eOO6 MotoGP
S€ason
Pn€vi€w
K€NNY
ROBERTS
JUNIOR
Team Roberts
Honda
ls this wishfulthinkintl
Can the
son of a
leg-
end, at 32,
recapture the
long-forgotten
form
that won him the ti.le
in 2000?
Beint
offthe Suzuki
is one inspiration,
beinS back
on his
preferred Michelins
is
another.
Having a
proper Honda engine
a
third.
Then there is the
Team Roberts-built
chassis,
which has every
reason to be
capa-
ble of
a very
Sood
performance.
Be nice to see the
old
"Kenninator"
taking
a few scalps, but
he might still
need
the help of some bad
weather.
lq
CARTOS CH€CA
Tech 3 Yamaha
The old war
horse retums,
after tome belated
PrancinS
and
hoofing late last season,
as he and
the Ducati finalry
8ot
it together, But the
Spaniard
lost the Desmosedici
slot
to Gibemau. and then lost
his Team Honda
Pons deal
when that team closed
down
Ior the
year,
and he bounced
back to the second
Yamaha
team.
Drawback?
They are
fated by lack of sPonsorshiP
to
us€ DunloP tires. Advantage?
The tires
are well
overdue for a revival, and
Carlos showed
amazing speed on
the
lat-
est
rubber at
preseason tests.
Another
hope-for-the-best
iob.
Some
rash commentators are
ripping little
Dani to win a
race or two
in his very first
season,
Not this one.
Dani is a
very high-class
act, but
he is not Superman,
He did achieve
instant suc-
cess in the
250 class
(for two
years) after taking
the 125
tirle, but
this is a much bigger
iump
into much
fiercer
com'
pany,
and
he has a lot to
learn.
All rhe
same, his instant
access
to comPetitive laP
times
in pre-season tests
sound a
very clear
warninS.
Dani's
time is coming very
soon,
and my
prediction
might be
wrong.
I
(
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\*
$
T
d'
36 MARCH
29,2006 CYCLE
NEWS
c;-!-:
/
MOTOGP
LONE
5HOT5
SHINYA
NAKANO
Fuchs Kawasaki
Probably the most impressive
thint about
Nakano, a! 28,
is how much the
other riders
respect
his ability. He
is one ofthe
few people Rossi really
rates.
Easy to say, of course,
because
there's always an excuse
for nonper{ormance.
The
Kawasaki he has ridden
for the
Past
two
years
is behind
the ballFme
on speed,
power
and refinement.
But Shinya
has consistently made the
most of
his motorcycle, and the
green bike
promises a step
forwerd this
year,
with
its new
N1l-like balance-shaft
motor'
allowing them
to make the
most of Big Bang
possibilities.
Yet another
in line to benefit
from any imProvements
from the Bridgestones.
7
t
s
)
\
I
\:l
,
lu,',
n
7
DANI PEDROSA
R€psol
HRC Honda
7
