On-Track Off-Road issue 181 by otormag

MotoGP

powering the dream Among the new sights eagerly expected at Valencia just 48 hours after the 2018 MotoGP season closed was Jorge Lorenzoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Repsol Honda debut. The former champion was still struggling with his ? wrist but completed ? laps on Tuesday with his third bike in four years in the premier class Photo by CormacGP/Polarity Photo

el garĂ§on For the second year in a row the La Defense Arena in the heart of one of Parisâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; most modern and progressive areas was the focal point for nonAmerican Supercross. Marvin Musquin was a late withdrawal and that left Jason Anderson to wow the French crowd Photo by Ray Archer

WorldSBK

one step beyond

Writing about WorldSBK has tended to mean one rider and one team and ominously it seems like the trend might not shift after some startling times by Jonathan Rea at Aragon for the first 2019 outing. Only the Britâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s frightening speed could detract from Ducatiâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s V4 debut Photo by GeeBee Images

motogp

gran premio motul de la comun

ricard tormo Âˇ november 19th Âˇ Rnd 19 of 19 MotoGP winner: Andrea Dovizioso Moto2 winner: Miguel Oliveira, KTM Moto3 winner: Can Oncu, KTM

nitat valenciana

motogp valencia

out of the mist By Adam Wheeler. Blogs by David Emmett, Neil Morrison Photos by CormacGP/Polarity Photo

motogp valencia

When it rained, it poured…and that was certainly the case for KTM who sealed headlines at the end of the longest MotoGP season on record at Valencia. Honda wrapped up the Triple Crown, Valentino Rossi crashed out of a podium position for the second Grand Prix in a row (statisticians might still actually be looking to see if this has happened before from his twenty-three years in the FIM world championship) but still took third place in 2018, Andrea Dovizioso ruled superbly through at the place where he waved goodbye to the title in 2017 and Marc Marquez crashed out of a race for the first time in ’18. But it all seemed to pale into insignificance against the milestone achievement by fifteen year old Can Oncu, then the dominant set for the Red Bull KTM Ajo team thanks to Miguel Oliveira’s rain mastery and Pol Espargaro’s quite stunning charge against Marquez, his Turn 2 crash, the recovery with a broken fairing to eighth place and then making a first podium for the fledgling factory in the soaked MotoGP restart.

The autumnal storms washed out the Ricardo Tormo for the better part of three days and threw elements of round nineteen into the trickling water. For all the heightened tensions for the teams the weather did make for increased drama. It barely looked rideable. “It is only the fact that you have world class riders on world class machinery and world class tyres that we’re out there,” commented Bradley Smith; content with his personal best finish of 8th place on the RC16 on his final run. KTM partied and many turned up to the MotoGP awards to see Marquez, Dovizioso and Rossi walk out to collect their medals. For a number of years now Valencia has felt like a long, much-needed exhalation by the paddock after a hefty campaign. Monday is like an escape valve for concentration before the work ratio has to be cranked up for the 2019 test. It seems excessive but is also a consequence of the December/January testing blackout.

motogp valencia

the shape of water The deluge of water quickly reminded observers of the British Grand Prix and the farcical scenes of delays, flooding and a recently resurfaced circuit that somehow refused to drain. It felt like Valencia saw the same – if not more – rainfall than Silverstone and there were only a few trouble-spots on the flat course; the dip out of Turn 14 and onto the main straight one of the most visual. The poor light and the sheen from the asphalt gave the action a stunning mirrorlike appearance at times: it was as distinctive as the beams from Losail.

limit or it’s okay. So I tried to give feedback. They take the decision immediately…”

Calling a halt to the MotoGP race after 13 laps (not three-quarter distance) and a particularly heavy cloudburst came as Andrea Dovizioso hit the lead and managed a halfwave to Race Direction on the start straight. “We spoke in the Safety Commission,” the Italian said afterwards. “They asked us to give feedback about the condition of the track because from the TV is not easy - like [for] us - to understand exactly if it’s over the

“When the heavy rain starts, I was taking maybe a lot of risk,” said Alex Rins, who nevertheless managed his fifth podium finish with the Suzuki. “So I tried to be on the bike because it was very, very difficult.”

Riders were later split in their opinions whether the sprint could have been halted or not. “Probably the best idea was to stop the race three or four laps before because the quantity of water was increasing very quickly and riders were crashing like flies,” said Jorge Lorenzo after a steady but unspectacular final appearance on the Ducati. “The track was difficult so you needed to be very careful and very slow to avoid crashing.”

“For me was a great shame, the red flag,” said Rossi. “At that moment I was very fast. Especially [because] I also have the right front tyre compared to Rins and Dovi. So I

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can beat them. But it’s true that there was a lot of water. It was a bit dangerous. Also in the second race, at one moment it was quite dangerous. But for me they [Race Direction] work well. Also for me is very negative that we stop.” Marc Marquez was perhaps the most high profile casualty of a number of fallers. At least nine from the field. “You know, when I was riding before I crashed, the lap before, I started to think ‘if it continues like this in two or three laps they will stop the race’. So I was thinking, ‘just be on the bike because if they stop the race I will change the tyre’,” he added in reference to an error selecting a Medium tyre compared to the Soft in a gamble that the rain would ease. “But I mean, when I crashed it was still possible to ride. OK, it was dangerous, because there was some aquaplaning in some areas but it was OK to ride.”

“Those were by far the worst conditions I have raced in, in terms of spray, aquaplaning, standing water and running water but it was around one-two places,” said Smith whose motivation not to end his last GP with KTM in the gravel led to him pushing the RC16 back to the pitlane after his penultimate corner crash and just making it in time around the five minute window of the red flag. The effort allowed him to use the second bike and make the restart. “I think a lot of people will draw comparisons to Silverstone but I don’t think that is fair. I think Silverstone was in worse condition than we were racing today. With the restart it was fine again to be riding, the spray was dangerous but it was only really on the main straight where it was really bad. In the braking area it cleared up because of the new surface. I felt that everyone was out there and knew the limits of what they were riding in. It is one of those that could catch you out like ‘that’ but I’ve also ridden [somewhere like] Misano in little water and it can also catch you.”

Photos by KTM/Sebas Romero/Gold and Goose

motogp valencia

can can In a way it was a shame that Moto3 was not as ‘gripping’ for the riders as for the sodden fans and TV viewers. Only twenty runners made it to the chequered flag but the dejection for Pole Position holder Tony Arbolino (yet to take a GP podium in just two seasons) after crashing out of the lead was contrasted by the extended anxiety for teenager, Red Bull Rookies Champion and debutant Can Oncu and eventual joy and disbelief of history being made. It is fitting that the Turk made his milestone and took the record of the previous youngster winner – Scott Redding – on a day when the latter bowed out of grand prix after ? updown and charisma-marked seasons. It also announced his talent in the most emphatic way. Hair billowing out the back of his lid, Oncu somehow conveyed youthful abandon and mature calculation at once. It almost all went wrong when he unseated himself on the last lap but the family and Ajo team were uncontained with their joy. “I was not taking much risk,” he said with his basic level of English. “I was riding normal. I could see the pit wall and I could also see the big TV on Turn1. I could see there was a big battle behind me. It’s a really nice feeling to write a new story as the youngest rider ever [to win] and to finish on the podium means I am two-times happy!” When asked how he dealt with the longer race distance compared to his usual fare in the Rookies there was a shrug of the shoulders. “Before the race I drink one coffee! Maybe it helps me,” he smiled.

It’s clear that Oncu’s prolificacy in the entry level to Grand Prix has been good for his racecraft as much as his profile. “In the Rookies I learned how to fight and to ride the KTM, as well as manage the races and not to crash,” he said. “I learned to be calm because to be here was my dream and there are some incredible riders, incredibly fast. I’m ready to see how we will be next year.” In terms of aftermath Oncu has made a very hot bed for his first Grand Prix tilt in 2019. His Valencia feat was the equivalent of scoring a World Cup final goal in the first minute of the match. He’s going to have to see out his development and will have the shadow of this performance to compete against (as well as everyone else). He would not be the first Red Bull Rookie starlet to struggle with the pace and conversion to life in Grand Prix. As an opening statement of intent however it doesn’t get much more brash.

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Un-watered down orange ‘squash’ It’s hard not to like Pol Espargaro. He is sincere, open, expressive and clearly enamoured with his job and opportunity. He has been bashed around a fair bit in 2018 both before and during the season. In fact, such was his rate of luck this year that most of the Red Bull KTM crew can be forgiven for chewing through a few finger nails as he tussled with Marc Marquez and somehow crashed, recovered and made third place happen at Valencia. A good result was not unexpected – Espargaro had shown top ten, even top five, pace through wet and dry practice in Spain and qualified in sixth – but to be able to charge to third was another realm. “To always be in the top eight was building me and my confidence up during the weekend. I knew I could be up there,” he recounted. “Marc had some problems with the rear tyre and I knew he did not have the same grip as me or the rest of the guys. I tried to overtake him from inside and outside but Marc was braking so hard and the Honda was really good on acceleration.” He shakes his head. “I was so fast in T2 and when you are fast in one place you don’t need to try harder compared to the others but I tried in that place and made an amazing crash, a big highside. The bike was without part of the fairing. I then worked from last to seventh-eighth. It was wild and I don’t know how I did it because I could not see much in the straight, there was a lot of wind and my neck was hurting because I could not tuck into anything at that speed. The red flag was like a ‘message’ because the bike was still working after that big crash and I said to myself ‘man, this is your opportunity, take it’.

Espargaro left Yamaha and Tech 3 in a spate of prolonged frustration of not being given competitive tools in MotoGP. His signature for KTM required complete reorientation of his goals and presence in grand prix, and he has displayed patience and quietened ambition in the cause. The team seemed to lean more towards his potential for results compared to Bradley Smith and after two seasons it is the Catalan who has stamped the best results and classifications in qualifications and races to-date. “In Moto2 and 125 I was winning and on the podium and was constantly there,” he explained. “As humans we are so stupid because we get used to good things when they happen. When I was world champion you enjoy it so much and it was amazing and because you have been winning so much it is emotional…but not really like today. What we did today was so difficult and we have been trying so many times with this new bike, this new KTM. It makes this so emotional, maybe more than winning a world championship…even if it is only a third place.” On whether he could have imagined a rostrum appearance so early, at the culmination of his first contract with another two years to go, Espargaro was realistic. “Not for me at the beginning,” he states. Maybe for Mr Pierer at home and Pit [Beirer]; they are strong people and they know what they want! For me it was difficult to see this result and imagine it. We have to think that this bike has only been running for two years. In Qatar last year we were the last on the grid and a second away from the guy in front. During the season we have been ‘blocked’ because I have been injured and Mika [Kallio] also and it was difficult for development.”

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“It has been unbelievable progress and I’m really proud of the guys and all the ones in Mattighofen and around the project. They have put so much effort and interest into it. This is like an oxygen bottle for us to face the future.” KTM’s injury problems left Smith as the sole runner at two Grands Prix and with their testing programme severely delayed due to Kallio’s knee ligament operation. The circumstances were only too clear for Motorsport Director Pit Beirer. “I said all year that we are better than we could prove on paper because we had injured riders and we were not so lucky,” the German said immediately post race and in the midst of celebrations. “We fell into a big hole in Sachsenring at a time when we were first in warm-up with a new bike and we thought ‘now we’ll make progress’ but Pol injured himself at the next race. Everything went wrong.” “There was a critical moment two months ago when we looked at the new bike and

elements like the chassis and, together with strong people at the factory, we decided to stick to the plan because we were sure we were on the right way,” he adds. “It was important not to lose the direction and today was the first big payback. We had Pol completely free of pain and with a good feeling. In this sport you need super-fit riders to compete on this level. This is a big payback for the whole company. I think every single department in KTM was somehow integrated to make this project work and the whole race team and everybody else put in so many hours. Third place is perhaps more than we expected today but this is the best way to give something back to racing people: a result. It means so much and it is difficult to find the right words how I feel.” Together with their Dakar win, the Husqvarna-led titles in Supercross and the utter decimation of MXGP it is has been another outstanding year for the Munderfing-based operation.

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Pol: â&#x20AC;&#x153;we are trying to be as fast as the dirt guys in MX who have been winning everything. The road bikers are a bit behind so I am happy we are able to show we have some power.â&#x20AC;?

Photos by KTM/Sebas Romero/Gold and Goose

the third one A small slice of sympathy for Jorge Lorenzo. The uber-talented Spaniard faced his third team and factory motorcycle in three years with his first run on the Repsol Honda on Tuesday. Not only was Lorenzo missing race fitness and knowledge that he was entering the Triple Crown-winning environment of the most outstanding athlete in MotoGP but HRC were also struggling for important cocontrasts. Cal Crutchlow’s injury counted him out while Marquez was nursing an otherwise heavily strapped shoulder and hungry to reach planned surgery in December to right the ailment. Lorenzo – who has not ventured near Honda machinery since his 250cc days in 2005 – could not offer much of a base reference for the Japanese for improvements over the 2018 RCV. One of the more prominent questions of the off-season will be about the rate of work needed by factory, team and rider to get the Honda to Lorenzo’s liking before engines are sealed and 2019 gets underway. Lorenzo will be mindful of how he had to shape-shift to make the Ducati work and the transition period that required. As Marquez was quick to remind the media at Valencia on Sunday night, the spotlight is still very much on #99 despite the colour of the bike. “It’s like my first year in 2013, you need to be in the front,” #93 said. “Because this is the way. It’s no excuse. You have one of the bikes which has won the championship. He will be fast.” “Tuesday I will not be 100% but I will be able to see some things, some important things, and be quite okay,” Lorenzo said. When it came to the crunch back at Valencia ?????

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Bearing the weight: The Marquez shoulder The World Champion’s crash in Q2 led to the now-customary sight of Marc Marquez holding his left shoulder while walking through the gravel. The Catalan was not explicit about the extent of the persist injury or what will be fixed in the forthcoming operation (“I don’t know, I just say to the doctor: ‘I want to be ready in February for the test!’ Most of the time they take like a small bone and they put it here in front, it depends on the technique”) but it is clearly a constant source of annoyance and burden. After an animated discussion was witnessed on Sunday afternoon between the senior member of the Repsol Honda team and Marquez’s set-up there was some speculation that Marquez would not fulfil his testing plans in Valencia – something that would be a sizeable setback considering Dani Pedrosa’s departure, Jorge Lorenzo’s ‘rookie’ status and Cal Crutchlow’s absence. Marquez appeared from the behind-closeddoors briefing ahead of his meeting with the press to state that he would be running the 2019 Honda. “We were planning already the tests on Tuesday and Wednesday,” he explained. “I like to ride during all the day but here in Valencia and Jerez, it’s very important to test. I need to be precise, not many laps. Of course my physical condition is not 100%. So not many laps, just try to try a few things, and that’s it.” He also talked about how the injury has affected the last four rounds of what has otherwise been a triumphant and occasionally controversial season. “It’s painful since Motegi. But of course I am able to ride but if I hit it on the practice, I will dislocate it.”

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“I had a strange movement, but today I had a very strong tape on the shoulder,” he said of his race highside that was a consequence of a misjudgement with his rear tyre choice. “I was just touching the shoulder because it was so painful but then I realized that everything was in, and it was just from hitting it.” “The first thing when I arrived in the box, I said sorry to the team, to Honda, to Repsol, because it was my decision, it was my mistake,” he said of the tumble that led him to bang the tyre wall repeatedly in frustration. “OK, everything is done, and another rider might say ‘it doesn’t matter, I’m champion’ but I want to be perfect, and today I did a mistake. It’s something I need to improve for next year.”

CHALLENGE CONVENTION

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Some rules are made to be broken. Weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re not saying you should break the law â&#x20AC;&#x201C; but we are saying that the laws of physics are merely guidelines. The KTM 690 SMC R challenges the status quo by writing its own rule book. Experience this all-new, rule-bending, big-bore outlaw and start your own chapter. Photo: R. Schedl

MotoGP vAlENCIA

Sayonara Samurai Valencia was Dani Pedrosa’s swansong. At the circuit where he triumphed in 2017 – his last win in fact – the most successful rider never to win a premier class crown (but however able to hold the rank of

champion in two other categories) was feted with attention, a barrage of questions about his emotions – never Dani’s favourite scenario – and a fitting MotoGP Legend induction.

The championship might not miss Daniâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s penchant for invisibility off the bike but there is little doubting the significance of his exit and a talent that perhaps should not have been able to achieve so much with the limitation of his size and weight and susceptibility to bone breaks. The 33 year old is a man of dignity and serenity in an environment that can sometimes furiously wrapped up in its own importance. Watching him deadpan media questions over the years became almost as impressive as watching what he could do on the Honda.

The question of whether he stayed too long with one brand, and perhaps did not always deserve continual contract extensions with the absence of a championship (that seems a job requisite at HRC) has surrounded him in recent years. There are many who feel a team or manufacturer switch would have shown a different side to Pedrosa. On the other hand there has to be a degree of respect for remaining with one Japanese firm for seventeen years and for being unflinching in not wanting to accept a competitive environment any lower or less committed than HRC.

Pedrosa will test a KTM at the Sepang test. First he dealt with those questions and explained why Valencia was not quite the sendoff he expected… What were you feeling when you came off the bike? When I came in I saw the box full of people and lots of friends and family and good old friends, so it was a nice moment. But yes, I was a little more emotional before the race, when I [came] across some people wishing me luck, some fans. I see in their look the sadness of not having that moment again. But I was quite OK afterwards because I could not do what I wanted to do in the race. Basically the conditions were very tough, it was easy to crash, basically I was on top of the water. I wasn’t touching the ground with the tyres and couldn’t really give my best because I knew if I tried to lean the bike I would crash. So I was trying not to crash, I didn’t give everything I wanted to give in this last race because I don’t have the tools to do it. That’s why maybe I was a little more calm at the end because I know I can do much better but of course my father and my mother were really emotional. They know since I was born how much I like [this] and how much they worked to get me there, so it was a special thing. Maybe now I’m ok and maybe later it’s the opposite, I don’t know. While riding, did it come to mind that this would be the last time with that feeling? Maybe the last lap…but it was just for one second and I knew that if I kept thinking on I would crash in the next corner so no, actually… What will you miss most from racing at this level and what are you relieved not to do anymore? I would say two things: one is crashing and going to hospital, and second one some of the [media commitments], not all, just the days that are not good; that’s the difficult ones. What I will miss the most is winning, the satisfaction of achieving.

What’s the hardest part about leaving the track and going back home? I don’t know. I think leaving behind the fans who were here and wrote to me on social media, they will not have the chance to see me riding [any more]. Of course I will ride and I will enjoy still riding bikes on MotoGP or off road but sure they will not have the chance to watch me. Marc saying he learned a lot from you. Do that make you proud? Not so proud that people learn from me…because looks like they picked the good things only! What’s the plan for next days, weeks, months? Next weeks unfortunately I’m still super-busy with the schedule with Repsol, Honda and a couple of events, also one with fans, maybe one surgery. So I’m still busy until the end of the year. Maybe until January I don’t have the chance to go windsurfing. Surgery? Yes, for removing screws and things. If I don’t do it now, later on you don’t want to do it.

motogp valencia

motogp BLOG

Not as #93 might have liked... Another year, another title. On the face of it, Marc Márquez’ fifth MotoGP crown looked like the inevitable outcome of a dominant rider on a fast bike. Márquez wrapped up the championship at Motegi with three races to go and an advantage of 102 points. Since then, Andrea Dovizioso has reduced the deficit to a ‘mere’ 76 points, but it took two DNFs by the Repsol Honda rider to close the gap. Was the 2018 season a foregone conclusion, as the results appear to show? I’m not so sure. Obviously the points margin by the end of the season was huge, and Márquez took the title very early indeed. But you can argue that a confluence of events gave him a big boost along the way. Going into 2018, Márquez looked like having both Movistar Yamaha riders, Andrea Dovizioso, and Dani Pedrosa to contend with. Jorge Lorenzo was fastest at Sepang, then miserably slow in Thailand, and there were doubts over his ability to be consistently fast.

Dovizioso beat Márquez in the season opener at Qatar, a sign that Márquez faced a tough challenge. In Argentina, the Repsol Honda rider had his meltdown in the race, leaving him well down on points and with the wrath of half the paddock hanging over his head. Dovizioso limited the damage at Austin, Márquez’ window of victory also reduced compared to previous years. When the series returned to Europe, the championship was still completely open. Just 8 points separated the top five, and Dovizioso was still leading Márquez. It felt like anything could happen. And happen it did. A bizarre crash on lap 18 at Jerez saw Lorenzo and Pedrosa try to occupy the same piece of tarmac, putting them both on the floor and out of the race, taking Dovizioso with them in the process.

Pedrosa reinjured the wrist he had hurt in Argentina, Lorenzo’s progress was temporarily halted, and Dovizioso lost a whole bunch of points through no fault of his own. That was very different at Le Mans. At the French GP, Dovizioso’s undoing was all of his own making. Losing the front after going just off line at La Chapelle, Dovizioso crashed out of the lead. Johann Zarco crashed as well, and Maverick Viñales finished a mediocre seventh, putting two more rivals at a big disadvantage. Suddenly, Márquez was leading by 36 points. A hiccup at Mugello – zero points after losing the front at Scarperia chasing Jorge Lorenzo – saw the gap close, but Márquez’ lead was still comfortable. Then Dovizioso crashed at Barcelona, Lorenzo won for the second race in succession, taking points from the competi-

By David Emmett

tion, and the Yamahas could never quite manage to finish ahead of the Repsol Honda rider. Dani Pedrosa struggled with injury, and with getting heat into the tyres, and Márquez won at Assen and the Sachsenring. Alex Rins got on the podium in Holland and Germany, taking yet more points from the title contenders. By the time the brief summer break arrived, Márquez led Valentino Rossi by an ironic 46 points, while the only riders to have actually won lagged a long way behind. There was still a lot of racing left to do, but Márquez’ ability to always finish on the podium when he couldn’t was what was making the difference. Dovizioso and Lorenzo claimed races, Yamaha suffered a mid-season slump, but Marc Márquez either won, or finished second, with a solitary third place at Brno. By the time Ducati put themselves in a position to close the gap to Márquez, they were already too far behind for it to make the difference.

Meanwhile, Valentino Rossi lost ground to the Repsol Honda rider at every race, the Yamaha fast, but not quite fast enough to be truly competitive. Look at the points differential, and you would say that the 2018 MotoGP season has been boring. It has been anything but. Seven of the eighteen races were decided by less than a second. Jorge Lorenzo went from a struggling star to a consistent race winner. Suzuki got on the podium nine times, and Johann Zarco looked like he was on the verge of winning a race several times. Eleven riders scored a podium, as did five of the six factories in the series. Márquez wrapped up this title by combining winning with a ferocious consistency, a lesson from 2017. “This is something that we worked on really hard this pre-season, to achieve this consistency,” Márquez said after winning the title at Motegi. “It’s what I learned from Dovi last year. He was really good at managing these situations.”

That consistency meant Márquez outscored everyone else, no matter what they did. Marc Márquez earned his fifth MotoGP title the hard way, even with a worsening left shoulder ailment. His points advantage doesn’t reflect just how hard he had to work.

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motogp BLOG

Here to stay? Cast your mind back to Valencia two years ago. On the Tuesday that followed the season’s last race, a gaggle of much hyped rookies entered their new garages, sat on their new bikes, and familiarised themselves with a new crew of technicians. Of the four making the step, the most was expected of Alex Rins, a fresh addition to the Suzuki stable, and a twotime runner-up in the junior categories. But a fair share of question marks surrounded the eversmiling figure. Then, at 20 years old, Rins’ quest to wrestle the Moto2 world crown out of Johann Zarco’s grasp had fallen away badly. In that season’s climax, a broken collarbone limited him to just one podium in his final seven races in the class. And it was hard to overlook ex-team boss Sito Pons’ comments and how they appeared to go unheeded. “Zarco has to become his obsession, his only thought,” the ex-250cc champ told veteran journalist Manuel Pecino in 2016.

“I told him to forget about Twitter, sunglasses and all this other nonsense. Alex has to decide what he wants to be here for…” After a disastrous end of season, Rins first outing on a 260bhp MotoGP machine didn’t go much better. Trackside observers noted how awkward he appeared as he grappled with the added power and drastically different characteristics of Michelin’s spec rubber. A frontend fall and impact with a criminally under-protected trackside barrier put the brakes on his big-adaption. Two compressed vertebrae had him moving gingerly right through the tests the following year. Once again, Pons’ comments rung out. But what a difference two seasons makes. Those same doubts have been put to bed as Rins can now boast of a campaign of genuine quality. In no way was fifth position in the championship flattering his talents as he comprehensively outperformed

more experienced teammate Andrea Iannone in the standings. Rins racked up five podiums along the way, as well as five further top six finishes. Factory legend Kevin Schwantz has stated he is “the future … I think Alex might be one of the riders that might be able to give Marquez a run for his money.” And had it not been for an early inconsistent streak that led to four crashes in the first seven outings, there’s good reason to believe could have finished well above not just one of the Movistar Yamahas, but two. A sure sign of just how Rins has blossomed as one of MotoGP’s leading lights was not only that his second place on Sunday was almost a disappointment considering he led 14 of the 27 laps; he was even fielding questions as to whether he would be playing a part in next year’s title race afterward. Some journey for a rider who seemed incapable of dealing with the pres-

By Neil Morrison

sures that comes with starting a year as a preseason favourite when in the junior categories (2014 and ‘16), and one whom his team manager still considers “almost a rookie.” If Maverick Viñales’ second term with Suzuki was nothing short of exceptional, consider this: Rins scored more podiums (five to Viñales’ four). And as Suzuki’s team boss Davide Brivio is only too keen to point out: “We’re coming from a difficult 2017. That leaves some effect. You have to consider that with Alex he missed almost half of last year. His rookie route was more difficult [than Maverick’s].” For this, Suzuki deserves enormous credit. There was a reason why Aleix Espargaro cited the GSX-RR to be one of the grid’s two best machines in early June. As Iannone’s four podiums bear out, the 2018 evolution was arguably Suzuki’s best, most complete machine since its full-time premier class return three years before. It handled beautifully.

Thanks to the test team duo of Sylvain Guintoli and worldly engineer Tom O’Kane, many traction issues of the past were solved. And a new evolution of the engine gave riders greater top speed from Assen onwards. Rins has had the benefit of learning his craft alongside crew chief Jose Manuel Cazeaux, too. Twice Viñales has tried to lure the Argentinean to Yamaha. Twice he has turned his ex-rider down. A technician with intimate knowledge of the GSX-RR, Cazeaux never loses sight of the bigger picture. From premier class debut in Qatar, he has drilled the correct working method into the 22-year old.

at the close of last year. “Sometimes when you’re on track, you find another rider and you try to follow to do a good lap, but you forget what you’re doing. It’s very important to do mini-long runs. We need to a minimum quantity of laps to be able to analyse and make some statistical analysis of what is better and what is worse.”

And in Rins, he has found a rider willing to listen, and fully absorb. Rarely does he top free practice sessions. Nor is he panicked when not featuring among the leading names on a Friday. But Sunday is always in mind.

But to downplay Rins’ own input in his recent rise would be to overlook one of 2018’s more pressing storylines. Contrast his fortunes with his more colourful, maddening teammate through the year’s summer months. Such were his continued woes with managing his rear tyre, Iannone’s scowl had most sensible hacks dodging Suzuki hospitality for many weekends as though the lurgy was contained within. But this was one of Rins’ strengths. “Alex is really good at managing the tyre,” says Brivio.

“He’s building his method, a feeling for what is happening on the bike, and transmitting this to the team,” Cazeaux told me

“For instance at Misano, where the tyres were an issue, and we needed him to manage he did a good job. He’s able to do that

motogp BLOG

when necessary. Being young, he’s already at a good level in terms of race management. Friendly and softly spoken to the extent of sounding out of place among the glamour and the egos, Rins may just give Shinya Nakano a run for his money as “most unassuming racer” to grace the premier class in recent times. Speaking to him in person can require a double-take; is this meek, gentle figure really the same person who took such glee in barging Marquez on the exit of Strubben in his coming-of-age ride at the Dutch Grand Prix?

“Each [rider] made his own selection [last winter] but Andrea sometimes went back. In Aragon for example, Andrea said he went back and used the setting of Alex. Sometimes he went in Alex’s direction.”

But don’t let that fool you. Suzuki is already confident he won’t shy away as the factory’s undisputed figurehead now Iannone has gone. “Already in the past winter Alex made his own selection of his own parts,” recalls Brivio. “We tested chassis, engine, swingarms and Alex made his own selection. He built up his own package. He’s quite sensitive and good in development in terms of what he needs, what he likes.

rue to form, he batted away suggestions he goes into 2019 as a title contender. “It’s too early to think of the target for the next year,” he said. “First of all, I want to get my first victory in a MotoGP with Suzuki. This I is our main goal.” Don’t expect this levelheaded youngster to relinquish his newly-found place near the head of the table anytime soon.

There were many similarities to draw between Viñales and Rins’ second season among the elite. Unlike his countryman, Rins’ temperament is nowhere near as explosive. And he now has the chance to build on a further winter surrounded by a team he knows. T

Photo by Milagro/Monster

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Diffe

ANTETITULO XXXXXX XXXXXXX Firma xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

erent By Adam Wheeler. Photos by CormacGP/Polarity Photo

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Rossi: â&#x20AC;&#x153;Pecco, for me, is something more natural and with a smile.â&#x20AC;?

Pecco Bagnaia: World Champ

The 2018 Moto2 World Champion has all the ingredients to be MotoGP’s next big thing

rancesco ‘Pecco’ Bagnaia would seem to have it all. 21 years, looks, unwavering focus, the backing of Italy’s highest-profile team and the most potent infrastructure through the VR46 Academy and now a place in the record books of Grand Prix motorcycle racing. In just his second year of Moto2 competition and the last season with that distinctive screech of 600cc Honda engines, #42 has achieved the distinction of world champion a year after Academy-mate and friend Franco Morbidelli shined the gold FIM winner’s medal. Add a confirmed seat with the Alma Pramac Ducati team in MotoGP for 2019 and Bagnaia is really moving places. The Italian delivered SKY Racing Team VR46’s first title this year after a tense duel with Miguel Oliveira while watching teammate Luca Marini mature and develop into a Grand Prix winner in his own right. We interviewed Pecco in Jerez 2017 and found a rider eager, anxious and with the obvious inner drive and demeanour of belief that he was firmly on the road to the MotoGP class. Thanks to his talk with Neil Morrison early in 2018 he found out what it was like for him to be leading the world. Now, a few months later, he’s world champion and undoubtedly the definition of ‘excitement’ in a buck of young talent that include Oliveira and Joan Mir that will mix up the MotoGP elite in 2019.

For VR46 it meant a second successive champion in their stable and vindication of the work done by the programme overseen by the world’s most famous racer. Bagnaia seems like a different character and racer even – compared to Morbidelli. Due to Oliveira he arguably had a tougher route to the crown. “We speak a lot about this when we [want to] ‘lose time’: we ask ‘is Franco stronger or is it Pecco?’ We don’t know!” laughs Valentino Rossi. “For me it looks like Pecco has more natural talent but at the same time Franco is more…[makes a ‘f**k you fist’] is more strong, more ‘bad’! I think this is the biggest difference. It looks like Franco ‘works’ more on the bike is more aggressive. Pecco, for me, is something more natural and with a smile. I don’t know who is the strongest. I think both are very strong. I think next year in MotoGP they can have a similar performing bike so maybe we can see how they fight.” Ironically – prior to the season-closer at Valencia – both Bagnaia and Morbidelli had exactly the same stats in their championship-winning campaigns: eight wins and twelve podiums. So Pecco ended up losing bragging rights after the Portuguese wet-weather triumph. He could well become the de facto ‘second lieutenant’ to Rossi in the Academy set-up but this would just be another highlight to add to his blindingly shimmering list of ‘things going for him’.

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We pinned Bagnaia for some time to explain the last nine months and his trek to the first momentous plinth of his career… This has been a different season, a different way to go racing. You’ve been at the front every weekend and that must bring more scrutiny and pressure… I think the biggest factor was consistency and staying with the same team, bike and category. Last year I was a rookie in Moto2 and I had to learn about the bike and the class. 2018 was the first season where everything was in place for me to try to win. I also changed my mentality this year. My training was the same, the set-up – apart from new suspension –

and we also created a big ‘group’ in the team together with Luca. It felt we were working all together every week. We were at the front every session. It was like you could feel the strength back in the pitbox and this was important for me in a championship [push]. The consistency was key, especially in the second half of the season because I had a ninth place in Argentina [round two], which was not OK. In Barcelona and Sachsenring we had some bad luck with a [poor] rear tyre and [Mattia] Pasini crashing in front of me. From Brno [round ten] we were very constant and I’m really happy about that.

Pecco Bagnaia: World Champ xxxxxxxx: xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Photo by Milagro/Monster Energy

Last year the guys were telling you to calm down and don’t worry about a bad result[smiles] it was my first year… How was that advice and the way the group treated you different in 2018? Your first race of the year was a victory and it set the tone… I think that advice to keep calm was the best I have received in the last few years. It is so true. If you can keep calm then it means things are better for you and your team. But…if I see something I don’t like then I do get a bit stressed! I’m working on that…but I need a bit more time. It has been going quite well this season even if the pressure has been higher. I feel I can cope well with pressure. I know this is one of my strong points and the team have been very cool with me, they knew what was possible and played it well. Fighting and winning a champion-

ship is something very new to me and the team have dealt with that in a great way. What’s it like to have a stellar season? You might win the first couple of rounds and have that euphoria but what about when you get to rounds ten, eleven, twelve and so on? Does the excitement dip and is replaced by another type of emotion? Ha! For me it doesn’t dip. I finished second in Japan [he was later awarded the win after Fabio Quatararo’s disqualification] and wasn’t very happy. On one side it was good for the championship because Oliveira was behind and it meant more points. It was the same in Aragon. When IRTA came to us in Japan and said I had the victory then I was really satisfied.

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Pecco Bagnaia: World Champ

I still think that for our team each and every win is something incredible. My best this year was in Thailand [round fifteen] because it was me and Luca versus Miguel and Brad. SKY versus Ajo! And we won the battle. I don’t think Team Ajo were expecting us to be in the race because we were fast but not like them and we made a little step and could beat them. That was really nice. The best of the year.

Away from the bike what is it like to be a race winner and champion? More media. I also have more people saying congratulations…even some that said a few years ago I was nothing. It is important at this time to know which people you need to have around you; those who love you and those that you can trust. I understand that very much now and have made a small step in that respect. [At the beginning] you get surrounded just because you are a [Grand Prix] rider…that’s not correct.

“The dream changes, or maybe I should say the objective changes every year. I think the big dream is to do something with my life that I enjoy. And with a smile. My objective is to be one of the fastest motorcycle riders in the world...”

Does the performance matter more than the result for you? For sure. An example: in Japan it would have been easy just to ride around to second place because Fabio was really fast in the lead and I had a gap over Balda [Lorenzo Baldassarri] in third. But I’m not like this in a race. I think it was one of the hardest races this year in which I really had to push from the first lap to the last to try to win. I’d had other victories where it had been easier to control things. In Austria I caught up to Miguel and when I reached him then I could stop pushing and could do what I wanted. In Japan I wanted to give my maximum. If I can do that in a race then it makes a result even better.

Are there other things to worry about now? Not just the bike, the result, the performance but also your appearances, profile, social media, sponsor obligations? Yes, but maybe not at the level of a MotoGP rider still. It’s coming though. You have to take more care of things like Instagram and what kind of posts and the kind of image you want show. You cannot make a ‘story’ when you’re at a party with a drink! I mean, it’s not my problem but it is something you cannot really do. You have to make a good example for the people that follow you and your fans.

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Moto2 this year was a good fight. Was having Miguel there a positive thing? Did it keep you sharp and focussed? Did it make for a better story than say a season of dominance? I think so. It was really nice that we could fight like that. At Brno he was just two points behind me. It was close but we made a big step in the Czech Republic and then from Austria onwards. I think with a bit more luck in Barcelona and Sachsenring then the story might have been a bit different. This is part of racing though and you cannot have a full season of luck. You just have to give your best to make the best result possible. In the end I had some good points over Miguel, not like in Moto3 where it was just a few: I wouldn’t have liked that! Two champions in a row for the Academy now. Are you close enough to Franco that he was able to offer some words or help as the season reached a crucial stage? I was bothering him a lot in the winter! I was asking him many things and he was really nice and patient with me and gave a lot of good advice. I have to thank him for that. It was not just Franco though. Valentino and some of the other guys also helped. I think this is the step [advantage] we have with the Academy and the fact that we are together a lot and keep competitive.

Many riders have different dreams. Some just want to make it as a Pro, some just want to stand on a Grand Prix podium. Others only dream of victory or being a champion…What is your dream? You’ve won Grands Prix in two classes, you’ve won a title and now you go to MotoGP… The dream changes, or maybe I should say the objective changes every year. I think the big dream is to do something with my life that I enjoy. And with a smile. My objective is to be one of the fastest motorcycle riders in the world. All this year, whenever I thought of MotoGP I was saying to myself ‘no, Pecco, you must concentrate on Moto2’. I knew I had to wait until Valencia and now I’m really looking forward to it. Next year we will be there against the fastest and strongest riders in the world. It’s amazing, no? And it will happen on Tuesday. 2018 has been fantastic. So how will you spend the winter? A party for sure! And I have already made a holiday reservation for two weeks on the beach with my girlfriend. Lastly, in Phillip Island and Sepang you were on the very edge of that title. It must be difficult to go into those weekends and races but was it also something terrifically exciting? It is not a sensation that very many people have at all… It is something strange. It was my first time and I didn’t really know what to do. I knew I wanted to win those races but then Pablo [Nieto, Team Manager] started to say I needed to be more calm and think of the overall picture. It was something I didn’t want to know! If I started to think about it then I might have lost concentration. I needed to have my mind clear to push. But it all worked out!

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Photo by Milagro/Monster Energy

Bagnaia can now let his thoughts drift to that big rasping Desmosedici. He will be the sixth Italian on the 2019 MotoGP grid and will have to deal with the ‘smaller fish in the bigger pond’ process that Morbidelli negotiated this year. The association with Ducati is a promising one. Danilo Petrucci has made the move from the Pramac setup to the factory squad and Bagnaia could really be shifting if he follows the some trajectory.

“It depends on lots of different factors, it is hard to say now but it is not impossible,” muses Rossi on his rider’s chances of eventually becoming a part of the passionate red marque. “I think Pecco will be strong in MotoGP, I’m sure. He is young and Italian so he is good for Ducati.” Hold on: it seems that Bagnaia is just getting started.

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Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s lectrifying By Adam Wheeler. Photos by CormacGP/Polarity Photo

finding out more about motoe

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ay what you like about the ploy to widen the motorcycle racing ‘experience’ at MotoGP but there is little denying the level of curiosity around the FIM Enel MotoE World Cup for 2019 and ahead of the first official tests for the class in Jerez. It would seem not only fans and social media critics are looking at the fetching Energica bikes with an arched eyebrow. The presence of several grand prix winners on the official entry list (see HERE) is also grounds to claim that the newest support class is ready to turn even more heads. The full run-down on the technology, rules, calendar and runners – all part of official MotoGP team set-ups – can be seen HERE. This is the first significant motorcycle racing championship based on electric power and comes after four years of FormulaE, where cars have now reached 250hp, around 150mph and can do 1-100kpmh in almost three seconds. It has also materialised on the back of the TT Zero race on the Isle of Man: a spectacle that originated in 2009 for ‘non-fossil fuel’ motors and has become a showcase for Mugen’s evolving engineering. But to gain a bit more perspective on how the five round series will run at Jerez, Le Mans, Sachsenring, Red Bull

Ring and Misano (just after MotoGP warm-up on Sundays) and what people can expect we sat down with Cup Director and former Michelin tyre chief Nicolas Goubert… How have preparations gone in the build-up to the Jerez test? The bikes are real and will be leaving the factory on Monday and arriving Wednesday in Jerez. Twelve bikes and one per team.

They are the same spec as some of the black models that have done some laps at the GPs recently. From what the riders say the bikes are quite different; the brakes have changed a lot and the suspension and front forks are very different. The tyres are different and the battery pack has been modified. If I look at the evolution of the lap-times from the first test we did at Jerez to the last ones in Misano then we got

more on motoe

It might take five years to come from the lab to market and for sure what we are using now is very different to what we had five years previously. You see many cars and brands making cars now that did not exist five years ago simply because the technology was not there. I was at the EICMA show and we saw the Harley Davidson that will come out in 2019. This is not a brand that youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d expect to produce an electric bikeâ&#x20AC;Śbut it proves the technology is ready. Kymco were also proactive with a prototype. So the bike makers are working.

Thanks to Steve English, Pete McLaren, Neil Morrison

Products

alpinestars Alpinestars’ Specter jacket is a sports riding garment created to fit the Tech-Air airbag. It certainly looks the part in terms of fitting the company’s cutting-edge safety technology and having been crafted of 1.01.2mm leather with four way stretch panels with a water repelling treatment. There are two front zippered pockets and customary fit options around the waist and sleeves and low profile collar for comfort. The firm say the pre-curved sleeve construction means ‘an improved riding fit and reduced fatigue’. If Tech-Air is not installed then the coat will accommodate the Level 2 CE-certified Alpinestars Nucleon Back protector and already comes with Level 1 protection on the shoulders and elbows. A suitable compliment is the Sektor waterproof shoe. They are obviously aiming for maximum efficiency with comfort but ‘Astars’ also like to get technical with the creation of their footwear. The Sektor has: ‘a lightweight microfiber main chassis and incorporating medial and lateral protection, as well as a reinforced toe-box. The Sektor Waterproof Shoe also has a waterproof membrane and a specially developed rubber compound sole designed to give exceptional levels of water run-off and grip. The sole has an integrated shank for footpeg support and structural rigidity.’ It’s never easy to make a shoe that is actually effective against the elements, allows sensitivity on the bike, is comfortable for walking afterwards and resists enough road mileage over time. Of course it is hard to say if the Sektor makes the grade but the list of attributes should mean it is a worthy contender.

www.alpinestars.com

2019 Worldsbk test aragon

SBK BLOG

Lots of lovely new stuff... I arrived in Aragon for the first WorldSBK winter test full of enthusiasm. I like the track at Motorland and it was the first time we were going to see Chaz Davies on the new Ducati Panigale V4 R, winglets and all. There had been a lot of WorldSBK news at the EICMA show; Tom Sykes confirmed at BMW; the bombshell that Ten Kate will no longer be the Honda team and that HRC will fully back the programme in 2019; GRT Racing will step up to be a Superbike team with Yamaha, but the thing that I thought was most interesting were those wings on the Ducati. In all the press material and previous test shots, we saw what was more or less a standard Panigale V4 in terms of design. At EICMA the covers came off the â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Râ&#x20AC;&#x2122;, the racing version, that will be used in the WorldSBK Championship and it was the first time that, I at least, had seen the profile. For me it was a more significant development than the amount of press attention it received.

It showed that we have now entered something of an arms race between Kawasaki and Ducati; one to retain supremacy, the other to topple the green machine from its pedestal. Both manufacturers have used the homologation rules to their advantage and introduced small run production machines that are solely designed to go racing. Kawasaki have worked on the engine characteristics with their Ninja ZX-10RR, clawing back some of the RPM and power they lost last year under the WorldSBK technical regulations, and Ducati kept their secret weapon under wraps till the very last minute. I love it. I am a sucker for all the trick bits that go into racing machines but is this really what WorldSBK needs? For sure the other manufacturers are not going to invest the amount of money that Kawasaki and Ducati have to bring homologation specials to the grid and that immediately puts them at a disadvantage.

Is it time then to change the homologation rules in WorldSBK? The number of production machines required to homologate a race bike has repeatedly been reduced over the years to attract new manufacturers on to the grid. Foggy Petronas, Bimota, Buell all benefitted from it, but where are they now? If you look at Honda, the current Fireblade follows a basic design that is more than 10 years old. Maybe things will change now that HRC are involved again. Dorna and the FIM are continually introducing changes to the technical regulations in WorldSBK (which Kawasaki feel are now only designed to stop them winning) but the homologation rules mean that each year they can make a change to the engine or the chassis, produce 500 for the market, call it an R, RR, SE and go racing, and keep winning. Maybe a more radical solution is needed, raising the number of production units required to homologate a race machine.

By Graeme Brown

That in itself will bring it’s own problems. Manufacturers are selling less and less sports bikes and the new model cycle is stretching out from what was previously around two years, to five and six. If a bike is homologated for racing and it proves to be below par, the timescale for change is then too long to make a difference. It’s a difficult conundrum but I think one that needs to be discussed between Dorna, the FIM and all manufacturers and I would actually like to think that it already has. As I said, I love it however. As really young kid growing up I was obsessed by car rallying (my old boy had a friend with a garage that sponsored a team) and I was fixated by all the extra bits that went on a rally car; big lamps, roof vents; buckets seats. It had such an exotic feel to it. Then when they started introducing carbon fibre, well……. The little boy in me is still there and I found myself standing in the pit lane just staring at the new Ducati.

There was so much to look at it was like being a kid again and being unable to take it all in. I then pulled my camera off my shoulder and there was a mass panic and the garage door slammed shut. There are obviously some real trick bits that are not for general viewing at the moment. Out on track it looks and sounds awesome. Just as a race bike should. Davies pronounced himself happy with his initial feelings with the bike. His biggest issue was adapting to the different power characteristics of the four cylinder engine after so many years racing the V-twin. He said that he felt so comfortable on the bike, however, that he was having to hold himself back from pushing hard. The plan for the test was to get lots of consistent laps on the board and get lots of data and a good feeling. The racer in him wanted to wring its neck and answer the question: “how fast does it go mister?” I can’t wait till Jerez to see if he gets the chance to give it the berries.

Jonathan Rea was also adapting to the 2019 version of the Ninja ZX-10RR. Kawasaki have changed a number things in the engine internals of the production bike and it has altered the characteristics of the race machine quite a bit. I spoke to both Jonathan and Pere Riba on Thursday morning when rain had stopped play and they both had the same feeling with the new bike. It was like a new partner that you had to get to know, to understand them and work on being comfortable in the relationship. The 2019 Kawasaki had proved to be a difficult first date for Jonathan. He was able to post a fast lap time, and he can see the potential, but there is a lot of work to do until he can put his feet up on the sofa without getting moaned at. His new teammate Leon Haslam was wrestling with a really feisty character on his first meeting with his new partner. Coming from the BSB championship that has a control ECU,

SBK BLOG

Leon had to get used to the full factory Magneti Marelli system of the KRT Ninja. He wasn’t far off the pace but admitted that he was on a very steep learning curve. He was refreshingly candid in an interview, saying that is aware that the ‘package’ is a proven winner and everything else is down to him. The guys on this test that slipped under the radar were Alex Lowes and Michael VD Mark. There was nothing overtly new on show and the pair went about their business in a very purposeful and professional manner. I met Alex on the plane on the way home and he was relatively happy with what they had done on the first day but, like everyone else, was frustrated with not turning a wheel due to the rain on day two. This time next week we will all reconvene in Jerez in Andalucia and I think we will see more progress from everyone, out on their second dates. Alvaro Bautista will join them.

There is much speculation as to how he will get on with the Superbike but I get the feeling that the new Panigale will be very similar in it’s riding characteristics to the MotoGP bike that Bautista has been racing this year. His performance on the factory machine, standing in for Jorge Lorenzo, showed his credentials and I expect him to be on the pace straight out of the box. The unknowns we have at this stage come from Honda, BMW and Ten Kate. The new Honda team formed by Moriwaki and Althea Racing will be based in the Czech Republic and at this stage they don’t realistically expect to be on track until January. BMW on the other hand are teaming up with Shaun Muir Racing, Tom Sykes and Markus Reiterberger will ride the new S1000RR and hope to make one private test before the end of the year. The final question mark is over the Dutch, Ten Kate Racing squad.

Having been ruled out of any plans with Honda they are pressing hard to find a solution to keep them on the grid in 2019. There was a rumour circulating during the test that they were about to sign a deal with Suzuki. However, at Valencia at the weekend the Suzuki staff denied any involvement. Having worked with the team for a long number of years I really hope they find a solution. They have stayed loyal to the Superbike World Championship for many years, through some lean times, and it would be a travesty if we arrived in Phillip Island next February without them.

2019 Worldsbk test aragon

green with envy By Steve English. Photos by GeeBee Images

2019 Worldsbk test aragon

Feature

t’s been a tale of two halves at Kawasaki in recent years; the haves and have-nots. Since joining Kawasaki in the winter of 2014, Jonathan Rea has been imperious. The Northern Irishman joined a team centred around Tom Sykes and almost instantly made it his own. Along with winning four WorldSBK titles, this is arguably the most impressive feat that Rea has achieved. Sykes was entrenched at the Provec Racing squad and the 2013 world champion felt secure. But ultimately, it was a false sense once Rea arrived on the scene.

“I’ve invested a lot in building the environment around me,” commented Rea. “It was really important for me to integrate into a new team after being with Ten Kate for so long. I wanted to build a good atmosphere around me because you really can thrive on that. That atmosphere is so important and that’s what makes the difference. It’s not the ZX-10RR or my riding that wins titles; it’s the people.” “I think it’s been tough to stay at the top, and I’ve seen how seamless it can be for other riders to win their titles and then lose that momentum. When you’re competing against that success you’re angry and bitter because you want to win.

Rea: “I feel like I’m riding at the top of my game. I’ll try and focus on myself but it will be interesting to see how good the Ducati is. We’ve all heard it’s a MotoGP derived world-beater.” I know what that was like from before I came to Kawasaki, and now I know what it takes to win. I’m easier on myself now because winning isn’t make or break. I know how competitive it is in WorldSBK.”

“From the outside people see me winning, but you go to races where it’s so unpredictable,” he opines. “There have been six different winners this year and nine different riders on the podium.

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There’re so many guys that if they had the right conditions, they would be ‘the guy’. I’ve been in that position before and now I’m the one winning because of everyone working in my corner. It makes me appreciate being in this position all the more.”

reassess the position of his teammate. Sykes has gone from the leading man to a member of an ensemble cast where he is replaceable. His time in the spotlight has come to an end and he’ll exit the stage for new pastures with Shaun Muir Racing in 2019.

That knife-edge between success and failure has seen Rea walk a tightrope in recent years. He has been able to achieve remarkable spoils and rewrite the history books: it’s also forced his team to

“It’s the end of a great era between Kawasaki and myself,” admitted Sykes. “I’m very proud of what we achieved and I’m very, very fortunate to be able to say that I’m a world champion.

GRIP IT AND RIP IT NO SHORTCUTS

You know that it’s more than an adrenaline fix – it’s freedom. It’s about being unhindered and uninhibited. It’s about feeding your need for speed. So go ahead – gear up and get out there.

SCOTT-SPORTS.COM © SCOTT SPORTS SA 2018 | photo: Juan Pablo Acevedo

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Feature I’m disappointed because even though it’s been outstanding from Jonathan in the last few years, there’s a part of me that feels a little bit hard done. I’d like to show him what I’m capable of and have a proper fight on the track. “I’m quite particular in what I want from a bike and the engine was more race orientated in the past. I’d have loved the opportunity to a race against Jonathan on that specification. It is what it is though, and the rules have changed. I’ve tried to adapt my style to the bike and whereas my natural style is to be very heavy on the brakes and entry speed, I can’t do that at the minute.” “I’ve been a world champion and been close again on two more occasions. I can accept what Jonathan has achieved; the fact is that we’re riding the same bike and he’s riding it better than me. His riding style helps puts him where he needs to be but he’s executing at 100%. I can go to bed, put my head on the pillow, and accept that a very talented rider is beating me. I can accept being beaten

but I don’t think this has been a true reflection on my capabilities. That’s what gives me the motivation to fight again. I honestly believe in the right environment, with the right engine and setup, we’ll be back where we need to be. I want a bike to give me that feeling again so I can try and regroup.” While Sykes will try and regroup, Rea will attempt to consolidate his position at the top. With new rivals and new bikes on the grid next year, he knows that 2019 will begin with a fresh challenge. Ducati will have their brand new V4, Sykes will have heavy investment from BMW and Honda is finally offering support from Japan with a HRC backed effort. “There’s always uncertainty coming in with a new rider - like Alvaro Bautista at Ducati - and how he will gel with the bike,” admits Rea. “Ducati has a new bike but how good is it going to be? Tom at BMW…and other uncertainties that throw a curveball. It’s natural to wonder if one package will be really strong or which combination of bike and rider will

xxxxxxxx: xxxxxxxxxxxxxx 2019 Worldsbk test aragon

be really strong. I believe in our bike and our project. I feel like I’m riding at the top of my game. I’m fired up because I’ll have a new teammate to compete with. Leon Haslam is going to be fully motivated and he’ll have the confidence of winning in BSB, and the support he’s received within Kawasaki in Japan.” “I’ll try and focus on myself but it will be interesting to see how good the Ducati is. We’ve all heard it’s a MotoGP derived world-beater. We’ve a new bike coming too and we’re confident in it. I’ll focus on myself but I know that I’ve surpassed all of my expectations in this sport. I always wanted to be a world champion but I never really seen that as a realistic goal. Then I won one and I kept going. Someone’s going to step up to us, whether it’s a bike or a rider, or if I lose my confidence. Racing is a confidence game and I’m focusing on myself at the moment.”

Feature

Confidence at the sharp end of MXGP By Adam Wheeler. Photos by Ray Archer

The Big

Feature Everyone is training hard, everyone is watching their food, everyone is testing new or revised settings and practicing starts: how else to make the difference? Donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t underestimate the role of confidence for what is something of a mysterious and black art in racing (indeed any sport). How to get ahead by using your head. Aiming to dissect and discover more about the element of elite level competition that really is a distant world away from any non-Pro we asked four Grand Prix riders in MXGP for their experiences and preferences and picked a scale from veteran, sophomore and emerging hotshots. Who did we talk to?

shaun simpson

thomas kjer olsen

(RaceFX KTM, MXGP): 31 years old, multi British Champion, MXGP Grand Prix winner. Thirteen years of FIM World Championship experience

(Rockstar Energy Husqvarna, MX2): 21 years old, EMX250 European Champion, MX2 Grand Prix winner. Two years of FIM World Championship experience

jeremy seewer

ben watson

(Monster Energy Yamaha, MXGP): 24 years old, MX2 Grand Prix winner and 2017 championship runner-up. Five years of FIM World Championship experience

(Kemea Yamaha, MX2) 21 years old, MX2 Grand Prix podium finisher. Four years of FIM World Championship experience

confidence & mxgp

How to get confidence Simpson: There is nothing like a result to pick you up. Banging in a podium will change your world, and not just for a week but for two-three. I won in Lommel in 2015 and while I’d had a few good results in the run-up that was my first podium and win that year and I was riding high until the end of the season. I almost made the box in Mantova, I was on the podium in Mexico. I went to America and did well and went to the Nations. Everything had fit together; the win topped up the confidence. You think ‘my programme must be working, I’m strong at the end of races’ and you trust yourself more. If things are not going well then you might start mixing up your programme and there’s the danger of getting lost. Still now, when I go back to Lommel I do exactly the same things as I did in 2015. The results change but in your mind you think ‘if I do the same stuff there’s a good chance I’ll be in the same sort of shape’ but preparation starts a lot longer than the morning of a race. Seewer: It is a big process, especially if you come into a new team. You cannot find it in one month. You need to have good people around you and not just for half a year. You need time to build something and to have trust in your team or your friends or parents or whoever has your back. Everything needs to fit, and then if you also have good mechanics, a good suspension guy and a good engine guy and they work together well then you can step it up. As a rider you need to bring something also and deliver good feedback that makes a connection. There are a lot of baby steps to grow.

Feature

confidence & mxgp

Olsen: I think you can take confidence from your feeling with the bike. For me it actually helps more away from the track. It sounds weird but confidence helps you relax and your brain is not thinking constantly. You are not continually desperate to get better. The mind plays a big role: knowing you are one of the best, and how you need to go about being so. This carries onto the bike. Simpson: I did various things in the past. I’ve carried pictures in my rucksack of podiums. I worked with a psychologist a couple of years ago and he said if there were any moments when I wanted - or felt like – I had to remind myself of being a champion then a quick look at a photo will trigger memories and feelings of ‘I’ve been there before…’ or ‘I’ve done it before and can do it again’. In MXGP you can have a bad Saturday and a great Sunday or vice-versa and you have to learn never to writeyourself off or take any situation and think ‘well, that’s done’ because it never is. Even after a bad first race there is still the second one to redeem yourself and show people what you are made of. Seewer: Until the end of last year I had been building my career step-by-step and it meant I had it for the last two seasons. Racing seemed a bit easier for me. Even when I had a bad day I still had belief and I’d worked hard for it. I had felt very good with Suzuki and then what happened with that team meant I had to find new confidence with a new team, new bike and new class. There was a lot of change and it made 2018 difficult. Last year I could arrive to a GP and say: “this is my track, I’m going for the win or a podium” and I was getting good and setting my sights. This year I knew I would not be ‘there’ after just one winter. I would get to a track like Imola - and I love those types of places - but after two laps I’d think ‘hmm, we have work to do’. But I think that’s normal: you

still do not have the complete package. You need more time to make it happen in MXGP and instead of thinking ‘top five’ you first need to start with a top ten to work on that confidence. That’s how it is. Watson: For me it has come with age, and results. For the last few years I struggled to break into the top ten – even the top fifteen two years ago – and it was like I didn’t have any confidence at all and didn’t believe in myself. As I’ve gotten older and more experienced and had a couple of good results then I can feel the confidence and belief building up. Confidence is not only a single ‘thing’: you also have to have it your bike and on any track at any time. You have to build up certain factors and work at it. Simpson: I think a lot of it is dedicated by your mood and that can be triggered by a race result. A great race on Sunday means you wake up on Monday buzzing. I remember also getting a podium finish on Sunday and not wanting to go to sleep. I wanted to re-live it and I’m scouring social media. It can seep into Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and the next practice sessions. Even to the next GP where you are sitting there for Free Practice and people are looking at you thinking ‘he made the podium last week’ or ‘he’s on it’ and you get fired up to hit the track again as soon as possible. On the flip side there are moments where you really have to look for motivation and confidence from within. Things might not be going right, you might have a small injury or the bike set-up isn’t great, you don’t like the track or the weather conditions don’t suit you, you’re dealing with a cold and so on. That’s when you have to dig it up from within. I think that’s where you see the good guys keeping a season on an even keel rather than having massive ups and downs.

Feature Olsen: It is something that is very personal and different for each person but I take a bit from what my trainer Rasmus [Jorgensen] says as well as telling myself what I need to do. I also think that if you’ve had a rough day then it also helps to get away and leave it for a little bit and talk about something else. Switch off, relax and then come at it another way. Watson: Good training days can leave you happy and ready for the weekend…but I have also learned that having a solid week doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll have a good weekend. I’ve trained during the week and had a crash or felt bad and then gone to a grand prix and managed some good results and a positive mindset. So it is not necessarily about the week but how you wake up on a particular day and maybe how your first practice session goes. Seewer: With Suzuki I found that Stefan helped me quite a bit. Off the track, around the track, mentally he knew what to say and at what moment. He was very direct and very negative but I have to say that he did it really well and I liked it. It is always good to have a reference because you can think you are going well but from outside it looks quite different. Watson: There is so much to it. It’s not just about training and riding the bike. You have to be so prepared in every way. When I was a kid I used to get so nervous before a race and would be sick sometimes. I wouldn’t be able to eat any breakfast or lunch…or even drink! I remember the 85cc Junior World Championship and I was sick all morning and couldn’t put anything inside me. I was one of the fastest riders on the track but I was like jelly. I actually crashed on the first corner and when I picked up the bike the pressure had gone and I could ride my own race, and was really quick. I learnt a lot from moments like that. I don’t really get nervous now. I even took the Motocross of Nations as another race!

Olsen: It is difficult to go into the same mindset all the time and it is difficult to answer how you always respond to the difficult moments. I think I do try to find distance when I’m struggling. Sometimes you can get really caught up in this sport with the training, the diet, recovery and it can be beneficial to take a break. To work out how to be happy, because I know I am trying my absolute best. Watson: Don’t let one thing keep playing on your mind, like if you have to make a particular result at a particular race or you need to keep count of points. I was in a couple of tough situations like that in 2018 and put quite a lot of pressure on myself. The way I countered it was ride the bike like I know I could and just got on with it. Then I’d take the position out of whatever happened.

confidence & mxgp

How to lose it

Simpson: It can be a combination of factors but mainly injury is the biggest one in my personal opinion. After that moment of diagnosis there is a period where you have to wait, maybe have an operation and a lot of physio. There is time for a lot of reflection: should or could I have done this or that? In comparison a bad result can be turned around in a matter of hours or the following weekend. Redemption is not far away. An injury is way-more time-consuming. Other little dips to confidence can be the way the team works, bike set-up, struggling for a feeling even in testing: these are all mi-

nor ones but if you have a few together then it can escalate into quite a problem. Struggling with the bike, the team, the track, yourself: suddenly you have a great big struggle on your hands. If everything is really good and you have just one or two of those issues then you’ll probably be able to get around them. Olsen: I would say a bad feeling on the bike. If you have a tough Saturday and you are not hitting the right lines or speed and you feel like are all over place then this is worse than going out there, feeling OK and getting an 8th. I know if I can turn things around then I’ll be OK for Sunday. Watson: For me it’s not an injury. Riders make mistakes or an accident happens and it is not always the rider’s fault. Anything can go wrong in this sport. I

Feature think the biggest knock is when you are on a grand prix track and you are not on the pace. You come back to the pit thinking you’ve done a good lap and you’re nowhere near: that’s tough. You immediately start thinking ‘what’s going wrong? Where do I need to be faster? Wow can I improve?’ That’s why it is good to have someone like Jacky [Vimond] to point out what - and where – you are doing badly. It’s about feeling. Simpson: I’ve been quite lucky and have never been too down, but in 2017 after my second injury and the broken wrist I really felt – for the first time in my career – I was bordering on being depressed. I’d had two operations in a period of six weeks and it felt like my body was struggling to get over it. Once that two week phase after the second operation had passed and I had some mobility again then you give yourself a good shake and one good day leads onto a second good day and into a third and before you know it you are starting to feel like yourself again.

Olsen: I think there was a period in the middle of the last season where I was not confident at all and not believing in myself and the bike. I would say it is a 50-50 split or maybe 60-40. I learnt about my body and how much I could take. There are a lot of races: it was like I was tired in the middle of the season. I talked to my trainer about it, made some adjustments and making a step back actually helped me to make a step forward. I’m happy I learned from that. Watson: It felt like I was always fourth in 2018 but it didn’t affect me that negatively because I knew I’d come from the bottom, and I’d made a big step in just one year. The guys I was battling with were also at the front in 2017 while I was hovering around the top ten. There was a point in 2018 when I thought ‘how much can I give or achieve this season?’ On the other hand - I was trying not to be greedy - but there was that feeling of ‘fourth again?!’ There was even one Grand Prix, in Turkey, where I was fourth in both motos and actually finished

Simpson: “Each year, month, week, even down to the day can be a rollercoaster of emotion.” Seewer: It is up-and-down but not too much. We try to keep on a level. Injuries can change the story but if you prepare well and put some good thinking into what you do then it should be possible to stay the same on a consistent basis. We have long seasons now and MX2 was intense racing but MXGP is a bit different. Sometimes you do wake up and you don’t feel as good as the day before but that doesn’t necessarily mean that you cannot perform well. Often that is all in your head. Sometimes you might need to rest a bit more; it is about finding the balance, which is difficult and some time to find that out.

5th overall! In Russia when I finally made my first podium I didn’t ride that well and had done better in other races up until that point but the result came. There were many races where I rode well and better, but came up short in the GP results. It’s difficult… Olsen: It is easy for me to get upset. I mean, I know how to ride a motorcycle. I have done it my whole life so there is no need to over-think it. I have been racing a long time but 2018 was only my second GP season and you learn all the time how to handle things a bit better. When you have those bad motos then you

confidence & mxgp

learn why and how all the time: I think it is something you need to go through before you can get better.

How important is it? Seewer: The amount of belief in yourself can change but to reach MXGP means that we all have quite a lot. I think you also need a lot to reach those top ten and top five slots: it would be impossible without it. [but] I think it is just human to doubt yourself sometimes. Watson: Sometimes you’ll go to a track and think ‘I like the look of this…’ or you know you’ll be good around a circuit because of results or a feeling in the past. That can swing the other way as well. If you don’t have the best sensation then it is something you need to overcome: you need to tell yourself that you will do good. You’ll be strong. Simpson: You can easily see confidence in other riders. A good example is Valentin Guillod and when he ‘brought it’ to Herlings in MX2 in 2015. That was a case where he was more-or-less at the front but a podium finish in Talavera [Spain] made him feel on top of the world and transformed his season. Maybe he got the bike dialled-in but in my opinion it was all confidence and he saw and realised ‘I can do this…’ He whacked in a few more podiums and wins.

Feature Seewer: I analyse a lot, and for the last couple of years I would go to bed every day when I’d ridden and lie there thinking about the track – sometimes even corner-bycorner – and where I could have been better. Sometimes that even helps me sleep! It’s a nice side effect! I think you have to analyse when you get to this level…but to go too crazy and look at those papers and videos for hours and hours [is detrimental]…motocross is still a sport where you have to perform with your talent. You cannot see it all in black and white. Watson: I do think a lot. Especially if I know I have a special target or result I have to make. I think that is something I will grow out-of and more experience will help. In 2018 it was the first time I was fighting for podiums and top three finishes. It was new to me. I know I need to take a bit more pressure off myself. Simpson: You rarely think ‘I am the king, I am the boss’ and I believe it’s like that in any sport. The moment you start laying back and thinking or believing that you have reached your potential – or the moment you relax – then you might as well give up. You should always want to be a bit better and that goes for any position on the track. At Assen

this year I had two sixths and that was a goal accomplished for the weekend but I drove out of that track having to tell myself to be content with the result. There was a part of me that wanted two fifths and I had to talk myself around. Seewer: In the end I think taking a first or second place in Grand Prix has a lot to do with your head and your brain. I know that area has to be very strong…but I still don’t know how good or powerful psychology training can be. For the past three years I have been able to make things happen at my home GP that I couldn’t at any other race: why is that? I’m not a different person in Switzerland and I’m not different in a place like Imola. The brain just responds to what is around it. Maybe that is the next step for me. 2018 has been a learning year and I’ve needed to find my steps and feeling with the Yamaha. Once I get the experience and a team that grows around me well and who listens and understands me then the next goal is to find that Swiss GP level all the way around the world. Watson: Mental coach? I’m not sure I’d like someone telling me something that I don’t 100% believe in. I like to learn from my own mistakes and analyse lessons. Maybe that is

a form of self-belief already. I believe that if something will happen, then it will. And for a reason. If you have a bad weekend then it will make you stronger in some way and selfreveal why it went wrong in the first place. If someone is telling you ‘it’s OK’ and trying to turn your head then I don’t think that will work for me because I need to be able to see and feel what is going wrong. I want to learn from those situations and why it hasn’t worked out. Simpson: You cycle through little things to constantly remind yourself. To pump yourself up. I can still ride a bike f**king good and stuff like photos and videos can help. Equally if you see a photo where it looks like you are struggling or your elbows are down then it makes you want to go and change it. Olsen: Mindset is something I want to get better at and I think the same can be said of every rider and every athlete. That’s the work. Right now I am in a good place and happy with the people I have around me. I feel safe. Simpson: It is tiring. My life isn’t planned out to the second or every meal is not perfectly weighed for food groups. There is an element of this whole thing, this whole

confidence & mxgp

life, being about fun. About smiling when you get out of bed. If everything is so tight and regimented then that won’t happen. Even someone like Jeffrey Herlings will have to find elements of fun in his programme for it to work. If I just followed Herlings and copied his programme for a year then it simply wouldn’t work for me. Other guys have tried it! Olsen: It can be tiring and that’s why you are pretty worn out by the end of the season because you have been constantly trying to work, and think about being better and beating the other

guys. Some days you have a lot of motivation and some days you don’t and I think it is the same with confidence. Watson: Yeah, it’s tiring because if you make mistakes you start to wonder and to doubt and to worry about how you can turn it around. Sometimes you are constantly living in a way where you don’t know what to expect. I know if I can give everything I have every single time then whatever happens, happens. And I won’t beat myself up about it. I know I have to go out, have confidence and believe in myself.

Olsen: I think your talent can take you to a certain level… but it depends on how much talent you have. For example Jorge Prado rides the bike so easily that it makes you think ‘does he even need to train?’ he doesn’t seem to spend any energy riding compared to me when I’m muscling the bike a bit more. Of course he is training really hard. I think it comes down to how much energy you use to go fast… but it is very hard to get to this level without putting in the effort.

confidence & mxgp

Simpson: Some people put on a big façade and seem confident and cocky but when it comes down to it they are quite weak. That outward image is their way of showing they are quite strong and can trick people. It’s another way to play it. A rider like Max Nagl might look quite insecure and unmotivated but when he puts on his helmet I can tell you with total certainty that he is a very motivated dude! There are many personalities and ways to go racing.

Watson: I was pretty speechless to finish fourth in the world. I mean this isn’t an amateur race. In the last few GPs I was thinking about that quite a lot and I felt I needed to say to myself ‘go race by race’. I knew I was already in the top five because of the points I had but I was telling myself ‘If I don’t get fourth, I’ll be gutted’. On the other hand a part of me also thought ‘be happy with what you have achieved already and don’t be too greedy!’ It is difficult to ignore the big picture when it means so much to you. There is always pressure.

Simpson: I think we are hard to live with. Every day we are looking for more and it only takes one or two moments of fun or slacking off when you start saying to your loved ones ‘I shouldn’t have been doing that…’. After the McDonalds it doesn’t always feel as good as when you were eating it!

paris supercross La Defense arena Âˇ november 17-18 Winner: Jason Anderson, Husqvarna

no defense from Ando By Steve Matthes. Photos by Ray Archer

2018 paris sx

Photos by Ray Archer

This past weekend the Paris SX happened and the promoters rolled out the usual cheerleaders, FMX riders and an unusually deep field of American-based riders to battle with the typical Europeans. Of course this race used to be in Bercy for the longest time, went to the town of Lille for a couple of years and is now back into the heart of Paris. It’s always a good time at this race and this year was no different although there was a bit of a pall over the race with JGR Suzuki’s Weston Peick’s crash Saturday night. Peick will need some surgeries for facial injuries and might be out a while, he - along with teammate Justin Hill - was a last minute entry when favored son Marvin Musquin dropped out with a knee injury. Rockstar Husqvarna’s Jason Anderson was looking like the heavy favourite to win the race and he did that by having three out of the six mains. It was a great performance and made his qualifying times look even weirder as he couldn’t get into the top three either day. No matter though, when the gate dropped, he was ready to roll. His corner speed was superior and he used his usual aggressiveness out there to show he’s ready to defend that number one plate in Monster Energy Supercross. It was a mixed bag for the rest of the Americans after that.

SmartTop Honda’s Justin Brayton, a past King of Paris, couldn’t get starts one night and was fighting an infection. Anderson’s teammate Zach Osborne had a poor first main then got progressively better almost every time out. He got a rear flat in the last main that held him back. Star Yamaha’s Dylan Ferrandis won one main event, crashed in two others and had to work his way up from the back. Afterwards Ferrandis told me winning that one race was amazing, something he had dreamed of as a little kid who used to go to Bercy every year. Hill didn’t get great starts at any point, Vince Friese was good but isn’t on the level of the other guys just yet. Tyler Bowers was fighting an injury and Ben Lamay did what he could against the deep field. Not that any of the above are reasons why Anderson won, as I said he was the heavy favorite going in, it was just that no one else could consistently be there as much as they would’ve liked. Anderson won with a 14 point gap over Ferrandis with Osborne third. As usual though, it was a competitive event with plenty of racing by the top riders. The folks at Paris know how to put on a show and although the Peick injury wasn’t what anyone wanted to see, it was a successful weekend for most everyone.

2018 paris sx

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The group thing There’s no doubt that the Red Bull KTM team (and by extension the Rockstar Husqvarna team who are on basically the same bike) are doing something very right in the sport for the last ten years. Just look at the success they’ve had with Antonio Cairoli and Jeffrey Herlings not too mention all the MX2 World Champions. In America, it’s been Ryan Dungey, Marvin Musquin pulling in wins and titles with Jason Anderson and Zach Osborne doing the same with the ‘white’ KTM’s. The program is simply a machine lurching forward collecting wins and titles so I mean, whatever they’ve been doing must work right?

to train with Baker so hence why Cooper Webb packed up and moved south to Clermont, Florida to work with existing athletes Anderson, Musquin and Osborne. We saw last year tension with Anderson and Musquin at the races and from what we hear, most times Anderson wasn’t even riding with Musquin. With the retirement of Dungey and the top dog crown open, both Anderson and Musquin couldn’t co-exist under the forced arrangement.

Well, kind of. One of the things in the USA that KTM has done is align themselves with uber trainer Aldon Baker who’s track record with names like Carmichael, Stewart, Villopoto, Roczen, Dungey cannot be questioned. Baker knows what an elite high-level athlete needs to do in order to win. KTM has deemed that almost without exception its 450 riders need

Now you’re adding the combustible Webb to the program although Coop’s already come out and said he’s made peace with his arch-enemy from the 250 class, Marvin Musquin. It wouldn’t take much to get that fire going between those two and add in Anderson, who’s not scared to be aggressive and Baker could have his hands full with this program.

The 250 class is also based out of Baker’s facility in Florida but the Troy Lee Designs KTM and Rockstar Husqvarna riders are trained under Tyla Rattray who runs a program pretty much what Baker does. None of Rattray’s riders have had a ton of success, there have been some wins but in no way does the Rattray program have the same success as the Baker guys. Why that is? I’m not sure but one thing is for sure, the pressure to train, ride and compete day in and day out with racers you see on the weekends is intense. I’m just a firm believer that there are different strokes for different folks when it comes to a training load. A 19-year old rider does need different things that a 28-year old veteran; a vet may not need to go out and do moto after moto the same way a kid needs it.

By Steve Matthes

Some people are self-motivators and turn it on when the lights come on, others need the baby sitting, the harsh motivational talks to perform their best. From what I know and hear, things are ran pretty much the same for everyone there in Florida. That’s what KTM and Husqvarna are paying for- they want Baker, and by proxy, Rattray, to produce wins and titles but aren’t worried about how those results are gotten.

I’ve been around riders like Chad Reed, Tim Ferry, Grant Langston and others…they don’t generally play nice with their direct competition and I think Baker’s seeing this with the group he has now. There’s no alpha-dog like Dungey or Villopoto to put everyone in their place. If Webb has success next year, why won’t he start to think of Anderson and Musquin as equals and therefore get into the mix at the races?

Is the program working? Well, in the premier class with a smaller group of riders, yes it is. With the smaller bore bigger group of guys, I’d argue that it’s not (yet?). And judging by the headaches that Baker had to deal with last year with Anderson and Musquin, I’m not sure just forcing everyone to work together is the best either. Generally speaking, the elite need to be alone and not sharing everything with each other. It’s what gives them the edge, it’s why Anderson separated himself at times from the group.

So I’ll watch the Clermont, Florida dudes closely to see how things are working out. The bikes are awesome for sure, the teams are well stocked with very smart people but I’m just not sure that force-training everyone into one location, with one program is always going to work out. Maybe I’m wrong, maybe I’m right but either way, it’ll be interesting.

mxgp Feature

toP mX2 riDers

By Adam Wheeler. Photos by Ray Archer

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mxgp Feature

2018 mx2 top five

jorge prado Position: 1st Team: Red Bull KTM Factory Racing What did he do? Where do you start? In just his second Grand Prix season Jorge Prado became the very first Spaniard to claim a FIM World Championship in the principal classes at seventeen years of age. He won 12 races from 20 and gathered 17 podiums, missing the box only once in the last 13 Grands Prix of the year. What did we like? That he gathered the title and was KTM’s eighth MX2 world champion since 2004 despite missing a chunk of pre-season due to a fractured elbow and crashed in the very first moto of the year in Argentina – finishing 16th – which meant that the eventual run of consistency seemed unlikely in the beginning, particularly when teammate Pauls Jonass dominated the first three events. Prado built his way into 2018. By round two in a frozen Valkenswaard he was closer to Jonass and had his first trophy as runner-up. He had to deal with the burning spotlight of his home Grand Prix for round three but repeated his 2017 victory at Arco di Trento in Italy for the fourth GP of the year, and he was off-and-running in his pursuit of Jonass. It took the teenager – who kept that happy-go-lucky veneer, someone who races principally for fun – thirteen fixtures to grab the red plate. People expected some heat, some rivalry with Jonass but the pair have the same ability to focus with scary intensity at the right time, and then otherwise goof around and appear entirely care-free and approachable. Slight and wiry, good-looking and tri-lingual, Prado is very much KTM’s new poster boy and all that juvenility vanishes on

the motorcycle. His starts (most holeshots of any rider), his oh-so-smooth style but tendency for flamboyance and capability to make the tough moves means that he is on the fast-track to being the complete motocrosser. Prado won most of his races in the opening corners and his stature grew as did his points tally. He rarely made mistakes and a sign of his progression was seen in his physical acumen. In short the boy turned into a man, and led to… Standout moment A few to pick but his first 1-1 victory of 2018 came at a circuit that utterly defeated him in 2017. Agueda, Portugal was substantially cooler and wetter this spring but it was the scene of a remarkable turnaround for Prado. Twelve months earlier and he pulled out of both motos, fatigued and beaten. A year on and he controlled both sprints. Prado was also brilliant in the sand, ruling Lommel and Assen and looking even more accomplished to move from the Dutch terrain to batter the mix of hard-pack at Imola where he celebrated his title success. More to come? Absolutely. Jorge will turn 18 in the first days of 2019 and can only get stronger and more astute with more race mileage. We might see less of the hurried move that led to his collision with Jonass in Turkey. It could be a short term future in MX2 however. If Prado wins again then he should be testing a 450SX-F by the autumn. Either that or MXGP loses a special athlete to AMA Supercross. Don’t underestimate the link forged with Claudio De Carli and his son David as mentor figures; the Italians will continue to work with their charge and Prado has already experienced and seen the fruits of their labour and advice in spectacular style.

mxgp Feature

ben watson Position: 4th Team: Kemea Yamaha What did he do? Ben has already featured in these pages for the outstanding leap in performance, speed and results in 2018. In 2017 he was 15th in the world and for one reason or another failed to score points in nine motos: nearly a quarter of the season. He showed top ten pace and potential – running top four at Ottobiano 2017 – but there was little hard evidence that he would be capable of the consistency that would push him into the chase for a world ‘top three’. He not only defied the limitation of his height (although he’s in lofty company with Thomas Kjer Olsen and Calvin Vlaanderen) and a mid-term YZ250F change to the 2019 model but also delivered consistent frontrunning presence no matter the terrain or the conditions. Those nine ‘0’s were converted to just one, and he even persevered at Imola with a buckled rear brake disc to secure the four points that ensured his ranking of 4th and a climb of 11 slots in the championship. What did we like? The extra belief and confidence. Ben is the sort of rider that cannot stop smiling when things are going right. He can appear preoccupied otherwise. Perhaps more of a natural introvert, he learned to express himself in many ways on the track and off it in 2018 and clearly thrived with the support package offered to him by Kemea and Yamaha and in his work with trainer and coach Jacky Vimond in particular. He rode with freedom, and even moments where his rhythm looked a little reckless.

He benefited from better starts once on the 2019 YZ and could and should have had more than his one maiden podium appearance in Russia. Standout moment Succesive top three moto finishes in Russia and Portugal and the Indonesian rounds represented close calls for silverware and the relief and elation of taking part in his first ever podium ceremony in Russia was refreshing to see (compared to the ‘serial’ rostrum finishers). I think the 4-4 in Argentina for his Kemea Yamaha debut set the tone for what would be the next chapter of his career. The team were expecting top ten, Ben was hoping for more but top four created an atmosphere of exultation in the blue corner of the Neuquen paddock. It was an overdose of ‘belief’ for Watson and he embarked on a journey of discovery, expectation and lessons of how to exist near the front of a grand prix. More to come? Hopefully. Ben was fast and typically one of the protagonists for ‘best of the rest’ behind the KTMs and eventually – deep into the season – the Husqvarnas. He didn’t quite show the form to clinch GP moto wins and his intensity in the opening laps (even on tracks that were not perilously overwatered) needed to be hiked-up, but for the first year of two with Kemea he had already made sizeable strides. The biggest question of Watson and his mentality (is he a bona fide winner?) will come in 2019.

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mxgp Feature

2018 mx2 top five

pauls jonass Position: 2nd Team: Red Bull KTM What did he do? Second, fifth (injured), first, second: Pauls Jonass’ four-year record as a Red Bull KTM rider is up there with the best of them. He took the weight of the #1 plate for 2018 and the combination of his strength and the technical package seemed unbeatable in the first three rounds of the series. Prado proved to be a tough opponent and shaded Pauls’ ability for effective starts. He missed the podium in Italy and Portugal (rounds four and five) and Czech Republic and Belgium (fourteen and fifteen) and there were questions of his concentration (he has already stated his intention to move to MXGP for 2019) and the wisdom of moving away from coach Marc de Reuver, who’d helped with the 2017 title capture. Pauls’ form and results moved in fits-and-starts: he won the British Grand Prix but then missed the box the next time out in France, he grabbed a third place in Ottobiano and then subsequently finished fifth in Indonesia. Pauls’ campaign was by no means poor, but he could not match Prado’s regularity. Ironically it was the knee injury as a consequence of a clash between the duo that ended his title defence after the penultimate round at Assen. What did we like? Pauls’ manner. He was clearly dealing with a tough threat (in 2017 Jeremy Seewer was a persistent opponent but his Suzuki was still no match for the KTM) and had to cope with a heavier test

due to Prado’s proximity. Rarely did it seem like the flux of results or form was getting to him – publicly at least – and Jonass has the often talked about (but rare) skill to embrace each race start as another story, another chance to go again. Pauls was, and is, a popular rider inside KTM for his stoicism and determination. Standout moment His last 1-1 and overall victory of 2018 came at the British Grand Prix and was the end of a mini streak of five wins in eight but, like Ben Watson, Jonass was rarely more invincible than the opening date of the calendar in Argentina. He and the KTM were perfectly on-song to deal with a lively Hunter Lawrence. Such was the depth of his control that many wondered whether anybody else would get a shot at MX2 in 2018 after that first episode. More to come? MXGP lies ahead. If Jonass is given time and the right level of support in the IceOne Husqvarna structure then he’ll be a top ten regular in a matter of races. His knee operation means he should be healthy and ready to learn the intricacies of the class. He might have an easier familiarisation than the rushed period his old sparring partner Seewer faced in 2018.

mxgp Feature

thomas covington Position: 5th Team: Rockstar Energy Husqvarna What did he do? Produced his most effective season in the class after five years with nine podium appearances and one victory in Turkey. A slow start to the year (one trophy in the first nine rounds) was caused by another knee issue that thankfully did not require more time with the surgeon’s knife and when his fitness and form picked up Covington was a persistent threat to the KTMs. He outshone his teammate on the day (beating Thomas Kjer Olsen four from the five times they appeared on the rostrum together) and was easily one of the category’s established stars by the end of the calendar. What did we like? Covington finally matched to put pairs of motos together. That frustrating tendency to almost holehshot one race and battle for the lead and then be found somewhere deep in the second half of the pack eroded in 2018: Thomas seemed to be putting all the components together. It is debatable how much the decision over his plans for 2019 affected his ability to concentrate and approach the remaining Grands Prix of the year with the kind of relaxed and pressure-free mindset that clearly seemed to work. It reached a point where Thomas’ competitiveness (six consecutive top three moto finishes between rounds thirteen-sixteen) led to talk of haste regarding his call

to return to America; if he stayed for what would have been a last MX2 shot before hitting the age ceiling then he the moniker of ‘championship contender’ would by no means be far fetched. Standout moment Considering how hopelessly lost Covington seemed to be in the sand when he first arrived to Europe then his 2-3 in Lommel this summer, or 3-3 around Assen was particularly impressive. More to come? For the Lucas Oil AMA Pro Nationals we’d already lay good money on Covington making a play for the 250MX crown. When it comes to 250SX and the tracks of Supercross then it depends on two factors: a faster capacity to learn and his skill in remaining outside of the medical truck. Put these two together and he could be quite the surprise Indoors. If Covington is healthy in September – and regardless of his motocross results – he has to be the MX2 pick for Team USA at the Motocross of Nations in Holland.

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mxgp Feature

2018 mx2 top five

thomas kjer olsen Position: 3rd Team: Rockstar Energy Husqvarna What did he do? A steady year for TKO with a repeat of his third position in the MX2 standings and a significant improvement in his podium tally with 10 top threes. Olsen’s potential and undoubted ability means that 2018 was also a little disappointing. He managed one win – like he did in his rookie year in 2017 – but had a mid-season dip where he climbed the podium only three times in twelve fixtures. That form allowed Prado and Jonass to ease away in the points table and also put him under threat from Watson for the top three. It’s a sign of the Dane’s class that a top three finish for the year and ten trophies can be viewed as underwhelming. What did we like? The way he discovered his form again. The inconsistent starts and propensity for mistakes that would see him having to pick up the FC250 were fist-gnawing for Olsen and his crew. The 21 year old admitted that a break from the continual training and racing routine through the summer acted as a positive reset and he found his way back to the rostrum four times in the final six fixtures. TKO is one of the most spectacular sights on a 250 and his strength and size means he has a great future once MXGP comes calling as well. 2018 was only his second campaign at this level and was arguably more didactic than 2017 and a year that confirmed his talent.

Standout moment The repeat of his 2017 victory in Latvia. The rest of the MX2 pack will know who they have to defeat well before the paddock arrives in Kegums next summer. More to come? I’d go so far as to say that TKO will be Jorge Prado’s chief threat to a successful title defence in 2019. Olsen still has two seasons left in the category, even if his physique would indicate that MXGP will be an easier fit in at least one way, so he is not in a rush. He does have the equipment and the growing experience and confidence to seize the initiative. 2019 really could be his year. He has sampled the giddy travails of being a rookie, he has endured the tougher lessons of pressure and expectation so he should be nicely poised to look two positions further ahead in the MX2 table.

honourable mentions

mxgp Feature

Calvin Vlaanderen Calvin’s misfortune at the Motocross of Nations on his debut at the race was a bitterly disappointing end to a year when he – like Ben Watson – made large gains as a name high in the Grand Prix echelon. His excellent Indonesian victory was one of only two for all Japanese manufacturers in both class of MXGP in 2018. Good to see that he will contest MX2 again for his last season and here’s hoping HRC find an extra degree of oomph to help him out of the gate with the KTMs Hunter Lawrence Anyone needing a reminder of the Australian’s technical prowess only needs to re-watch the Motocross of Nations. But it is the second year in a row that Lawrence has shone at the event meaning he still needs to show his chops when it comes to the long haul of a race calendar. His ‘stop-go’ setting with Livia Lancelot’s new and well-intentioned Honda Motor Europe backed set-up meant he was frequently lacking against factory-backed rivals… although 2018 was always an acclimatisation to the CRF for the step to Geico. Jago Geerts Ah, at last: the future of Belgian motocross. Another teenager and one that is surging behind Prado for billing stakes. Jago, quietly spoken and shy, had the A-type rookie season. Namely; highs (a first podium in Latvia), lows, injury and a sustained education at the sharp end.

2018 mx2 top five

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www.scott-sports.com pocket for optional back protector with size information, double fabric layers for reinforcement at elbow, reflective elements for best visibility, 76cm long connection zipper, 1 inner pocket, 2 water resistant waist pockets with handwarmer pockets, 2 chest pockets, 1 timecard and rear pocket, water bladder pocket for optional Hydrapak, Extra strong, coloured YKK FlexFix avant snap adjustments at hem, sleeve and cuff. As well as five different colours schemes. The Dualraid glove is constructed from stretch material and goatskin on the palm, polychloroprene and soft fleece lining. Other facets include: direct injection knuckle protection, side reinforcement, cuff closure, wrist closure, perforated leather palm, conductive finger, medium cuff. Check out the Scott website for more info.

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Feature

another layer 6d talk neXt stages for helMet teCh By Adam Wheeler. Photos by 6D helmets

Feature

ioneering California firm 6D have barely switched gear since their innovative ATR-1 off-road helmet and Omni-directional suspension technology changed the way the vast headgear industry addressed concussion thresholds, rotational acceleration and the purposes and versatility of the conventional ‘lid’. Their role in the NFL Head Health Challenge opened their research and findings to a wider level but they barely stopped with their first passion of moto. The ATR2 emerged this summer and should be followed by an accompanying road helmet.

Ankle deep in the RedBud mud at the Motocross of Nations Bob Weber was onhand, friendly and receptive to talk about the next steps for the Brea company, how the ATR-2 has advanced the game and the FIM’s proactivity towards new helmet standards for racing What’s the biggest difference in the ATR-2? How does it represent an evolution? We further uncoupled the two layers of the helmet and that came from the studies we made from the NFL – we were able to improve the performance in rotation. This was probably the biggest factor that went into the ATR-2.

moving ahead: 6d

Secondly we worked with different materials, so we are using EPP in the new helmet like we did in the NFL project to manage energy from multi impact. So the ATR-2 has EPP on the outside liner and the dampers are less connected and then it’s EPS on the inner, which is replaceable and can be changed easily after an accident. Overall have you made vast gains or is this just a tweaked ATR-1? Actually it is quite significant, with new engineering on a lot of different places on the helmet – the front, the back, the temples and forehead – thanks to our testing. Overall the helmet manages the energy from an impact better. That means improved ‘low energy’ performance and ‘rotational’ performance. The new system is freer to do its work. It’s a nice improvement. Was the ATR-2 a priority for 6D or were you also developing other stuff? [smiles] It’s been hard but we added two more engineers into the company, one is working on the bicycles primarily and the other is on the motorcycle side. So we have a team focussed on each segment as the company grows. Our goal is to try and keep ahead of everybody else in terms of improving the performance of the helmet.

What else was the goal in R&D? One of our challenges has been to try and improve the manufacturability of the system, so it is easier to make and apply to other helmets. I’d love to see our technology applied - and I think we will get it there eventually - into American Football in the future and that is some of the ongoing work on the NFL side of things with multi-impact. The system is quite complex however and tricky to manufacture. I think that’s why you haven’t really seen many rival concepts from the other brands until this point. ODS is more sophisticated than MIPS so do you foresee a day when it will be transferrable just like that system? I do, because the system that is in the ATR2 is something of a modular device; it has component parts that can be assembled and disassembled easily. With that system it is easier for us to licence it to a snow helmet or an equestrian helmet. Markets that we don’t have the capability to penetrate on our own but we can entertain advances from others that want 6D technology. Other brands are actively embracing rotational acceleration measures. It is more widespread now with companies like Alpinestars and TLD ensuring their products at least have MIPS. Is that again a compliment to 6D’s pioneering?

Feature I agree, appreciate and expected the market to catch on and make better offerings and helmet technology. MIPS has some significant limitations in comparison to our Omni-Directional Suspension: it is single sheer plane inside the helmet that can only work in rotation and it works in certain angles and dimensions better than others. Along the sagittal plane of the brain it works pretty well but if you start across the Z or Y axis then it binds-up on the four corners of the cranium. It has a few issues and the closer you get to a 90 degree impact then it just nestles inside the helmet and cannot do so much. MIPS is a step in the right direction but it does not offer the consumer the benefits of Omni-Directional Suspension. The Flex system [Bell Helmets] is good; they took a different angle and made a pretty good job of it. There are some other manufacturers that have come up with some solutions that they are marketing and the customer needs to do their homework. Anything system that is just on the inside of the liner is always going to be limited in its potential. It seems the FIM are now pushing strong with their new standards for racingâ&#x20AC;Ś Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a great feeling that itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s happening, and they must have contacted us around three and a half years ago now to join their consortium of brands with whom they were dealing with to bring in a new standard for closed course road racing. In their studies they found 6D, and

moving ahead: 6d

Erica Manfredi reached out to us. One of our first statements to Erica was ‘if you are going to 8.2 metres per second for energy management then you are going to be making the helmets worse for where they need to be working low at the 4-5-6 metre per second range which is the most common type of impact a rider is going to experience in a road race or offroad accident. We felt the energy levels were going too high but we understood why. One of the good things to came out of that was the FIM adopting a low energy standard with knowledge of what we were doing with our ODS system. The really good thing is that the other manufacturers will be challenged to build a better helmet and probably increase volume instead of just upping EPS density or making a shell stiffer or firmer of an old model to handle the 8.2 level. To really do it right then they’ll need more volume to allow the rider to have a safer ‘ride’ down to zero, which is basically the process of a crash. You want to fall with as much time and distance as possible and it cannot be done with a small shell. It was really nice to have some influence on that standard. Our road helmet is being certified to the FIM standard right now and we’ll have it ready next year.

How is the road market? Is it still such a big thing to conquer? It is. It has been hard because we haven’t had the marketing and the exposure on the street side so the brand is not well known there. Our distributor in the UK – Reactive Engineering – is doing a great job and they have a number of racers getting BSB podium finishes. We in the process of doing some minor tweaks and adjustments to the visor of the helmet for high performance racing and we’ll have that squared away for springtime. We have a really good helmet there.

Products

100% 100% have become part of the fabric of offroad racing thanks to their goggles, eyewear and official collaborations with teams and brands like Geico Honda. Still one of their coolest and most identifiable products is the Barstow and the retro themed goggle has had a comprehensive makeover for 2019. ‘Collaboration’ seems to be very much the watchword of the next generation with famed bike builder Roland Sands chiselling a RSD edition and Death Spray Customs and Deus Ex Machina prevalent in the look and feel. Technically the Barstow manages moisture absorption thanks to the triple layer foam and the minimalist frame permits excellent wide vision. The strap is an area for artistic expression and the lens is anti-fog. The microfiber bag contains a spare lens. You won’t find a more fetching option for the open face helmet.

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sh ow ed up

Get the rundown on what was new & maybe you at the 2018 eicma show & motorcycle live Words & Show photos by Jon Urry

This time last year, motorcycle show news was dominated by mid-capacity roadsters, with bikes including KTM’s 790 Duke, Kawasaki’s Z900RS Café and Husqvarna’s Vitpilen 701 outshining even Ducati’s outrageous Panigale V4. Fastforward 12 months, and while Ducati illuminated Milan’s EICMA expo again with an even more ferocious Panigale – the V4 R, which makes 221bhp and revs to 16,500rpm in road trim – the focus remained on middleweights, this time ones with knobblier tyres. Both Yamaha and KTM have gone full-on with their new models, the Ténéré 700 and 790 Adventure. Far from creating road bikes with a hint of off-road potential, you get the feeling that both manufacturers want to provide riders with machines that are genuine off-the-beaten-track explorers – a fact highlighted by their respective test teams.

Such talk should be taken with a pinch of salt, but when five-time Dakar winner Marc Coma has been involved in the development of the 790 Adventure R and factory Yamaha Rally Team rider Adrien Van Beveren and Dakar legend Stéphane Peterhansel have swung a leg over the Ténéré 700, the signs are very promising for those who are serious about their off-roading. In this context the new BMW F850GS Adventure looks a bit like the soft option, as it only gains the Adventure’s usual big tank and suspension upgrades. But time will tell, and you kind of know which will be the winner in the showrooms. Away from the dirt, Honda’s new models sum up where the factory is aiming – the middle of the road. Hardcore motorcyclists will dismiss the updated CB500 range with their LED lights, sharper styling and improved fuel economy but those updates should please the bike’s target audience.

2019 motorcycles

Same goes for the revamped CBR650F, which does look really attractive, and CB650R. They’re all strong sellers in Europe, just not exactly sexy headline material. On Suzuki’s EICMA stand, a lady waving a sword around and a bloke beating a drum helped whip the crowd into marginal excitement before the unveiling of… a black Katana. Yep, just when Suzuki seemed to have got back on track, their only new offering for 2019 is a GSX-S1000 with a few bolt-ons, provided in two paint schemes. Sorry, Suzuki, it’s time for action and not just words. BMW did their best to steal Ducati’s limelight at the Italian firm’s home show. The all-new S1000RR has its focus set on track success; as well as re-entering WSB with an officially backed BMW Motorrad team, the road bike contains some impressive technology including hollow valve stems, the first time on a production motorcycle. Will the RR achieve more WSB glory this time after its rather embarrassing withdrawal in 2012? It won’t be easy as not only is there the Ducati V4 R to contend with, but also a certain green bike (the Ninja ZX-10R gains titanium conrods and a higher rev limit for 2019) on which BSB champ Leon Haslam will be aiming to give his new team-mate Jonathan Rea some overdue opposition. The sports bike news from EICMA didn’t stop there. Aprilia pulled the covers off a big-capacity RSV4 1100 Factory that comes with the latest must-have MotoGP technology: wings. But the firm’s show star was the RS660 concept bike, featuring a brand new parallel twin engine, which could give Aprilia access to the lucrative middleweight market that they so desperately need. While it would be great to see the racy RS concept reach production, you have to assume Aprilia are planning a rival for Yamaha’s MT-07, given that middleweight sales volume is in naked roadsters, not high-priced sports bikes.

2019 motorcycles

Maybe someone should have mentioned that to Kawasaki, whose decision to update the ZX-6R seems curious, given that Yamaha’s YZF-R6 has failed to reignite this sleeping segment. Yes, the ZX-6R’s updates are limited to a facelift and new electronics, so it’s not exactly ground-breaking, but really? On a more sensible note, the W800 is set to make a comeback. Kawasaki killed off the W650 just as it came back into fashion and then did the same with the W800 a few years later, so maybe this will be third time lucky. Speaking of retros, Triumph’s stylish Scrambler 1200 deserves a mention. The Bonneville-related parallel twin is obviously aimed at the “look at me” Instagram generation, as its dash has an option to link with a GoPro. A video-ready retro bike sounds like a contradiction in terms but the Scrambler is a classy looking piece of kit. So too is Indian’s FTR1200 V-twin, whose sporty off-road style comes with an American flat-track twist. Fans of British twins will also be drawn to Norton’s Atlas, making its debut at Motorcycle Live in the UK this week. The Atlas Nomad roadster and more off-road oriented Ranger variant share a 650cc parallel twin engine that makes 84bhp, and both promise performance and style for sensible money (£9995 and £11,995 respectively). They’re due in UK showrooms by May, and look like giving Donington-based Norton a serious contender in the increasingly exciting and competitive middleweight class.

Most of these bikes can be seen at Motorcycle Live, which is at the NEC, Birmingham until November 25. Details: www.motorcyclelive.co.uk

2019 motorcycles

back page Red Bull KTMâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s new MotoGP rider: Johann Zarco Photo by Sebas Romero

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On-Track Off-Road issue 181

Articles inside

A Splash at Valencia