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/128631
Except for Garry Mc Coy? ing is no t bad , but it is poss ible to get th e qu ali fying better. On the 250 , you had problems in t he wet. Now on a 500 you can win a GP in the wet , McCoy, ye s. He sli des , and has very good co n t ro l, and he is ve ry fu nn y t o watch . But it is What 's changed? With the A prilia chassis, I don ' t have feeling fo r the wet. Nothing - not fo r m e, though [Francoj" Battaini and [Ral f] Waldmann can go very fas t with th e Aprilia , so it is possible. A nd it was co m ing be t te r fo r me. But t hi s bi k e is completely d ifferent in wet conditions... another sen sat ion . So in Barcelona, t hird ; an d in D on ing t on arri v e the w in . A lso with Superbike, t esti ng at Su zuka, in ve ry heav y rai n and I ma k e fourth or fi ft h time. Not so bad . On the 2 50 , it was t he bik e, not th e rain . YOU celebrated winnin g w ith a rolling burnout. T hat ' s someth ing new for you? l Gigg les!. I tri ed with th e 250 - but not eno ug h po we r. With th is b ik e - it 's ve ry sweet. It 's not nece ssary eve n to give full throttl e. I like ve ry mu ch. You moved to a posh part of London this year, .but I hear you keep flying friends in from Italy t o stop being lonely. Is that true? Yes . another sto ry wi th th e oth er riders. You raced a four-stroke at the S uzuk a EightHou r , and tomorrow Honda will announce their plans for the f o u r -s t r o k e GP . What 's your opinion? I don 't like four -strokes. I rod e the VTR [Re S) ] , and it is a fantastic bike. I d id n' t t hi nk a Super bi k e wo ul d be so fas t . And so me of th e Superb ike rid er s are at a very good lev el - no t all, but [Noriyu ki ] Hag a , [Coli n ] Edwards, [Ca rl] F og arty . But th e two -stroke 500 is - 'co m p letely another spo rt . Q With a four-str ok e, th e lap ti mes are not ver y differ en t. Becau se yo u c an ride the fo ur-s troke at ) 00 A How oft en? Every month? Every week? Every day? Every day no. Bu t th at is coming [laughs] . T wo o r three friends , on c e a week . Now in Ita ly , London is ver y famou s. If I say I have a house in London - eve rybo dy wants to visit me. Wh en you sta r ted , you were always j o ki ng around in t he paddock, and coming in t o the pres s room f or hours . Always out and about. Now it ' s not the same. T he problem is not bec au se I' m m o re serious, but beca use I am be co m ing old . And I have less power to use th an wh en I was yo ung. (La ughs ] Now I hav e less t ime to m ak e j ok es after th e race. I preferred th e old d a ys . But I think I h a v e n o t changed . Only t he haircu t.. . When I first arrived, all wer e fr iendly to m e, ve ry nice. I ca m e to th e press roo m and spo ke for a long time. But after I see.. . so me of th e se p eop l e a re n ot my fr i end s , lik e I t houg ht. So now I don't co m e back. [l aughs w it h th e rueful wisdom of farn e.] Do y ou envy normal k id s having norma l lives? percent all th e t im e. Many riders ca n do it. Th e 500 tw o- str ok e is ano t he r sto ry . You ca n rid e it at ) 00 per c ent tw o or three times a yea r! [p ig -t ailed dad , Gr azian o Ross i, lea ns across]. "Va le - try to im ag ine a S upe rb ik e wi th another 6 5 h o r s e p o w e r. E h ? " Ma ybe true. M aybe true . If eve rybod y goes to fourstroke , t hen I must go too . But if it' s possible fo r me to decide, I will stay w it h the two-str oke . If it does all go four -stroke, do y ou think t he sa me ride r s wo ul d wi n? Yes . No qu est ion . How did y o u learn how to slide a bike? Other riders? Now - no . Before, I liked [Kevin ] Schwantz very muc h . He 's my favorite rider of I make ver y much pra ctice in the winter , on a moto cross b ike , with a m otoc ross tire o n t he fron t and a slick on the rear. On hard dirt - so completely without g rip . I hav e done this for five or six yea rs. A nd, when yo u ri de a 500 also ... yo u learn ! all ti me. Al so Do riano Romboni. But ma inly Kevin . How about Doohan? Do y o u ever feel fea r on a motorcycle? O f course M i ck . An d also Wa yn e Rainey and Wayne Gardner. T he tru e riders of SODs. I th in k th is is a g ood 500 y e ar , f or th e sho w . Cl o se l ap times; eve ry time a good fig ht for v ic to ry . Bu t wh en I th in k of Schwantz, Ra in ey , L aws on , Dooh an a nd F e ar? Yes . E v er y t im e I c r a sh . V ery mu ch . Wh en c rash, every time - it' s not a good sens ation. Every time , th e tr ack is m or e hard . Q Gardn er - th e qu a lit y , t he limits of th e rid ing was higher. My dream is to learn to use a 500 li ke th ose Have you eve r been sc ared by the fa ns? On ly one tim e, in Mugell o . Last ye ar. After th e r ace, I sto p pe d o n t he track - and th en arrive th e f an s. Mu ch fea r. I had to pu sh throu gh to get rider s. Nobod y now is rid in g like the m . awa y . Yo u used to be R o s si f u m e when you raced aga inst the Japanese 125 riders. For the last All th e time. For sure t here are good po ints [t o fa me], but t here a re very m uch worse poi nts . When you go t o dance , w hen y o u go w ith yo ur fri ends to have a snack.. . peo ple want to speak with you, take pict ures. At fi rst I was very much friendly too m uc h. Now I have lea rne d to be a shit. T o say no . Bec ause then people leav e y ou alone . You are in line to become only the second guy in history to win 125, 250 and 500 t itles. The on ly othe r on e to do it was Ph i l R ea d . Is that im po rtant ? Yes. Very m uch . It i s th e o ne targe t of m y career. A ve ry importa nt targ et for me. It is for this tha t I cha nge d categories ver y early . You an d M ax [B i agg i ] h ave some sort of a tro ubled history . A ft er Brno , yo u made a big s how of sha k ing Ma x ' s han d on the podi u m. H e didn' t seem so k een . Can y ou ever be friend s? No . Let me tell y ou . At Brno , after th e first corner, I go to Max to shake hands. He saw m e, but he stopped so he co uld avo id m e. So I st opped al so furth er along , to ambush him. In Do nington also , he didn't want to shake m y hand either. Strange . We'll nev er be fr iend s. We are too different. Do y ou hav e a guru i n ri ding , someone who infl uences you , o r you ad mire? two years , you 've been Va lentinik. What's that all about? Do you kn ow Pappe ri no? He is Dona ld Duck. In one story , Do nald D uck became a Super -H ero . A nd from Pa p p eri no he was Pa p pe ri n ik . So from Va le nti no - Val entinik . Valentino became a Superher o [lau gh s). What is the truth of the story that you were the first man in m odern times t o be smuggled into t he Czech Republi c - throu gh the same border they used to smuggle peo ple out of? [Laughing] It' s true. I start from m y home, and wh en I arrive near th e fro ntier, I rem ember my p assport is in my room . . 1 went to hid e in a sm all cupboard in m y motorhome. They d id n't look in sid e A and so I wa s abl e t o go to Brno to rac e.. . Q .A How di d you get out again? Graz ian o br ought m y passport fo r m e. A nd th e assem b led co mpa ny a ll joins him as h e laug hs som e m ore. 1:1I c ue . e n e vv S • S EPTEM BER 20, 2000 31