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/128383
The first time a wheel turns in anger at the Red Bull U.S Grand Prix, Paul 8utIer will be in charge. ks the GP race director; Butler calls the shots and contois all ontrack activity. Uke most of the GP regulars, Butler is looking forward to the series returning to America. We caught up with Butler at the Catalunya GP to get his thoughts on America's biggest bike race. en: Does the U.S. GP pose any different problems than an established GP? paulbutler: Well, the straight answer is that I've got to lose about 50 pounds so I can jump over the wall and get up the control tower. 50 physically, the answer is definitely yes Uoughs], since I've got to scramble up over a wall and up four flights. Either that or I've got to go around and over the bAdge. In truth, the facilities are pretty primitive. The issues that will face us certainy are no different to Shanghai, where we had a brand-new supporting team. And we managed that okay. We're not riefVOUs about laguna Seca. cn: What about issues such as safety and logistics? After spending the last couple of years chasing the number-one plate in the GNCC, Team Suzuki Off-Road's Mike Kiedrowski has returned to the WORCS, where he won his first and - as of now his only off-road title three years ago. You might recall that Kiedrowski won that title riding one of the DR-Z400 prototypes that he and Rodney Smith used to race. After that project was abandoned, Kiedrowski switched to the RM2S0 twostrokes and the GNCC series, where he had moderate success. But Kiedrowski missed the four-stroke. So now he is back at "home" riding the WORCS series and aboard the new RM-Z4S0. Kiedrowski won the opening round in Arizona, only to hurt his arm shortly thereafter, and he has been making up for it ever since. He is healthy now and is currently third in points, but he has some serious catching up to do if he is to reclaim his number-one plate from the current holder, Nathan Woods. We caught up with Kiedrowski at Washougal MX Park during round six of the WORCS series. cn: Why did you want to come back to th WOReS series? paulbutler: The logistics are obviously a question mark. Alii know is that they have got plans for the movement of people in and out. Knowing how difficult it is, I imagine that it'll be a tough one. But let's face it, wherever we've had really big crowds I think the best example is Mugello. Last year at Mugello was a disaster. They worked on it, and this year it went reasonably well. Even with an increase in the number of spectators, they actually got people out of there with reasonable efficiency. We'll see. That's going to be a bit of a learning curve. If we do succeed and get more people inside Laguna Seca than have ever been there before, they're going to hit some interesting problems. It's a long-term agreement. Hopefully they can learn. It's not just their problem. The authorities, the cops and the local authorities have got to learn as well and cooperate towards improvement. ks far as safety is concerned, we've got people responsible, and they're satisfied. It's the best they can possibly deliver. I was looking at the photographs on the Cycle News website yesterday and earlier in the week. They moved a lot of mikekiedrowski: Mainly because I wanted to ride the four-stroke, and with the WORCS series, it kind of suits me and the four-stroke a little better. And the other reason is to just get a little more exposure. It's better doing two series rather than have everybody stuck in the GNCCs. So it was more riding the 450 and just doing the series and splitting it up a little bit. cn: How have things been going with the RM-Z4S0? mikekiedrowski: So far it's been great. We've had no problems with the bike. FMF is doing all of our pipes and everything, and other companies are starting to come out with product and stuff. Since it's a new bike, it takes a little while for people to come out with stuff and everything. But everything is coming along good, RG3 does my suspension, but I pretty much have it stock. I have the front fork legs coated and stuff, and that's about it, just running it kind of stock." en: What have been some of the biggest changes you've made to the bike to make it more off-road competitive? dirt. It looks like they've complied with every request that's been made of them. cn: You personally have always had strong ties to America. How excited are you to be returning for the first time since 1994? paulbutler: I personally am delighted. I got married right after the '93 Grand Prix. And obviously my connections with Kenny [Roberts], and Wayne [Rainey], everybody else over there, and the Carruthers family. It's really good to be going back. Everyone's felt that it's been a gap in the schedule. The huge amount of work they've done to improve the safety makes it viable, and that's really great. Everybody looks forward to it. Nobody has any doubts that it's the right place to be for the U.S. Grand Prix in the context of sponsors and atmosphere. cn: Besides the size of the crowd. how will you decide the success or failure of the event? paulbutler: The success or failure will be the reaction of the fans. The buildup has been huge and the anticipation is Probably my biggest thing is my FMF pipe. It kind of frees up the motor a little bit, gives it a little bit more horsepower and stuff, and it gives it a little bit better sound. That's about it, really. The other thing that we just got was an STS clutch, and this [Washougal] will be the first race with it. I got that a couple of weeks ago and have been riding a bit with that. It makes a big difference. It's basically a slipper clutch, and basically when you let off the throttle, you don't get the engine braking. It freewheels a little bit easier, and when you first roll on the throttle, it's more direct. There's no clutch slippage. You can still use it like a regular clutch, but it's mostly for engine braking. en: Did you learn anything from the DR-Z project a few years ago that went Into the RM-Z? mikekiedrowski: There was a little bit that Japan used when they came out with the four-stroke [RM-Z], to make it rev and this and that. But it's pretty much completely different. They're getting a lot of power out of these four-strokes. When you take it apart, it's like looking an F I car. There's a lot of neat stuff in it. huge; just the contacts I'm getting from friends over there. There's nothing else in their heads right now. This is the main event. They're talking about it like it's tomorrow. For us, we still have kssen to get through and other things to do, and this one. For them it's now, and they're very excited about it, and I'm sure that everybody that's bought a ticket is feeling the same way. cn: 15 Suzuki planning on coming out with an off-road version of the RM-Z4SO? And, if so, are you going to help develop it? mikekiedrowski: I'm not sure if that'll be the case or not. Basically. they'll probably come out with a taller gear [ratio], maybe a fIVe-speed or something like that - put a light on the front, maybe an IS-inch rear wheel and make it a little off-read-ish. For racing and stuff, you still want the lightest bike you can possibly have. If it had an electric start, that would be great. KIt Palmer