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/128644
Q Did you always expect to get to this po in t - World Champion? A I never really saw it any different. You' re always looking at a situation like being Wo rld Champion - from a [Wayne] Rainey or a [Eddie] Lawson or m y dad, and you th in k what it would be like. Bu t then whe n you get into it , yo u become so complacent, so lost in what you' ve ach ieved , that you never really have time to stop and look around. My da d has he lped me find a perspective of what 's go in g on and what I need to do to accomplish goa ls and champi onships. The best way to win it is to make it look easy , and that's wh at we di d this year to a certain degree. In a way, I never thought I'd get here, but then when I stop and take a look at it and see the wo rk I put into it, I can't believe we've done it. You get so involved with the work, the training and so much commitment to racing , that once you get out of it for awhile and t ake a mo nth off, yo u can see wha t you 've done and you can apprec ia te it more. Q I s it disappointing w he n y ou hear people say bad stuff abo ut the championship , and how you won it? If you had won every single rac e, they would have said there was no competition. B ut now they say you didn 't win en ough races . A The critics are the first on es to say, "Well, he fell down trying to win the race, and he's an idiot." When yo u rid e around conservative, the y still say bad stuff. As long as I can continue to do the things I know I have to do to be successful, I beli eve that will be enough fo r me t o win more World Cha mpio nships and more race s. If you look at Mick [Doohan] , at t he beg inning of hi s career , th ey said , "Oh , he doesn 't have any competition." They always have something to t alk about. I don 't let it bother m e, and I don't pay attenti on to it . When I do hear stuff, it doesn 't reall y bother m e because I lo ok at that person 's point of v iew , and I say , " Yeah, you co uld think that way for sure. That's an op inion. And everybody is enti tle d to them ." Not everybody is go ing to love you , that's for sure . (Above left) Roberts slides h is go-kart at the ranch. (Left, above, below) Training is a big part of Roberts' life. He works out dally with noted physio Dean Miller, lifting weights, playing racquetball and basketball - among oth e r t hing s . Q Do you think it will be more difficult next year , racing as t he Worl d Champion? A I enjoy that pressure. For me, my pressure always was in the fear of not being the best, or not being good enough - not being able to show th at I could be 500 World Champ ion. If I would have been World Champion of Streetbik es or whatever we are go ing to race in 2002 , I don't think it wou ld have felt the same . My goal would have had to change, and I w ouldn 't have been ab le to achieve my ch ildhood goal. When I won my first race , I got better , mentally, because I k new how to do it. I knew what I need ed to achieve to do it. I th ink it will be the same with th is . I'm so content right now in raci ng. I feel so much more free . Now that I've done it , I feel more free . Now I can go to another championship and risk more, no t trying to get hurt, but pushing ha rder to win rac es and to try and co ntrol th e sport a little bi t . I want to b e the gu y that they ha ve to beat every single race . If you pu t it in front and y our bike breaks , or you run off in th e sand an d crash, and you lose a race, because of that you lose a champio nship . Peo ple would say I was stupid and this and that, but they can 't take awa y the fact that I' ve been a World Champion . All I could have done th is ye ar was scre w it up . Halfway through th e yea r , all I could have don e w as screw it up , screw that championship up. So fr om ha lfw ay thro ugh, th at' s all I thought about - and that slows you down . h is t eam , led by Austra lian Warren Willing , had taken on Honda and had won . Junior had accomplished a lifelong goa l. He was Wor ld Champion. Pundits be damned. " For me not to wi n the c h am pi onship would have been detrimental, " Rob ert s said. " It justified m y father's sa c r ific es t o g et me to Gran d Prix rac ing , and to get me ev ery t hi n g I needed to win World Championshi ps, or t o ge t to th e po int of being able to w in World C h am p i o ns h ips . If I cou ldn't h ave do ne t hat, I wouldn 't h av e ac hieved wha t I w a nt ed to ach ieve." Now he's home, enjoying life away fr om ra cing . T h e monkey is off h is back now. He is Kenny Roberts Jr. Wo rld Cha mpion . Th ink about it for a second . Think of th e pres sure that this young m an was under. Son of a legend , opting to try and follow in th e footste ps of the ma n most co nsider t h e grea test m otorc y c le rac er of all ti me . " Fo r me it was a pe rsona l goa l.· Roberts said. "I go racing for person al ac c omp li shm en ts . M y goal h a s alw ays been t o be World Ch ampion t o h ave the status that g oes al on g with that. In 10 y ears f ro m n ow , I want to be kn own as a forme r World Champ ion , and I've done that. I' ve Q never li stened to th e cri ti cs alon g th e way . If yo u g et c au g ht u p in that , yo u're never going to enjoy th e sit uation . I li ve my life th e way I th ink is correct, and I pu t all th e effort into it tha t I k now I h ave to . A t th e en d of the day , I l ook into t he m ir ror, an d I've n ev er sai d, ' I could ha v e tri ed harder,' or th is and th at . In m y tra in i n g , m y m ental ou tl o ok a nd th e prepara t ion I' v e put in t o t h i s, I've a l w a y s be en abl e t o say t hat I couldn't do anything better or try any hard er. T h e critics will alw ay s ha ve someth in g to talk abou t. I don 't let it bother me , and I don 't pay attention t o it. I have a family tha t lo ves us and what we do . Th at 's far better tha n an y of th e negative things you ca n get caught up in. " As far as crashes go, does your crash at A ss en rank ri ght up there with the worst cra shes you've ever had? A I crashed in '9 9 in France when I was beh ind A lex [Criville] . I didn 't crash aga in un til France this y ear, and I thi nk that was th e worst hi gh side I' ve ever had. It beat the heck out of me . By the time I started feeling better, the thing threw me down the ro ad at Holland. It was by far the worst, so I actually had my two worse crashes back to back. When they seize , they seize . Everything is fine, and th en the back wheel just sto ps. Q A t that po int , was there some concern about t he championship getting away? A It was so early , and I still had confidence that we could beat [Carlo s] Che ca an d Yama ha , but didn 't know if th e Hond a guys were going to start coming on or wh at . We d idn 't have a nervous breakdown or anything , but we shou ld have come away with 10 po ints at that rece m inimum. I got on the airp lane on Mond ay an d was just co nc erne d about getting my body ready for the nex t race. I co u ldn't wa lk the next day. I went back to America to see Dr. Ting . On th e thi rd d ay I could walk . They th ought I had a crack in my right ank le, bu t it started to feel better. I j ust con centrated on trying to race in England. > Q Are you frien ds wi th any of your rivals? Are there so me you get along wit h better than others? A I th ink the easies t wa y to put it is that I don't have any enemies that I know of. To be frie nds when everybody is in on Thursday and out on Sunda y n ight, is pretty difficult. It's hard to hang out with anyb ody. It's a whole different world. cue I e n e _ S • JANUARY 3 , 2 00 1 11