Cycle News

INTERVIEW JAMES RISPOLI P80 think the driving was the weirdest." Buildings are also a bit older in England than Florida. "I've said this many times, but literally if a knight in shining armor rode down on a horse where I lived, you wouldn't be like, that's weird," Rispoli said. "It would be okay because everything's a castle." The awkward adjustment period is all behind him now though. Rispoli feels at home at his home away from home. "Last year was perfect for this year because now I'm ready and it's easy. I got everything done and that's what I went over there last year to do. I know where to stay, I know where to be. I've got a van, I've got a motocross bike, I've got a mountain bike. I know where the trails are, I know where the friends are. I get to go back over to see a second family and it's easy. It's not hard. For me last year was a big warm-up year for this year." Sometimes it works out that going through a rough patch is usually where you grow the most and Rispoli can take awake a positive from the experience. "That was probably one of the toughest years I've had in racing," Rispoli says. "I think that having that year showed me that I can now do it again. So say the next jump—hopefully we have a good year this year and we get to go to the World stage—it's not going to be any different. It's going to be tough the beginning of the year and we're going to have to show it towards the end. It's more likely to be those two-year plans for Americans to get up [to speed]. Luckily now I'm getting the experience." And what better training grounds than racing in a class that is so stacked with competition. "The BSB Supersport class is perfect for going to World Supersport because you get that out-of-the-gate lap record within four laps, so it gets you to wake up quick. And that's what it takes to be on the world level. To have 10, 11, 15 guys within a second, that's getting to those Moto 2 numbers, that's getting to those really tight competitive classes where you've got to be on the ball and you're fighting for tenths every lap. "You can't make a mistake in the British Supersport Series or else you can't make it up. The top three, they're gone, and when that group's gone you can't catch it. It's like a bicycle race. It definitely made me stronger to be able to overcome anything. If I came back here [U.S.], I think it would be easy. No matter how difficult it would be, it would be easy compared to going over there." And while Rispoli's been away, there's been a big change in road racing in the U.S.—the departure of the DMG-run AMA Pro Road Racing series and the birth of the Wayne Rainey-backed KRAVE group's MotoAmerica AMA/FIM North American Road Racing Championship. "I hope it does well. I hope it picks up. Nothing BSB's Supersport is no joke, so it takes full commitment to be on top in such a competitive class.

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