INTERVIEW
FIM SPEEDWAY WORLD CHAMPION GREG HANCOCK
P72
the traction. If the bike is leaned
over too far, the tire basically
gets weighted. The more upright
you are, the more tire you have
on the ground—like MotoGP, I
guess. The more you can get it
upright, the more the bike is go-
ing to go forward.
Where is the next wave of
talented speedway racers com-
ing from? Australia? Certain
parts of Europe? The sport has
been somewhat dormant in
the United States. Will anyone
come out of here in the near or
not-too-distant future?
Just what you said, Australia is
kind of the birthplace of speed-
way from the beginning. They've
had some ups and downs, but
there is a flood of youngsters
coming through right now from
Australia. They're from age 17
right on up to the current guy
who had a good run this year
and that's Jason Doyle. He's 31.
The biggest flood of riders is
coming out of Poland. They have
an incredible program from start-
ing the kids at a young age and
you can just see the natural pro-
gression. As many guys that are
graduating up from the senior
parts of the team, there're 10
guys to that one who are coming
up from the bottom who are just
"The rider and the bike have to work
together. The bikes haven't evolved that
much. They still look kind of prehistoric."
When it comes to
racing, Hancock is
pure business.
