On-Track Off-Road issue 179

WorldSBK

four on the floor

There is only one other motorcycle racer who can come close to the rate of numbers and wins posted by Jeffrey Herlings and Jonathan Rea’s latest hit-apex on the way to a fourth consecutive title came in a convincing performance in Portugal. By the time of Magny-Cours in two weeks the KRT rider and his crew could be partying again Photo by GeeBee Images

MXoN

the want for magic

2011. St Jean D’Angely, France and the perfect season for this guy.

The last time Team USA tasted victory in the Motocross of Nations and before Germany, Belgium and France emerged at the helm of motorsports’ most famous one-day team event. The 72nd edition at RedBud – east of Chicago – represents their best chance yet to get back on top and for the return to American soil since Colorado in 2010.

Photo by Ray Archer

MX

what next?

16 wins from 19 Grands Prix led to Jeffrey Herlings’ long-awaited coronation as MXGP World Champion and the recentlyturned 24 year old had the pleasure of celebrating in front of a packed Assen circuit. Imola and win No.84 of a special career so far and Eli Tomac lay ahead in the next three weeks.

Photo by Ray Archer

mxgp

grand prix of the netherlands tt circuit assen · september 16th · Rnd 19 of 20 MXGP winner: Jeffrey Herlings, KTM MX2 winner: Jorge Prado, KTM

mxgp netherlands

quicksand Blog by Adam Wheeler, Photos by Ray Archer

mxgp netherlands

mxgp netherlands

mxgp netherlands

MXGP BLOG

revising a new order...

So, I made a mistake.

At round three of MXGP this year in Spain I apparently said on the world feed TV commentary with Paul Malin that I doubted if Jeffrey Herlings could maintain his intensity and pace shown in the motos so far for the entire season. Hmmm. 31 wins from 36 later and a world title wrapped up a round in advance would indicate that #84 didn’t hesitate with the throttle at any moment of the 17-odd hours of race time that followed until his coronation at Assen.

Although, technically I could be right. Herlings is relatively discreet about his training methods but it’s well known that the Dutchman is relentless with the frequency of his riding. That regularity ‘bit’ him before the Grand Prix of Lombardia with a broken collarbone while practicing but he freakily bounced straight back to winning ways. It was a narrow escape and there are not many tales of championship dominance that involved the delicate slice of a surgeon’s knife wiped on the neat creases of a chequered flag.

I guess my comment was about hedging bets. I doubt there is a single person outside of Herlings’ close inner circle that could have foreseen his eventual stranglehold on MXGP, least of all Tony Cairoli, who had to deal with a spate of small injuries and only one was unforced – a knee tweak courtesy of the sole flare-up between the KTM teammates at the British Grand Prix where the duel was close enough to the point of contact.

Maybe the writing was on the wall. Herlings did win (and defeat Cairoli) five from the last six rounds of MXGP 2017 but the caveat was Cairoli’s cautious approach to the events so that he could also enjoy a special day at Assen. Looking back now it does feel like his typical and thrilling second moto charge at Argentina for the opening round hailed a changing of the baton. Cairoli had Pole Position and streaked ahead in both motos but was humbled

by Herlings at Neuquen.

Similar scenes occurred at Arco di Trento (Italian soil and where #222 took perhaps his most famous overall GP win just twelve months previously), Matterley Basin, Kegums and a handful of other Grands Prix.

I wrote after the opener in Argentina: ‘For the observers and fans of MXGP that believe the only way Herlings can be defeated in 2018 is through unintentional self-harm then this was a powerful piece of proof. Even a rider with the calibre and experience of Cairoli was rattled enough in the closing stages of the second moto to make mistakes, miss berms and effectively dangle a bigger carrot to his pursuer as the clock ticked down.’ That was a little more on the money, as was the belief that Tony would be a very hard championship opponent. His 14 podiums (and 2 wins don’t forget – Herlings was beaten only twice in 2018) had his rival using phrases like “it’s devastating…” to describe the meagre difference in the points standings despite so many

By Adam Wheeler

victories. After Ottobiano and where Cairoli excelled in Herlings’ absence the gap withered from 62 points to just 12. Cairoli knew his chances of being the fastest on any given day were narrowing but he still had that powerful and established card of consistency to play.

While Herlings has existed on a knife-edge where anything less than a win or a top 2-3 result is a bad GP, Cairoli has also had the pressure of knowing a single mistake only weakens his ploy to remain as Herlings’ omnipresent shadow. In the end his crash in Indonesia for round twelve was perhaps the decisive moment of the year; it sparked inspiration in a wobbly Herlings once more.

A week later and the championelect was back into 1-1 territory and hasn’t been beaten since – 7 GPs and 14 motos and counting.

Herlings’ season might have surprised some but it surely amazed everyone that follows motocross.

It is a staggering achievement, and that record 16 wins in one season is surely up there with any of the stat-loving athlete’s previous feats. It came at a personal cost to the champion and he has not been coy with the descriptions of the sacrifice needed for the attainment. The blend of brilliance and bonkers leads to questions of 2019 and I’ll propose again as to whether Jeffrey can repeat his vein of supremacy. The odds of staying injury-free in this sport are so slim that it would be remarkable if Herlings’ all-out racing style would permit another near-miss and further riches.

Instead a more compelling question lies in the direction of Tony Cairoli: how will he react? His KTM contract means another two years of racing Herlings and a difficult two seasons of trying to reach (or better) Stefan Everts’ ten-title record. There was a feeling that fourteen Grand Prix years of competition were starting to wear on the Sicilian after his 2017 championship

and the successful ‘bounceback’ from two terms of injury misery.

He spent more time at home, worked on his Roman Malagrotta facility and cast an eye towards Jorge Prado and the vague role of mentor.

Will Tony be able to head back to Belgium and put even more miles into the sand at 33 years of age to combat Herlings’ verve? Adopting a different (more aggressive? More mind games?) approach might work in 2019 but Cairoli will still need the firepower to outgun Jeffrey and sprinkle a few seeds of doubt in the other side of the awning. It could be beyond him.

His phenomenal CV is no poorer for the first straight-up defeat of his career.

Tony has been chasing Jeffrey most of the season on the track, and for large parts of the year in the standings (he held the red plate once, after the first of his two wins in Spain) so his #2 ranking is no great shock.

MXGP Blog

It will be hard to tell if he has – or wants to – formulate a plan to counter in 2019, or his internal debate will be solved in the coming months and when the season is finally closed.

Of course as a fan of the racing then a fit, strong and freshly determined #222 means the tantalising prospect of a ‘Herlings vs Cairoli II’; and I don’t think it does any disservice to the likes of Ali or Fraser to borrow their contest definition; we are certainly talking about two titans of their sport.

As tempting as it might be for Cairoli to stick to his current routines and practices because of his age and the status of his career, I’ll stick my neck out again and declare that he’ll be plotting or thinking about one last major thrust. After all the miles, aches and injections over the years then to prize the prize from Herlings might just rank as his greatest endeavour.

PURE DOMINATION

The fierce fire power of the KTM 450 SX-F, combined with the speed of an unstoppable Bullet and the winning spirit of a READY TO RACE team, is the ultimate formula for championship domination.

Congratulations to Jeffrey Herlings and RedBull KTM Factory Racing for winning the 2018 MXGP title.

Please make no attempt to imitate the illustrated riding scenes, always wear protective clothing and observe the applicable provisions of the road traffic regulations!

The illustrated vehicles may vary in selected details from the production models and some illustrations feature optional equipment available at additional cost.

Photo: R. Archer

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MXGP BLOG

who’s next...?

After the rout of 2018 I think many racing fans and MXGP followers will be asking ‘who can topple Jeffrey Herlings?’

Leaving Cairoli aside for most people the finger gets pointed towards 2016 world champion Tim Gajser, with a brief glance at Romain Febvre and a nod of recognition to the ‘staying’ capability of Clement Desalle (incredibly his sole win in Russia representing the only time the Japanese national anthem for the manufacturer has been heard on the MXGP podium all year).

So why didn’t they make it this season? Gajser has looked more and more threatening in recent rounds but his horrific pre-season, teeth-smashing, jaw-realigning accident took the best part of half a year to recover from, both in the physical sense and the knock to the strong Slovenian’s confidence and form. Febvre has also ploughed a long rut trying to find the potency of 2015, early-2016 and before the set-up mire of 2017 turned his notion of racing preparation on its head.

Several crashes have also set the Frenchman back two paces just when he seemed to have made

a stride forwards. For me Desalle has had one of his best campaigns with the Monster Energy Kawasaki team. Although he has not been in a regular position to challenge the KTMs he has frequently been the ‘best of the rest’ and this Cairoli-esque approach to consistency will make him a contender again for 2019; poised to hover a rag near the red plate for polishing if an opportunity arises.

Looking around the class it is disappointing that whatever working system Rockstar Energy IceOne Husqvarna adopted in 2018 failed miserably. Gautier Paulin and Max Anstie walked the podium seven times but lacked competitiveness on the DNA of a motorcycle that is essentially the same as the three orange ones vying for holeshots and trophies each Grand Prix. Both of these riders are winners – their exploits at the Motocross of Nations (a one-day-one-hit pressure cooker if there ever was one) show that they have the ability and capabil-

ity to take chequered flags. Antti Pyrhonen runs a very tight and efficient ship but there has clearly been some sort of sustained analysis over the last few months and the fact that both Paulin and Anstie are departing after two seasons is telling. Paulin will return to the 450 where it all started – with an impressive Yamaha wild-card debut victory at the end of 2011 – but his fourth team in seven years means his window of chance is diminishing.

MXGP has been ruled by Tony Cairoli since his debut season and maiden title win in 2009. His closest threats have come from the same sources, chiefly Desalle and Paulin and with brief dalliances with the likes of Steven Frossard and Max Nagl and with riders like Jeremy Van Horebeek, Evgeny Bobryshev and Christophe Pourcel also circling for the occasional jab. Tony’s comment at the beginning of 2015 that he won the ’14 title while riding at 70% spoke volumes of the menace he faced.

By Adam Wheeler

It’s entirely possible that Herlings could judge the landscape in the same way if Cairoli loses an edge of competitiveness or cannot advance again one more time. Will Herlings learn that he doesn’t need to skirt so near to disaster in 2019 and still be successful and still gain a degree of submission from his peers? He said to me in a recent interview that the level of dedication he applied to 2018 had him living like a “monk”. “If that’s what it takes to win then I have to do it,” he explained, also adding that his slightly less serious approach at the outset of 2017 and his first year in the class was the best wake-up call. “Maybe if I was somewhere in between the commitment of 2018 and 2017 then I could still win… but I wanted to make sure I gave the maximum and make sure it was enough.”

Is there a future star in the making?

Someone who could strike fear into Herlings, Cairoli and co already?

Right now, the answer would have to be ‘no’. I’m intrigued to see how Jeremy Seewer will develop in his second MXGP term in 2019. The Swiss is a smart racer and, as I’ve written before, has a remarkable

‘elasticity’ that means he’s escaped some big ‘offs’ and has yet to suffer a debilitating injury. He’ll have a factory Yamaha in 2019 and the resources to mine the starts required to compete with the KTMs. The first two laps of the motos have been his weakness in 2018 and if that aspect is improved then he is already the outside bet for next year.

Pauls Jonass will bring world championship pedigree into the division and who knows what environment he might find at IceOne compared to the sanctuary of Red Bull KTM. Potential teammate Arminas Jasikonis is a mystery and could help form a curiously bright eastern European wing at Kimi Raikkonen’s team.

It is a shame not to see Hunter Lawrence in MXGP as his technique would be very eye-catching and could have an explosive effect on a 450 in the same fashion as Febvre and Gajser in 2015 and 2016. He’ll be evolving in supercross stadiums first.

There is certainly some promise in MX2 and the lofty figures of Thomas Kjer Olsen, Ben Watson

and Calvin Vlaanderen will swell the excitement factor in MXGP into the next decade. A whisper also for Jago Geerts who holds a name that many will come to know better in 2019.

KTM don’t have to look far on their production line and for an athlete to follow in the championship stakes behind Townley, Rattray, Musquin, Roczen, Tixier, Cairoli, Herlings and Jonass. At seventeen Jorge Prado is fulfilling all the hope and hype he has carried in Spain since he was a ‘rounder’ thirteen year old. His trajectory is similar to Herlings/Roczen in terms of already having such an impact at such a young age and the past furore around Herlings being pushed into MXGP at nineteen will surface again if he triumphs in 2018 and repeats the story in ’19. The effect of Claudio De Carli’s guidance means Prado’s USA ambitions have been tempered…but the reality of the situation is that MXGP might lose a next potential superstar in a little over a year if the daunting prospect of the premier class already seems to much for an individual that will only just legally be able to buy a beer.

Products

100% The first of two highlights from 100% and some selections from their 2019 collection that revolves around new liveries of their Racecraft, Racecraft Plus+, Accuri and Strata Forecast Mud goggles. The junior models also get the visual upgrade treatment as the American firm somehow continues to keep their product fresh and at the front line of the market in the ideal marriage between price and image. 100% have also honed their casualwear in Men’s, Women’s and Kid’s line and have decided to direct focus and attention to their gamut of gloves. ‘The fit, function and construction have all been refined to offer the most comprehensive glove collection to date. The assortment offers eight unique chassis with features specifically tailored to accommodate all riding

www.ride100percent.com styles, disciplines and conditions. All-new for 2019 is the Cognito glove, boasting ultimate knuckle protection via strategically placed D3O armour without sacrificing comfort on the track or trail. The ultra-popular Brisker glove returns with enhancements to the cuff and fit, while maintaining the perfect balance of cold weather insulation and exceptional dexterity to control your bike. Adjustable closure, slip-on, waterproof, vented, youth, women-specific – 100% has purpose-built a glove for every rider.’ There was a stage where 100% initially strived to get the rest of their catalogue matching the thinking and form of their goggles but their portfolio is as now diverse and high quality as it is appealing.

Feature

What happened to the 350?

A 350cc motorcycle was supposed to be the future of the premier class of the FIM Motocross World Championship and won five titles in a row thanks to a wonderful blend with an exceptional athlete.

Now the pioneers of the bike – KTM – have celebrated their second crown with an all-conquering, AMA-Supercross vanquishing 450. We look back at the rise and fall of a special project with the key figures at the time…

By Adam Wheeler, Photos by Ray Archer/KTM

Feature

2009

was a big year for the KTM factory. Not only had they signed the most promising rider and absorbed his crew into the Red Bull KTM factory squad but they were also about to embark on an ambitious shake-up of the FIM Motocross World Championship playbook.

Grand Prix had switched to embrace the fourstroke formula in 2004 with the abandonment of the old 125, 250 and 500cc categories (that had already been messed around and mixed between an initial ‘MXGP’ and 650 classes) the previous year and replaced by MX1 (450s and the new premier division) and MX2 (250s).

Less than four years later and after concerns that the 450s were too fast, too heavy and too much for the athletes and were leading

number of other vehicles and applications such as outboards and jetskis. “They used a lot of common parts for recreational vehicles or would bore the 450 out to a 500 for other parts of their model range,” says current Red Bull KTM MX2 Team Manager and Technical Director Dirk Gruebel. The Dakar Rally even homogenised into a 450cc platform in 2011 (ironically amid protests from KTM who had been prolific for nine years with their 690 and LC4 and LC8 engines).

The MSMA – the representative body of the manufacturers - resisted the cases for change.

Dirtbikes were relatively cheap models to fabricate and development was still important in terms of engine stress, durability and rev ceilings for creation of versatile motor concepts for vehicles but the sales margin was a mere slither of the overall market for firms like Honda, Kawasaki and Suzuki (their car divi-

‘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.’ to a spate of injuries (track design and the quantity of races were other factors that were mooted but slipped behind the motorcycles themselves as the primary cause) near-crisis meetings were being held. The AMA, FIM and promoters were exploring options with the manufacturers to reduce the capacity of MX1 and the USA equivalent. Pre-financial crisis, the American motorcycle market was still so strong and held a sizeable sway but the direction with the four-strokes was set. Honda actually stopped manufacturing two-stroke dirtbikes in 2007 and brands were using their R&D and investment in the 450s for a

sion was in sixth gear at this stage). A reverse on the 450s was not practical. And then the world went into bank-fuelled madness, plunging to the erosion of engineering fantasies like Aprilia’s delicious but unworkable v-twin, that was ridden in MX1 for the better part of five years and featured an advanced electronics package and FI. As a consequence of the questions thrown at motocross and supercross and the relative lack of other options, evolution of the 450s began. Manufacturers swiftly abandoned the race for horsepower and chased optimum

what happened to the 350?

handling (Yamaha adopting their innovative rear slanting/facing cylinder concept in 2010), mass centralisation, fuel injection and mapping options to harness the engine’s output more effectively. ‘MX1’ rebranded to ‘MXGP’ by the end of 2013 but the curious technical contrast between MXGP (tuning down and fleshing out engine character) and MX2 (neverending search for more horsepower) was a well-established technical landscape.

KTM always had more flexibility than their rivals. In the way the compact and adventurous Ducati factory were able to make rapid gains in MotoGP from the middle of the noughties, the Austrians were also able to manoeuvre quickly and freely in motocross with their offroad roots and core market objectives.

The firm would not make a serious road bike splash until close to the end of the decade with the 990 Super Duke gaining considerable cred and recognition for its style and performance. In 2001 their R&D department consisted of less than 100 staff (nearer to 50). Today the section of the factory is closer to a 1000.

Yamaha (the original vanguard of the four-stroke) had won Grands Prix with their YZ250F four-stroke thanks to Stefan Everts in the 2003 125cc division, but it was the first factory KTM 250 SX-F that blew the competition aside in Ben Townley’s hands in 2004 and the inaugural MX2 campaign. KTM’s proficiency with the 250 largely set the tone in the division and they have only missed out on the title in 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2015 since.

Feature Yamaha and Everts were the unbeatable premier class pairing from 2003-2006, breaking records on the way. David Philippaerts and Cairoli then followed up with the YZ450F. Suzuki (2007) and Honda (2016) also managed to find their way to glory. For Honda it was a long wait. Their CRF450R was undoubtedly the most robust of the early 450s but it took HRC’s return and support to really help progress from 2011. KTM were in the mire with their bigger bike. Gruebel was working in the factory team around the period when MX1 launched. KTM actually won the very first moto in the formula with Belgium’s Steve Ramon clinching the opening race of the 2004 season at a rainy Zolder. Gruebel recounts how the rudimentary, PDS-suspensioned 450 SX-F was a ‘hack’ of the company’s successful Enduro bike with the company’s highly tuned 450 powerplant. In short: it was a handful.

The Mickael Pichon (2004 championship runner-up with Honda) and Sebastien Tortelli ‘dream team’ of 2006 lasted no more than three rounds of fifteen that season: Pichon was spooked by the depth of the challenge in that first moto at Zolder and Tortelli was sidelined into retirement with a broken femur.

Pit Beirer had been trying to find his place at KTM after his life-changing crash at the Bulgarian Grand Prix while racing the company’s two-stroke 250 SX in 2003. By the end the of ’06 debacle he was beginning to extend his influence over the race department, having replaced Kurt Nicoll. Beirer immediately began to scout the best personnel for key positions – it was a management strategy that would eventually transform KTM into an international motorsport behemoth.

One of his first moves – and a full three years before he would sign the De Carli/Cairoli axis and then snare Roger De Coster, Ian Harrison and thus Ryan Dungey and Aldon Baker to

revolutionise KTM’s standing in the USA – was to have the audacity to tempt Yamaha icon and legend Stefan Everts into the Mattighofen nest. When Everts popped out from behind the press conference screen at the 2006 Motocross of Nations at Matterley Basin (the Belgian would decimate the field the next day in a memorable final race) Beirer, flanked by KTM CEO Stefan Pierer, had pulled off one of the biggest coups in the sport.

Everts’ defection straight into team management and product development for KTM was a decision that disappointed Yamaha personnel for a number of years but it immediately clicked KTM into a different gear. They still laboured with the 450 however. Josh Coppins should have won the 2007 title in Everts’ YZ stead but his broken

what happened to the 350?

shoulder blade allowed Suzuki’s Steve Ramon to profit (still Belgium’s last crown in the premier class). Philippaerts triumphed after a close contest in 2008 and Cairoli dazzled on a satellite YZ450F in his first season in 2009 (while rumours circulated that De Carli had created a 400 for his thrilling MX2 title winning Sicilian talent). From 2007 until the end of the 2009 season KTM clinched a paltry 10 Grands Prix with Philippaerts, Nagl, and Jonathan Barragan.

Frustration and the political mood around the sport in 2007-2008 prompted a serious search for another way to make inroads in the category that really counted.

“Kurt Nicoll and I had a big meeting with the AMA in 2007 to discuss the displacement, also for supercross and we’d been experimenting in the US with bored out

motorcycles,” says Gruebel from the confines of the Red Bull KTM tent in mid2018. “It was a 280, then a 300 and we came up to 310 before the cylinder became a bit too thin, but we could see for young riders from the 250 class that were still so aggressive with their style they were setting the same lap-times on the Supercross test track with the 300 as the guys on the 450s at the time. We thought ‘this could be good’ but at the meeting the other manufacturers kinda threw us under the bus and did not want to hear talk of a smaller displacement than a 450.

A new engine was ‘no-go’ at that time.”

A think tank emerged in Austria. Beirer, Everts and other figures like Robert Jonas (now VP of off-road racing) along with key R&D staff wanted to counter the acute and overwhelming demands of the 450.

Feature

what happened to the 350?

The KTM 350 SX-F was seen as the ideal compromise as a racing weapon but also as response to the widely held belief that the bigger motorcycle was even too much for hobbyists. It was a massive gamble for a company that was only just recovering from cuts in the wake of the financial crisis and having scraped a successful two-stroke racing programme in the smaller categories of MotoGP (riders like Casey Stoner and Marc Marquez were just two of the riders to taste victory with the company’s flowering asphalt efforts).

Everts had brought experience and credibility to KTM. He was still arguably the most popular motocrosser in the paddock and was also testing heavily and working in conjunction with the design team at Kiska. With both the Belgian and the determined Beirer stating their case for both the agility and performance of the 350 and pushing heavily for the KTM board to dump their long-standing loyalty in PDS suspension for the motocross models, the company came to a crossroads.

“That was a high-risk project with huge costs for the company to develop the new motorcycle,” Beirer recalled when asked about the largest gamble of his post-racing career. “If it failed then maybe I’d now be a truck driver for a KTM satellite team! But, looking back, I think that was one of my strong points: when I am sure of something then I have no doubts and I do not hesitate.”

Beirer had gained immense respect in KTM as a straight-shooter, but had so far little of the titles and glory that would eventually cascade in the following years and which would make his management style and expertise an essential component of the company’s racing, marketing and make-up. Everts’ similar approach helped and Pierer was convinced.

Feature Beirer was then presented with a golden opportunity. Yamaha’s budget cuts in 2009 meant that the Japanese and Yamaha Motor Europe – quite understandably - chose to protect their investment in Michele Rinaldi’s factory squad and R&D testing division YRRD. It meant a quite sensational scenario of having to advise the current MX1 championship leaders Claudio De Carli (a long-time Yamaha team owner) and his rider, Tony Cairoli, that they would no longer be blue for 2010. Cairoli would later speak of his disappointment of the decision in interviews. The then-23 year old had been Yamaha mounted since 2004 and the satisfaction of witnessing his title winning YZ250F on display at Yamaha’s Communications Plaza at the factory in Iwata during a visit there in 2007 and before the Japanese Grand Prix had been clear to see.

KTM swooped and signed De Carli, his team and of course his mercurial rider on the way to a debut championship win to a different colour. There were rumours at the time in 2009 that the diminutive Cairoli was in fact racing a 400cc YZ (De Carli was Yamaha-supported but not guided) and the team had the added bonus of being backed by Red Bull Italy.

In fact Cairoli and teammate Tanel Leok’s livery that campaign still stands out as one of the coolest and most vibrant of the last ten years in MXGP. Cairoli was brilliant in ’09 and transferred his electric style from the 250 straight onto the bigger bike. He needed just three rounds to claim his first GP win in the premier class (not counting his wild-card success at the 2008 British Grand Prix) and added another eight podium finishes.

what happened to the 350?

KTM thus had the ideal guinea pig for their 350 concept. In typical style the firm completed their engineering cycle in rapid time.

“It was my first motorcycle as a project leader and, importantly, it was the first developed from the ground up which made it something special,” says current Head of Motocross Platform R&D Manfred Edlinger. “We did not borrow any parts or components from other motorcycles, everything was new and it was something where we had the total commitment of the whole company: racing, the board and everybody pushing together. There was some pressure because of the crisis but everyone was behind it and for us in R&D it meant we didn’t have to wait long at all for things we were asking for.”

“It would be impossible [for them],’ said Everts when comparing the turnaround with the Japanese. “That is why I left to come to KTM because they are so open. The Japanese are more secure and closed but with these people you work directly at the source and there is no going around the block.”

“The engine was totally new,” he adds. “There was no compromise and it was a special, made-for-concept 350cc displacement, not an upgraded 250 or downsized 450. It was the same for the chassis where the move away from PDS was quite challenge. The suspension link meant we would be more competitive for motocross and it would make the bike quite similar to the others, to Japanese bikes. We noticed in [magazine] shootouts that KTMs would always have such a different feel and not always worse! So the goal was to make it more of a bike that people could jump on and use effectively right away. In terms of racing it meant we had to learn a lot and make a lot of development to get up to the knowledge and level we had with the PDS.”

“When it came on the market I thought ‘they’ve shown some balls, that’s nice’,” says Gruebel who left the company briefly to work with BMW’s aborted Enduro project and returned in 2011. “It was typical KTM – if they have something on their mind they realise it.”

A team presentation took place before the 2010 pre-season Starcross International at Mantova in Italy and Cairoli was shown for the first time in KTM white and orange but also next to the minted 350 SX-F. The 350 idea had been two years in gestation from talks to tooling to track but it was still an accomplishment.

“I wanted a motorcycle with the light feeling of a 250 but with the power and direction of a 450,” said Everts at the Mantova presentation, “overall making it fun to play with and giving the rider more options. The power curve is exactly between the 250 and the 450 in terms of performance; it is hitting almost the middle between the two bikes. For power, around 55bhp.”

“The link is just one part,” explained Beirer “We were working on a completely new frame concept with new technology that gives a different feeling to the rider. Everyone’s bikes are getting too strong and too heavy for motocross tracks, from hobby riders up to professionals, and we feel the 350 gives more power back to the rider and more possibilities to pass on the track.”

“Motocross is not all about straight-line speed,’ said Cairoli at the time. “A 450 is very strong, too strong for me. When I won the championship with the Yamaha we worked a lot with the CDI because I wanted power right through the band instead of, for example, a lot at the bottom. I wanted more control of the bike. With the 350 I can use the power more efficiently and I feel freer to ride as I wish.”

Feature

At the end of 2014 Cairoli seemed to hit a peak. Half a decade of supremacy and the lack of a bona fide challenger led to his remark of winning that year’s crown while riding at “70%”.

“In 2009 and before we stopped with Yamaha were already heading in a direction of making the bike easier,” says Cairoli now at the tail-end of the 2018 MXGP season, his fifteenth in Grand Prix. “Our bike was stock and people thought it was a 400; and that was actually what we wanted from Yamaha from 2010. We joined KTM and they came with this modern idea of the 350 with the linkage. Nobody had thought of that before and I was happy to test it and give the idea a lot of support. It turned out to be super-competitive.”

“The first sensation was a bit difficult,” he recalls. “You had to ‘attack’ the bike and use a lot of your body and move around a lot. It was similar to my MX2 days. I adapt quickly to bikes so I was not worried but it was the right choice at the time because the 450s were too difficult. It was not an easy choice because the competitiveness was a question mark but we took the challenge and made it work.”

KTM’s chassis was perfectly on the money for Cairoli. In fact he was still using the same frame four years later after annual tests and ideas had not brought an improvement.

“The engine position is different; with the 350 the handling is better so you look for more stability,” said Red Bull KTM Chief Technician Sepp Sperl at Mantova in 2010. “The 450 has bigger engine turning mass so you already have stability and you look for improvements in handling. The 350 weighs in-between 3-4 kilos less than the 450 but the riding sensation will probably feel like even more.”

The impact was instant as Cairoli finished as runner-up in Bulgaria and the opening round of the 2010 (ironically to Nagl on the 450 SX-F) and would total 12 rostrum appearances and 8 wins from 15 rounds. It would lead to the first of five consecutive titles with the bike and ensure his legend in KTM company folklore.

Riders such as Mike Alessi also enjoyed the benefits of the lighter, smaller and reduced-

inertia 350 although curiously other riders such as Rui Goncalves, Jose Butron and Tommy Searle and even Nagl could not get the bike on a similar level of potential. Nagl eventually favoured the heavy torque of the 450 engine and after enjoying his best season with the larger machine, finishing as runner-up in 2009.

Everts predicted the racing scenario: “The 350 will have some disadvantages against the 450s, even against our own bike ridden by Max because they will have more torque and acceleration at some points but there are many tracks where the average speed is quite low so they can be matched. The 450s will need to brake earlier and the 350 can carry more corner speed; the advantage will swing back and forth. The heaviness of the 450s with their inertia means that the 350 can be ridden more aggressively, maybe the rider will have to work harder.’

The 350 fast gained a reputation as ‘Cairoli’s bike’ (Gruebel: “It fit like a glove and he could throw that thing where he wanted and still had power for the big jumps and starts”) and the particular riding style and fast corner speed approach meaning a change of mentality for established 450 racers. In 2012 it must have been quietly satisfying for the KTM race

what happened to the 350?

department to see HM Plant KTM UK’s Kevin Strijbos take a privateer version of the 350 SX-F to three podiums (the team’s first trophies in the premier class) and to prove the motorcycle was not an acquired taste.

While Cairoli won, other manufacturers – even KTM – persisted with the refinement of the 450s as budgets and resources began to return to factory floors. Such was #222’s

prolificacy with holeshots by 2013 that KTM actually requested that the FIM break open and measure the champion’s race engine at the Spanish Grand Prix to prove that his speed out of the gate was that of the 350 motor. “Rumours have been going around since the bike has been on the market,” said Gruebel at the time.

“Since last season we have had such a strong motorcycle that we kept hearing talk that Tony could not be riding a

350cc. That is why the engine is open on the workbench. The rumours can stop now. The truth is out. We knew it all the time but nobody would believe us.”

There was also a compelling image from the 2010 US Grand Prix at Glen Helen with both Cairoli and Alessi several bike lengths ahead of their rivals up the long Californian start straight. There was catching up to do.

Feature The Japanese looked at Power Assistance (a variation on traction control), electric starts, launch control and easier mapping options marked the development cycle. Suspension manufacturers, notably WP and Showa, experimented with air fork and shock technology. To counter De Carli and KTM worked with the 350 SX-F to make Cairoli’s life easier against rivals that were now becoming smarter and more restrained with their 450 offerings. By 2015 Yamaha were using the same frame for both YZ250F and YZ450F motorcycles: handling of the bigger bikes were becoming more centralised, easier and closer to their 250 siblings. The 350’s advantage was diminishing.

At the end of 2014 Cairoli seemed to hit a peak. Half a decade of supremacy and the lack of a bona fide challenger led to his remark of winning that year’s crown while riding at “70%”. Meanwhile, over the Atlantic, Beirer and Jonas had been busy re-establishing KTM in Supercross.

MXGP had been running smoothly and now the demands both De Coster and his team and Dungey in particular were making of KTM’s expanding R&D with the 450SX-F was bearing fruit. A milestone first 450SX win had come in 2012.

By the middle of 2014 KTM were working up to a nimble and devastatingly effective 450 that would prove to be up to the task both in the stadiums and out. The factory have not looked back since and the 450 SX-F, once the out-dated joke of the GP paddock, continues to be the reference for the segment.

what happened to the 350?

MX1 – now MXGP – had surged into overdrive during the winter of 2014.

Ryan Villopoto’s decision to attempt the FIM World Championship pitted the biggest name from AMA racing circles against the undefeated Cairoli. The hype and anticipation captured attention worldwide. There were stories of the Supercross paddock rushing back from practice sessions to see how Villopoto was tackling Cairoli at the 2015 opener at Qatar. It was around this time that the seeds of doubt over his equipment turned into shoots for the reigning champion. His teammate for the previous two seasons had been Ken De Dycker and while the tall Belgian was clearly a better fit for the 450 the ease with which De Carli was able to offer ‘Keeno’ a competitive package (he was 3rd in the world in 2013) must have been envious.

“It started when Villopoto came over and it felt like the style of the tracks changed,” remembers Gruebel.

“There were bigger jumps and that affected the 350. We also had feedback from Roger [De Coster] and the guys in the US where the first and second practices for supercross meant something like an exit from a 180 jump, seat bounce and a triple was not a problem but when the ruts started developing then there simply wasn’t the same torque. We saw Tony struggling with the same in Qatar 2015 because he didn’t have enough drive and was risking his neck to clear the big jumps or was struggling on some of the big uphills; that was the downside of the smaller displacement bike.”

The unfamiliar spotlight and pressure of the ‘duel’ bore weight; Cairoli (who came into the term after recovering from a knee injury at the 2014 Motocross of Nations) won only five motos in seven Grands Prix and failed to grasp the red plate as MXGP championship leader for the first time in his career. Round six took place at Talavera de la Reina, Spain in May. The antiquated layout was tight, narrow and hilly, perfect ground for the 350. Dungey’s progress on the way to a 2015 AMA Supercross and Motocross double with the ’16 model 450 SX-F was already in full flow. At the same track where his 350 had been dismantled by the FIM two seasons beforehand Cairoli seized his first grand prix win of the campaign…with a 450 SX-F. “We were testing a lot with the 450 this winter and I felt the new bike was a lot better than the years before,” he commented at Talavera. “I think we tested more with that bike than with the 350. In the end I chose the 350 to start the season because I was not 100% fit after the injury at the Motocross of Nations and my sensation was obviously good with that bike. It was a difficult choice because I was already thinking a lot about the 450 but in the end I went with the engine that I knew already for many years.”

“The level of MXGP is very high now and with the 350 it was getting too difficult to stay with the guys,” he added, “OK, in some places the bike is better but in others you had to go 100% and risked crashing. I’ve had too many crashes already!

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what happened to the 350?

I’m happy with the move it [the 450] is a great bike.”

Cairoli smiles when he thinks back now. “I didn’t like the 450s, and even in 2015 and 2016 I struggled a lot with the power. I even jumped back on the 350 for some races in those seasons because I really liked the bike…but it was not really competitive any more in terms of power. The 450 was still too much. We took over a year to make a 450 that suited my riding style and I finally enjoyed to race it by the end of 2016.”

Free of the injury hassles of 2015 and 2016, Cairoli would surge to the top of the pile again in 2017 and his ninth world championship – the seventh in MX1/MXGP – was also the very first for the 450 SX-F. In 2018 the motorcycle has won ? of 19 Grands Prix (at the time of writing) and with two different riders. It has also ruled AMA Supercross for the past four years. The 350 SX-F has not been fielded by Red Bull KTM since 2015.

In the end KTM had started to erase their own innovation with the 350 through their adeptness with another motorcycle. “It was maxed-out for torque and power and if the tracks made another step with the jumps or in parts like waves sections, where you need another gear, then it was better to stick with the 450,” says Gruebel.

The 450 SX-F would swiftly turn into the company’s offroad flagship. “We spent a lot of development time and resources on the 450 and that was one of the reasons why it ‘caught up’,” states Edlinger.

“On the old 450 engine we were using a double camshaft so it wasn’t state of the art and the 350 had an advantage there. We’d keep the old 450 engine and just update the chassis. In the end the 2016 450 SX-F benefitted from the same ‘ground-up’ approach as the 350, the same attention to overall development and to push every aspect to a higher level. We worked hard on power delivery and to make the bike more rideable. Basically we worked hard on the disadvantages the 450 had in comparison to the 350 and the performance gap – in a general sense – became much closer.”

“The 450s became more rideable and lighter,” asserts Gruebel. “On the scales the variation was only 2-3 kilos but the feeling of it [was different]. The 450s went in the direction with lighter components, weight saving and engine characteristics. Even now if you pulled out the 450s from five years ago compared to the 2018 bikes then you’d see a different result.”

Would the 350SX-F still be a valid instrument in MXGP? “I miss it [the 350]…but it would be very difficult now to make

a start and it feels like this is 80% of the races at the moment,” laments Cairoli.

The other manufacturers, the Japanese in particular, might feel vindicated in their judgement to stay staunch with the 450 and not jump on the cylinder bore bandwagon but there is still an underlying feeling that the bike remains a fierce provision for the sport.

“For me the concerns are still there,” opines Gruebel. “The speed we go nowadays for off-road – for me – is superfast. The bikes offer you a lot of trust and you feel safe but if something goes wrong it really goes wrong. If someone gets kicked off then it is at such a high speed than you damage your body. But if everyone was forced to ride 350s now then the speed would not drop much. The 450s are good bikes and to slow everybody down now is a tough question.”

The 350 SX-F is no longer in the MXGP gate but it still sells and KTM have not discarded their creation. “We’re still pushing with the 350, we haven’t given up on it and we still see potential,” says Edlinger. “All the effort that goes into the 250 and the 450 in terms of development is also given to the 350. Even though its place in racing has gone down it still has some importance to us.”

feature “There is constant development and it comes down to ‘what does a rider prefer?’” says Gruebel. “A guy like Tony wants a certain front-end feeling and that’s important to him while another guy will want a different chassis feeling.

We try our best every year to try for a new level for the rider. If you put a guy on the 350 SX-F now with a big heart then I think you can still finish in the top five of MXGP but winning? I don’t think so.”

Is the 350’s day really done? There is a slightly-built and spectacular prospect rocketing in MX2 – Jorge Prado – and the seventeen year old Spaniard could be facing MXGP in just over a year if he goes back-to-back to the 250 (according to the current rules).

“I think it is still competitive with the right rider,” says Robert Jonas. “It could be an option [for Prado]. We saw that it even took Jeffrey a while; he was very fast last year but you could still the 250 rider in him at the beginning. This year he is more like a ‘big bike’ guy. In the transition year the 350 could be a great option and for Jorge being so young… but I also believe he could handle a 450 very well.”

And being ‘ready to race’ was – and is what KTM is very much about. It means even more emphasis from the other five manufacturers to reach the same ‘bar’.

The 350 might have been submerged by the waves of progress but long will it be before someone explores this relatively liberal sport and wash up the next breakthrough?

WhAt hAPPened to the 350?

Products

protaper The presence of factory Rockstar Energy Husqvarna riders Gautier Paulin and Max Anstie at the Motocross of Nations will provide a decent chance for international race fans to get a close-up look at ProTaper’s handlebar wares in action. The company are prolific when it comes to other key tested and proven aftermarket parts like sprockets, chains, levers etc but their innovation with ‘bars is still a major calling card. Don’t forget their Evo line – the premier crossbar-less bar with ten different kinds of bend, and available in black or magnesium for 90 dollars. The Americans put it best when they describe the Evo:

www.protaper.com ‘oversized diameter handlebars, without crossbars, were invented and patented by ProTaper in 1991. This design allows the handlebar to flex more and absorb impacts better than conventional bars, offering the rider more comfort and less fatigue without sacrificing bar strength. The EVO utilizes a computer-profiled 4mm wall design and is up to 25% lighter than other bars, yet up to 45% stronger.’ Design and design-thinking are the brand’s strong points and the fact that the product has been tested at the highest levels of racing – 450cc and 250cc Supercross titles no less – are further stamps of quality.

Designs, prototypes, MXGP & Ryan Villopoto: Answer talk 2019 and the future of off-road gear

Apparel brands usually throw a press release and some cool looking images around their new annual collection or seasonal variations and limited edition wares. At the Grand Prix of Belgium Answer Brand Manager Randy Valade flew in from the USA to not only make a small presentation and talk about how and where Answer are moving after a rough 2017 (parent company administration problems that are now in the past) but also take some time to explain why the riding gear deserves to be check out by riders and racers outside of U.S. borders. A new distribution deal with French firm Bihr means it will be easier than ever for an international client base to get their hands on Answer garments and products.

We quizzed Randy on the here, now and tomorrow for Answer and their work with the gear as well as some special athletes who are wearing it.

What is 2019 all about?

Mainly a fresh new design. A lot of the chassis’ are rolled on from 2018 because they proved to be good. We did change our Syncron – the entry level

gear – a little bit in the back of the chassis to make it more comfortable.

We have new graphics across the board and we changed it up a bit with the way we did our design. In previous years we’d just have one design and multiple colourways for Syncron and Elite but this year we have changed that to have two different designs for each level of gear.

How did the design come about?

We’ve been kinda ‘blocky’ over the years and that’s worked well for us but we wanted to try a few wild designs so that’s what we have done with Syncron and Elite. We have a couple of new designers working with us now and they have brought a different look to the range, which is cool and we’ve ‘hit’ the refreshed scheme that we wanted.

Did the designers come from within the industry?

The lead designer came from mountain bike actually and our other designer came from casualwear and is into graffiti and things like that. It’s cool to have him in there with his two cents.

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How are things looking for Answer now because there was a sticky patch with the parent company: are you back on track?

100%. We went through what we went through and it is all settling down. We have a new investment group that has come in and taken over the organisation and who are very ‘into’ what we are doing.

Any scope to change parameters businesswise?

You took a big step into MXGP last year…

I think there is more growth internationally than domestically and that’s why we came over here in the first place and we have a great team to back it. We currently looking for a new rider in the US or possibly a 250 team, so we working through that right now and could have something to announce in the next month.

Is it too early to talk about a return on the MXGP investment? Has supporting Red Bull KTM worked out?

We had some good distributors in Europe but I think what we’ve done with KTM helped us secure that deal with Bihr to cover the continent and it helps us to deal with one company for Europe rather than a collection.

Having a presence in the world championship helped spark that deal.

Have you seen much change in the gear market over the last year? Has it fluctuated much at all?

In terms of design it seems that we’re seeing a lot more large blocky looks over the past year or so. It’s not wild by any means. I think some of the big hitters have toned-back their

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design and have made better use of colours.

Moving forward, is that the trend? I don’t know.

Fashion is tough and it is hard to know where it will go. We’ve already designed our 2020 line and we got some solid stuff in there as well as putting a little bit of ‘throwback’ too. There is some cool stuff coming.

way stretch materials and a fabric in the knee called Aramid which means less leather panel (which is heavy) and is more durable. It withstands much more heat. We keep trying to find new fabrics. For the future we have other cool stuff in mind – even more high-end – so we’ll be talking about that soon.

It seems that people are going extreme with performance gear: higher prices and higher functioning wares. But it does not necessarily mean that’s what the weekend warrior needs.

Answer seem to be quite relaxed in that sense…

That’s right. We do very well with our entry level gear and it’s a big portion of our sales.

The mid-level is the everyday racing gear and then Trinity is our high-end product with four-

It seemed that Tony and Glenn [Jorge Prado is next to #222 wearing Answer this year] wore Elite for quite a bit of last seasonThey wore Elite but then switched to Trinity later in the season.

Just because Answer is an American company can it be hard to use the MXGP team for any development or tests?

We haven’t been able to yet. We have some new samples that will be coming in for next

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year’s line that I’m hoping we can get them to test. Normally it is simple for us to head to the American test tracks for that kind of information and we have Nick Wey riding for us and Ryan Villopoto has just come onboard and Mike Sleeter rides an awful lot and does a huge chunk of endurance testing for us. We get great feedback. I’d love to have the MXGP guys involved more though.

Ryan villopoto is on the front of the catalogue for 2019. What’s it like working with him?

Since he stopped racing he has definitely lightened-up, I guess I can say. He is superdown-to-earth, always willing and always available to help us out. He is busy with his other ambassador roles with Yamaha and so on but at the end of the day he been great and good for the brand. I think he is still relevant and a big name. It was a big deal for us and a multi year one as well.

Is he different or particular with his feedback compared to nick or mick?

When he first came onboard he was an Elite guy. He said “I want Elite” but I gave him the Trinity gear and now that’s all he wants to wear, so I think he is quite set in his ways and knows what he likes. We’ve been getting his thoughts and feedback on a new pant we have coming and is very easy to work with.

Can you tease a bit of the new high-end concept? Is that a reaction to people like fox and their lab work?

Trinity is high-end and maybe we want to explore some different fabrics. I don’t want to elaborate too much but it will be a step ahead of where we are on Trinity: so fabrics, new chassis, maybe a new belt system. The whole nine yards.

Is that approach also to do with the exclusive show that is supercross? If someone like Jason Anderson is ready to race at A1 then you know he has the best of everything with him or under him…

Yes, for sure. At the end of the day we know we probably won’t sell a whole lot of it but that’s what brings people along to check out our stuff and if they buy anything on the apparel line then we’re happy. It is also about providing something to the athlete so they are happy and feel like it is the best gear it can be. lastly, riders can go head-to-toe with Answer but what about the casualwear?

Will that be something that’s developed?

We need to get better at it! We do have a small casual offering and it’s a hope [to be bigger] for 2020. We’ve had a hard time selling causal over the years. We do well with our rider support system but as far as a distributor selling it then it can be a bit tough. We working on some new stuff and hopefully will have a bit more to show.

productS

100% A quick one from 100% who have capitalised on only the third Motocross of Nations to be staged on American soil this century to unveil a Limited Edition USA ‘Capsule’, based on the popular design of the Racecreft Plus+ goggle. The white, red and blue colours adorn a special badge and cap, t-shirt and hoodie offering inside the capsule. The ‘official’ Team USA look has always been an exclusive and identifiable component of past teams and their support crews and 100% have provided the chance for fans to look the part on the journey to RedBud.

www.ride100percent.com

productS

www.scott-sports.com

scott sports Is there a company busier than Scott when it comes to upgrading some key safety and performance products? First the Prospect goggle hit the eyewear market squarely in the face, then the firm innovated with the practicality of their 550 boots and extended that smart-thinking to the ideas behind the 550 helmet. Next up is body protection and the effort directed to the Softcon 2 is well worth of mention. Scott sum-up the philosophy best by stating: ‘Combining innovative D3O materials and a unique design, the new Softcon 2 delivers unparalleled freedom of movement while remaining highly protective.’

The Jacket Protector is ‘all bells and whistles’ with a mix of fabrics, protection, concessions for other items like neck braces and the ideal ‘pull over’ all-in-one that many riders will be looking for. The fit is the crucial element here so a visit to a Scott dealer is highly advised.

The Body Armour is scaled back version covering torso, chest, back and shoulders. Scott says the design and layout of the construction is brand new and formualted to be unrestrictive and practical while also full functional. Like the protection, blbow and knee pads also benefit from D30 technology which has the advantages of being soft and flexible but also locks on impact and eventually returns to form. A quick word on the matte black livery as well: spot-on.

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Drumming up support In terms of aggression, Cal Crutchlow knows few equals. But what’s he like when the garage door shuts and the team crowds round to listen to his feedback? On Track Off Road speaks to several names that have worked with him to find out.

By Neil Morrison, Photos by CormacGP

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C

al Crutchlow is no stranger to calling it like it is. The preseason was just one day old when the Englishman, now 32, felt he was well placed to pass comment on the championship that lay ahead.

“Maybe,” he said at Sepang in early January, “I have my best chance to do well in MotoGP this year.”

Nine months on and it’s clear his optimism was grounded in reality. A much-improved HRC engine has been a godsend.

But so has Crutchlow’s riding.

Still on the edge more times than not, (he’s fallen 13 times, to fellow HRC man Marc Marquez’s 14), the three-time GP winner has been competitive everywhere the series has visited this year while proving he is the only man to get the best out of the unique RC213V other than the reigning world champion.

Like Marquez, much of Crutchlow’s current success stems from the chemistry and cohesion with those he works alongside. Now in his fourth term with the satellite LCR Honda outfit, the Englishman’s relationship with his crew has blossomed to the extent he was happy to commit to the team and manufacturer until 2020. As crew chief Christophe Bourguignon says, “we don’t need to speak a lot to understand each other.

It’s like with the mechanics when they work together – they don’t say they need the wrench, they just [automatically] pass it. It’s a bit the same with Cal. I know when we’re in trouble and we need to do something. We’re stable.”

To reach this level, Crutchlow has deployed a number of his own skills. That was no empty boast he made earlier this year when declaring “I think in every team I’ve

been with, I’ve made a great environment. I’m not saying this to blow smoke up my arse, but I’ve never left a team and thought one person in the team didn’t like me.”

Is this true? And if so, how does Cal achieve it?

‘Joking, talking bullshit’ Eddie Lawson was famous for it. Carl Fogarty too. The stare that precedes the visor going down can be a glimpse

the unKnoWn CRutChloW?

into the workings of any professional sportsman’s mind.

And, if you are to go-off the looks sported by the current MotoGP grid as they prepare for the getaway, the intensity of Crutchlow’s race face can be an intimidating sight. In front of a microphone or a table filled with journalists, he can be direct, comments and can be abrasive. A flash of that stare when a fumbled question is thrown his way is enough to tell any hack not to make that mistake a second time around.

Daniele Romagnoli feels the same. Having worked alongside Crutchlow from his difficult debut year in the premier class in 2011, he saw his rider at first struggle to adapt to Yamaha’s M1 800 but soon witnessed him flourish.

“At the beginning I liked him as a person,” he says of their first meeting at the Valencia test in November 2010.

“The first time I met him was at Valencia. He was a funny guy already. I like people like him: people that aren’t only stressed about work but also But looks can be deceptive. The people who like to have fun truth is Crutchlow carries little and are joking. of that swagger into the garage.

Talk to ex-crew chiefs or techni- “Sometimes you are at the cians, and they’ll say the same: computers, looking at data, there were some doubts before and he comes up behind you they met him, but those were and scares you. It makes you soon calmed once work began. jump. Then he says: ‘what are you doing here, still working?

Let’s go to the hospitality!’

“YOU MIGHT THINK HE CAN BE DIFFICULT TO WORK WITH, BUT IT’S THE COMPLETE OPPOSITE. HE’S A NICE GUY. HE’S A GENTLEMAN WITH ME, THE CREW, WITH EVERYBODY.” “Sometimes when you hear what happened in the past – Cal, the way he is, the way he can be wild – you don’t worry, but you’re not sure what to expect,” says Bourguignon, Crutchlow’s crew chief since he joined LCR Honda at the end of 2014. “You might think he can be difficult to work with, but it’s the complete opposite. He’s a nice guy. He’s a gentleman with me, the crew, with everybody.”

Sometimes he’s joking with the others, killing them [with jokes]. That’s why we loved Cal. He was a good guy, and there was a very good atmosphere.

“He likes to have his group joking with each other, talking bullshit or telling us what he has done during the week: many stories about going to the Isle of Man to do a Parade

Lap and then almost crashing there; or crazy riding cycling in the cold, wet or rain. Many stories.”

Peter Bom worked through Crutchlow’s data during his sole world championship-winning year in the World Supersport class in 2009. Honing his own skills as a data engineer that year, the Dutchman was immediately struck by his new rider’s inter-personal skills.

“You travel together, you sit in the hotel together, you spend a lot of time together very quickly,” he says. “You know each other quite well. Automatically there are some guys you have a greater connection with, and some that you don’t.

But I remember especially for him, even the guys he didn’t have a good connection with, they were completely different, he never did anything shitty or bad to them.

He would just try to build a bridge to them.

“He still put in the extra effort to make sure the atmosphere was good, to give some extra good feeling. The team normally has two riders, like in our case, and he didn’t just do it on our side of the team. But his team gets a little bit extra, but he was still nice to the other guys as well. He definitely did not try to split [the team] up. Not at all.

Feature “I think it was only on his visor, but he had Nokia as a personal sponsor. Without even asking us if we were interested, he came to us in the middle of the year with a little package for everyone. There was a phone and sunglasses in it. And this was just for free. He didn’t pay it from his own pocket, but he put some effort in, talking with the sponsor, organising to do this. This little bit of extra effort I haven’t seen other riders doing as much.

That was a nice gesture, and it was very well appreciated.”

He’s a leader’ You may feel anyone with nine years of world championship ought to have developed these skills, but Crutchlow is clear and direct with what he wants. “You can be scared just looking at him, but he’s not like that,” says Bom. “He can be extra sure during the session – ‘I want this, I don’t want that’ – but nothing more than that. If we come back and say ‘you can’t have that tyre because we need to save that for the race,” he would be like, ‘OK’.

It was never difficult.”

Romagnoli agrees: “I remember it was easy to understand the situation, if he was happy or not, by looking at his eyes.

the unknown crutchlow?

Especially in the last few years, you knew a lot his feeling, whether it was good or not, or what he needed. It was enough sometimes to know what needed changing just by looking at each other.”

Emotions are rarely too high.

Nor are they too low, something Bourguignon feels is crucial to the working pattern across a weekend. “If we start to fluctuate with emotion to do this job, it’s not so good. It doesn’t matter if you’re working for a rider that finishes 18th or one that fights for the podium: we need to have the same discipline and the same work. To do that I think you have to remove emotion.”

Having ridden as LCR’s lone rider for 2016 and ’17, it was interesting to note his reac-

tion to class rookie Takaaki Nakagami joining the team this year. Rather than marking his territory straight away, Crutchlow took time out of his schedule at pre-season outings to spend time on track with the young Japanese rider before offering feedback and advice soon after. “He was trying to help, saying “Come on, come on,” noted the Moto2 race winner at Jerez last November. “When I ask Cal, how is my riding, he explained many things, so it’s good, very good.”

This came as no surprise to his current crew chief. “Cal is a leader,” says Bourguignon.

“I’ve worked with a few riders like that. Kevin [Schwantz] was like that. Cal is like that.

He goes through emotions, he has his ups and downs with

Bom: “It’s like he has a data recorder running at a 1,000 revs running in his head and he picks up a lot of info, a lot of stuff I had never heard anyone say before...”

the unknown crutchlow?

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“I remember he crashed in FP4 at Jerez one year. It was a big crash. The bike was over the fence. He came back to the garage with the leathers cut and he put some tape over the arm and he went out and qualified on the front row...” humour, like any human being. not lacking. In some respects, But we always feel he is behind that spurs those around him us. He’s always there. on, too. “He’s always there,” says Bourguignon. “It’s not like “At the end of the day we some days we lose Cal. Even if never give him the best bike. we have a bad day he will work We always think, ‘Oh, f**k, we harder or try to recover.” should have done this!’ Or ‘We should have tried that!’ But at Romagnoli also recalls the trait the end he knows we’re trying. fondly. “For me his best point I know when he’s riding that he is that he gives 100% - no, always gives 100%. This is how 105% - all the time. It’s incredwe always work, whether he’s ible. Other riders need to be inside the garage or on track. I pushed to find some motivanever hear him blaming anytion. With him almost it was body. We all feel he has a lot of never necessary. I never had to respect for what we do.” say, ‘OK Cal, come on! Push!

We are a little behind!’ He was ‘A ‘Braveheart’ rider’ always giving the maximum that he had.

A facet of Crutchlow’s character that barely needs pointing “I remember he crashed in out: bravery. There have been FP4 at Jerez one year. It was several moments in recent a big crash. The bike was over years that proved this. Wheththe fence. He came back to er it was discharging himself the garage with the leathers from hospital and riding a ses- cut and he put some tape over sion after fracturing a vertebra the arm and he went out and at Brno last year. Or racing at qualified on the front row. He Le Mans this May a day after doesn’t have fear of a crash. I a monster high-side that so called him many times ‘Bravenearly broke his pelvis, team heart’. members know commitment is

“At Silverstone in 2012 he crashed two times. He had a broken foot and so we started basically last and at the end he finished sixth. It was a great race. In the first laps all he could do was feel the pain in his foot, and couldn’t ride as normal. But after a few laps he started lapping with the same speed as the leaders. So that’s what I want to say: he’s a ‘Braveheart’ rider.

“The mechanics, with a rider like him, can see he’s giving everything, and they give the same. They repaired the bike, let’s go and it was ready. It was ready for qualifying. This was the most important thing for the team. Cal for this is the best.”

‘A data recorder running at 1,000 revs’ And there’s a reason HRC wanted to extend his factory deal so as Crutchlow continues racing until 2020. The Englishman’s ability to state and explain exactly what he feels is an asset. So is his riding style, which is a little less extreme than that of Marquez.

His feedback was something that stood out for Bom in their championship year in 2009.

“What I remember, in terms of feedback – I’m a data guy so I spoke to him a lot about this – what impressed me is that he’s one of the few riders I’ve

the unknown crutchlow?

worked with that notices so much on the bike,” he says.

“There are some test riders that can immediately pinpoint [things]. But he didn’t try to be an engineer; he just gave all his impressions and feelings, and there was a lot. It’s like he has a data recorder running at a 1,000 revs running in his head and he picks up a lot of info, a lot of stuff I had never heard anyone say before.

“After the race he could say so much about somebody’s riding style, why he is riding like that, what their engine is doing differently, how the traction control from that bike was working. There was always a lot of information - a lot. That helped us a lot to improve the bike and it helped him a lot in the rest of his career.”

Products

leatt Leatt have picked up their game immensely with the design and look of their riding gear and just three years after the South African safety brand took a bold step in a crowded segment. The GPX garments come in three styles: 5.5 Ultraweld (lightweight and ventilated race-fitting jersey made of MoistureCool stretch mesh, 4.5 for the more ‘classic’ fit and a 4.5 X-Flow with even more emphasis on cooling. The pants follow suit but boast the company’s Inner Knee Brace system to reduce wear and tear.

Leatt have also sharpened their pencils when it comes to the look and dimensions of their expanding helmet range (the 6.5 Carbo and 5.5 Composite are much more aesthetic now, which is sadly an important factor alongside their 360 Turbine technology that helps towards concussion and rotational acceleration). Don’t underestimate the choice and depth of offerings when it comes to gloves and how Leatt have played around with materials like NanoGrip and MicronGrip. There is also a sizeable Junior range.

www.leatt.com

motogp BLOG

Not wanted...

Who would want to be Christophe Ponsson? Or any other ‘newcomer’ to the MotoGP grid?

The Frenchman was delighted when he signed a contract with the Reale Avintia squad to replace Tito Rabat, while the Spaniard recovers from the femur he broke at Silverstone.

But he had barely entered the Avintia trailer at Misano when he was met with a deluge of criticism from other riders. “We cannot give a MotoGP bike to just anybody, because for him it will be super difficult to be competitive in just three sessions,” Aleix Espargaro said. “But it’s enough to create a disaster with carbon brakes and almost 300 horsepower.” On Friday, after the first day of practice, Jorge Lorenzo agreed. “It’s too much for a new wildcard rider or substitute rider.”

Before he had turned a wheel, Ponsson was being universally panned as not fast enough to be a substitute rider in MotoGP. It felt like a snobbish pile-on of a rider who nobody in the MotoGP paddock had heard of.

They had made up their collective minds before Ponsson had even had a chance to prove them wrong. There was talk of the need for a Superlicence along the lines of F1 of vetting riders before letting them race.

There were even rumours that there had been an effort to block Ponsson’s entry as a substitute.

Was Ponsson good enough to be participating in a MotoGP race? The empirical answer to that question is ‘yes’. There is a very simple criteria for measuring whether someone is good enough or not: the 107% rule, which has been in effect for many years. If a rider can’t manage to lap within 107% of the fastest time set during practice, then they will not make it into qualifying. No qualifying, no race.

Andrea Dovizioso was fastest in practice at Misano with a lap of 1’32.198. Ponsson’s best time was 1’38.154, just under 6 seconds slower than that, and

within the 107% cut-off. During the race, he got a lot closer, his fastest lap a 1’37.375 to Dovizioso’s 1’32.678. That’s a difference of 105%. What’s more, Ponsson rode responsibly and carefully, getting well out of the way when he was lapped in the final part of the race.

It is remarkable that we did not have the same kind of discussion back in 2016, when Australian Mike Jones replaced Hector Barbera at Avintia, who was filling in for Andrea Iannone in the factory Ducati team. Like Ponsson, Jones was not within 107% in FP1, but he qualified, and he raced. Like Ponsson, he was closer in the race, but still got lapped. And yet the popular Jones was asked back for a second race, while Ponsson has been shoved aside to make way for Jordi Torres. Torres also lacks MotoGP experience but he does have time in Moto2.

By David Emmett

Apart from its unfairness – Torres currently has less experience of a MotoGP bike than Ponsson now has – this entire situation seems to be merely dancing around the underlying problem. There are two issues here. Firstly, the field is so close that expectations of replacement riders have been raised to almost unrealistic levels.

Secondly, the requirement to replace an injured rider is less urgent now.

To start with that first point: it is common lately for the top fifteen to be within a second of the fastest rider. Ten years ago, only five or six would be within a second. Twenty years ago, only the top three were lapping within a second, and six or more seconds would separate first from last. Then, a warm body with a rough idea of which way the track went was good enough. Now, a rider who isn’t within three seconds of the leaders is seen as desperately slow.

The trouble is, there simply aren’t that many fast riders available. Anyone quick enough already has a contract, either in MotoGP or WorldSBK, and the commercial importance to their sponsors of their current contract is much greater than the chance of a wildcard in another series. The fast guys in Moto2 are all busy trying to win a championship, and face the same problem. And there aren’t any fast riders twiddling their thumbs on the sidelines: they’re either racing, or signed up as test riders.

This isn’t a problem which an F1-style Superlicence, advocated by some riders, will fix.

There are 15 different series in which a driver can gain points which count towards a Superlicence. There aren’t 15 competitive circuit racing motorcycle racing series, so the talent pool to draw from is simply much smaller.

The real problem is the rush to replace. Unless their sponsor demanded it, why does Avintia need to field a second rider?

Because the rules say so? Even without Rabat, there are 23 riders on the grid in a thrilling series. A replacement rider adds nothing but controversy.

Just ask Christophe Ponsson.

motogp BLOG

a distinct flavour...

Midway between Madrid and Barcelona in the Teruel province is our final destination ahead of the infamous flyaways. Like many other circuits, this track has evolved from an urban street racing phenomenon to a larger scale motor-racing event.

It’s one of the smallest of its kind and tests the bravery of almost every athlete that steps foot on it. The Red Bull Ring in Spielberg, Austria is our destination and marks the halfway point for MotoGP in 2018. This circuit encompasses the integral balance between beauty and challenge.

Beneath the picturesque mountain peaks is the fear that a small miscalculation that can cause a hefty repercussion.

The 4.318km of ribbon of tarmac is “Austria’s Alpine drag strip” according to ex motorcycle racer Simon Crafar. The first international spectacles to take place in this area were in 1957 at the Zeltweg military base, a mere 5km from today’s circuit. This stretch of land became the hub of Austrian motorsports and since has embraced hundreds of thousands of spectators.

The area is peppered with sloping terrain and strong elevation changes which are juxtaposed against the rich natural environment. Iconic characteristics such as the 18 metre high ‘Bull of Spielberg’ situated in the heart of the track or the architecturally impressive Voestalpine Wing forge a unique experience for any fan or rider and have become a definitive part of its identity.

From the exterior, the scenery can be overwhelming but it is the unexpected risk that looms beneath the pretty surface that is of great importance.

Red Bull Ring is unlike most circuits. It has the least amount of corners on the calendar and the highest average speed across race distance (it is very, very fast). Between 1969 and 1987 motorsport events were being held at the original Österreichring circuit (the pre-modernised layout).

It was long and quick (qualities much like today) and quickly blossomed into a named favourite; but in 1975 American F1 driver Mark Donohue tragically uncovered a considerable issue with the circuits safety. His tyre failed and caused him to be hurled into the unduly close catch fence with fatal consequences. The incident claimed not only one life but two when the debris that followed Donohue struck a track marshal. This influenced the first major changes to the layout.

Numerous adjustments were made between 1987 and 2016 but the basic elements remained the same. The track was still immensely rapid and the walls a little too close for comfort. In 2016 after his first test with Ducati at the Red Bull Ring, Casey Stoner made strong gestures against the safety of the circuit, claiming the walls were still an issue.

By Sienna Wedes

This was supported by several other riders during their own testing runs especially in wet weather conditions but no alterations were imposed. In 2017 after a downpour, several Moto2 riders suffered crashes at Turn1 due to insufficient grip during Free Practice (this turn has since been sand blasted as a preventative measure). One tip-off and they were being sent towards a large unyielding structure where the consequences could have been severe (as seen back in the tracks infancy).

This incited fear into some of the most audacious sportsman in the industry and ultimately should have rung alarm bells. It has become an all too familiar string of words during safety commission meetings and debriefs. Nakagami revealed “some points you can feel the danger” on his debut MotoGP outing and on Friday afternoon Danilo Petrucci (who has raced here before) voiced similar opinions “I am a little bit scared to ride in the wet here because the walls are very,very close and especially on the straight there is a lot of water.

The bike starts aquaplaning and it’s a difficult situation”. However, on race day we saw little-to-no accidents in all three classes (which is positive!) and the peril was camouflaged by the fierce battle between Marquez and Lorenzo.

Red Bull Ring has its character and continues to test the fortitude of the athletes the circle the layout. It demands exploration of the strenuous side of the job and allows us, as fans, to understand just how many layers and ingredients there are within a race weekend. There are parts that feel like they shouldn’t work but it’s the final outcome when all is done perfectly that cements Austria on the MotoGP calendar and nevertheless makes it one of the most visited all year round.

Feature

A conversation in the mind of a MotoGP racer What’s going on ‘in there’ and what does a rider like Bradley Smith do about it? Find out about the thrill, the fear, the insecurity and the privilege

By Adam Wheeler, Photos by CormacGP

Feature

MotoGP

When you see episodes like front brake effrontery, the sensationalism of barges in Argentina, witness high-profile team switches, resurrections of riders supposedly slipping towards mid-pack mediocrity and a myriad of other ways in which pressure, adoration, expectation and competition can influence an individual’s mind and character then the sport is a fiercely bubbling melting pot.

Most of the cast of MotoGP can talk lucidly about their vocation and some of the craziness it entails – they’ve had plenty of practice. Red Bull KTM’s Bradley Smith is normally a good target for anybody seeking some revealing insight into what really goes through the thoughts of individuals engaging in a highly specialised sport.

The Englishman has had his highs and lows. 125cc Grand Prix wins, Moto2 struggles, MotoGP uncertainty and then fine achievement (his emotions after a podium finish at the 2014 Australian Grand Prix is still a great contrast to the customary almost-matter-of-fact happi-

“The mental side is a big part of this world and, as a rider, you are supposed to be a leader. But you also need to learn that your way is not always the best...” ness from the likes of Marquez, Lorenzo, Rossi & co). He then opened KTM’s MotoGP chapter in 2017 while still recovering from knee injury and suffered speculation on his future causing thoughts of retirement to surface this year once Johann Zarco had been announced as his

replacement in the factory team A testing role with Aprilia will keep the knowledgeable 27 year old at the front line and on the fastest motorcycle machinery available.

motogp psychology xxxxxxxx: xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

We find Brad at one of the high-set tables in the opulence of the Red Bull Energy Station and pleased to tuck into a discussion that doesn’t centre on his future or the settings of the ever-evolving RC16. Another reason we wanted to talk to Smith is that he had hinted in previous interviews that the mental side of training and his job was an area of particular interest. He thoroughly examined the zone of ‘marginal gains’ and that included taking a long look in the mirror.

Hitting the red button on the MP3 recorder led to a revealing and personal conversation…

What was the motivation for you delve into mental preparation, psychology and to learn about yourself?

Mainly education and learning why you feel the way you feel and how you can manage those types of thing. Everyone’s brain is a little bit different and people react in different ways. The great thing about the Steve Peters’ book ‘The Chimp Paradox’ is that

Feature it explains it in a very simple way. You identify what type of person you are and I did that straight away; it was superclear, and then how do I feel, how do I react and how do I deal with everything.

I didn’t necessarily want someone to tell me how I should cope. I wanted to understand it myself. I was quite an aggressive person and went ‘off’ on certain things and could not accept things the way they were. I let my chimp escape out of the box quite a lot and it did too much damage. I pissed people off and was stubborn and couldn’t see clearly.

The mental side is a big part of this world and, as a rider, you are supposed to be a leader. But you also need to learn that your way is not always the best, and you need to learn how certain people react to things. You can get the best out of some people by shouting at them ‘you’d

So you work on yourself to ultimately affect others…?

It is a big thing…but it is your job. There are certain riders who are happy to be by themselves and they win or lose. I like to have an impact on people and I want them to feel they are making a difference. That group and family ‘feel’ becomes better. It also means it is good on the good days but also good on the bad days because you are together. They are looking for how to make improvements, and you feel there is ‘belief’: which is key. Just look at Jorge [Lorenzo] and Ducati this year: he left because he didn’t feel the belief. Maverick is changing Crew Chief because he doesn’t feel the belief. ‘Belief’ is everything and that’s psychology. This [Red Bull KTM] is a thirty-man team and my job is not to motivate all thirty but to at least motivate five, who then motivate another five

“There are highs & massive lows. It can be like facing 70,000 people in a stadium: the buzz and the adrenaline you get from not only doing the thing that you love but making other people happy is incredible...” better fix this blah, blah, blah’ and there are others that completely shut off to that. It’s about learning how to tap into that final 10% of knowledge, care, interest and motivation. People will always do their best when they are motivated and that’s not just me as a rider but all the people in the team; they’ll spend that extra hour twiddling with the bike or going through the data or looking at other bits and pieces. It’s about being wanted and welcome in that team environment. It is such an important thing.

and you have a compound effect. You then feel that you cannot be the weakest link and you raise your game accordingly. It is something that doesn’t necessarily help towards performance or the final race result but it helps a damn sight more for the environment you are in and things like peace of mind and stuff people don’t usually ‘see’. You also need to bear in mind that everyone is here to give their best in these team environments. They are here because they want to be here but they are also away from family and everyone is giving a lot. It is

motogp psychology

not a 9-5 job so how do you keep them interested, motivated, positive and all that type of stuff? That for me is the interesting thing to learn.

When did the benefits of self-analysis and working out who you are and what you imparted come to light?

It hit home for me in 2014. I was out of a ride. It was like I had a deck of cards and I wanted to be able to play more than one; whether I had to be aggressive and stubborn or compassionate and understanding or focus completely on team morale. I wanted to be able to play different cards and in 2014 I was not fun to be around. Randy Mamola clipped me around the head a few times and said to me ‘you’re an arse and no one wants to work with you’. People can kinda tolerate that if you are winning, but I wasn’t!

I was a 6th-10th place guy. He told me to work on it and I stumbled across the [Peters] book. Stubbornness said ‘I don’t need a psychology book’ but I read it and it really opened my eyes and over the years I have been able to tap into more.

I think it makes you more of a rounded human being. If you want the longevity of a career then you cannot be an arse.

I think Valentino has done this very well in terms of how he reacts to his team, his group, his fans then his perception given to the media and his openness. He has been able to master all of this and it helped create this iconic person that is not necessarily the fastest at the moment but definitely the most popular.

You talk a lot about the team but most people assume that racing is a lonely ‘job’…

Many times you question ‘is it worth it?’

There are highs and massive lows. It can be like facing 70,000 people on a stage

Feature in a stadium or for stand-up comedians or DJs: the buzz and the adrenaline you get from not only doing the thing that you love but making other people happy is incredible. And the impact and the whole vibe then just stops when you walk off and go and sit in the car. Half an hour afterwards everything stops and you’re by yourself or just with a friend or a manager. It is a massive comedown.

So it almost becomes like a drug and you think ‘how can I replace it?’ and it feels like depression comes near. Another thing in motorsport is fear. What we are doing and the commitment we make and the risks we take is something people don’t speak about but you are scared at times. People say you cannot and should not feel fear but there are moments in racing when you think ‘man, if this goes wrong it is going to be huge’. People don’t admit it. I think riders can generally sweep it under the carpet quite well but someone like Dani Pedrosa will say he is worried about crashing because he doesn’t want to get hurt again while Marc Marquez doesn’t seem to mind because he gets away with it. If you crash and get hurt a few times then that natural human instinct towards self preservation is strong. You then have to consider family and weigh-up the situation and think ‘is it worth it?’ There is no time in the world championship to think ‘I’ll only risk it at certain moments’. A kindly of wisely respect creeps up that makes people retire because they cannot get it out of their head. That’s why confidence is key and if you are confident in the bike then you are not worried if you are going to crash.

The speeds were are going nowadays and the fine lines we are dealing with all have a massive impact.

I assume the margin of hesitation when it comes to risk is much smaller when you are younger…

Oh you normally go over it and there is no hesitation. Not even a beat. As you get older that margin comes-in a little bit and in MotoGP even more because of the respect to the speeds we are running and the size of the motorcycles.

Was there a person you turned to or someone that offered a bit of guidance when it came to thinking about psychology?

The person who told me to read the book was my Mum. Your Mum obviously loves you and by recommending a book like that was probably her subtle way of saying ‘you’re an arse’. I was being told that at the racetrack but maybe I was being the same person at home. It probably needed my Mum to point that out – and directed at my Dad as well because we are the same type of person.

Your curiosity grew from there?

Massively. Once you realise how your brain works you become more ‘powerful’, let’s say. You feel more in control and less things affect you. You feel you can tap into other people, and instead of getting ‘closed doors’ or their barrier you can get around that. Once that happens then you can get other things. For example sponsorship deals or people’s knowledge or insight, those final percentages.

You feel like you have a key to unlock other people’s potential and work different angles. That feeling is power and the sensation brings confidence.

motogp psychology

Can you give me an example of how you applied that?

In 2014 at the German GP I crashed five times. I wasn’t listening to anyone any more and I was going to do things my way and exactly how I wanted to do it. I was ignoring instinct and warning signs and I was convinced being stubborn was the solution in every sense possible: in terms of the way I rode, the way I felt and reacted and went about racing. If I hit my head hard enough against the wall then I’d get through. That hit me in the backside all weekend in Germany and I walked away from that track and the MotoGP dream was over. The door was closed. I wasn’t going to have a ride the next year and there were no other options available. I came back in Indianapolis a completely different person after spending four weeks by myself in California. I trained by myself, read the book, made the effort and never looked back.

Indianapolis was the start of my streak of finishing every single race in the points, something like 25 Grands Prix. I went from a guy who crashed five times in one weekend to not crashing in 25 races and finishing 6th in the world championship that next year. It all stemmed off a process of understanding myself, people and how to go about racing.

What’s it like to exist in this paddock and on that plain of pressure and expectation?

I can manage it quite well. I’m the sort of person who doesn’t feel the stress when I’m here and I think that has come with age. I used to turn up and from the moment of coming in the circuit gate until I went home on Sunday I would not speak to anyone believing that this [approach] would get me success. Some riders are at the opposite end of the scale. Some

forcefully have a McDonalds on a Wednesday before they get to the track to remind themselves that it doesn’t matter. Once you have done 90-95% of your preparation then McDonalds or an ice-cream is just a little reminder that the seriousness of it all can actually be taken away.

Feature To be at 100% all weekend means by Sunday you are ‘done’. You have to tune-in and tune-out. I feel I have three stages: one, like this situation now where you are as chilled out as possible (while still remembering you have to be a bit careful about what you say), two is when I walk in the garage and there is another ‘level’ [of focus] and three is the final step of putting on the helmet. You have to learn to get ‘in and out’ of those three and it’s not always easy and takes experience and time and familiarity of the team. That’s why I like [Andrea] Dovizioso’s story and the fact he has been at Ducati six years and there is a lot of faith and continuity within the package and finally they got to the level where they wanted to be. It all takes time though and you cannot keep swapping around teams and groups to get that.

It is always difficult for humans to deal with change, I think. People like routine and habits and that’s when they behave their best and when they are happy. The more you disrupt it then the harder it gets for the individual. You see it when someone changes a team; it can take four-tosix months to adapt and you don’t know why! It is almost a subconscious thing. It takes time to learn and become automated.

motogp psychology

Another part of psychology and sporting performance are things like controlling anxiety…

I feel anxiety more when it comes to contract time and you’re not sure what is going to happen. You are aware how much it means: [your choice] is everything. You put so much effort into it and it’s the last thing you think about at night and the first thing when you wake up in the morning. I don’t care what anyone says; it is constantly on your mind.

There are some days when it is less but you are always thinking. The biggest thing then is ‘controlling the controllables’. I cannot control what a team manager is going to do and what rider he is going to pick or what a manufacturer will decide about which rider fits their profile

for the future. What I can control is how I conduct myself in the garage, in front of the media and how I perform out on the track. That’s all I need to worry about and let the others fall into place: which means you almost need to believe in fate and if things are meant to be! That’s where it is such a contradiction. But you have to believe in something, whether it’s god, fate, natural-born talent. Otherwise you’ll always second-guess yourself.

What about the practical use of it? Like a race start?

It’s a process. Right from the start to the first corner. If I hit all my marks and do everything right then its just following a formula. I need to get to the first corner and then I carry on.

Feature

The Ryder Cup in golf, Wimbledon in tennis: examples of environments where there is intense public scrutiny and it must be easy to choke without focus…

Yeah [pauses]. You can be so used to ‘following’ and ‘chasing’ your whole career that you almost don’t know how to lead. In Le Mans for my first podium: there were four of us and I was OK but when there were three and I knew I had a podium chance I freaked out. It was only a lap and I managed to regain control of myself but it meant I lost half a second and couldn’t fight for the win.

How does that feel when it happens?

You cannot ride! You forget how to do it and grip the handlebars and tense-up. You don’t flow or breathe and you cannot control it. A little bit of self-doubt can make you choke in this world and small things make a difference: the bike, breathing.

When you retire from MotoGP do you think there will also be some relief? A respite from all the demand and constant drive to improve?

I’ll miss everything except for Sunday and that window from 14.00-14.45 and all that pressure of trying to make everything come together at the right time to get the best possible result. I also won’t miss

the faces of the people when it doesn’t go quite right and the personal feeling of failure and for the project and all the money that is being spent. It is a real weight on the shoulders and can be a hard thing to swallow; the fact that all the effort and everything that has gone into those forty-five minutes hasn’t quite worked out.

I won’t miss that at all; some people cannot let it go for days on-end. It affects your life, morale and can cause depression.

I’ll miss the process of trying to create something special.

I don’t think I can completely stop this [kind of lifestyle] if I’m honest. I will want to be part of creating something.

I don’t want to exist and just tick-over in this world. I want to have an impact.

motogp psychology

motogp BLOG

Finding the place...

There was a comment from Maverick Viñales that resonated last weekend.

Asked to assess the suitability of Jonas Folger possible testing role for Yamaha that was had been earlier confirmed, the Spaniard said what many in the paddock still feel. “My opinion is that Jonas should race in the MotoGP world championship, not test.” Viñales sentiments were affable as he then pointed to Folger’s suitability to the role.

And if we are to go off last year, Jonas’ first in MotoGP, he’s right. Folger was the standout star of pre-season testing in 2017, his first when manhandling a 260bhp prototype. There were the expected nerves that come with premier class inexperience in the early races, but

by June he was very much up, running and challenging the leaders. Then there was that mesmerising assault on victory at home at the Sachsenring that led Valentino Rossi to copy his settings and lines for this year’s event.

Nobody has taken the fight to Marc Marquez there since his nine-in-a-row streak began on German soil in 2010, as Folger did that day.

Even ex-team boss Hervé Poncharal spoke of the impossibility of contacting the 25-year old when attempting to understand his plans for 2019.

Yet a debut campaign that stretched beyond the expectations of most would come to an abrupt halt last September, when Folger shocked the twowheel racing world by announcing his withdrawal from the flyaway rounds. Gilbert Syndrome, an energy sapping genetic disorder that caused his body to shut down before the Japanese Grand Prix was the cause.

Thus it has been difficult to be sure of the exact reasons behind his absence. It seems stress and carrying the weighty expectations of his own, his team, and those connected was too much. And the five-time grand prix winner’s time on the sidelines has been to assess a further course of action from here.

But the effects of that ailment were apparently gone by the new year. So why isn’t he – a rider capable of podiums in the top class - racing at present? Simply, he doesn’t want to. Or he doesn’t feel ready.

Since announcing he would not participate in this year’s championship, Folger has distanced himself from all media and other elements of the paddock.

There were some tell-tale signs along the way. Folger had always blown hot and cold during his ten-year stay in grand prix.

Tech 3’s Nicolas Goyon, crew chief to Folger through last year, picked up on a figure who bore the strain of racing at this level.

“We saw some weakness in Qatar when it started raining on the grid,” says Goyon.

By Neil Morrison

“I was quite surprised to see Johann Zarco [2017 team-mate] really strong. He didn’t move.

He stayed on the bike very calm. Then he led the race for six laps. Jonas was in complete panic – complete panic, which for me was normal. It was his first race. It was raining. Nobody knew what was going on. Would we race? Would we delay? I just saw the two different guys.

“Then the morning of the [race at the] Sachsenring he told me that he was threw up because he was sick. It was too much stress, we could feel that.” Only an early incident changed the race’s course. “I remember we asked him what had happened,” says Goyon. “[Danilo] Petrucci hit him very strong at the start of the race and that pissed him off – completely. Then he said, ‘I’m f**king going to go crazy!’

Then he started catching the leaders back and did the incredible race he did.” “[But] In the end I think this result came too early. He wasn’t

ready for that. After that, we started to decline a bit.”

And this wasn’t just reserved for his year in the top class. Dynavolt Intact GP’s Patrick Mellauner was Folger’s crew chief in 2011, when the German was competing in 125s, and again in 2016, his final year in Moto2. “[He had] A lot of talent,” says Mellauner. “The problem was the pressure in qualifying. It was not easy because you can see some transformation. He was really under pressure. You could see from his eyes that he was like another person. Many times the day after in warm-up he was able to improve two or three tenths from Saturday afternoon.

And doing so easily, without any problem.”

It’s quite easy to arrive at the conclusion all MotoGP riders are ‘lions’ residing in kangaroo leather. A simple look at the events of the past two weeks would suggest as much.

Take Marc Marquez’s roll, skip and jump through the gravel in qualifying last weekend, a

sequence of blurred, tumbling limbs that showed there was not a moment when his mind rested on anything other than a hasty return to track.

It thus stands out when a rider at this level struggles with some of the anxiety us mere mortals watching from the sidelines would find impossible to overcome at the very beginning.

Folger is surely one of the brightest talents that grand prix scene has seen in recent years, but one that didn’t possess the temperament for the grandest of occasions.

All is not lost, however. At Misano Movistar Yamaha team manager Massimo Meregalli confirmed an agreement for Folger to be the factory’s lead rider in an all-new European test team for next year. Aside from the success of such outfits for other manufacturers, the decision partly came from Valentino Rossi’s insistence – high praise indeed.

motogp BLOG

This appears an agreement that’s beneficial for both parties. Folger has tested Kalex’s Moto2 chassis 2019 and enjoyed the experience.

That he’s been dipping his toe in the water shows he still gets enjoyment from riding. Now he can do so away from the public glare, free of that incessant pressure to perform at the very top. And from there? Who knows.

“For sure he had the talent,” says Goyon. “But all these guys are all lions. They want to fight and to be the strongest. If you are not one of them you will never be at the top.

For sure, testing for Yamaha is not a bad idea. From what I understand he is absolutely not ready to race and he doesn’t want it. So he’s really focussed on testing. It’s a good opportunity for Yamaha. And his natural style fits the bike.”

Let’s hope the experience reminds Jonas of the joys of riding a MotoGP machine. As Viñales said, racing should be his staple, not testing.

EXPERIENCE PURE OFFROAD ADVENTURE -

Please make no attempt to imitate the illustrated riding scenes, always wear protective clothing and observe the applicable provisions of the road traffic regulations!

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Blast off on limitless escapades with the KTM 1090 ADVENTURE R! When the road comes to an end, kick it down a gear and smash whatever terrain the landscape has to offer. From corner-riddled mountain roads to knee-deep beach sand, if you can picture it, this savage will do it!

Photo: M. Chytka

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SBK

nolan portuguese round portimao · september 15-16 · Rnd 10 of 13 Race one winner: Jonathan Rea, Kawasaki Race two winner: Jonathan Rea, Kawasaki

four play Blog by Graeme Brown, Photos by GeeBee Images

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SBK BLOG

What’s wanted?

We got back to proper racing action in the WorldSBK championship at the weekend and the green steamroller picked up where it left off.

Jonathan Rea is now in a position to repeat last year’s championship victory in Magny Cours in two weeks time.

It raised the point again that the championship is becoming predictable and boring with series competition Director Gregorio Lavilla responding to the question from Eurosport’s Charlie Hiscott by more or less saying ‘what can we do?’ More controversially, he was quoted as saying that he felt Jonathan Rea lacked some charisma and that didn’t help things.

It was an interesting thing to say on camera and made for a bit of a debate on Monday with fans, riders and media all chipping in to various feeds on social media.

As is always the case with WorldSBK it gets constantly compared to MotoGP and at the moment the rift between Marquez and Rossi and the associated fall out is as much of a story as the racing, and this years MotoGP has served up some of the best racing we have seen for a long time. Every now and then we have a little ripple of controversy in WorldSBK, like the

spat in Assen last year between JR and Chaz Davies, but it quickly dissipates. The recent rift between him and team mate Sykes, after the crash in Brno, has all the makings of a proper soap opera drama, but there doesn’t seem to be an opportunity to fan the flames. Again it was only Charlie Hiscott who seemed to be willing to ask the pointed questions on camera.

I am sure it didn’t help that we have just been on a 10 week break and the world has forgotten about WorldSBK, but I think possibly what Gregorio is alluding to is that fact that in WorldSBK there is no upfront public rivalry between the riders where more of a story can be generated even when the on track rivalry might not materialize.

Another comparison was made between the two series this weekend in discussing the fortunes of Yamaha.

In Grand Prix racing they haven’t won a race since June last year and there is talk of a crisis in the team with both Rossi and Vinales struggling to make progress against Honda and Ducati.

Contrast that to WorldSBK, and production racing in general, and both the Yamaha R1 and R6 race machines are pretty much amongst the best in their classes.

The R1 is now a proven race winner in WorldSBK and has won the Suzuka 8hr race for the last four years, up against the full factory might of Kawasaki and HRC Honda. In the 600cc Supersport class at world championship level the R6 is utterly dominant this year with four separate Yamaha teams fighting for the title.

I read one comment that Yamaha were doing no better in WorldSBK than they were in MotoGP by finishing second and third to Kawasaki. The results say differently though with both Van Der

By Graeme Brown

Mark and Lowes winning races this season and the Dutchman is now a regular visitor to the podium. The same cannot be said for Yamaha in GP. Of course none of those results in WorldSBK take account of the ‘Rea’ factor.

One thing that struck me at the weekend was that, at a time when Dorna and the FIM are trying to make all things equal on the WorldSBK grid, Kawasaki had a bike on the front row, and took two victories, but also bikes on the back row of the grid. Whilst he was riding with an injury at the weekend, Tom Sykes, has generally not been able to keep pace with the front runners this season following a further change in technical regulations cutting the ZX-10RR’s upper rev limit. If you apply those facts to the Yamaha debate, and take Jonathan Rea out of the equation, Van Der Mark in particular would be a genuine title contender.

On the flip side, Rossi has only recently fallen into third place in the standings behind Dovizioso, so take out the ‘Marquez’ factor and he is a title challenger as well. I guess it all depends what side of the fence you sit on.

A little thing that was good to see at the weekend was the size of the crowd. Now I use the term ‘crowd’ in the loosest sense. Portimao has never been blessed with high attendance since the day it was constructed. It is over two hours from Lisbon and situated in the heart of the Algarve where people come for the sunshine, the seaside and the golf. The local population is fully focused on catering for the tourists so the interest to get bums on seats at a motorcycle race is limited to say the least.

On Sunday I had to go into the public area for a short photoshoot and was surprised to see coach loads of families being unloaded, and long queues for tickets. It was noticeable that there were a lot more people there than in previous years. I heard on Sunday night a figure of 50,000 being suggested and with my tongue firmly in my cheek I might suggest that that is the cumulative total of spectators since WorldSBK first raced at the track in 2008.

However, It was good to hear that the circuit was offering promotions and ticket deals to get people through the door. Despite some public mutterings elsewhere there does seem to be a collective will to keep pushing

WorldSBK forward and I am really happy for that.

Some of the rider shufflings are still up in the air. Some things should be resolved by Magny Cours or Argentina but those riders that I spoke to didn’t seem outwardly too concerned at this point in time. There was also an inkling of what races may be on the calendar for next year so this week I am going to take advantage of a certain website’s facility to offer free cancellation on hotel bookings and get in before the prices go up.

It does sometimes cause confusion when I make the same booking in the same hotel for three consecutive weekends. They often mail me to ask if I have made a mistake but the only mistake I need to avoid is not doing the cancellations once the calendar is finalized.

But let’s get 2018 finished first.

Magny Cours will be a busy weekend with the Stock1000, WorldSSP300 and possibly the WorldSBK titles all being decided. I think there is going to be some great racing and there will always be a full showing of emotions. I too get tired and emotional on a Sunday night, but it’s nothing a beer can’t sort out.

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Take some time to do the things we never had: Honda hike the Africa Words by Roland Brown, Photos by Honda

africa twin adventure sports

Honda hit the mark two years ago with the new-generation Africa Twin. The stylish, 998cc parallel-twin adventure bike updated the fondly remembered Eighties model of the same name in distinctive and classy fashion, and has since been among the firm’s most popular models worldwide.

The Adventure Sports is based on an Africa Twin that is updated this year with ride-bywire throttle control for its sohc, liquid-cooled engine, whose maximum output remains 94bhp. Other updates include wider footrests, stainless steel spokes, self-cancelling indicators and a lighter, lithium-ion battery.

But while Honda’s decision to take on the large-capacity bikes that dominate the adventure bike scene with a lighter, less powerful machine has paid off, the Africa Twin struggled in some areas. Notably, its limited wind protection, fuel range, suspension travel and ground clearance compromised its suitability for long distances and serious off-roading.

The Adventure Sports adds a slightly bigger fairing and taller screen, crashbars around the fairing, and a hefty aluminium bash-plate. A larger fuel tank brings capacity to a generous 24.2 litres, without losing the slimness that contributes to the Twin being one of Honda’s best looking models, enhanced by a Tricolor paint scheme that references the famed XRV650 Africa Twin of three decades ago.

Hence the ‘Africa Twin Adventure Sports’.

With its taller screen, bigger tank, longertravel suspension and crash protection, this follow-up has been created to do what BMW’s GS Adventure models, KTM’s Adventure Rs and Ducati’s Multistrada Enduro have done for their respective brands.

Chassis changes start with new Showa suspension, which gives an extra 20mm of travel at each end and, like the standard model’s, is multi-adjustable. For easier riding when standing up, the handlebar has been moved up and back; the adjustable seat is slightly flatter and taller.

This makes the Adventure Sports trickier to climb aboard but its slimness, and relatively light kerb weight of 243kg, means it’s manoeuvrable and rider-friendly.

The adoption of ride-by-wire hasn’t marred the sweet throttle response. The Honda pulls cleanly from 2000rpm in the lower gears, picks up the pace through the midrange, and rumbles along feeling effortlessly smooth at 85mph, heading on towards a top speed of about 125mph. It won’t absorb the extra weight of a pillion and luggage like more powerful bikes, but it’s fast enough to be fun and provides an ideal excuse to keep the throttle wound open.

There are four riding modes: Tour, softer Urban, off-road Gravel and a programmable User. Swapping modes, via a button on the left bar, adjusts power output, engine braking and traction control. Such is the engine’s gentle nature that you’d rarely require anything other than Tour mode on the road.

A potential source of frustration is the lack of adjustment for the windscreen, which is higher than the standard screen but shorter than the Touring accessory screen. Being very tall, I suffered with turbulence, which was disappointing, as was the continued lack of cruise control.

The Adventure Sports comes with heated grips, although even the highest setting isn’t especially hot. It also has a storage compartment on the right of the seat, apparently inspired by a similar one on the original Africa Twin, but instead of being usefully lockable it is secured by two Allen bolts, so is neither convenient nor secure. A more useful addition is the rear carrier, which extends either side of the pillion seat, forming a broad base on which to strap even a large bag.

africa twin adventure sports

“This second model of the family doesn’t eliminate all the reborn Africa Twin’s drawbacks, and shorter riders will find it a stretch. But its extra wind and crash protection, fuel range and suspension travel are all worthwhile additions...”

africa twin adventure sports

Roadgoing stability is excellent, and the narrow front wheel allows reasonably light steering despite its 21in width. There’s some fork dive when the front brake’s four-pot Nissin radial calipers are used in anger, but the new, multiadjustable forks’ increased damping helps the Honda feel poised.

Off-road the engine’s low-rev grunt, sweet fuelling and reasonably light weight are welcome, as is its new suspension, which soaks up bumps with more composure than the standard Twin’s springs. Honda’s latest Dual Clutch Transmission system is impressive. On dirt roads you can ride the bike like an automatic, occasionally changing down by pressing a button with the left thumb, rather than using a bulky boot on the gear lever.

A conventional clutch’s assistance with slowspeed control is sometimes useful off-road, especially in more technical or slippery ground.

But unless I was planning to ride in such conditions frequently, I’d be tempted to pay the extra for the dual-clutch system. (In the UK the Adventure Sports costs £13,549 with DCT, and £12,599 without, so is roughly £1000 more expensive than the standard Twin.)

This second model of the family doesn’t eliminate all the reborn Africa Twin’s drawbacks, and shorter riders will find it a stretch. But its extra wind and crash protection, fuel range and suspension travel are all worthwhile additions that make Honda’s parallel twin more versatile and confirm its arrival as a serious adventureclass contender.

africa twin adventure sports

back page Jago Geerts at Assen

By Ray Archer

on track off road

‘On-track Off-road’ is a free, bi-weekly publication for the screen focussed on bringing the latest perspectives on events, blogs and some of the very finest photography from the three worlds of the FIM Motocross World Championship, the AMA Motocross and Supercross series’ and MotoGP. ‘On-track Off-road’ will be published online at www.ontrackoffroad.com every other Tuesday. To receive an email notification that a new issue available with a brief description of each edition’s contents simply enter an address in the box provided on the homepage. All email addresses will be kept strictly confidential and only used for purposes connected with OTOR. Adam Wheeler Editor and MXGP/MotoGP correspondent Ray Archer Photographer Steve Matthes AMA MX and SX correspondent Cormac Ryan-Meenan MotoGP Photographer www.cormacgp.com David Emmett MotoGP Blogger Neil Morrison MotoGP Blogger & Feature writer Sienna Wedes MotoGP Blogger Graeme Brown WSB Blogger and Photographer Roland Brown Tester Núria Garcia Cover Design Gabi Álvarez Web developer Hosting FireThumb7 - www.firethumb7.co.uk Thanks to www.mototribu.com PHOTO CREDITS Ray Archer, CormacGP, Honda, GeeBee Images Cover shot: The new MXGP World Champion by Ray Archer

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