Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

IN THE PADDOCK Decisions, Decisions ne of the more delicate tasks of my own racing season comes right at the end, when putting the finishing touches to the Then you start thinkinS of the faces of the riders as they read it- Some won't care a iot (Valentino Rossi certainly won't. as number one). But many riders are surpris- ingly sensitive souls, feeding as they do on a well- spring of ego and nervous tension- ln such circum- stances, it is all too easy to write something that will be taken as unforgivable. Forever. No mat- ter how many times you say, "Don't worry too much, it's only a passing opinion.'' Now you understand it gets a bit harder So yoL-r apply more rigorous criteria. A good championship performance remains important, but now you look for riders who brought a special excitement. That only makes it more complicated. Because how do you define excitement? Does it have to be positive? For instance, Sete Gibernau had a dis- astrous 2005, but his downfallwas in itself a stimulatinS conundrum. He was riding so well, so fast, and so often. But racinS like a beginner lt was endless tension, waiting to see what would happen to Sete next- Put him on the list, then. But can you really then drop the immaculate Dani Pedrosa, iust because he's just too consistently good to be excitingl This would be to deny an inspi- rational sporting performance. And so on. I shan't reveal my final choice here. lt's in the book. And remem- ber, it's only a passing opinion - a debating point, not the Ten Commandments. But in case you might want to make your own list, here are some pointers, Once you've been through the obvious - Rossi, Loris Capirossi, llarco Flelandri, Nicky Hayden - then you will note that 2005 had only a handful of real shiners. I had to put Toni Elias on my list, ahead of Colin Edwards. What do you think? Also Shinya Nakano, who never stopped tr/ing, even iI he didn't really get any- But Capirossi's turning 33 next April, and next year the top class has had an iniection of youthful vigor from the likes of Pedrosa, Casey Stoner. Chris Vermeulen and James Ellison- After a career punctuated by heroic aggression, Capirossi will need to prove race by race that there is still more left in the pot. Others with plenty to prove? Gibernau for one, now on a Ducati. And still a fasci- nating case. Can he repair that little glitch in his mind that means he has forgotten how to race? Maybe, but at 33 as well, history suggests his career path will con- tinue downward. All of the above, and most of those pair of I''lotoGP outings on a Honda. Now he has the disad\rantage of a Suzuki as his chosen tool, but plenty of promises of technical proSress ringing in his ears. lf his arrival does coincide with a real upgrade to the downbeat GSV-R, two years of improving results, plus the experience of working directly with a factory might serve his CV well. And surprises like this are always welcome. Elias is of the new generation, but with the even greater beneflt o, a year's expe- rience. Now teamed with Helandri on a Honda, I'd tip him to be a factor. Which leaves Pedrosa, also 20, oh the fastest Honda of all, full factory

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