the week. I've got a pretty good balance on that, and my trainer, jeff Spencer, does a good job at helping me keep that balance. He doesn 't try to overdo anything for me . He makes sure I'm not getting burned out on this and that ." And what of the cover boys from that issue of Cycle News from 1996? Ben Bostrom Is in the factory Honda truck next door to Zemke's Erion rig, and Wait is hoping to revive his thus-far-troubled superbike career with Aprilia in 200S, Uttle do they know that Zemke owes a little part of his success to the two kids who graced that cover and eN kicked-started his road-racing career. CYCLE NEWS • AUGUST 11,2004 35

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