Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

Cycle News 2005 10 26

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 CHICANERY HENNY RAY ABRAMS Last Man Standing he last American to win the pre';'ier-c1ass World Championship was Kenny Roberts Jr. in 2000. The next to win will likely be Nicky Hayden. After that, it could be a while. No longer is throwing around a big Superbike the preferred training ground for advancement. Instead it's the lesser classes and the tinier riders. HRC general manager Tsutomu Ishii said Honda's BOOcc machine was being designed for smaller riders, without specifically mentioning the jockey-sized 250cc World Champion Dani Pedrosa. "The potential rider for MotoGP for the future is quite small," Ishii said. "It's something we have to think of in 2007." The Spaniard Pedrosa will join Nicky Hayden on the Repsol Honda team in 2006, though that's not official. By then Pedrosa will have raced GPs for five full seasons and won three World Championships 125cc in 2003, 250cc in 2004 and 'OS. On September 29, he turned 20. Southern Europeans are the present and future of the World Championships. First among them is seven-time World Champion Valentino Rossi from Tavullia, Italy. MoviStar Honda MotoGP's Marco Melandri is a short (5 feet 4 1/2 inches) but muscular 134 pounds. Andrea ~ Dovizioso, the 2004 125cc World Champion, started .. g racing in Italy when he was 8 7. Spaniard Jorge Lorenzo, iii all 121 pounds of him, f5 became the youngest-ever i:: GP rider when he turned IS on the second day of qualifying for the 2002 Spanish GP at Jerez. Now in his fourth year, he's all of I B. An exception is Australian Casey Stoner; he turned 20 the day he highsided out of the lead in his home Grand Prix at Phillip Island. "I see a scenario in three or four years' time where the championship will be fought between Melandri, Hayden, Pedrosa, Stoner and Dovizioso," Yamaha team manager Davide Brivio said. Can the 103-pound Pedrosa handle next year's 250-plus horsepower? He has no choice. And horsepower isn't what it used to be. The advances in engine management mean riders can pin the throttle without undue worry. The question is whether the 5-foot, 2-inch Pedrosa will T be able to use what little weight he has. Mick Doohan notes in this week's Chat Room that one of Kevin Schwantz's great strengths as a rider was his agility. "When things start to go off or go a bit soft, then they move themselves around like Kevin [Schwantz] used to do," the normal-sized Doohan said. "The Suzuki was not always the best bike. He'd never moan about it. He was always on the podium, if not winning." Or in the Clinica Mobile. Schwantz, Doohan, Wayne Rainey, Freddie Spencer all came up through production-bike racing. Rossi started on pocket bikes before a rapid, and wellmanaged, assent through Italian racing, then into the World Championships. In came Doohan's run of five, followed by Rossi's similar streak. Stoner's slim championship hopes went up in the air with his highside. But such mistakes don't bother Rossi. "If you are fast but make a lot mistakes, is possible you improve. If you are not fast, you are f--ked," he said. "I think Stoner will be one of the future of MotoGP." Stoner's ascent hasn't been linear. His family moved to Europe from Kurri-Kurri, in the Hunter Valley of New South Wales, so he could race 125s in the UK and Spain. Twice he started 125cc GPs in 200 I before a full season of 250s in 2002. But it didn't go well and he was back in the smallest class in 2003, winning the final race in Valencia. Last year he was second 1997, his second full year in GPs, Rossi won the 125cc title. Two years later, he took the 250cc crown. Runner-up to Kenny Roberts Jr. in 2000, he won the final 500cc World Championship at Phillip Island in 200 I. It had been nearly 30 years since a 250 rider moved up to win the 500cc crown. Phil Read, the 1971 250cc champion, won his first 500cc title in 1973, repeating in 1974. All eyes are now on Stoner. The 250cc World Championship runner-up is being heavily courted to move to MotoGP in 2006. His boosters include fellow Aussies Mick Doohan and Jerry Burgess. Burgess is the most successful crew chief in history, with I I premier-class titles. The first came with Wayne Gardner in 19B7, then in the 125cc championship. Now he's back in 250s. "Of course, Stoner is one rider who is very interesting for us," Yamaha's Brivio said. "What he is doing before his recent run made him an interesting proposition, but his end-of-season results underline how strong he is mentally. It's not surprising, but it's a confirmation of his talent and his potential." And then there's the issue of money. Racing is expensive and gets more so every year. As Doohan pointed out: "Years ago, it used to be on your results. Now it's more on what sort of wallet do you have." Where does that leave the Americans? At the end of a very long and growing line. § And without the financial backing to jump the queue. What we know is that there aren't any American teenagers ready to go Grand Prix racing. Ben Spies and Jason DiSalvo, both 21, are the two most often mentioned as GP candidates. Spies knows he isn't ready and has said he isn't in a hurry. Maybe he should be. DiSalvo raced I 25s in Europe before moving back to the United States. And he would certainly like to go back. But it's hard to see how he might get the chance. With Yamaha out of Superbikes this year, DiSalvo won't race against the best riders until 2007. By then the next pack of Italians and Spaniards will be ready to graduate. It isn't just the youngsters who face long odds. Kawasaki team manager Harold Eckl nominated Tommy Hayden as the injured Alex Hofmann's replacement in Australia. His thinking was that it would "show these young riders, hey, if you are good, once you get the chance to move up." But the factory favored injured French journeyman Olivier Jacque. The lack of input in rider choice prompted Eckl to muse, "Sometimes I stay in bed and ask myself, 'What are you doing here?" The same could be asked of a number of the superannuated riders. Camel is so enchanted with Max Biaggi, 34, that they agreed to continue with the Pons Honda team after a flirtation with Suzuki. Biaggi will be joined by 33-year-old Carlos Checa, the Spaniard who hasn't won a GP since 199B. Marlboro Ducati has veteran Loris Capirossi, 33, when next season starts, and will have Sete Gibernau, also 33, next year. Alex Barros, 35, could end up at Suzuki. Environmental racing. Recycling the graybeards. Which leaves the hopes of the United States on the 24-year-old Nicky Hayden. And not just the United States, Hayden has the added pressure and responsibility of being Honda's lead development rider for the 2006 RC21 IV Watching how he harassed Rossi to the end of the Australian Grand Prix, Hayden would appear to be up to the job. But he shouldn't expect reinforcements. For the foreseeable future, he's on his own. eN CYCLE NEWS • OCTOBER 26,2005 95

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