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/1437138
INTERVIEW I 2021 MOTOAMERIC A SUPERBIKE CHAMPION JAKE G AGNE P98 the bike was working in a certain turn and he'd set the new data and wire it straight to the bike. Considering all the work that was done remotely, it worked out pretty good. I will add that it was nice having him right there at the last two rounds. And then Mike Canfield and Walker Jemison were my chassis mechanics who were with me the previous season, as well. And of course, Richard [Stanboli], who was technically Josh's Crew Chief, but really he's the guy who organizes the whole program. How was your relationship with Josh Herrin as a teammate? It was great. I raced against Josh for years, but never really got to know him. We obviously spent a lot of time together and became good buddies. It was great getting to know Josh. I know he didn't get the results he wanted, and he missed a couple of races, but we know how talented that guy is. A lot of the preseason chatter centered on Loris Baz entering the series with the Ducati factory team. What was your reaction to some people thinking he might be the favorite at the start of the year? First of all, I was excited to have a big-name rider like Baz and a strong team like Ducati in Making a Better Rider Via Data Attack Performance's Richard Stanboli points to data and having the best rider in the series, in Cameron Beaubier, to compare to, as the biggest reason Jake Gagne improved so much as a rider this year. "Jake is a motocrosser from day one," Stanboli said. "It's a completely different sport in terms of how you ride the motorcycle. It took him awhile to shake some of his moto- cross roots. One example was we lock out the rear brake so it only applies a certain amount of bar. Jake was so used to riding that [rear brake] that it was actually slowing down the motorcycle on the straightaways. "Whenever he had a moment, or the bike would start to wheelie he would smash the brake down and it wasn't a little bit, it was a lot, motocross style. We first noticed it when we discovered his trap speeds were always quite a bit lower than Cam's. We found out it was Jake over using the brake and when he got that fixed it really moved him to a whole new level as a rider. The data is just important to help improve a rider as it is for the machine." What does Richard and Attack Performance do for an encore after overseeing a team that turned in two of the best seasons in the history of the sport? "Just more of the same," he said. "The biggest issue is the one that all teams have and that's trying to find sponsorship. It's tough to get the funding to do things the right way with a Superbike and manage the resources for personnel, so that continues to be a challenge. "We're fortunate in that we have a machine shop here to make parts in house. We can design something here, like a new swingarm or linkage on the computer and the next day pop it out of the machine and go testing. That's an advantage we have, but we have a very small staff and a small budget, even though it doesn't look that way from the outside." The plan is to still have a two-rider team next season. Stanboli expects announcements from Yamaha soon on next year's plans. The idyllic surrounds of The Ridge in Washington were the scene of another Gagne massacre of America's top Superbike riders. (L-R) The awesome foursome of Richard Stamboli, Mike Canfield, Tom Halverson and Jon Cornwell. Together with Gagne they have been unstoppable.