On-Track Off-Road issue 189

Suzuka

WHEN THE LIGHTS COME ON The special site of Suzuka and the 8hr as dusk falls. KRT took that dramatic win from Yamaha in a sensational and controversial finale to the FIM EWC series as the 2019 edition captured more attention than ever. Watch out on the OTOR website this week as Steve English defied the heat and humidity to generate a personal Blog from the event Photo by Steve English

MotoGP

GOOD BYE DRY SPELL The Grand Prix of Czech Republic did not end in the dust for Romain Febvre.

In fact the Yamaha star blew away some particles from his trophy shelf to install his first winner’s garland for two years after his 1-1 success at Loket.

Photo by Ray Archer

AMA MX

TWISTING DOWN Defending 450MX Champion Eli Tomac showed his teeth at Washougal last Saturday for the ninth round of the Lucas Oil AMA Pro National series and left nobody in doubt as to his intentions for a resolute title defence Photo by Monster/Octopi Media

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MXGP

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MXGP CZECH REPUBLIC

GRAND PRIX OF CZECH REPUBLIC LOKET · JULY 28-29 · Rnd 13 of 18 MXGP WINNER: ROMAIN FEBVRE, YAMAHA MX2 WINNER: JORGE PRADO, KTM

AT LAST HE THIRD Blogs by Adam Wheeler, Photos by Ray Archer

MXGP

Thank goodness for Romain Febvre.

The Frenchman – allegedly soon to end a five-year spell as a factory Yamaha rider for the climes of Kawasaki – may have his own personal chronicle wholly satisfied with victory in the Czech Republic and by quenching a dry spell that stretches back to his home Grand Prix in the summer of 2016 but he also cast a much-needed refresh in the MXGP series. With Jorge Prado elongating his unbeaten record to twelve Grands Prix and Tim Gajser coming back from Indonesia with seven wins in a row the FIM World Championship was in drastic need of something different. Febvre was only the fifth victor in 2020 in all classes (the third in MXGP).

Currently there are reminders of the injury-smashed 2015 campaign in which Febvre himself was able to triumph as a rookie in the premier class but the truth is that every season has it’s own distinct flavour. Take 2018 for example. There are some that were bored stiff with Jeffrey Herlings’ continual rout of the division while others only deepened their admiration and wonder for the Dutchman with every passing week and success. In 2017 it was the tale of Tony Cairoli – while Herlings fought back from injury, Gasjer had that ‘difficult second album’ phenomenon and Febvre was lost in a set-up misstep with the Yamaha.

2019 has not been vintage. It did have the signs of a promising duel between Cairoli and Gajser (best summed up with their dicing at the Grand Prix of Trentino for round four) but the Sicilian’s injured shoulder in Qualification four races later in Russia effectively raised the towel ready for tossing.

Febvre’s broken ankle at round one was just as disappointing because the Frenchman had not looked more fit and focussed at any stage in his MXGP career.

MXGP CZECH REPUBLIC

We’ve had the resurrection of Arnaud Tonus, the never-ending development of Jeremy Seewer (runnerup in the world championship would be very much deserved for the Swiss’ staying power and fitness), flashes from Jeremy Van Horebeek on a privateer machine and great promise from the likes of Pauls Jonass.

2019 is already stamped Honda and KTM, and only a freak occurrence similar to Herlings’ seasonending injuries in 2014 and 2015 will change the landscape. Teams and riders can use the remaining five rounds to examine their possibilities for the first year of the new decade.

MXGP FEATURE

MXGP CZECH REPUBLIC

MXGP FEATURE

MXGP CZECH REPUBLIC

MXGP FEATURE

MXGP CZECH REPUBLIC

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MXGP CZECH REPUBLIC

MXGP BLOG

THE (PROVISIONAL) ROAD MAP...

In the middle of each summer MXGP promoters Youthstream always issue their ‘provisional’ calendar for the following year. It is a projection of how the championship will be for the next edition and while far from cemented (usually the dates are) there are clues as to how associations with individual territories, promoters or clubs are progressing.

Perhaps one of the biggest talking points from the recent listing was the disappearance of the British Grand Prix and one of the most popular circuits on the entire schedule: Matterley Basin. Steve Dixon has been a force-of-nature as a custodian for the venue that is only used and built-up once a year for the Grand Prix itself and the crowds have varied in their volume. His gamble to be the first European round of the 2019 slate in March paid off with a rain-free weekend: a contrast to the weather-hit 2017 Motocross of Nations – the second ‘MXON’ to take place at the Winchester circuit in eleven years.

Matterley’s absence from the 2020 line-up is controversial but it seems the sheer costs of installing the infrastructure was a step

too far for the British fixture: an event that always lacked stability (Donington Park, Mallory Park, Isle of Wight, Matchams Park all taking turns) until Dixon stubbornly installed Matterley as a routine stop from the beginning of the decade.

“We have always been very happy about the relationship we have with [Steve] Dixon and the organization of the Grand Prix but the major problem in UK is the cost of organization of such event which is bringing the financial and economical side of the grand prix to be very difficult to find a positive balance,” commented Youthstream Vice President David Luongo exclusively. “The income from local partners and the ticketing in general is not enough to cover the extremely high costs of

organization of the event which is one of the most expensive of the calendar firstly due to the English market price of all the services provided onsite and the fact the organizer has to build every year everything. The local and central government are also not so proactive to help the organization of such an international event.”

The last line is key for insight in the criteria for modern high-level motorsport organisation. Ticket sales are rarely enough any more.

The side effect of that diminishing income (do you go pricier to increase income but lose public?

Or cheaper to expand numbers but still stand far from the ‘bottom line’ due to the demands on the site?) is that the appeal of the race also lowers for potential title sponsors, such as those brands

By Adam Wheeler

you see on the bottom of music festival posters or other annual ‘happenings’. MXGP cannot depend on MotoGP level TV revenue and in fact Youthstream spend an enormous amount just to livescreen each round of the championship. Their co-organisation role in a handful of Grands Prix also has a price ceiling.

Youthstream generate profit from MXGP. Of course they do, and no other company would remotely consider the same job without some prospect of being in the black. I don’t think people appreciate the difficulty of trying to make numbers, keep a strain of stability in the championship and also try to shape the competition in their vision to potentially capture new eyeballs. Whether those fans are at tracks, watching through their online TV service, terrestrial TV or through YouTube clips. Many claim Youthstream are ‘killing’ MXGP with their elitism of the premier class, the resistance to change of the 23 age rule for MX2 and the propensity for new tracks and unheard of ventures (will Hong Kong actually happen?) but there is no

guarantee – in fact it is very slim – that anybody else would come in and suddenly lay out a formula that ticks everybody’s preference for how Grand Prix motocross should be run.

I have been critical of Youthstream in the past and I still think their diplomacy with the teams and brands in the paddock can be softer or more collaborative but they are pushing forward with their view of how MXGP can be run and where it might go to tackle the next ten years where the digital landscape is causing a mountain of speculation. Hardly anyone else is in a position to say if it wrong, right, dysfunctional or preposterous. Until someone can outline a more effective map then this is the one that exists. Accept it or not there is no other place to wonder at the skills of people like Herlings, Cairoli, Gajser et al.

There is a clear priority now to consider the presentation element of MXGP. A new-build track in Indonesia or China might make fans or weekend-riders recoil, but if it looks the part for TV and

video clips then this is one pretty big box ticked in terms of event promotion. Then there are the other considerations: is it safe? does it create good racing? It is a big package and sometimes hard to predict whether it will actually work.

In 2020 Matterley is – for the moment – off the roster and this is a big loss, more so for the riders themselves that relish the visit to a (dry) southern England. Then for the British fans, even those that have been indifferent to the course over the ten years it has been active as a GP beacon.

Tracks like Neuquen, St Jean D’Angely, Teutschenthal, Kegums, Agueda, Lommel, Loket and Uddevalla mean that MXGP keeps a backbone of traditional or well-liked circuits while the more questionable ‘punts’ involve those trips to Indonesia, Imola, Finland with the new Kymiring and allegedly Spain veering towards a Grand Prix at Jarama or Motorland Aragon with Jorge Prado inflating interest on the Iberian Peninsula.

MXGP BLOG

The mix of old and new is reasonable. Indonesia is clearly a case of satisfying a market and like Trentino, Russia, Imola, China and Turkey it depends on decent alternative financial support to make it happen. The type that David Luongo references is all but absent in Matterley’s case.

While Matterley’s temporary withdrawal strips one of the bestloved layouts away from Grand Prix the hiatus could have a positive effect in rejuvenating some interest. It could also give Dixon more time to find other possible ways of backing for 2021. “I can assure you that we are in constant talks with the organizer to find some solutions for the future,” adds Luongo, underlining that the padlock has not been fully snapped shut on the farm gates.

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There are seven different sizes and two (pretty cool) colourways. AR1 gloves and a Mini Terra X deflector will help complete the kit.

Syncron Airflow will cost just over 100 dollars for the jersey/pant set.

FEATURE

the right watch “IT IS INSTINCT: SPLIT SECOND TIMING AND A FEELING THAT CAN BE THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN WINNING AND LOSING...”

MONSTER ENERGY YAMAHA’S JEREMY SEEWER EXPLAINS AN MXGP RACE START

By Adam Wheeler, Photos by Ray Archer

FEATURE

T

he first few seconds of a motocross Grand Prix are exciting, tense, nervy, crucial and perilous. The explosion of engine torque and noise draws a line of 30-odd 100kg motorcycle together, sometimes separated by mere centimetres and into what is often a tight first corner that filter out the bold from the bravado, the fortunate from the fallers and the podium contenders from the backmarkers. The rasping din of the bikes rapidly eases into a quiet ‘whoosh’ as the racers come off-throttle and

then wind-on the power hard again in a crescendo of volume on corner-exit: the race is on.

For fans, cameras and teams a race start is one of the most thrilling parts of an MXGP moto. The Pole Position holder from Qualification on Saturday may have the first choice of slots in the metal-floored gate and the process itself looks fairly rudimentary (engage gear, depress start suspension device, hit launch control and wait for the metal to drop) but riders dedicate a lot of

Most of the seasoned Pros in MXGP will know well the feeling of being ‘ramped’ by a treaded tyre, hit by a footpeg or another motorcycle rear wheels swallowing part of their anatomy. For several years the FIM have made chest and back protectors obligatory in Grand Prix to protect against certain scrapes and circumstances: simply put, a start is not where you want to crash or tangle with a rival (even though it is an extremely common occurrence and, luckily for the most part, without serious repercussions). In MXGP riders will make almost sixty race starts on average a season, taking into account the two motos per Grand Prix and Saturday’s shorter Qualification Heat sprint.

To gain more insight into the thinking and methodology of this essential component of the sport we asked Monster

JEREMY SEEWER & MXGP STARTS

time, technique and practice to the art. It also influences bike set-up. The investment is worth it. On some of the FIM World Championship’s older and tighter circuits (and some newer and more restrictive designs) the parity between the very top teams, machinery and athletes means the metres and clear track earned through a ‘holeshot’ is a very valuable (and safer) commodity.

FEATURE Energy Yamaha’s factory rider Jeremy Seewer, currently second in the series, to provide more details…

The sighting lap is when the ritual kicksin…

In MXGP, where the timing is so precise – to the minute or even the second – the process for the start begins from the sighting lap. All the same moves and same rituals go into place from that first slow look at the track and a check

of the lines and how things look after the MX2 race.

When we get back from the sighting lap most of the riders, normally myself included, go to the toilet again! There are always units behind the gate and sometimes there is a queue! By the time you are back to the bike there is usually just a minute to go, so a few last words with the mechanic. He has a headset and is connected to the rest of the team that might be at different points on the track so that

could also be the moment for a final tip or piece of advice.

You prepare your goggle, check it again, then hit the start button. You make sure everything is ready and you try to be clear in your mind and put the full focus on that moment.

Everyone is different in that time before the sighting lap. Some talk, some don’t and the gate is a busy area…

In the gate itself you have to stay calm, you might need to wait…

If you have qualified well and are one of the first riders in then you have to sit there as the rest of the gate takes their positions. In that moment you go through your marks and what is key for you; that might be 3-4 difficult points on the track. You go through the lap again in your mind and the line you want to use to be as prepared as possible. I started using a small block for my foot. At first we were told it wouldn’t be allowed on the metal mesh but I spoke up for the smaller guys!

“IT IS ALL ABOUT REACTION & BODY MOVEMENT. YOU CAN PRACTICE FOR ANY SITUATION BUT THE REAL START CAN BE ABOUT THAT SPLIT-SECOND MOVEMENT AND FEELING.” When the gate was dirt we could build a small ramp or something to help. So we needed something different.

You’ll see riders moving and shaking, checking gloves and other little habits. I always do the same kind of stretching.

I don’t know why! It’s just a ritual. It kinda helps to remind the body ‘it’s that time again…’ If you do the same movements then it is like a ‘snap’ for the body and your

state to get set for the race. I always do the same things but it is nothing too crazy or exhibitive. I won’t be revving the bike too much or being too nervous.

I’ll be zoning down everything I have and what I am towards getting out of that gate as quickly as possible.

What’s going on with the bike? A few buttons…

The start button on the front forks that compresses the suspension and locks the bike down until we are going is quite an important thing; especially these days with the metal mesh flooring. We are getting lower and lower on the bike because there is a lot of traction. There is also a button on the handlebar that we’ll activate to set the electronics especially for the start with a different engine mapping. I don’t know too much detail actually but I know it switches the power delivery to help with the perfect start.

We have a rev light indicator on the front of the bike to let me know where I have the throttle set but I tend to go more by feeling: we do so many practice starts that by now plus-or-minus 2-300 RPM is more or less the same.

It can be all about reaction time…

The difference between the gate dropping and something like a traffic light changing is that you know the gate will always fall between five-six seconds.

JEREMY SEEWER & MXGP STARTS

I’m quite relaxed but I’m also focussed. I’m not going to be acting weird or making jokes but I can talk to others. It is strange because you also don’t want too much involvement with other people at that time. Before the sighting lap is probably the most relaxed moment, and doing things like TV interviews is part of it an absolutely fine. You might chat with a friend or another rider and in the past we used to take time to prepare the ground in the gate slot we had chosen, of course there is no need for that now with the metal floor mesh.

FEATURE It won’t be eight or nine.

When the 15 second board goes down I’m still relaxed.

We get set; I count to three and move my body into position to go. The one or two seconds left are the important ones and you need to be ready with your reaction: if that gate moves you need to get out of it. I’m always in second gear and then what happens next depends on the soil you hit. In sand you always get a lot of wheelspin so you can move your body back because you need more pressure on the rear and then shift gears pretty quickly. Somewhere like Matterley Basin has a downhill start and the ground is quite tacky, so if you lent back there then you’d just

be doing a wheelie or having to pull on the clutch and you lose drive. It’s an instinct thing, and it changes from GP to GP because of the different conditions. Even the gates can be different: there might be a slight gap between the mesh and the dirt or a lip that bounces you upwards. It is all about reaction and body movement. You can practice for any situation but the real start – and when it counts – can be about that split-second movement and feeling.

Do we practice, practice, practice…?

It can depend. If you are struggling with them then you’ll do a lot but if you know your starts are good and you are mentally strong then you don’t need so many. I remember in Sardinia during preseason testing I did something like 50 in one week – a lot – but I did very few between the first Grand Prix in Argentina and the British Grand Prix, where I took the holeshot in the Qualification Heat.

I think you have to wait a bit to see if you have made a good one, there are too many factors involved to know if you’ve done it or not. The jump out of the gate is the most important and you quickly realise if it is good; sometimes you get an inkling that it will be a holeshot. The truth is that with the mesh these days we are all in one level row after few metres.

You need to make the difference as you build speed; it’s difficult to say how! Your position, balance and movements are all instinct. I had to change my style a bit for the 450 coming out of MX2 because there is more power.

It is dangerous?

It can be, especially in the MXGP class where we all know that the first corner is where you can win or lose a race because it can be so hard to pass on some tracks. There is a lot of elbowing and it can be dangerous rushing into a fast first turn when there might be twenty riders coming together into one point. You know it is risky, but you also know it is an essential part of the sport: that’s why you have to do everything to try and be there first. If you are outside the top ten then you can see some scary stuff and incidents that are out of your control. You have to be smart to read everything around you because there might be ten things

happening at the same time and at high speed.

A start is exciting but…

I think a big jump or somewhere you can throw a big whip is still one of the best feelings in motocross. The exhilaration of the start comes when you get it right and it feeds into a good result. There is a lot of pressure on this single moment and if you handle it well then you just feel ‘free’ to make it to the first corner.

If you ‘miss’ the start or you are deep in the pack then it is frustrating and you know you will have a lot of work ahead.

JEREMY SEEWER & MXGP STARTS

We don’t know right away if we’ve made the holeshot…

M

FEATURE

ACROSS THE TABLE FROM BOBBY HEWITT THE ROCKSTAR ENERGY HUSQVARNA TEAM PRINCIPAL ON WINNING A SUPERCROSS CHAMPIONSHIP, MANAGING JASON ANDERSON, THE ENIGMA OF CHRISTOPHE POURCEL, MARSHALLING ZACH OSBORNE’S RENAISSANCE AND GOING THROUGH THAT LAS VEGAS DECIDER…

By Adam Wheeler, Portraits by Rich Shepherd/Husqvarna pics by S.Cudby

FEATURE

B

obby Hewitt sits at a desk and within a space inside the Husqvarna North America HQ in Murrieta, California (within spying distance of KTM next door) that gives the impression that he is a man with every finger on the pulse of his racing operation. The office is next to the immaculate workshop space where the FC450Fs of Jason Anderson and Zach Osborne (and the FC250s of Michael Mosiman and Jordan Bailey

are prepped) and everything has a place. Papers are nicely arranged, nothing seems out of place or randomly left and there is a practical minimalism to environment.

When I suggest that after two decades of running one of the most established race teams in AMA Supercross and motocross that Hewitt might be almost intimidating to younger riders he recoils. The 57 year old Texan, who has been the epitome

of courtesy, accessibility and friendliness since my arrival at the facility, looks at me like I’ve just tossed an offensive comment his way. Collaboration and relationships - is a clearly a big deal for Bobby.

For almost half a decade Hewitt has delivered victories and podiums for the marque and of course the brilliant 250SX title triple by Osborne in 2017/18, and Anderson’s first crown last year that meant his crew negotiated the recently-finished supercross campaign as reigning champions.

He observed the movement with the KTM Group and the Husqvarna brand and as a result Hewitt was ideally placed to assume the mantle of race team leader in white.

choking-up when recalling Osborne’s unforgettable Las Vegas success two summers ago…

When not risking his ire with a miscued question, Bobby is a great talker and easy with his anecdotes and stories. He loves a tangent but his demeanour carries a steely conviction: the man has a strong set of beliefs and values. He is also emotional; almost exasperated with how riders/ athletes/people are quickly dismissed and then visibly

Last year, 2018, saw the big prize come along with Jason but your relationship has been through some ups-anddowns. Someone like Zach is popular and easy to work with while a rider like Christophe can be an enigma. So is one of your skills being able to extract what each of these personalities need?

My management style is definitely different than everybody else’s. I think it comes from a strong business background.

I had my own business for almost thirty years with 160 employees and seven different locations and we did about forty-two million a year in gross revenue; so you run into a lot of different characters and people, beliefs and thoughts. My philosophy is that there are no two mechanics or two trainers that are alike so there definitely aren’t two racers that will ride and think the same. In my position you have to be the manager but sometimes you have to look at it like an owner, sometimes a father, a mechanic, a therapist or a best friend as well as the boss. I always tell everybody that when I had Blake Baggett the harder I was on him the more he reacted.

But if I yelled at Tommy Hahn he’d go into the corner and curl-up. They were two different people. I have two-three principles: one is that we are always truthful with each other. If we don’t lie to each other

MEETING BOBBY HEWITT

Since he veered from construction to racing on a fulltime basis near the start of the century and into team management from 2008 (signing Jason Anderson in 2011) Hewitt has worked with an eclectic group of riders; some would even say ‘unmanageable’. But he’s thrived on withdrawing the best from misfits, controversial characters, inconsistent brilliance and a lot more: lifelines for the likes of Davi Millsaps and Christophe Pourcel to helping Anderson and Zach Osborne reach career highs. A (clearly) shrewd eye for opportunity and circumstance from his first days with Kawasaki and Suzuki in the amateur ranks can also see the bigger picture.

FEATURE

“WHAT A LOT OF PEOPLE DON’T KNOW ABOUT JASON IS THAT HE’LL RACE JUST AS HARD FOR 100 BUCKS AS HE WILL FOR 100,000 AND HE DOESN’T LIKE THE LIMELIGHT. HE COULDN’T CARE LESS IF HE HAS 10 FANS ON INSTAGRAM OR 700,000.”

them different and what you need to understand and work around. At the end of the day we want to win races and be successfulHow do you work out that 20%? Is it the personal touch or just being very astute at the track and training?

A bit of all of it! It is no secret that I hate agents and I love parents. I want the rider to know that I don’t care if he’s thrown in gaol in the middle of the night; I’d hope I be one of his first phone calls because I know more about the riders and the staff here than their wives or girlfriends do and that’s because I don’t judge. Nobody is perfect but we spend a lot of time together – and I’m sure every team manager will say this – through that time you get to see that there is a moment in every rider, mechanic or truck driver’s life when things are not going so good. It might be a family issue or financial and having someone that is willing to help and willing to listen I believe is a help. I’m open with my past and I’ve made mistakes. You can ask me a question and I’ll answer it. I’m not proud of everything I’ve done but I’m also not ashamed so that I’ll hide it.

So it’s about developing trust over time. Finding out what makes them tick and their interests outside of racing and sharing some of those with them.

Part of the attraction of the job must be making that discovery, and you are making progress both in the way to work and results. On the flip side it must be hard when you can see things are not working or starting to slide. It must be hard to maintain that relationship or investment in the character…

Usually you lose them when they’re young. I have Michael Mosiman and Jordan Bailey and they are two different types of personalities. And then Thomas [Covington] as well. I’ve had to have some hard conversations with Bailey because [any problem] was always someone else’s fault. He has the ability but when I first signed him and he went onto a supercross track he had some really big get-offs. He didn’t break anything but it probably set him back six-eight months.

Even through Outdoors last year he struggled a lot. He had the capability but not the self-confidence and instead of looking in the mirror and saying ‘hey, it’s me…’ he wanted to point the finger everywhere else. About three months ago he really started ‘drinking the coolade’ and changed his whole mindset and he’s made more progress in the last three months than the year-and-half I had him before then. My Crew Chief, and I had an argument while we were in Florida because we knew the direction where Thomas would

MEETING BOBBY HEWITT

and we’ll get along great. I have two sons, one in this industry who started on 60s and went all the way through and almost every Pro rider on the track has either lived or stayed at my house or rode at my house; so I’ve heard every excuse! Honesty is a big thing.

The other is a request simply to gimme everything you’ve got: whether it’s on the practice track or the race track.

When the gate drops until the chequered flag I don’t care if you fall twenty times but just don’t quit on me. I tell riders ‘nobody is perfect and you don’t need to be perfect all the time…but you need to be perfect when it’s time’. It’s about learning the personalities. I tell riders that they should feel most comfortable when they are underneath this tent at the races. I’ll love you just as much on your bad days as your good ones or I wouldn’t have hired you. I believe you have the talent and the ability and you’ll probably give up on yourself before I will. With that also comes a responsibility and you have to be really direct with a rider. It’s about learning what they can and cannot do. There is a template across the parking lot [at KTM] that has been very successful and I respect that a lot but the way they do things is different from the way I do it. I truly believe that you can put 80% of every rider in a box. It is the 20% that makes

FEATURE probably end up for Supercross when it came to his settings but I could tell earlyon that Thomas was pushing back and everything we were gearing towards he wouldn’t like it. So I said ‘let’s get a set of everything he was on and give it to him’ and my Crew Chief was like ‘that’s not going to work’. I said we both knew that…but until we let him ride it and self-eliminate that question mark then it will always be hovering there in the back of his head. I think that management style with the riders – for Jason, Zach, Christophe – when it comes to bike set-up then I don’t care if you want to run stock ProTaper handlebars or something special I just want that bike to feel like it is an extension of them and they are confident and competitive. Does it really matter if one guy likes one thing and another likes something else? If all those settings for Thomas had worked then no problems but there were some areas where he said he felt OK and some [where] it was really scary to watch. After about thirty minutes he came off the track and said ‘this won’t work…’. Technical choices can cause conflict but I am not the guy who will have his finger in your chest and his foot up your ass – I can when I need to be and there have been times in twenty years when I’ve had to – but I prefer not to. It is about allowing them to

communicate and not worry what they say. It is a blank canvas so it is about painting it the way you want.

for him and his family – but he’ll race just as hard for 100 bucks as he will for 100,000 and he doesn’t like the limelight. He couldn’t care less if So what burns-you-up then? It he has 10 fans on Instagram is just a lack of effort? or 700,000. It is not what The last one I had was with ticks him. He has anxieties Jason at A2 this year. In twen- about having to do interviews ty years I have only thrown and whatever-else because as my headset twice but after many as he’s done – and he’s that race I had to walk around much better now compared the stadium once before I got to a few years ago when I first back to the truck because got him – it’s an uncomfortaI was so mad. But I didn’t ble setting. Jason has a group cool-off enough and ended up of friends and those are the throwing my headset against ones he hangs out with, eats the wall of the truck lounge with and does everything with and made everybody get out when he’s not racing. Now of the Semi apart from JaZach is a guy that you can put son. I said to him ‘you know 100% into the box. If you need a) I love you and b) I’ll never any interview done then he’s doubt your ability but I am the guy there with the hat and banging my head against the the shirt. He’s outgoing, politiwall. I’m communicating that cally correct. He’s greatwe’ll get through this because Just to cut across you: it I gotta have something from seems that riders don’t want you, and what you gave toto embrace that ‘role model’ night is totally unacceptable aspect of what they do. Zach on any level…’. I don’t think is a good example of someone anybody really understands who has put many parts of the pressure that comes after being a public-face and a Pro winning a championship and racer together… all the obligations. And the Very much so. Zach only has feedback [from others] is ‘well, one problem [laughs] - and Dungey and Villopoto had to they [the older riders] all do the same so Jason is goseem to have it more than the ing to have to understand’. rookies - and that’s for autoThe thing is that Jason is not graph signing sessions it is a Ryan Dungey or Ryan Villike herding cats. It will be at lopoto and what a lot of peo2.45 and at 2.44 they’ll still ple don’t know about him is be sitting there in the truck that he doesn’t care about the in their underwear. Zach is a money – well, he does from great mentor for the younger a future financial viewpoint guys.

MEETING BOBBY HEWITT “IF YOU WANT TO GET ME RILED-UP THEN TRY TO MAKE AN ISLAND IN MY TEAM. I WON’T HAVE IT.”

FEATURE Whatever he does afterwards in the sport he’ll do a great job. He sees the big picture and knows how important that is. He understands that at the end of the day – and this is something I push onto all my staff – is that it is our responsibility to increase sales and market our product. If we are not helping the brand to sell more Husqvarnas then we are not doing our job. That’s the reason we have a second Semi and the reason we display the bikes and we do what we do. It’s the same responsibility to all our sponsors and I think my business background helps me to grasp that background and the importance of raising money every year to go racing and stick to a budget. The best thing I can have is a sponsor who at the end of the year says to me ‘I got ten times more than what I expected or what I paid for’. I’ve done very well on that side but I would say with 80% of riders it is about getting them to understand that is it just as important about what you do off the track in supporting the OEM and the sponsors as what you do on the track.

Dean Wilson could finish 10th every week but his value in promoting the brand and what he does off the track is important.

The constant process of analysing a rider and where he is in his career and where he’s

going: can that sometimes be difficult because of the connection you have? You’ve had a mix of younger riders and much more experienced.

Coming back to what I asked earlier, it must be tricky to evaluate that and make tough decisions…

It is. When I made all the decisions, for the majority of my career, it was very easy for me to say ‘that’s the guy I want’. What, still-to-thisday, gives me satisfaction is being able to see the guy that nobody else can see.

What is that particular guy missing? He has the ability, he has the talent: so what is lacking? Whether it was Davy [Millsaps], who’d everybody had given-up on, or Christophe or Zach or Marty [Davalos] or even Jason there is a story behind every one of them that at a certain point in their careers when I found them they’d been written-off or been told to move on and find something or someone else. With the young guys it is very difficult and tough for me to communicate to my peers here at Husqvarna that we have to stick with a guy for the long-term. I’m a ‘numbers’ person. I have spreadsheets that are 10-15 years old and go right through a rider’s Pro career. Over 82.6% of them have their best Pro years after coming in as a rookie by their third-fourth season. What I have Iearnt

and some of them make big strides. There is no substitution for time. I don’t care how many laps you put in or how many starts you do. You have to remember we are dealing with kids 16, 17, 18, 19, 20. I still look at a rider who is 24 now and think what I was like at 24! I thought I knew everything! In my case I didn’t really know what I wanted until I was in my late thirties!

It’s about communicating what it going on with these guys. Thomas is a seasoned rider who lived in Europe for five years and is used to having two days to have a track ‘down’ and then a large number of laps on the track before the race starts so for sure he feels confident when he does it. Now take him back to the U.S. fly every weekend and just two ten minute sessions.

I remember the first race that we did and he said ‘we get a sighting lap right?’ and I said ‘no! The gate drops and you go…no Sighting lap until the Main’. So it is going to take a while. He has the natural ability but he is following the same path as a rookie. I told him that Supercross is a ballet: every step is precise and where it is supposed to be.

Whereas Outdoors is a boxing match: the toughest guy wins because the last ten minutes are about how much pain are you willing to suffer. He’ll be fine but it will take time, and it is frustrating from my part

MEETING BOBBY HEWITT

through the years and even watching my own son is that they come in and see the lights and the fans and it is like going to the High School Prom for the first time, their eyes are this big and round.

They have some moments of greatness but most of the time more difficulty than success. So it is about keeping them positive and explaining the building process. Second year – and this is where Mosiman is right now – they have the speed and when they get a start they stay there and make fewer mistakes. They have more pace and confidence but they still lack the consistency; they’ll do three great laps and then have a terrible fourth. That thirdfourth year is when they – for whatever reason - finally put all the pieces together. That’s usually when they have the most success. It is difficult from a factory standpoint for everyone to be as patient as I am to go through the learning process. I was looking at all other teams and they were scooping up these young riders and having them just for two years and they didn’t produce. Mosiman: I have had to fight to keep him every year.

I’ve been accused of leaning towards the riders [but that’s] because I see their progress.

It can be easy to judge from a distance but when you see them day-in and day-out then you see the little steps,

FEATURE especially because of last year and our success with Jason and Zach. I knew 2019 would be different. I told Rockstar and my sponsors that we’ll be really bad on the 250 side – that’s just reality. If we are going to develop younger talent then everybody needs to understand that. Everybody was OK with that because I had Jason and Zach and we were all excited about the 450s.

Paris and Geneva went well but the closer we got to A1 the more you could see the anxiety building up in Jason because those last 30-40 days meant a phone call, interview or something else every day.

If Jason misses a day of training, bike ride, gym session or practice then it eats him. He believes 100% in the programme laid out in front of him and if that changes… [bad news]. He’d missed the Outdoors through injury and he’d got back on the bike and was riding well but you could see he didn’t know where he was-at. We’d all left and gone to the Monster Cup on Thursday and he called that day at 2pm and said ‘I want to race’.

We didn’t have any race bike ready, nothing prepared but he wanted to do the Monster Cup. His mechanic wasn’t here so we got the training mechanic to freshen-up the practice bike and put it in a truck and come to Vegas. He did great there. He didn’t win but he left Monster Cup think-

Logistically how it is managing a team when the whole operation is split the breadth of the United States?

It is very challenging from a managerial standpoint and a personal one. Up until we moved into the Husqvarna factory facility here and did the Aldon Baker deal with KTM then I spent time with my riders every day. You go from spending every week and every day travelling together to a weekly phone call or seeing them every month or two. I’d see them every Saturday but not during the week.

It became difficult for me because beforehand I could gauge how the weekend would be because of the week leading up to it; whether there was personal, technical or bumpsand-bruises. I mean, if you ask a rider how the week went they’d always say ‘it went great’. Ask them how they feel that day ‘I feel amazing’. Then you come to find out that they had a big get-off or the laptimes were not great one of

the days. It has been difficult for me with that. So much so that I put together a whole analysis for how much money we’d save if we moved the whole race-shop to Florida!

And then having 80% support at the test facility and 20% here for - literally - as few as six and at the very most thirteen weeks in California.

The rest of the time would be over there. Managing it all is difficult: when we were doing the tests with Thomas with suspension and chassis then the way we had it set-up that week would normally take a month and the frustration level of the rider increases.

Generally I think we missed the boat a bit and all of my staff said they’d relocate. Most of them have been with me a long time and that’s the way we always operate. If someone has an issue then we address the issue. Now we are doing it through other ways of communication but it is not like doing it hands-on. So I made up my mind that I’ll just spend more time in Florida and I’m looking at Real Estate there. I don’t worry about Jason and Zach because they have been doing it long enough and they can communicate well enough. They know what they are looking for and what needs to be done. But with the young guys it is very difficult. I remember when Jason started riding with me he couldn’t tell you anything

about the bike! He’d just adjust his style to what the bike was doing! Now he’s in a different league. He knows what he is looking for and that makes it much easier but we have to develop the young kids and the amateurs. We have three programmes and I feel we could shorten the time of development and therefore the results if we had the ability to be there more.

Could riding for you be quite intimidating? Simply because of what you have achieved in the sport?

I hope not.

In the same way that young guys might be daunted by riding and working with Roger De Coster?

I don’t see myself that way.

My wife might tell you that I can look quite intimidating from a distance but I feel I am nice guy and if you can’t get along with me then you can’t with anyone.

It’s more your standing…

Roger is the guy at the top of the totem pole. Even though I’ve had success I would hope I’m still humble and grounded as when I started. I’ve been successful in anything I’ve done, whether it is business, sports or racing but I know it takes time. When I first got into this I remember walking into Mitch Payton’s office. I had never met him and I was very intimidated at the time!

This was fifteen-twenty years

MEETING BOBBY HEWITT

ing ‘I’m close’. We went from high anxiety to the world is good again. We then go to Europe and A1 gets closer and the [expectation] starts creeping in and it was more than any of us thought it would be.

We’d never won one before!

You never get as many calls from winning the 250 championship as you do the Supercross championship.

FEATURE Like it or not though you are the leader…

Until you brought it up then it’s not something I’ve given a lot of thought about. I mean, I know people value my opinion a lot more now compared to when I first came in. I feel like I have earned respect – not bought it – from my peers and others in the industry.

I’ve tried to teach my children, my riders and anyone who’s worked for me that I don’t care if you’re the President of the United States or the guy sweeping the streets we all put our pants on the same way and we all deserve the same amount of “I THINK A LOT OF PEOPLE TOOK respect.

I think if HIM THE WRONG WAY. I ALWAYS anybody THOUGHT HE WAS TRYING TO does feel intimiBE CLEAR ABOUT WHAT HE WAS by FEELING AND COMMUNICATE WHAT dated me I’m HE IS EXPERIENCING. ONCE I WAS more than ABLE TO FIGURE THAT OUT THEN WE happy to put it GOT-ALONG GREAT.” aside! ago and the very first thing he said to me was “you are not going to buy your way into this sport” and I said “I don’t want to buy my way in, I want to work my way in”. I definitely did not want to be a team that shows up at A1 and we’re gone by Vegas. I was in it for the long haul and I was willing to work for it. You’ve thrown me a bit with that question because I know we worked for success but I also know that it comes because of the people you surround yourself with. I don’t look at it as a big personal thing but more what our team and pro-

gramme has done. I tell people in many interviews that the riders might be the face and the voice but the backbone of the organisation are the guys in the pits, the ones driving the trucks, the practice mechanics: those are the ones that really make the difference between a successful programme and unsuccessful.

A different subject then. Give me your take on Christophe Pourcel. Many people might have regarded that as a leftfield or risky signing but he was a brilliantly technical riderHe is beautiful to watch on the bike.

But Mitch Payton himself said you had to give him a leash and couldn’t work in

the same way with him as other riders. What’s your evaluation of that episode now?

I loved having Christophe. I found out at the very first day of testing how I needed to communicate with him. We’d test something and when he first came off the track everyone would surround him and ask him what he thought of this or that and Christophe is a very proud person, and respectively so because he has accomplished great things in this sport. That being said, when he came off the track what you needed to do with him was let him be and give him some space. It took him a while to admit it to me but there is a language barrier to some degree. He needed that time to gather his thoughts.

If he was doing it in French it might have been a quicker process but he wanted to be clear with his English. That’s one of the things I always respected about him because he did have self-awareness and whether he will admit this or not he did care about how people looked at him and the way they communicated. I think a lot of people took it the wrong way: he’s difficult, he’s standoff-ish. I always thought he was trying to be clear about what he was feeling and communicate what he is experiencing. Once I was able to figure that out then we got-along great. We

Did you appreciate or get infuriated by the fact that he was going to push to a certain limit and not go over it?

I think all the riders get to that stage at a certain point in their career. Dungey and Christophe both broke the same bone in their neck, same side and everything. The only difference is that Dungey broke his at the third round in Colorado.

Christophe did his in August.

Dungey had three-four months off the bike and be able to get back and build up confidence.

Christophe was on fast-track.

When we came to A1 there had been good days and bad days but the severity of that injury – and I don’t think a lot of people know but your main artery runs through there and if that artery would have been cut then you can bleed out in under two minutes and die very easily because of it. With Christophe understanding what he had gone through previously with

MEETING BOBBY HEWITT

talked about politics and a lot of different things other than racing. Again it is about getting to know the rider and how they click. When it came to bike setup I had Jason all the way to the left and Christophe all the way to the right! I joked with Christophe once by saying the only way I could make his bike slower was to buy one from a dealer and put our graphics on the side! But he could lay down a fast lap and he could hang it up there as well.

FEATURE being paralysed…I was never frustrated with him. Others were. I felt strongly that if we had by-passed supercross and just gone into Outdoors we’d have been in a much better position. At the practice track I would understand why he’d only do 1-2 laps going through the whoops but to others it was frustrating. It was a difficult time. I’ve had to let riders go before but that was one where I was more upset and to the point of tears. Fortunately I pushed and pushed and we were able to put together the Canada deal. It was nobody’s fault but everybody has an opinion and we all have someone we have to answer to. I thoroughly enjoyed working with Christophe

and have the utmost respect for him on and off the track.

Robert [Jonas, VP of Offroad KTM Group] told me that I have a reputation for taking difficult riders and getting the best of them and I think a lot of it is just being human and not treating them like a paycheck. Yes, we are paid to perform but it is a dangerous sport and as a Pro your career is very short. If you think about other sports – if you do research – then most athletes are in their prime mentally and emotionally between 27-32; that’s the cream of the crop, and that’s when our guys’ careers are over. We’re bringing guys in at eighteen when they have the least amount of ability to control

their emotions, and their testosterone is at its highest and we want them to be mature and responsible. It seems that we do a lot of things backwards in this industry. What I’d like to hang my hat on is being able to see things that others didn’t and that brings success like Zach Osborne.

He could have won those championships five years before he did but he didn’t believe in himself. Until you can get that light bulb to go off [it won’t happen]. He was very comfortable finishing second.

I’ve only got mad at Zach once. I think it was at Seattle or St Louis. He led thirteen of the fifteen laps and then he started seeing Cooper [Webb] come. He went from

Lastly, Las Vegas 2017 and Osborne’s last lap, penultimate corner championship win. If that wasn’t the highlight of your career then at least describe the emotions of that moment and evening…

Oh. I’m a firm believer in emotions trickle down. If I’m in a good mood then others will be, if I’m mad then that has an effect. The team looks towards the Head Coach or the President of a company for leadership in good times and bad. In the week leading up to Vegas – internally I was dying! I was so nervous and stressed and the only person I could talk to was my wife – to the guys I was showing a face of no big deal, no stress, another race and we’ll do it.

The funny thing was that when Zach went down in the first corner I was in the Managers Tower and literally dropped to

the floor. My head was down there and the tower was next to the finish line and Zach said he could see me every lap get a little higher as he came through. To come from where he was and then make that pass [struggles for words]. It felt like I had done a marathon at the end of the race and all in fifteen minutes. There was so much emotion. He gave it everything he had and I was trying to hold my composure.

I was trying to hold it together like I’d ‘been to the dance before’ and was ready to congratulate him but the guys will tell you that I probably cried more [gets emotional]. It started out as one of the worst nights of my life and my biggest fear had just come true, to being one of the most exhilarating. The thing was that I had another guy on the starting line right afterwards and I didn’t get to enjoy it and I feel a bit bad about that. We did the photo and then I had to go back to the Managers Tower.

I felt he got a big cheated by that but we made up for it afterwards.

How many times have you watched the video?

Oh! I’ve watched that race more than twenty times. I think it will be ranked as one of the greatest moments in our sport. I haven’t been around as long as other guys but 2019 is my twentieth year and I still think it was one of

the greatest. And for us to win both classes! I thought we might have been the first from the same team and same programme…but then it was Roger! And I should have known! When you always look at all the paperwork and deal with all the travelling then it is moments like that which make it all worth it. That night was one of the very best and I still have the same goals. I want to win an Outdoor 450 championship badly so it is not a one-and-done fluke. I tell everybody that I am not going into the motorcycle Hall of Fame and I know that, but I would like to be remembered as a guy who came in from outside the industry and did things a little different and made people’s lives better and perhaps changed the thought process a little bit. To have said ‘just because you did it that way for thirty years doesn’t mean it needs to be that way for the next thirty’.

The world is changing all the time. I’ll be proud of the success these guys have achieved and hopefully [knocks on the desk] my contract will be renewed and I can start and finish with Jason because in our industry today people jump for a nickel more. Both Zach and Jason have had opportunities to go other places for more money and have turned them done so I feel good about that.

MEETING BOBBY HEWITT

a seven second lead to nothing and Cooper passed him on the last lap and he finished second. I said to him that the only reason he did not win that race was because he did not believe he could. The light bulb for Zach was when he went to our training facility and was training with Jason and Dungey but on a 250 and was running with those guys.

He knew he couldn’t do it for thirty minutes but he could do it for fifteen whether it was supercross or outdoors and it translated over to the track.

FEATURE

BEING BY

REVOLUTIONARY START DEVICES? WHY BUY A HANDLEBAR? AND WHAT GOES INTO A GRIP ANYWAY? HOW PROTAPER ARE MAKING AFTERMARKET WAVES

By Adam Wheeler, Photos by Husqvarna/Cudby

Y THE BAR P

aul Perebijnos sits in his office in Irvine, California flanked floor to ceiling by ProTaper parts and merchandise.

It’s from this ordered but cluttered space that the former Pro Circuit mechanic and his small team have helped the forward-thinking handlebar company (now much broader in terms of parts and product catalogue) prosper over the half decade that he has steered the brand.

We’re here to ask why and how a dirtbike rider would want to buy a ‘bar, and diverge from the

usually reliable offering from their production motorcycle, to enquire about their secret SELA start device that made an appearance for the first time in the initial rounds of 2019 Supercross (and is due for launch very soon) and for an explanation of how ProTaper are moving places.

Paul, ProTaper has had four years of continual growth. In your opinion what’s the reason for that?

I think it’s a bunch of different things happening in unison. I would say the racing side is important. We have tried to make ProTaper a global brand and that means having premium, championship winning athletes all over the globe

and in all different disciplines like off-road, hard enduro and not just motocross and supercross. A big part has been the aggression and dedication to product development. We have continued to innovate and bring new products to the market and that has really made the brand exciting and to capture the customer’s attention. That helps the rest of the product line because you have to evolve and have new stuff. We are always rationalising our skew-offering and getting rid of things that have become stale. Even if something is not innovative it might just be fresh like a new bar pad colour – and those colours have actually been crazily popular for us.

FEATURE So it means constantly looking at the product line. We try to have something new to talk about every year and that’s been huge. I’ve learned that it takes time for these things to happen and a lot of the things we did two-three years ago we are only seeing the rewards now. It is a long game running a brand and a business but our momentum has been fantastic and we have been gaining new fans and I hope we continue to do so.

Has the rate of product development increased? What’s the turnaround?

It depends on the product itself and how much testing it takes but typically it is twelve months. Even if it is something fairly simple like a bar pad it still take time to

get it designed and then pricing, margin structure, launch strategy, get POs placed and product in stock and then marketing. So twelve months at a minimum but I think that is still quite fast. If it is a very technical piece like our start device then that’s been in the works for a long, long time and is the type of product that needs to be hard-race tested I feel. It is not something that can continually be done at the test track or the lab. It needs to be put through the paces in a race and be roosted, and face all the conditions of mud, sand, dust, everything. We learned a lot from the four Supercross races we used it with Dean Wilson. One of those was a mud race at San Diego.

Have priorities shifted at all?

Not really. ProTaper’s organisation involves a small team here and I report to the president of a group of brands and we go through bigger overarching strategies. A big thing for us in 2019 is international growth and it was last year also. Then things like working out how to get our international customers with their product quicker and at a competitive price. ProTaper is a fairly young business when it comes to the international side and has only been focussing on it for the last eight years or so.

Then putting people in place to really focus further in the last five-six. It’s a bit of an initiative of ours going forwards but then we want to preserve our margins and make moves based on what the market is

Photo by Ray Archer

it as good as it can be. I try to sprinkle them around: the guys here in the office all vary in skill level on the bike and what they ride and then we’ll have our factory guys, some media guys to create a nice mix of age, riding ability and experience. We’ll try to create the best and biggest ‘box’ that we’d want people to fit into.

Does the type of material really matter? This is an area where the apparel industry is really advancing for example…

It is not as crazy as apparel.

But there are different mixtures to get different things out of it. You can go very soft but then the grip will disintegrate over time. You can go harder and it will last longer but it will be harsh in your hand. There is a fine balance with the material to increase your wear and longevity. Not only can you change the grip pattern but also the wall of the grip to give more cushion or rebound. So there are a lot of little things you can do I guess.

The SELA start device is new.

What’s the story there?

It’s been an idea for a while and in development for a little bit less but like I said earlier we really had to race-test this one. The unique feature means there have been a lot of legal dealings and it was important for us to get our

PROTAPER & WHY BUY A HANDLEBAR?

telling us. Some things are ence behind it. I’m a scientific selling better than others com- and mechanical kind of perpared to five years ago – son. I need facts! We kinda nerd-out on that. We get into Such as? durometers and different levA big one is the clamp-on els of softness: ‘low’ being a style grips. Five years ago I soft grip and ‘high’ being very would say they were not the hard. We’ll also look closely at priority but nowadays a lot of outer diameters and what the people are buying them. They installed diameter is on a ‘bar are willing to pay more money because we’ve learned a lot not to have to worry about from our kids handlebar – the glue and safety wiring. A lot of Micro – about how size makes that leads to cannibalisation of a big difference and how a our other grips. So we’ve had rider’s hands feel after a moto. to look at skews and our other A bigger diameter is harder to offerings as a lot of customhold onto and can give armers are moving that way now. pump. It’s like holding a baseKTM and Husky putting them ball bat and the difference on their stock motorcycles has between where you should be really carried it. A lot of peoholding it and sliding it furple are used to it and it’s what ther up the bat where you’ll they want. I personally don’t have less control. That’s why think it is a racing product at so many riders are particuall; it is more for everyday use. lar about a full diamond grip If you are collecting champibecause they have a smaller onship points then the best hand. To answer your question way is still with an aluminium then a lot more goes into it throttle tube and a glue-on than you think. grip. Every customer has a different taste but the clamp-on It must be hard to make grip has gained a lot of mosomething that’s generic and mentum in the last years. universal…

Yeah, you can go overboard Let’s talk about grips for a with it. Grips are still a wonmoment: is there a great deal derful product because they of science or R&D there? Or can skew and also sit in a is it just an extension of the warehouse or a DC [distribuproduct catalogue for a hantion centre] and still be brand dlebar manufacturer? new after some time. They are I guess I can only speak for good for business. I’m sure our brand and we take the there are some brands that technical approach to everydon’t find any science in it and thing. It starts with an idea just make a grip of any coland then we look at the sciour but we are trying to make

FEATURE

prior art and patent submissions in line before we could show or test anything with anyone. We wanted to protect our idea obviously and that was a process that took some time. We were testing in the background meanwhile so there have been a lot of cycles on our idea and it has evolved since the race testing. The goal is to have product in stock globally by the end of October, so we have opened up tooling and we have our final design done and working and the first samples. Then it is about showing our major clients and gauging interest to confirm a timeline for release, order quantities and forecasts. We’ll do a proper media launch and get some guys to ride around and use the device by themselves.

There’s quite a bit of momentum then…

I believe so. My customer service guys sits twenty metres away from me and says he gets numerous calls a week asking about it. That’s exciting.

Why so?

We’re entering a product area that will mean zero cannibalisation for other ProTaper products. It is an idea that we had to fill a void and fix a problem on the market right now. Start devices obviously work fine but you can speak to anyone who has been to a

few motocross races and they always see someone struggling to lock one down or put it in.

With the advent of start grid the buttons are lower than they have been before. It can sometimes take two mechanics to engage the device. I think it is cool that nobody has thought of it yet and that our team was able to figure it out and a way to do it [riders turn a self-releasing cog] I think it will help to elevate the ProTaper brand because you will be able to practice starts by yourself and won’t need a mate with you. It was an idea from the whole ProTaper team talking and I bring a lot of race-consumer knowledge. Our product engineer is full of great ideas and we talk among ourselves and our Product Source expert knows a lot about the materials and techniques so we can create something that is still affordable. The toughest thing with this one was how technical and expensive it was for us to build. So if we weren’t creative with the manufacturing then it wouldn’t have been a reality. We couldn’t have offered a start device for three hundred dollars. Nobody will buy it. To be competitively priced with whatever else is out there took some doing.

Again was it tough to make it universal for every bike?

That was one [area] that took the most time to get right, I’d

say. I really pushed to make that happen because right now there are maybe 30+ part numbers to satisfy all the bikes from the big OEMs when you consider a start device and that is hard for a dealership to constantly stock. So then you are dealing with a special order part and people have to wait for a couple of days.

With ours you can stock one skew and satisfy every single customer that walks in the door wanting one. That was a big benefit and a feature that I think dealers will appreciate.

Has a start device increased in relevance and importance?

Anyone that is half-serious about racing needs one? It wasn’t essential ten years ago…

I became quite well-versed in the patents surrounding start devices and they have been around for twenty years now.

So they have been about for a bit but, yes, I do believe they have become essential for a racer because it has become that common.

It seems the Ducati’s have quite a ‘trick’ device in MotoGP… I had someone comment about that recently and how ours might help because they obviously don’t have anybody on the grid helping them engage it. I’ll definitely have to check it out.

Photo by James Lissimore Photo

PROTAPER & WHY BUY A HANDLEBAR?

FEATURE

THE 3 STAGES/ REASONS TO BUY A NEW HANDLEBAR: EXPLAINED! I am a first time off-road bike buyer.

Why should I consider spending more money for a new handlebar?

Good question. If you are not too technical then you won’t be thinking about a handlebar and will just be riding your motorcycle and getting used to it. The first time you might be looking for a bar would be after a crash when it’s become bent or damaged. You’ll go into a dealer and typically it will be ProTaper or Renthal that is available. From that point it is really dependent on our reps, salesmen and distributors out there to be educating the Parts guys or manager at these dealerships on what our product does and the benefits it can bring you. That’s very hard. A new customer might not be someone who is into the technical details or racing or seeing it on an athlete’s bike so it is about that impression at the dealer and then driven by price for their particular bike. They might need a new bar for their KTM that costs 150 dollars but walking over to the aftermarket section means a product at 80 bucks that is better. So I think it is a crash and then a conversation like that which brings the first time customer to us.

OK, so I’ve had my bike for six months and I love it. I want to bling-it-out. I have a different pipe and now I’m looking for something else. What differences will a new ‘bar make?

I think that rider might see the ProTaper name popping up with a few athletes or teams they could be following and they might be something to it. They might dive into our website to see what the product is about and will see a ProTaper bar compared to a stock one is made of completely different materials. We are not holding anything back when it comes to cost because it is about bread-andbutter and we produce them in such quantities that we can offer the best possible product you can make for a competitive price. Flex characteristics are a huge thing, so if a rider is experiencing a very rigid handlebar – maybe it has a crossbar, maybe it doesn’t – no brand is the same. When it comes to a bar without a crossbar ProTaper was the inventor and patent holder of that design back in 1991. We’ve been in it longer than anybody else. That patent expired in 2011 so now you see everybody in the game has a fat bar. We have a twenty year headstart on everyone and have done all sorts of testing in our lab and with our riders for flex and fatigue strength. A customer like the one you mentioned would be looking for some performance benefits as well as looking at some of the options we can provide, so to bling the bike we have all the colours of bars and pads for customisation.

I’ve been riding for a year. I want to go faster and I’m considering a race. Maybe a ProTaper ‘bar is what I need for a better feel. Is that the case?

Yeah, that’s when I think the person is going into a dealer and is holding a bar and envisions what he has at home and what kind of changes he wants to make to be more comfortable. He or she might feel that the bars are too rigid or too tall, too wide, or too swept-back. That’s when you can examine our website for some specs or walk into a dealership and see how our bars feel in your hands. That’s also when our racers come into play. For riders that have been on the bike a while, looking at a race and want to better themselves then they will also be looking around at the community and online.

They’ll see the guys at the weekends and a rider like Thomas Kjer Olsen and be thinking ‘he’s tall like me, what handlebar is he using?’ That’s when I think customers look to riders they like and are steered a little bit to brands that way.

PROTAPER & WHY BUY A HANDLEBAR?

Photo by Bavo

PRODUCTS www.scott-sports.com

scott sports Scott claim that years of racing development and carbon expertise have helped in the evolution of the brand new Gambler mountain bike. The firm state that the product is a pure racing machine thanks to being one of the lightest and most adjustable on the market (progression and wheel size adjustment and a frame weight of just 2650g). The Gambler was possible after R&D with chassis stiffness and flex and numerous tests with downhill athletes: ‘Working with various materials and layup techniques we were able to achieve a torsionally stiff frame for responsive behaviour but with the right level of lateral flex to provide compliance and comfort on difficult sections of track.’

Even though Scott hit their target weight they did not compromise on strength. Adjustability is key. ‘The new Gambler allows you to switch between wheelsizes without changing any other components on the bike. Chain stay length can also be adjusted, independent of wheelsize choice. Short with 29”, sure thing. Long with 27.5? Yep, that too.

The Gambler also comes with spare angled headset cups, so that you can adjust head angle relative to wheelsize, fork choice etc.’

Integration (new chainguard and other components) and a Hixon iC DH one-piece cockpit are other features of an essential piece of competitive equipment.

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PAULSJONASS @ P R O T A P E R

P R O T A P E R . C O M

AMA MX

AMA MX WASHOUGAL

TOMAC’S TORMENT WASHOUGAL NATIONAL

WASHOUGAL, WA JULY 27th Rnd 9 of 12

450MX winner: Eli Tomac, Kawasaki 250MX winner: Dylan Ferrandis, Yamaha

Blog by Steve Matthes, Photos by Octopi/Monster, Cudby

FEATURE

AMA MX WASHOUGAL

Photo: R. Schedl

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AMA MX WASHOUGAL

AMA BLOG

WASHING THEM OUT...

Only three rounds left in the Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championships and this past weekend we saw one points leader put his stamp on a third straight title while another one lost to his rival and ensured we’re going to have a fight to the finish.

Washougal, Washington has been on the circuit every year-but-one since 1980 and the picturesque track is a favorite for many in the series. For one, it’s awesome scenery and for two, most times it’s a reprieve from the heat and rough conditions of the east coast tracks that the series has been on prior to this round.

Let’s bounce around some topics from the weekend: -Weekends like Washougal is when you watch Monster Kawasaki’s Eli Tomac and wonder how he ever loses. He was a machine, going 1-1 and extending his points advantage to over two motos with just six motos remaining. He was the man on the tricky track turning one horrific start and one soso start into leads and easy moto wins. His speed into and out of the many corners was so much superior to anyone else’s, it was easy to see him clicking off the

seconds of the riders in front of him. There was even a fall in the first moto and he still won with a semi-aggressive pass on Honda’s Ken Roczen.

When Tomac gets criticized by myself and others, it’s because of days like these when he’s just SO much better than everyone else. He’s like Ricky Carmichael, James Stewart and the Ryan’s (Dungey and Villopoto), and those riders never had the perplexing ‘other’ days that ET3 does. Hence, all of us aren’t sure what we’re seeing out there sometimes. He’s the most elite rider in the sports history to ever have some really bad days (more so in 450SX than MX) and none of us can quite wrap our heads around that.

- Star Yamaha’s Dylan Ferrandis had a great day as well in Washougal with double moto wins and cut Monster Pro Circuit

Kawasaki’s Adam Cianciarulo’s points gap down to 28. In the second moto Ferrandis, who got great starts all day along with his entire team, had Cianciarulo on him practically the whole moto in a great race with both riders pushing hard. It was cool to watch them push each other so hard and then congratulate each other afterwards.

“I think it’s a track that looks a little bit like the tracks we had in GP. My experience from the GP helps me a lot on a track like that. It was a crazy day. Here it’s always tough. Washougal is a really difficult track for us as riders because you never have good vision with the shadows. The traction is really difficult to find.

So it’s not easy, but I managed to make it perfect so I’m really happy,” Ferrandis told the media post-race.

By Steve Matthes

“That’s crazy how my season goes so far. I can do one weekend 1-1 and the next one fourth overall. That sucks, but it’s the way it is. I need to work on that.

For me today it was a really good day. I think in the second moto we did a crazy show with Adam.

It was good I think for the fans and everybody who was watching.”

Earlier this year I sat down with Ferrandis who told me his slow start to the 250MX nationals was a direct correlation to his clinching the 250SX title and how that was his dream and to have only one week to ramp everything back up to get ready for outdoors was a bit much. When you ask Dylan a question, you better be ready for a real honest answer. Well, he’s been getting better since that chat and he’s now making another championship push against that same rider.

-The outdoors is starting to become a bit of a series of attrition at this point. We’ve had good luck with health for the most part but this past week saw KTM’s Blake Baggett be out for

the year (probably) with a virus which would explain most of his results this season and GEICO Honda’s Hunter Lawrence had a part fail on his bike while testing and broke his collarbone. Two moto winners out for the year and as always, this is a reminder that motocross is dangerous.

- Speaking of GEICO Honda its manager Dan Betley recently announced that he’s calling it a career and retiring. Betley’s had a great career in the sport starting in 1989 when he got the job at Factory Honda working for Jeff Stanton. That combo proceeded to rack up six SX and MX championships and then Dan took a year or two off before coming back as a motor guy for Honda of Troy and then shortly after that to Honda. Once reunited back with big red, he was in charge of the 125cc program then a four stroke motor program and eventually became team manager.

He moved to GEICO a couple of years ago and has decided to call it a day. Great guy, honest as the day is long and a hard worker, the sport will be worse off with Dan not in the pits.

-I fully expect Team USA to be Zach Osborne, Jason Anderson and Justin Cooper for the upcoming MXDN in Assen, Netherlands this fall. Word on the street is that the original plan was to have Cooper Webb join up and Osborne drop down to the MX2 class but Webb bowed out so Osborne was going to stay on his 450. It’s a good team and will have a shot at the podium but going to need some luck to break the seven-year winless streak.

You’ll notice that the two points leaders in the series aren’t in the trio and that’s not a typo. Both Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Eli Tomac and Monster Pro Circuit Kawasaki’s Adam Cianciarulo won’t be on the team and although we’ll never really know who’s ultimate decision it was, my thinking is it was more Kawasaki’s than the riders. Yes, both riders publicly stated they would go to the race but what else were they supposed to say? It’s smart PR for them to be positive about the race and let the OEM take the flack for not sending them.

My feelings on the race are well known, I love it but don’t feel

AMA BLOG

like Team USA should just continue to go without some sort of concession made for their time, their schedule issues, their travel or their expenses. The Monster Energy Cup race is very important for the teams and the green team would rather focus on that.

Around the paddock, the decision is met with a shrug really than any outrage. It’s a volunteer position on Team USA and I think people understand those that don’t want to go for all the reasons I stated. It’s too bad the best of the best of the USA can’t/won’t go but it’ll still be a good team to battle the rest of the world.

FAC E F OA M

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All models include Peter Sagan’s logo and come in special edition packaging with a micro bag, a hard-shell sport case, and a spare clear lens.’ Sagan, who has already triumphed in the 2019 Tour de France, has also been sporting a 24-karat Speedtrap Limited Edition and just 50 of these glasses (‘that are numbered xx/50, feature the Sagan and 100% logos’, contain an individual gold authenticated card referencing its corresponding sunglass number (xx/50) and signed personally by Peter’) are up for sale with proceeds going to the Challenged Athletes Foundation. More information on the product can be found by clicking on any image.

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alpinestars Advanced stuff from one of the best motorcycle gear and safety brands on the market as Alpinestars show off their catchy 2020 wares. Particularly eye-grabbing are the Supertech racewear products (including the latest generation designs of the Supertech M10 helmet). Alpinestars claim the jersey is the lightest they have manufactured with the presence of stretch materials forming the basis of the chassis through both the shirt and the pants.

The athletic fit remains while the jersey apparently also uses a ‘floating arm construction’ for a bigger range of movement. Expect a set of this premium kit to cost around 320 dollars. Alpinestars (despite the confusing names mix) also have different levels and price points with the Techstar and Racer Tech/Supermatic/Braap gear and liveries.

FEATURE

IN THE HOWL WHAT DOES IT TAKE TO CUT THE MUSTARD IN Moto2?

By Adam Wheeler, Photos by CormacGP/Polarity Photo

FEATURE

T

homas Luthi and Remy Gardner are at the opposite ends of their career spans in the fever of the Moto2 class but both are sniping for victory in arguably the most ruthless contest in MotoGP. We asked them about the sacrifices and challenges to excel at the beginning of the Triumph-engine era: Luthi now re-established after his lacklustre MotoGP adventure in 2018 and Gardner finally relishing the advantage of competitive equipment for the first time at FIM World Championship level.

Thomas Luthi, 2005 125cc world champ, an eighteenseason veteran of Grand Prix twelve of those in the intermediate category and with twelve wins and fifty-one podiums on both Honda and Triumph motors, is being apologetic. He’s running more than ten minutes late for our interview at the Gran Premi Monster Energy de Catalunya all because of a delayed flight but could not be more courteous and helpful when he arrives in the airy interior of the Dynavolt Intact GP hospitality.

The 32 year old’s manners are typical of an enduring and popular racer who has represented rich value for anyone needing explanation or articulation of what it takes to survive in MotoGP. Luthi has been around a while and always on the periphery of becoming Switzerland’s first world champion outside of the small cylinder divisions (Stefan Dorflinger and Luigi Taveri owning 125, 80 and 50cc honours) usually injury for the often-fragile #12 has been a handicap and he finished as runner-up both in 2016 and 2017.

The transition from Moto2 podium contender to MotoGP backmarker was a shock to the system as much as trying to flog an unwilling RCV and sit the embers of the Marc VDS MotoGP team implosion.

Thankfully he has found spoils once more back in Moto2 but it meant a second successive year of orientation. And that’s what we wanted to quiz Thomas about over a coffee and tucked away from the harsh Catalan sun.

Even though the MotoGP year seemed tough you must have returned to Moto2 with a veil of confidence – although the engines were new…

Yes, but that is also the danger. I have experience, and I was a long time in the Moto2 class but it can mean you have the wrong thinking and go

back and assume that it will be easy. So I was really careful in the winter to not have that complacency. I really worked hard, and differently.

I was riding more on the bike and focussing more on make a strong start [to the season].

We got lucky with the weather on the test days and we could do many laps. Those test were so important in terms of starting the year at a high level.

Which was the target.

Not many riders have moved to MotoGP and then gone back to Moto2 and had success. Was that consideration towards your mentality an important ingredient?

Yes, 70% was in the head I think. Getting the chance from this team helped a lot. It is very professional and really hardworking and that matches to my working style as well.

This was key to getting the bike under control and working well as soon as possible.

The Kalex guys did a good job over the winter and the tests as well and we saw that they were perhaps

IN THE HOWL: Moto2 XXXXXXXX XXXXXXXX XXXXXX XXXXX

a step ahead of the KTM guys in the first half of the season. It can always change but Kalex have done a good job. So everyone together helped.

Was it easy here to build the team you needed around you? People must assume that all the Moto2 experience must be worth something…

‘THERE WERE CONCERNS THAT THE 450S WERE TOO FAST, TOO HEAVY AND TOO MUCH FOR THE ATHLETES AND WERE LEADING TO A SPATE OF INJURIES... NEAR-CRISIS MEETINGS WERE BEING HELD.’

FEATURE

I trusted this team when we found an agreement to work together. I knew they would be professional and would want to win races and I came into a solid structure. What I changed compared to the years before was the ‘team inside the team’.

A small one, around me. I have a riding coach and have never worked as closely with somebody like that as I do now. I have a physical trainer and physio at home - that element of my racing was always there - but now it feels like they are more part of my small team. I feel well supported, with professional people around me

and this helps a lot to have focus on the job.

Many would think ‘why would a guy with so many wins, podiums and years racing need a rider coach?’ but then it seems most elite level athletes have somebody like that in their corner…

Exactly. You cannot stay on the same spot. If you don’t move on – and that’s through your whole career – and you don’t work then you won’t develop your style and skills and won’t have the chance to be successful for more than a short period of a year or two. The

IN THE HOWL: Moto2

“EVERYBODY IN THE PADDOCK SAYS THE NEW Moto2 CLASS IS CLOSER TO THE MotoGP BIKES WITH THE ELECTRONICS AND SO ON BUT IT IS THERE [HOLDS HAND AT CHEST HEIGHT] AND MotoGP IS STILL THERE [RAISES HAND WELL ABOVE HEAD].

IT IS SO FAR AWAY FROM ANYTHING.”

other guys will overtake you.

You always need to adapt to something new as well. Right

particular race or to analyse the guys around you. The rider coach can have a wide role.

“IT CAN BE SO DIFFICULT TO DEAL WITH AN INJURY OR ZERO POINTS AND IN THE PAST MAYBE I ‘GOT OUT OF THE WAY’ TOO EASILY BUT I THINK WE ARE STRONGER NOW...”

The cliché is that a rider just focuses on himself so it is interesting to hear you talking about a study of the opposition…

I think it is good for a rider to have a little bit of an idea.

There are some riders that don’t care and just do their thing. In the end you do need to focus on yourself and your own possibilities but to have an overview or some expectations of what might happen is good knowledge.

now [for me] it is a new bike and new engine and you have to change some small details in your riding style. That’s where the coach is helpful.

Also tactics: thinking about a

Talk about motivation and dipping out of MotoGP and coming back to familiar ground…

It’s a good point and very important. It helped me that the Moto2 was ‘new’ this year; we can say it was like coming ‘back to a new thing’. As I said, in the winter I made a lot of bike time. I have a BMW S1000RR and I was riding with my coach and doing a lot of kilometres. I kept the bike at Almeria in Spain and doing all that track time was very interesting. I had to change a style that I had adapted last year from the MotoGP bike.

FEATURE

I was using the rear brake so much on that Honda last year: you cannot imagine.

At the first Moto2 test I was still using way too much and after half a day the pads were gone! The team had eyes like this [mimics surprise]. It was something small but also difficult to adapt. I could train for that and the laps on the BMW helped a lot.

Was there much you could transfer from the BMW to the Moto2 race bike?

It’s not the same type of bike but you can simulate if you are clever. For example where to put your weight in the right moment. For sure you have a different feeling; the bike is heavier and the turning is different. I could use the electronics with the BMW to turn down the engine power. It was interesting to work on that simulation and to train yourself to do something automatically without thinking so that transferred across when I got on my race bike and I didn’t have to think too much. At the races we don’t have much time. We have those two 40 minute sessions on Friday and if they go well then just 15 minutes qualifying, warm-up and then the race. You cannot really work on things.

You have to really use the tests but there are not that many during the season itself.

You’ve probably talked about MotoGP enough and although it wasn’t the happiest experience it must have been a useful one…

Yes, but not really from riding. Everybody in the paddock says the new Moto2 class is closer to the MotoGP bikes with the electronics and so on but it is there [holds hand at chest height] and MotoGP is still there [raises hand well above head]. It is so far away from anything. [Last year] I could feel the traction control and the wheelie control or the electronic engine braking and could take that as experience but it is not something that gives me an advantage compared to the guys without any MotoGP experience. In the end it was very hard, very tough with the team falling apart, so it was the organisation and the mentality in dealing with that and building something around me which was useful because everything else was not there any more. I was by myself. Out of that I learned quite a lot and the experience helped make me stronger.

Lastly, in the past you’ve had good momentum or results but then a crash or injury would put a large bump in the road. You must have an appreciation that everything is about timing…

Exactly. You have to put everything to the point when those lights go out on a Sunday.

It can be so difficult to deal with an injury or zero points and in the past maybe I ‘got out of the way’ too easily but I think we are stronger now.

We struggled for set-up in Argentina and I made a mistake and we didn’t score…but at the next race we could win and that shows we are on a good line and something small won’t throw us off the pathThere is more belief?

Yes, more belief in the team, the bike and myself. Everything is on a higher level, and making consistency now is key.

IN THE HOWL: Moto2

FEATURE

carries the weight of a name: one that is associated with a gutsy, unflinching and charismatic chase of success. In 2019 he is making his own annex.

We interviewed the 21 year old Australian – a resident in Spain for most of his adult life so far – two years ago when he was mixing thankfulness but also veiled frustration with his lot at Tech3 and running a Mistral frame that lacked a technical edge compared to the Kalex and KTM chassis.

This year with Onexox TKKR Sag team and Kalex and more wisdom (on the track and off with scars on both legs to remind him that mid-season motocrossing can sometimes be a risky choice) Gardner is arguably one of the most exciting athletes in Moto2; a first ever GP podium coming in Argentina for round two after he missed out in a photo finish in Qatar.

Perched on a pit wall on and fielding questions with ease and delivering answers with a smile or small laugh, Gardner is an endearing interviewee and doesn’t shirk some of the harder questions or issues around his emergence.

Racers say confidence is everything so Qatar really must have been like a watershed for you…

Yes, it was the first time when I’d really run at the front and fighting for real podium positions. It was a definite confidence booster but when I got pipped to the line I was like ‘this cannot be happening: he’s just taken away my podium! I’m gonna kill him!’ So that kept the apple dangling and then we went to Argentina and I managed it.

How it is fighting at the front and with different riders compared to say a scrap for fifteenth?

It is a different kind of strategy. Really. Instead of being about reaching as far as you can and trying to out-brake everyone it is a big more about using your head and saving the tyres and keeping a consistent rhythm going – that’s probably the most important thing. It is definitely a different race. It is a lot more under control and tactical racing rather than balls to the wall. It is kinda cool to be with people like Luthi, Balda and Marquez because they have a lot more experience.

Hopefully I can out-ride them at some tracks. What I need to get better-at is my qualifying and that’s just because of the new bike, new frame because it is about making a clean lap rather than full-gas. I’m still learning about racecraft and every race at the front is something new.

Has this all come about because of the blend with the team?

Yeah, we have found quite a good set-up and I felt fast with the bike. The engine also: we have understood it quite well and the electronics package.

Everything kinda gelled and allowed us to improve. I wasn’t expecting anything from the championship and was just looking to be consistent and a top six-seven runner at each race. I’m still new to all of this and being so far at the front.

I need to build on that experience.

What has enabled you to show this form: the Kalex?

The Triumph engine? Or just your own improvement?

I’d say 60% the Kalex and 20% the engine, which is a bit more [suited] to my style and 20% the team I have around me that brings it all together.

Everything is going well. I finished 2018 quite strongly so I came into the season confident and ready to do something. I was fighting for decent positions with the bike I had and that was a boost and then when I got on the Kalex I thought ‘OK, now we can do something’. The team is also great. My Crew Chief is awesome and I don’t think I could be doing as well without him.

It’s all gelling and we need to understand what we can do better.

IN THE HOWL: Moto2

Remy Gardner

FEATURE

How do you assess the two years at Tech3 now? Were they ‘lost seasons’ or did you improve as a rider?

There could definitely have been results before these races. Running the Tech3 bike was a lot harder. We just didn’t have the package. The other companies are manufacturers whereas Tech3 was a ‘team’ with Guy and the other mechanics running around putting the bike together. We were only two motorcycles and we just lacked the knowledge. It was tough and last year development was stopped because it was the final season with the CBR engine. Going into 2018 it was like ‘here is what you have, make the best of it’ so it was a case of going balls to the wall and seeing what happened. I managed to squeeze something out of it but it was definitely hard finishing races.

So is there a sense of relief in finally having the equipment and also being healthy?

Those were the two things that held you back so far…

Yeah. A sense of relief but also a sense of ‘right, now keep it going’. It’s not a case of sitting back and relaxing now. It is about working harder to try and get that win. That’s the next job and we need to be there fighting every weekend. We have to keep on our toes.

Have you had a taste of how precarious a career can be?

It’s about being in the right place at the right time? You must ask yourself ‘what do I have to do?’

Yeah. It is. There is a lot of luck and timing involved. Different manufacturers being better than others. It was like ‘will the KTM be good? Will the Kalex be good?’ people doubted the Kalex but in the end I couldn’t be happier with our decision and the team.

Finally we got a competitive package. Unfortunately there

“FOR SURE THERE WERE A FEW MOMENTS WHEN I DOUBTED MYSELF. THERE WAS A POINT WHERE I WAS VERY CLOSE TO LEAVING IT ALL BEHIND, MOMENTS WHEN I THOUGHT I WAS NOT GOOD ENOUGH. LUCKILY THERE WERE A FEW THINGS THAT HAPPENED TO HELP MY CONFIDENCE.” help my confidence. When I was told about the bike for 2018 and was told ‘good luck’ I thought ‘alrighty then…’ I could either sit there and cry about it or go out there and try my best. So I trained harder and tried to get mentally strong so that when those results did come they helped my confidence even more. Breaking my legs was hard! But it meant building back up and towards the end of the season I was getting a lot stronger.

are riders that just don’t get through because of luck and timing. If I was to say anything then you just have to keep at it and wait for the opportunity to arrive. It’s a tough sport!

In the difficult times does it get harder when you are the son of Wayne Gardner and everyone is expecting you to fight for wins and championships and not give up and all that?

Not giving up was me.

IN THE HOWL: Moto2

In the difficult times did you ever doubt yourself or were you always sure you could make it as a rider in this paddock and in this class?

For sure there were a few moments when I doubted myself.

At the end of the first year with Tech3 that was extremely hard for me. There was a point where I was very close to leaving it all behind. Some tough times. Even in Moto3 it was also tough. Moments when I thought I was not good enough. Luckily there were a few things that happened to

FEATURE

My Dad asked if I wanted to finish it after I broke my legs and I said ‘no, no, let’s try’.

There were many times when people were yelling at me that I was only here because of Dad, I had no talent and he’d paid everything, so it has been good this year to shut up those haters. Hopefully now I am making my own name.

Did you get a bit wiser over the past two years? The motocross accident must have been a bit of a wake-up call for preparation…

That was only last year and I don’t actually ride motocross any more. Actually that’s a bit

of a lie. I did one day after Christmas and that was just to get it out of my head…but I won’t be training motocross any more in the middle of the season. I’ve toned things down a little bit but I still like to get out and have fun; I wakeboard, surf and spearfish. You’ve got to enjoy life haven’t you? You can’t just sit at home on the sofa or on the bicycle all day.

Things could get more serious for you soon with career options and handling more pressure. Do you have anyone in your corner to help with that?

Well, just Dad really. He’ll easily tell me to stop being a f**king idiot. He keeps me a bit under control. I have a safer hobby which is working on a car, a Volvo Amazon from 1969. I bought it after the Super Prestigio two years ago and have loved that car since I was fourteen-fifteen.

I got it in Madrid and it was a bit of a shit-box without any brakes so I restored it and got it working. I drove it for a year but then got a bit bored. It wasn’t fast enough, so I looked at some options for what I could do and I’m in the process of swapping a 463 from a Mitsubishi

Does any of that help as a rider?

For sure. All my motocross bikes and training bikes for supermoto I build myself. It really helps you understand what it happening with the bike, even for this [Moto2].

You think ‘this is happening in a corner, why could that be?’

it gives you a few more principles to work off, which is nice.

Do you still live in Sitges and is it important for the dayjob?

Yes, I’m still there and I have a workshop in Vilanova, which is just ten minutes south. The key is training and you have tracks all around. I have two karting tracks within fifteen minutes of my house and loads of dirt tracks or motocross tracks. Anything you want, even bigger circuits for a CBR or something. If you want to keep riding and keep on top then Spain is the place to be, especially around Barcelona.

How is the relationship with your Dad in terms of a coach/ mentor? You said he can sometimes have strong opinions…

Yeah, now it is kinda a case of ‘leave me alone!’ But he taught me a lot. Before he was a lot more involved in what I was doing but has stepped back in the last couple of years and just let me get on with it and learn myself. He is just ‘Dad’ now and that’s the way I like it.

The story so far must be about trying to obtain the best chance or making the best of any opportunity. Can you see a clearer route for your career now? Some riders seem very impatient to get to MotoGP. What’s your orientation?

Every time I get on a bigger bike it just seems to get better for me. I don’t mind if I’m not winning a championship in Moto2 and – honestly – if I could move to MotoGP I’d probably go straightaway. I think my style and feel for a big bike is much better than for a small bike. Every time I get more power it is like ‘Hallelujah’ to me. Getting to MotoGP is not really on my mind at the moment because I need to focus on consistent results.

Whatever comes will come.

IN THE HOWL: Moto2

Eclipse into it. I’m making it into a bit of a Hot Rod. It’s on air ride suspension now so I had to build that and I put a new rear axle from a Ford 8.8 with limited slip diff. I got gearbox from a Toyota Supra mounted last week with all these special adapters. I like a bit of engineering and I’m a welder. I do a bit of fabricating and 3D printing as I work on the CADs as well. So I’ve got slightly safer hobbies!

FEATURE

First published on: www.blog.ktm.com Photos by Polarity Photo

FORMER WORLD CHAMPION AND CURRENT RED BULL KTM AJO STAR, BRAD BINDER, EXPLAINS THE KIT NEEDED FOR HIS ‘DAY JOB’ IN Moto2 In a dark and undisturbed corner of the Circuit of the America’s vast Media Centre, Brad Binder is happy to be wearing his full race kit. Outside, the Texan air is stifling. Inside, the air conditioning is chiming along with good effect so the likeable South African does not mind squeezing into his shiny, dark and occasionally squeaky leathers. The 23 year old is fairly uncomplicated and undemanding when it comes to his requirements for what he needs on the motorcycle in order to race for the tenths of a second that divide vast numbers of riders in Moto2.

That’s unlikely to change for the premier class in 2020. He counts on excellent support from the likes of Ixon (“since 2013, so quite a while now”) and Bell Helmets and TCX boots and poses for Polarity Photo Rob Gray’s impromptu camera set-up to reveal what (and where) he uses and why.

IN THE HOWL: Moto2

MotoGP LAYERS:

FEATURE

1. THE UNDERLAYER Binder pulls-on a special top and bottom fabric layer that sits nicely under his suit. It helps both regulate body temperature and increase the comfort aspect of the whole get-up.

‘Layers’ are one of the fastest evolving areas of sportswear in the last five years thanks to the complicated properties of the materials that deal with sweat absorption and even compression.

“One cool thing that Ixon came up with this year is this special type of material where as soon as it gets wet and the wind blows on it then it feels very cool,” Binder says. “It has a cooling effect. It’s not ideal for winter obviously but helps a lot with temperature control. The pants are also made from a material that means it is supereasy to slip on the leathers.”

“I used to wear long, motocross-style socks but now when the boots are tailor made and the suits are made to measure that it was all a bit tight.

Nowadays I wear socks that are much shorter and come about ten centimetres above my ankle. It is actually difficult to find a good pair! When I get some that I like I stick with them all year.”

“Sometimes it doesn’t even need to be that hot at a grand prix and you are wringing the gear out because it is so wet!

It is quite normal to come in to the truck soaking. The leathers keep you quite warm and you are working hard on the bike so you can lose weight over a race weekend.”

“Before a race I take off the team-wear and put on the under-suit, or layer, and then do some stretching and my normal warm-up routine. After that it will be the suit, the boots, back and chest protector, zip-up and then everything else is waiting for me in the box.”

IN THE HOWL: Moto2

FEATURE

2. THE LEATHERS Nowadays race suits are complicated mixes of (usually) kangaroo or cow leathers and other stretch fabrics to ensure flexibility, lightweight, ventilation and protection. They are carefully constructed, resilient and very modern with airbag technology now obligatory in MotoGP for the last two years.

“Whatever new thing Ixon have brought tends to be an improvement on what I had.

The amount of steps forward in six years is incredible. If I compared the suits now to what I had a few seasons ago then it is like ‘another world’ for general fit and comfort when I’m on the bike. We also have airbags as compulsory now – it’s packed into the hump and the panels are in the suit - and I think Ixon is one of the lightest in the paddock when all is fitted.”

“The suit is made for me, so Ixon come and re-measure my body all the time. With all the training we are doing it is normal that your arms or chest can get a bit bigger. You might even get a bit skinnier. Every half year - and at the end of the season - they come and make the measurements and redo the suits

accordingly. The support at the track is incredible and anything that we want in terms of an adjustment can be done at the circuit. We get well looked after.”

“Sometimes at the beginning of the year - or if you haven’t ridden for a while - it can all feel a bit ‘hectic’ with everything on but once you’ve worn it for a while you get used to it and once it’s ‘broken-in’ then it gets more and more comfortable. I finished 2018 having used around 18-20 suits. By the third round of this year I’d already used six.”

Just before the final zip is done up Binder will place a small chest protector inside: another part of the MotoGP rulebook. “The chest pad is just to absorb any possible impact. It is flexible and super-comfortable. How much it can help you is unknown…but it is probably better to have it than not.”

FEATURE

3. THE REST The last items for Brad will be his race boots, gloves and the helmet: all items tailored specifically to his fit and needs.

“The boots are basically the same as the ones from the shelf but they are customised a little bit. I have extremely small calves! So I need them adjusted enough so I can tighten them properly. I really like my boots tight! I also like the profile of the boot to be narrower around the toes so they are less bulky. I am looked after very well by TCX. I think I had 12 pairs of boots last year and I used two, to be honest. If I have something that fits and works well then I like to carry on with them; I think it is a bit of a superstition as well. The ones I’m wearing now I think I’ve had since the mid-point of last season.”

“I hear a lot of people talking about gloves and how they often need a new pair. Personally this doesn’t bother me at all and Ixon again customise the gloves for me. If any of the fingers are a bit tight then they stretch them out, or if they are long then they shorten them. I’ve had 3-4 crashes in the gloves I’m using now and they look brand new. I know there are different materials so that when you crash it slides on the surface, like a small carbon piece near the palm of your hand. It can be quite scientific but I’m lucky that I have not had many injuries at all with my hands.”

“When I first started with Bell Helmets I flew out to their HQ in Santa Cruz and they took a 3D scan of my head and completely customised the inside of the helmet. It is almost like an internal liner that fits every little bump! It’s perfectly formed and I’m using the new model to fit the new homologation and it must be a kilo lighter!

They are an insane company.

On a normal day I’ll wear a tinted visor. If it has been raining and there are some patches on track or it’s cloudy then I will wear a half-tint.

Bell brought out a visor with some new technology last year where water never sits on top and it never mists up.

Since then I’ve never worried about it. Before we had that dual visor system that you get in normal helmets for the road but water could sometimes drop in between the two layers. Since the new visor it’s been really cool.”

Finishing our shoot we ask Brad if there is anything that he’d like to see changed or introduced to his race outfit. Riders obviously need to move and react to the full behaviour of the bike so flex is key, but aerodynamics are also vital in the chase of winning lap-times so keeping their shape slim and narrow is paramount. “I don’t know what else we can wear or do,” he thinks. “I think every aspect is covered!”

IN THE HOWL: Moto2

MOTOGP BLOG

ANYONE FOR 2021?

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It is nearly August, and we are halfway through the 2019 season. With official confirmation that Danilo Petrucci has been given another year in the factory Ducati team and that Brad Binder is to step up to MotoGP in the Red Bull KTM Tech3 team for next year, just about all of the seats are settled for the 2020 season.

Jack Miller is close to nailing down the details to stay on at Pramac for 2020, and after that, only the Avintia seats are up in the air for next year. The other 20 riders will all have firm and settled contracts.

With next year sorted for almost everyone, you might expect that the MotoGP paddock can go about its business calmly for the best part of a term, and not have to think about contracts for 2021 until May or June next year. After all, it hardly makes sense to start considering 2021 when the 2019 title hasn’t yet been decided, does it?

Unfortunately, it doesn’t work that way. The paradox of having everyone locked into the same contract cycle means that the next cycle starts almost immediately

after the current one ends. With all the factories and big teams committed to two-year deals for their riders it means that MotoGP negotiations are starting to resemble US presidential elections: a continuous process rolling on from phase to phase, rather than at fixed intervals.

Why would a system that is meant to bring stability achieve the opposite effect? The issue is not so much contract length as contract timing. The idea of signing a rider for two years makes a lot of sense for teams and factories. If a rider is switching bikes or moving up from Moto2, they have a year to get their heads around the new bike or new class, work on their riding style, adapt to the bike’s idiosyncrasies. They may, like Fabio Quartararo this year or Johann Zarco in 2017,

take to it like a duck to water, and start racking up results from the start. In that case, the team has an extra year to exploit the success of their rider, while the rider has a second season to make a full-throated attempt at the title.

Two-year contracts are good when riders struggle too. Throughout 2017, media and fan chatter centred on whether Jorge Lorenzo would get to serve the second year of his contract with Ducati.

The Spaniard was being paid an awful lot of money by the Italian factory and had been hired to win the title. It took him until Mugello 2018 before all the pieces fell into place, and he started to look like the Lorenzo of old.

Lorenzo may need that second year of his contract with Honda as well.

By David Emmett

So far, he has struggled to get to grips with the Honda RC213V, HRC having traded manageability for extra speed. Like Lorenzo, Johann Zarco will be clinging to his second season with the factory KTM team as well. The Frenchman has gone from Yamaha hero to KTM zero in just a matter of months.

The real problem with the twoyear contract cycle is that it is synchronised. As things stand, all 22 MotoGP seats are open in 2021. That puts pressure on the factories to sign a top athlete as early as possible, before rival factories can get to them. It also pushes up wages, as each rider has multiple competitive bikes to choose from. When there were only four bikes from two factories capable of winning races, factories could afford to wait for riders, and riders could not push their luck with salary demands. But now there are ten or twelve competitive bikes. Riders can play one factory off against another. The balance of power has shifted.

All this means that it is in the interest of the top factories to lock up their main riders as early as possible. The sooner they have their riders signed, the less they have to worry about other brands trying to poach them. That, in turn, means that any factory trying to poach a top rider needs to start talking to them as early as possible, to find out what it would take to lure them away.

So don’t be surprised if you see rumours of rider transfers once MotoGP reconvenes at Brno this weekend despite the fact that the 2021 season is still 18 months away. The factories need to capture the best riders, and rider managers are out to exploit that.

Nothing drives up a rider’s price like rumours of interest from other teams, and hard budget limits can magically soften. The summer break may be over, but Silly Season for MotoGP in 2021 is about to explode. That may seem ridiculous, but there is a cold, logical method to the madness. Strap in.

PRODUCTS

kecks A brand new British underwear company, ‘Kecks’ has its roots in motocross and was launched by Ed Warren in the search to offer athletes a better and more practical product… but also one that would benefit everyday users in terms of comfort and performance. Accordingly the garments offer an extended fit (to remain in place) are 92% cotton and 8% spandex and are made from a five-panel design. The waistband is high quality and ‘anti-roll’. There is a range of basic designs as well as some very lively print schemes and each unit of the initial range costs 19.99 (pounds). The sizing is as follows: S (28-30) M (30-32) L (33-35) XL (36-38) and Kecks say they can ship product worldwide between 5-7 working days.

Any orders over 100 pounds include free postage.

Kecks already has a host of ambassadors in both motocross and road racing with names like Tommy Searle, Gautier Paulin, Cal Crutchlow, the Lowes twins, the Watson brothers and more.

www.kecksunderwear.com

BLOG

HOLDING ON FOR AN ANTI-HERO Scott Redding’s march to the British Superbike title gathered pace last weekend at Snetterton where the PBM Ducati man took pole position and won both races at a circuit he had never previously visited.

Many expected Scott and the Ducati to go well at Snett, which is considered a more European-style layout with its fast, sweeping bends and a couple of nice long straights for the V4 to stretch its legs, but it is the rider’s adaptability to the variety of tracks the domestic series has to offer that is really catching the eye.

There was certainly no doubting the suitability of the bike to the Norfolk course, with Josh Brookes and Tommy Bridewell running up front with Redding in the two races and only a crash for the latter in race 1 preventing the Italian factory from locking out the podium in both.

Bridewell and Brookes were on the limit all weekend, pushed to it by Redding but unable to muster sufficient response beyond their not inconsiderable talent. Brookes, as a former BSB champion himself and a consistently close rival to Byrne over the years, has to be considered the benchmark in 2019 and Redding is currently proving to be the next level up.

At Snetterton Redding clocked a 1’48.817 to top his first ever official practice at the track and paint the writing on the wall for the rest of the weekend. This is the kind of performance we should expect from a rider with such pedigree. There are levels in every sport, as much as I think some people overlook the fact in motorcycle racing. The right opportunities and a bit of luck – not to mention financial backing – at the right time are crucial, of course, but they don’t tell the whole story.

You can’t become the youngest ever winner of a Grand Prix without a huge amount of talent. You can’t challenge for a Moto2 title without ability. You can’t become the youngest rider ever to reach 100 Grands Prix starts and not have learnt anything.

The move straight from MotoGP to BSB has been done before, perhaps most famously by Redding’s predecessor as the dominant force in the

series Shane Byrne, who actually endured the worst season of his career when he jumped off the Team KR/KTM V4 catastrophe in 2005 onto a Crescent Suzuki that proved to be barely more competitive at domestic level in 2006.

The GSX-R at the time has been described by Niall Mackenzie, who was employed by the team to try and steady a rocking ship, as “not up to winning” but it wasn’t just the bike that Byrne struggled to deal with. In MotoGP, the rider is usually considered the focal point of every project, their every need is pandered to. In BSB they are told to sit on the bike and ride it.

“Even the tyre man gets to make a decision before the rider,” Byrne told me.

If you don’t like it that way, somebody else will happily take your ride.

Byrne considered retiring at the end of that punishing season, but came back to eventually win a second title

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in 2008 and prove that his talent had never waned – it was just the mental adjustment that took a little time.

Unlike Byrne, however, Redding never really bought into the rock star MotoGP culture. While Shakey blew his first factory MotoGP pay packet on an all-singing, all-dancing American motorhome and a Lamborghini Gallardo, Redding continued to live ‘his’ way – out of the back of a van with a motocross bike and his giant dog, Bernard, for company.

He even claims now that he doesn’t even know how much money he has accrued, so trivial is his interest in material things.

It is a grounding he alluded to in an interview with my Eurosport colleague James Whitham last week, when James put it to him that some onlookers have been surprised how easily he has adapted to BSB life – not to mention the unforgiving nature of the circuits. “That’s because they don’t know me,” Redding replied. “They don’t know where I’ve come from.”

He’s talking about a tough childhood, when sacrifices were made on his behalf in order for him to make it as

By Matthew Roberts

a racer. Personal relationships and his education suffered but the experiences forged resilient characteristics that would pull him through difficult times, especially in the Grand Prix paddock. His physical stature and arguably his passport were not compatible with being a successful Moto2 rider, but he starved himself, persevered and flogged his skinny body until he came within a broken wrist of winning the title.

This pure determination to succeed, which has been reinvigorated this season, is allowing him to exploit his superior racing skillset in BSB - even at the tracks he doesn’t know and where people wrongly believed he would be intimidated. Buoyed by the confidence of a treble win on familiar ground at Donington Park, at Brands Hatch he adapted quickly, taking pole position and a podium in third.

At Knockhill he stepped it up again with second place and a win. At Snetterton, he took the lot and now he commands the championship with a 38-point lead.

It is an interesting side note that amidst rumours of the Spaniard’s head being turned by a big-money offer from Honda - Redding’s run of

form has coincided with a contrasting turn in fortune for Alvaro Bautista on the factory Ducati in World Superbikes. Every year is different, of course, but it’s worth remembering that between the Gresini Honda, the factory Aprilia and a privateer Ducati, the pair roughly rode the same level of machinery during the period they raced together in MotoGP (2014-2018). In that time, Bautista managed a single podium finish (at Le Mans on the Gresini Honda) and a best championship position of eleventh. Redding scored two podiums (one on the Gresini Honda, one on the Ducati) and had a best championship finish of twelfth.

Obviously, winning the British Superbike title does not prove that a rider is a world class talent; I believe Scott has already demonstrated that in other championships. But if he can win the British Superbike title in the style that he is currently showing, it would prove something else: that he remains up for the fight, that he is still willing to learn, that he has the capacity to improve still further and - at the age of just 26 - fulfil his potential at the very peak.

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LAGUNA SECA · JULY 13-14 · Rnd 8 of 13 Superpole Race winner: Jonathan Rea, Kawasaki Race one winner: Jonathan Rea, Kawasaki Race two winner: Chaz Davies, Ducati Blog by Graeme Brown, Photos by GeeBee Images

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SBK BLOG

JAW-DROPPING? I still can’t believe the turnaround in this season’s WorldSBK. It’s over 120 points in four rounds and surpasses anything we have seen in the past. That seems to be the way of everything when we speak about Jonathan Rea. I know it’s too early to talk about it but the previously unachieved high ‘five’ seems like an inevitability now, however it was something so unrealistic a few short months ago.

JR also racked up his 80th WorldSBK win at Laguna, a total that I predict will only keep going up and actually may never be bettered.

I don’t know where it has all gone wrong for Alvaro Bautista other than the fact that having won 11 in a row he has since conspired to crash at the beginning of a race when apparently not under pressure. He was really unlucky in the Superpole race at Laguna however, tangling with Toprak Razgatlioglu in the second corner, which effectively sidelined him for race two. These things happen in racing but crashing out of the lead, in the opening laps, shouldn’t really occur at this level. Ducati supremo Gigi Dall’Inga has, in various interviews however, expressed surprise at how well

Baustista faired in the open races of the season. He has been quick to point out that they are still in a development phase with the bike and with the fine margins there are at the top, a small error in the set up direction on a weekend can be costly.

I hope Alvaro recovers over the summer break and comes back strongly as we need a good fight in the championship for the season run-in through September and October. Although, we are heading to Portimao, Magny Cours and Argentina, venues that Bautista has no race experience and Ducati have little or no set up data for the Panigale V4R. We may have been lured into false expectations of Bautista and the Ducati as a result of that early season spurt but the wheels have well and truly come off the wagon now and he is going to have a real battle to recover the recent losses.

In a slightly ironic twist Chaz Davies seemed to have found his mojo on the V4R, taking a couple of podiums and a win in the USA. It was actually great to see him win on Sunday and also lovely to see the joy and emotion that it released. The sense of relief was palpable in parc ferme after the race and this may now kick start what is left of Davies’ season.

Toprak Razgatlioglu continued to polish his CV with solid podium performances at Laguna and he was also the centre of a huge amount of transfer speculation. He seems to be the man in demand at the moment having, by all accounts, received lucrative contract offers from both Yamaha and KRT. It was a surprise to me to hear about the Yamaha offer but it was explained that his mentor, former Supersport World Champion Kenan Sofuoglu, has been a key mover in bringing it together.

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I always thought that Kenan was strongly associated with Kawasaki in his home country but apparently he has been working with the Yamaha distributor in Turkey for a number of years. That has made Toprak a viable option for Yamaha and it seems he has been offered a seat in the factory Pata team at the expense of either Alex Lowes or Michael van der Mark.

It was rumoured that whichever between Lowes and VD Mark left Laguna Seca in third place in the championship would have secured their seat for 2020. Lowes is therefore in pole position after the results in the US so we will see if that speculation has some veracity in the next few weeks. All three are headed east after Laguna to race in the Suzuka 8Hr race so I am sure there will be a number of hushed meetings with Japanese management in both the blue and green corners.

I managed to catch up with Toprak in Japan at the Suzuka 8 Hours race (more of that shortly) and he was remaining very tight-lipped about his future. He confirmed that he had good offers but that there were

By Graeme Brown

a few things still to be decided and that Sofuoglu was working things out on his behalf. His current team manager Manuel Puccetti accompanied him to Japan and was equally as tight lipped. Puccetti’s obvious desire was to keep a hold of his current charge but made a valid point that Dorna were keen for him to stay as well as the WorldSBK series benefits greatly from having strong privateer riders and teams. It’s clear that Razgatlioglu is the man in demand which gives credence to previous thoughts that he is potentially a future world champion.

I also chuckled at the timing of the announcement that Marco Melandri will retire at the end of the year.

I read that the team didn’t know about it and would not be in a position to respond being at 39,000ft somewhere over the Atlantic, but that wasn’t actually the case. However, the cynic in me did wonder if the timing of the press release was arranged to coincide with the extended journey to California and also the fact that there would be less travelling journalists at Laguna to press the issue when we all arrived at the track.

In any event there is now another seat at Yamaha up for grabs.

Speedweek reported a few weeks ago that Yamaha Motor Europe boss Eric de Seynes would like to see some form of rider progression amongst the Yamaha ranks, from Supersport300 up to Superbike.

Those that succeed in the lower class will have a genuine prospect of moving up. It might therefore be that the GRT seat will go to this year’s Supersport champion, at the moment likely to be either Randy Krummenacher or Federico Caricasulo. The young Italian started his Yamaha career in the GRT squad before they stepped up to WorldSBK so that would be the obvious fit.

He just needs to win the championship now.

There were also a few rumours floating about at the weekend about next year’s calendar. Apparently the Thai round in Buriram will be dropped. Attendence figures have slowly declined since the first visit in 2015 and now that Buriram has an established place in the MotoGP calendar the promoter seems content to have just the one series visit. The suggestion I heard was that Thailand would be replaced by

SBK BLOG

a round at Sepang in Malaysia. I know that most manufacturers are keen to have a round in east Asia as sport bike sales are relatively strong there and they also have manufacturing plants in countries like Thailand and Malaysia so they feel it is important to visit those territories. However, I recall from the last visit to Sepang that the races were very poorly attended and the local promoter had little interest in hosting a WorldSBK race. Nothing much has changed to suggest it will be different this time around but Sepang is a circuit I like so you won’t hear any grumbles from me if it appears on the 2020 calendar.

We also saw the first of the 2020 bikes at Laguna Seca when Yamaha unveiled their R1 and R1M. For me it was something of a disappointment to be honest as there was very little difference between the new and existing models. It really comprised of some minor updates to the production bike that would appear to have come directly from the development of the race bike and, as is customary with all things in life now, a smart

phone app to control the electronics for the bike. It would suggest that despite Yamaha’s current on track progression, 2020 will be more of the same.

For me this month has been particularly hectic. I am among those that have travelled from the UK to California – Donington to Laguna Seca - turning around, heading back home and then setting off again in the other direction for Japan and the Suzuka 8hr race.

I had a quick check and within a week we will have crossed 16 time zones and travelled something like18,000kms. The night before we left the US was the best nights sleep I had had since arriving and I guess I will have just won the battle with jet lag at home before I head to Nagoya and on to Suzuka.

I am only wandering around taking some ‘snaps’, I can’t imagine what it will be like for the Yamaha and Kawasaki boys who have just finished a hot dry race weekend in the US before tackling the heat and humidity of summer in Japan, and in particular an endurance race. The physical toll on there bodies must be quite significant.

Then again they are not an aging bag of old bones like me. To put it into perspective the riders will have completed around four hours of riding in a typical WorldSBK weekend. In Suzuka they will most likely do that in one race, having already tested, taken Free Practice and qualifying sessions form Wednesday onwards. It’s exhausting just thinking about it.

I am looking forward to Suzuka. It’s a really unique event to cover and different from my normal weekend of work. As a photographer it’s great to have a shoot that is different from the norm and challenges you to deliver the goods. So if I get tired and emotional with jet lag in the next week just remind me that I am travelling around the world photographing one of the coolest motorcycle fixtures on the calendar.

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www.bikeshedfestival.com

bike shed festival The growth of The Bike Shed brand and entity knows no limits. The London-based club/ scene/community is using the expanding popularity of their Bike Shed custom show/ gathering at Tobacco Dock each spring to now create a Festival at the Lydden circuit in southeast England (close to Dover as well, therefore easier for any visitors from mainland Europe) across three days on October 4-5-6. “A long-awaited, and much-requested event celebrating modern & retro motorcycles on the move; on track and on the dirt, with the same level of quality, inclusiveness and high-level hospitality as we deliver every May at Tobacco Dock during our annual Bike Shed London event, where we looked after more than 17,000 people this year,” they say.

The Festival is an amplification of their 2018 Café Racer Cup (from where these images in their press release were taken).

What’s the jist? ‘Bike Shed Fest 2019 will take place over a whole weekend, with multiple riding events on and off the tarmac, all designed to be accessible to riders who don’t normally ride on track, and have never considered racing. This is an opportunity to have fast, safe fun on your bike without the pressure of a full-on track-day.’ There will be ten classes, including the Café Racer to the Custom, Retro, Learners, Supermoto, Electric, Vintage and Commuter. For those not on two wheels then ‘around the track and venue we’re creating a festival vibe with high quality food, drink and accommodation, with brand and retail exhibitors of all kinds, plus entertainment aimed at a family-friendly crowd.’ Sounds like great fun.

More info here: www.bikeshedfestival.com

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FEEL THE FLOW FOR MANY PEOPLE FOX RACING SET THE TONE WHEN IT COMES TO RACEWEAR DESIGN AND PERFORMANCE BUT THE AMERICANS ARE SCRAMBLING HARD NOT TO BE LEFT BEHIND IN THE PURSUIT OF HELMET SAFETY INNOVATION. GLOBAL CATEGORY DIRECTOR MARK FINLEY REVEALS MORE…

FEATURE

T

hree years ago Fox gutted their helmet range and with MIPS and the MVRS visor concept installed the V3 as their premium model. What had previously been a functional lid that looked cool on the heads of Ricky Carmichael and Ken Roczen now had significant safety specs and a high degree of engineering: the substance equalled the style.

The Irvine-based firm did not leave their R&D priorities solely with the graphic designers thereafter. Recently they unveiled the new V3 with Fluid Inside technology (presented at the final round of AMA Supercross and notable for the plain white and black lids worn by MXGP leader Tim Gajser); which features a series of gel-like ‘pods’ in the liner that they say ‘enhance your helmet’s ability to protect your brain by mimicking Cerebral Spinal Fluid (CSF) – your body’s natural protection.’ It is the latest venture and speculation to tackle rotational acceleration and concussion thresholds and follows on the investigative work by 6D, Leatt, Bell, Fly and of course MIPS. Again Fox want to show they can lead when it comes to innovation and not just provide fashion statements. The ever-accommodating Mark Finley gave up some of his time towards the end of another long day at the futuristic Fox ‘hub’ in southern California to explain and bit more about the concept and the company’s general holding pattern.

Fox helmets were quite rudimentary but then you embraced MIPS and gave another performance aspect to it. Now it’s moved on again. So where did Fluid Inside come from and was it a big job to make that discovery?

“WE HAVE ALWAYS BEEN LOOKED AT AS A RACEWEAR BRAND WITH COOL GRAPHICS BUT WE WANT PEOPLE TO TAKE US SERIOUSLY WHEN IT COMES TO OUR HELMETS. WE HAVE BEEN MANUFACTURING THEM SINCE 1997.”

Grail? Is there something else that might give an advantage?’ So we partnered with this laboratory up in Ottawa in Canada that has been studying brain injuries in a lot of stick-and-ball sports as well as cycling and we came across this product that they are using called Fluid Inside.

We’d seen it used in hockey helmets and thought it might be something good to bring to motocross.

FOX V3 & FLUID INSIDE

We’ve worked with premier riders so we know the speeds they are travelling and the risks associated with motocross and supercross and that drove us to create a better helmet for our racers, which then trickled down into our consumers. MIPS was the logical way to go. It is a great system and we still use it quite a bit in our mountain bike line but as we moved forward we thought ‘what is the Holy

FEATURE So we started retro-fitting V3s last year.

We had to re-certify the helmets so the riders could race with them. We tested them and realised we were getting some nice results for rotational and linear [acceleration]. We got competitive-wear testing to make sure the guys were comfortable and there weren’t any heat or temperature issues. We were concerned with the pods themselves and a ‘sealing effect’ but what we found is that we almost had a ‘matrix’ between the pods; we’re trying to de-couple the rider’s head from the helmet itself and that is raising it away from the EPS. Obviously we have a comfort liner but the de-coupling allows the helmet to address the rotation.

Initially the pods were raised out – it’s about 4mm – and we had to make some changes to the EPS shape to accept the pods, which are curved, and not being uncomfortable. We also put a moisture wicking material over the plastic.

“ON THE OLD V3 WE HAD AN EXISTING SHELL SHAPE THAT WE HAD TO ADAPT THE MVRS TO. WITH THE NEW HELMET WE HAD BETTER INTEGRATION BETWEEN THE INTERFACE OF THE VISOR AND THE SHELL ITSELF, MEANING IT IS HARDER TO POP OFF. ...”

Does the battle continue in terms of educating people that Fox can be a serious player when it comes to helmets and safety? Again you seem to have made real progress and in a market that is not slowing with helmet protection ideas…

Yes, it’s one of our challenges. We have always been looked at as a racewear brand with cool graphics but we want people to take us seriously when it comes to our helmets. We have been manufacturing helmets since 1997 and I think the first models came from Italy and AGV, it was called the Pilot. We took it seriously even then and I remember the Pilot being very good for ventilation.

Pete [Fox] designed these two channels in the shell shape. So the drive has always been there. Dual density EPS, carbon fibre shell construction, introducing MIPS, the MVRS system – and obviously we’ve had our challenges with that but when you try to innovate it is not always going to be perfect and you need to modify and be able to upgrade – show the ideas have been there to push for a better helmet. With the new V3 we feel that we have put a lot of effort into it and have taken those twenty years of helmet manufacturing to task with the new design.

You mention the magnetic visor with the MVRS; it’s had its critics but the V3 also represents an improvement…

MVRS has been a challenge, but the current system on the V3 has been a great one for us. Where we are seeing issues is in the close proximity of elite racing and the level of roost coming off 450s these days, we are obviously working to solve any issues. The new V3 has a second generation which means it is integrated with the shell itself. On the old V3 we had an existing shell shape that we had to adapt the MVRS to. With the new helmet we had better integration between the interface of the visor and the shell itself, meaning it is harder to pop off. We’ll still have things to learn as we move forward but the second

It looks like a good tussle among the helmet brands for the best safety specs and there is no excuse for riders or customers not to do a bit of homework now.

You cannot really have a bog-standard helmet any more…

Yes, there are advancements in materials and there is more demand to deal with rotational acceleration, which is so important. It feels like so many other brands are pushing to bring a better helmet to market and we’re the same.

Is that harder for the bottom line? It cannot be cheap to develop a new helmet…

It’s not and fortunately we have been able to tier-out our line, which means there are price points throughout the range. Not every consumer has 5-600 dollars to spend on a helmet but obviously we want to make sure our V1 and V2 are passing the same kind of standards as the V3. You are right that it challenges the margins but to compete and have a pinnacle product to show that we are serious about helmets then we love that and we take it on.

Is Fox becoming more of a protective company than one that is cool and about the best designs?

I would say over the last five years that hard goods have become a really high priority for us. The introduction of the Proframe mountain bike helmet was revolutionary for us and it was the first certified downhill helmet on the market place and everybody has one now: Troy Lee, Leatt…that helmet, the Instinct boot

FOX V3 & FLUID INSIDE

generation is an improvement. Unfortunately for us we cannot duplicate everything that will happen on a track like the speed of a rock or roost at an angle.

FEATURE

and the Vue goggle that we launched in 2017 are examples that we don’t just want to be see as a racewear company: and that belief is around this whole building. We are all pushing. With the Instinct I think we surprised ourselves with that product and the goggle – from a financial perspective – far exceeded our expectations. Oakley with the Airbrake set the standard in the industry so for us to put something out with a quick-change system and a polycarbonate lens – we really worked closely with Ken Roczen to give him a goggle that he’d race with – was really impressive and the consumers responded.

Has it become complicated, as a firm, to split those priorities and still put equal priority on both areas? It must have taken a lot of time and resources to make that split between cool racewear and viable safety goods?

There are different groups but the way our building is laid-out means they are all in the same area. There is a feeling of team pride when a product enjoys some success. But you are right, when we do our major design review meetings the racewear is just as important as the hard goods.

The size of the racewear business is important for pushing innovation, pushing materials and function. The same as safety and function in helmets. There is no lack of attention for racewear. Tomorrow we are actually doing a 2021 review for our racewear here and the graphics and colours are getting a lot of attention and are so important. Obviously the hard goods guys like taking inspiration from the racewear for their graphics and colours. A lot of the hard development with the helmet has been done now so for the next few years we’ll be making tweaks and colour changes.

FOX V3 & FLUID INSIDE

WOULD YOU EVEN DARE? TEST

Words by Roland Brown Photos by Milagro

TEST

I

t has to be one of the most thrilling experiences on two wheels. I’m hammering over the brow of the hill on Mugello’s long pit straight, head tucked behind the screen of an RSV4 1100 Factory that is flat-out in top gear and still accelerating enthusiastically with a delicious V4 growl audible above the wind roar.

The circuit drops away and the Aprilia keeps on charging down the hill, staying rock solid as it leans slightly left across the track… Then suddenly I’ve passed the 300-metre board, reached my trackside marker and squeezed the front brake lever, pushing myself back in the seat, bracing my neck muscles against the wind, and gripping the tank with my knees against the ferocious deceleration of Brembo’s latest Stylema front brake calipers as I tread down four gears for the long right-hand turn of San Donato.

Back in the pit garage, the Aprilia’s instrument console reveals a maximum speed of 201mph. The true speed was probably 10mph or so lower (and possibly recorded by my diminutive French co-rider in the previous session), but there’s no doubt that this revamped V4 is right up there with the world’s fastest streetbikes. Jumbo jets take off at lower speeds than this, but the RSV4 also gains MotoGP-style winglets to help prevent it flying into the surrounding Tuscan scenery.

The RSV4 1100 Factory name reveals this bike’s most important development: its capacity increase from 999 to 1078cc.

Exceeding Superbike racing’s capacity limit hints at a subtle shift in the RSV4’s focus, away from the direct competition link that has dominated ever since 2009, when Max Biaggi won a World Superbike race in the model’s debut season before taking the first of its three titles the following year.

RSV4 1100 FACTORY

TEST

Aprilia liken this new approach to that of a Ferrari or Lamborghini supercar, positioning the RSV4 not as a race-replica but as a highperformance machine with the ability to go very fast on a racetrack.

Aprilia’s traditional RSV4 layout of 65-degree V4 engine in aluminium beam-framed chassis is unchanged. Larger-diameter pistons increase the dohc, 16-valve unit’s compression ratio as well as its capacity. New intake camshafts, reprofiled throttle bodies and a new exhaust system with titanium Akrapovic silencer increase maximum output by 16bhp to 214bhp. What’s arguably more important is that the bigger engine kicks out roughly ten per cent more torque between 8000 and 13,000rpm.

The RSV4 look is familiar, and classy in its matt-black colour scheme, complemented by carbon-fibre front mudguard and sidepanels, and forged aluminium wheels. Climbing aboard the bike in the Mugello pit lane, checking out the unchanged TFT console and heading out onto the track, it’s the RSV4’s traditional lack of size and weight that make the first impression. It’s compact (make that cramped if you’re tall) and 5kg lighter at just 177kg dry.

This bike’s biggest boost to lapping fast is its sublimely flexible big-bore V4 engine. I take a few laps to figure it out. At first I’m revving it too high in places; using second gear for the second chicane, the long Biondetti right-hander, and the downhill Bucine left that leads back onto the main straight.

But the Aprilia accelerates so hard that I’m struggling to get my foot under the gearlever before tagging the limiter at 13,600rpm.

The solution is simple: use the midrange torque. The big V4 motor pulls so strongly and sweetly from 8000rpm or so that it’s quicker as well as less effort to take those turns in third gear, concentrate on hitting the apexes and getting the power on smoothly, and let the extra grunt send the bike rocket-

RSV4 1100 FACTORY ing out of the turns with its ultra-dependable traction control helping the sticky rear Pirelli tyre deliver maximum drive.

Cornering poise is also outstanding, though given more time I’d have tried raising the rear end a fraction, to help the Aprilia flick through the chicanes even more quickly and effortlessly. The RSV4’s chassis-tuning potential is vast and its base level very high.

There’s no doubting the quality of the Öhlins units at each end, or their potential to deliver cutting-edge handling. Aprilia considered fitting the Swedish specialist’s semi-active suspension but decided against it, essentially because their testers found no lap-time advantage over conventional units.

Braking power is sensational and stability under hard stopping very good. On a hot day there’s no brake fade, despite repeated hard slowing from high speed.

TEST

“THIS BIKE COMBINES THE MODEL’S TRADITIONAL TRACK FOCUS WITH A NEW-FOUND EASE OF USE. IT’S NO ROOMIER OR MORE LUXURIOUS BUT IT’S MORE POWERFUL, GRUNTIER, MORE STABLE, AND EVEN BETTER SUSPENDED AND BRAKED.”

WORLDSBK POR

RSV4 1100 FACTORY

TEST Who knows whether the front calipers’ optional carbon-fibre cooling scoops make a significant difference, but they look trick and weigh only 42g each – less than the new Stylema calipers save over the previous M50s. What’s for sure is that Aprilia’s subtle change of approach with the RSV4 makes plenty of sense.

This bike combines the model’s traditional track focus with a new-found ease of use. It’s no roomier or more luxurious but it’s more powerful, gruntier, more stable, and even better suspended and braked. It’s also competitively priced for such an exotic machine (at £21,499 in the UK). As well as one of the world’s fastest and finest-handling superbikes, the RSV4 1100 Factory is among the purest and most rewarding to ride.

RSV4 1100 FACTORY

BACK PAGE

The King: Jeremy McGrath gets all WorldSBK. Photo by Kawasaki

ON TRACK OFF ROAD

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