Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

you'll see your braking point and everything. It used to be definitely a technique, almost like the motocross guys scrub jumps - keep their speed, but stay low. You have to do the same thing on that hill. You've got to keep the front wheel down. You had to hit it a certain way - actually my brother was the one who taught me how to do it. I think [Doug] Chandler taught him. It's important to get it set down and keep the wheel on the ground. You can brake late through seven, backshifting to second gear, but the problem there is getting the front tire on the ground for the braking. THE CORKSCREW This is where it starts getting good, from eight down to 11. Tipping into eight, what can catch you out there is just the way the bike unweights. They say it's a three-story drop-off. So you have to let the wheels touch the ground, and then touch the throttle. It's second gear. It's all about momentum, through eight, nine, 10. If you screw up anywhere through eight it can throw you off line and mess you up all the way down the hill. TURN 9 - RAINEY CURVE This is probably my favorite corner on the track. It's fast - up to third gear; it's got a little bit of bank to it. It's just a fast corner that is fun. On the way out, you use all the track, then you have to bring it all the way back across the track, and backshift one time, for 10. TURN 10 Braking and back to second. It really bot- toms out as you tip it in to 10. You've got to be careful that you don't drag, because there's a nice little cup in the middle of it. It's important because it sets you up for 11, which is the bust. Laguna's not an easy place to pass at all, because one corner leads into the next, and there's not a lot of hard braking. If you want to pass, you've got to set the guy up. TURN 11 Eleven is a really routine corner. It's the only first- gear corner. I used to hate it. I crashed there a bunch in my life, just silly mistakes. A lot of guys get out in the dirt there. I knocked [Noriyuki] Haga down there in the World Superbike - it's never been too kind to me. The biggest thing, is it leads on to another straightaway. The hardest thing there, is keeping the front wheel down as you're getting through the gears and trying to read your pit board. I think my bike will be good enough to win there, though I've been surprised sometimes when we thought it would work well. It's not a top-speed track, but you need a lot of accelera- tion, and my bike accelerates really good. CN C Y C L E N E W S • JULY 19, 2006 27 Keeping Nicky On Top Racing is a sport of individual skill and courage. It wouldn't be much fun without the riders, but - as all the good ones will keep telling you - they wouldn't have much fun if it wasn't for the guys backing them up in the pits. Nicky Hayden's victory at Laguna Seca last year was a personal tri- umph for him, but also his Repsol Honda crew. So who are the guys who keep his Honda V-five at the top of its game? And what do they talk about during those regular debriefing sessions after a practice or qualifying session. The key figure is New Zealander Pete Benson, promoted to become Hayden's crew chief at the start of last season. The most important out- sider is Patrick Isacco, from Michelin. Also in on the session are Taiji Fukazawa from Showa suspension, team data-recording engineer Ramon Aurin, and Tetsuo Kinoe from HRC, as well as another HRC electronics engineer, Kosaku Murohashi, who is also shared with Dani Pedrosa. "After qualifying, mainly I'm talking to Pete [Benson, crew chief], about everything in general, and the tire guy from Michelin," Hayden says. "He's the same guy for Dani [Pedrosa], so he'll also go away and talk to him. At this point, the HRC guy is just listening. "By the time we get done talking [it could take anything from 15 to 30 minutes] they will have done print-outs, so we'll look at split times for me and everybody, and also get a [computer-generated] circuit map with my speeds, in case I want to compare it with a lap I did earlier, or last year. "Basically we just talk about what problems we're having, and also the gearbox. We have a routine, but not a checklist. It's the same everytime. The gearbox is real important first thing, because that's something if they're going to make a change they need to get on between sessions. Then, normally, I'll get a circuit map and do a whole lap with Pete, in case there's anything I've forgot. "Then I go away and sometimes rest, but normally watch the video – see if there's anything going on, then maybe look at split times a bit more and think about it. Then I go back to the box and we meet again. That's a long time after the session. That ends at 3 p.m., and we meet at 5:15." Then he and the crew discuss what ideas or conclusions they've reached following the first debrief. "It's like we all go away, and study the data and think about things after seeing the video. Also Michelin need to look at the information, see the tire wear and stuff," Hayden said. "Pete and I do most of the talking. The electronics people and the HRC guys are in the background. When we meet later, the HRC guy might have a suggestion, but a lot of the time he's just making notes and recording all the information. "Last year was the first time for Pete to be a crew chief. He had quite a steep learning curve, from being a data guy with the Honda Superbike team to being a MotoGP crew chief. Last year we both learned a lot of stuff together, and how to communicate. And I definitely think we've both gotten better. It's one reason why my results are better this year - he's just understood a lot more. I give Pete a lot of credit. "We get along really good, but not like buddy-buddy. We're honest with each other, and he'll tell me - 'Hey, we need some consistency here.' We don't really worry about hurting each other's feelings or anything. We don't really socialize. Sometimes we'll have dinner, but it's not like we're talking about the World Cup. It's about how we're going to find three- tenths. I hope that's all we're trying to find..." (Clockwise from Nicky Hayden) Tetsuo Kinoe (HRC), Kosaku Murohashi (HRC data engineer), Patrick Isacco (Michelin), Ramon Aurin (telemetry) and Taiji Fukazawa (Showa).

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