On-Track Off-Road issue 192

MotoGP

DOWN UNDER Danilo Petrucci is sent flying after a ferociously fast crash on the second corner of last weekend’s Australian Grand Prix.

Miraculously the Italian was not hurt in the incident. CormacGP’s lens captured the Ducati man in the fractions of a second before he smashed into Fabio Quartararo (who’d had a major ‘moment’ just in front) and both went on to wreck some of the wet Phillip Island turf Photo by CormacGP

MXoN

100,000 DOLLAR MAN Adam Cianciarulo might have missed the final ‘0’ of the Monster Energy Cup bounty but the Kawasaki rider’s victory in Las Vegas and the mind-bending format of the off-season spectacle meant a very assured 450 class debut for the new #9.

The MEC is akin to a Supercross ‘test’ but AC has shown some decent synergy with the KX450F already. Another surprise A1 winner in the works?

Photo by Octopi Media/Monster Energy

WorldSBK

THE FULL FIVE What is there left to say about Jonathan Rea? The WorldSBK record-blaster admitted in Telegraph in April that there was a “massive fire and desire to see myself on top of that podium in Qatar, ten feet tall� after frustrating defeat in the first three rounds of thirteen in 2019. Rea duly boosted his height and overthrew his toughest challenge yet in Alvaro Bautista. 17 wins was a remarkable achievement making his fifth, the finest Photo by GeeBee Images

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TURNED UP

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Blogs by David Emmett, Neil Morrison & Sienna Wedes, Photos by CormacGP

MAC GENERAC AUSTRALIAN MOTORCYCLING GRAND PRIX PHILLIP ISLAND · OCTOBER 25-27 · Rnd 17 of 19 MotoGP WINNER: MARC MARQUEZ, HONDA Moto2 WINNER: BRAD BINDER, KTM Moto3 WINNER: LORENZO DALLA PORTA, HONDA

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A MELTING 99?

After Motegi, Jorge Lorenzo was telling journalists that he had had his best race since fracturing his vertebrae in his huge crash in Assen. “Especially the second part of the race. And we found a solution that made me feel better on the bike,” he said.

He had finished 40 seconds behind the winner, his Repsol Honda teammate Marc Márquez.

A step closer to the target of 30 seconds he had set himself after Silverstone. At Misano, Aragon, and Buriram, he fell well short, 46 seconds at Aragon his best effort.

Motegi had felt like something of a turning point.

That illusion was shattered at Phillip Island. Jorge Lorenzo finished 66 seconds behind the winner, his teammate, and dead last, the Repsol Honda team bookending the results. Was it his worst weekend since returning after Assen? “In terms of the difference to the pole position and in the race, yes,” he said. He gave a long list of reasons for his poor performance.

“This track was bad for me in the last years,” he said, citing lowly results in recent years. “Especially when you are not in good physical condition, and with the wind and the cold, it makes the situation worse.” The cold meant less confidence, the wind meant crouching behind the fairing, head forward to keep weight on the front, which was painful with injured vertebrae.

“I had to force my neck and the part where I am injured. And you have to grip the bike with more force in acceleration because of the wind. So I suffered a lot.”

The scale of Lorenzo’s humiliation becomes apparent when you compare his times to World Superbikes at Phillip Island. In February, Alvaro Bautista won the 22-lap race on the Ducati Panigale V4R in a time of 33:38.114. On a bike with 40 more horsepower, Lorenzo took 23 seconds longer to

complete the same distance.

Lorenzo’s time would have put him seventh in WorldSBK race 2, nearly 6 seconds adrift of Marco Melandri on the GRT Yamaha R1, and 3.5 seconds ahead of Chaz Davies on the second factory Ducati.

Teammates bookending the results had happened a few times previously, mostly after one rider crashed and rejoined the race.

The last time it happened - when both teammates completed the race - was when Marco Melandri partnered Casey Stoner in the factory Ducati team in 2008.

That was truly a disastrous year for Melandri. The Italian had seen what Stoner had done on the factory Ducati the year before and joined him expecting to challenge for the title.

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The shock of finding that it was really Stoner doing the winning on a truly terrible but fast bike shattered Melandri’s self confidence. Twice in 2008 Melandri finished last when Stoner won the race, first at Assen (where he had won his very first Grand Prix as a fifteen year old exactly ten years earlier), then at Phillip Island, 71 seconds behind his teammate.

The Ducati GP8 broke Melandri’s spirit. I remember the shellshocked look on his face in the garage at Jerez during practice.

It was so bad that Ducati tried to send Melandri to a psychologist.

The solution to the Italian’s problems was much simpler: he left Ducati at the end of that season, and joined Kawasaki.

Things are not quite so dark for Jorge Lorenzo. Before he banged himself up at Assen, Lorenzo was finishing somewhere between 15 and 20 seconds behind his teammate, and within 10 seconds of Cal Crutchlow, perhaps a better yardstick. And that was after missing testing in Sepang, and still recovering from a broken scaphoid injured in January.

By David Emmett

There was a sense that 2019 was playing out like Lorenzo’s first year at Ducati. A long period of adaptation with a bunch of small gains, which suddenly exploded into success in his second year.

If HRC could find the right puzzle pieces to put together, Lorenzo would be competitive.

That crumbled with Lorenzo’s injury. How that was handled – mostly by Lorenzo, it has to be said, with a holiday to the Seychelles when he was supposed to be recovering and talks about a return to Ducati becoming public – caused the relationship between HRC and the Spaniard to disintegrate. The atmosphere in his garage is poor, and his relationship with team manager Alberto Puig is strained. Despite their public utterances, Honda are rumoured to be exploring ways of dropping Lorenzo at the end of the season, their biggest obstacles money and finding a replacement.

And yet that still feels like a mistake. Lorenzo is still in pain, and obviously not fit (though training was never his strong point). He was fast early on the Honda, and

once he mastered the Ducati last year, he looked genuinely capable of taking the fight to Márquez.

Like the Ducati GP8, the 2019 Honda is a pig of a bike, incredibly fast but hard to ride. If Honda do as they promise, and make the 2020 RC213V easier to push, a fully fit Lorenzo could replicate what he did at Ducati.

Or he might not. And that is Honda’s – and Lorenzo’s – dilemma in a nutshell.

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THE TOAST OF THE TOWN

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How can one judge a rider’s maturity and big game temperament? To start, the ability to remain composed in the face of adversity stands out. As does sticking to your convictions. Learning from mistakes of the past is a sign of using experience to your advantage. And then there’s the holding of nerve when a big prize comes into sight. All of the above was very much evident in Jack Miller’s Sunday’s performance at Phillip Island...

It was a result and showing that suggested the Australian, now at 24 years of age, is well on his way to fulfilling that deep well of talent that first became clear in his crash-happy days as a Moto3 loon.

Shrugging off an average qualifying performance was just the start. “We weren’t too phased to be ninth on the grid,” he later said. “I’ve been much worse.” He was true to his belief when prerace favourite Maverick Viñales switched from Michelin’s hard rear compound to the soft on the grid. “I was just thinking, ‘They’re pretty keen.’” He held back and conserved his rear tyre for much of the race. And when a podium presented itself on the final lap he

ignored his “heart rate jumping up about 50 beats per second” to hold third place to the flag.

There were so many takeaway moments from yet another Phillip Island classic on Sunday. Not least the sight of Andrea Iannone leading a race aboard Aprilia’s unfancied RS-GP for nine corners.

Or Cal Crutchlow making a heroic podium return at the track that so nearly ended his career a year ago.

Then there was Marc Marquez’s expert dismantling of Viñales that led the latter to conclude he’d rather throw his Yamaha M1 down the road than congratulate his great foe on another victory.

But Miller’s well-judged third place that sparked an impromptu parc fermé pile on from team, family and friends alike wasn’t just special because home fans witnessed a full ‘Shoey’ in the country that thought up the craze. This was further evidence of added maturity and a rider that, to borrow crew chief Cristian Pupulin’s words, is now “using his mind more than his talent.”

There was a moment as Marquez barged Crutchlow off line and out of the way at Lukey Heights to set off after Viñales when attentions turned to further back in the pack.

Where was Miller and why had he been so subdued until then?

By Neil Morrison

At the tail of this nine-bike freight train is where he was. But this was part of a larger strategy. Phillip Island’s layout always places emphasis on rear tyre conservation with turns two, three, six, eleven and twelve requiring bikes to do all of their accelerating on the left side of the tyre. Miller found that out the hard way, leading the start of the 2017 and ’18 races before deteriorating grip sent him out of the podium fight.

This was a race of patience and keeping cool when events around him were anything but – far from easy in the midst of a home race brawl. “At one point Rins jammed me pretty hard at turn two and stood me up,” he later recalled.

“Even then I didn’t get nervous. I just kept being calm.” There was an element of fortune to be in the top three. But like Brno and Aragon, Miller showed his throttlehappy instincts of the past are being smoothed out.

It’s in line with what has been a largely impressive year. Thoughts on whether Miller could make it to the very top weren’t always clear.

A rider doesn’t earn a three-year factory contract with HRC in MotoGP after just three full seasons in Moto3 without having something about him. Nor does he become the premier class’ first satellite winner in just under ten years when no older than 21.

But he was some way from the finished article. Last year – his first with Ducati – was something of a disappointment, even if he spent it on a year old machine. Two top six finishes, including a tough run of results from June to October, fell below the expectations. “I think it’s like when, for many years, you are not used to being at the top,” Pramac team boss Francesco Guidotti told me last September. “[Then] feeling the pressure of being at the top can tire you out.”

Yet a step up to current machinery gave Miller a boost. So much so that he’s been in the running for top sixes everywhere with the exception of Jerez, Assen and Misano. Off the bike he consummately dealt with the mid-season titter linking Jorge Lorenzo to his seat.

And he has begun to develop a working method with eyes on the race, when he weighs up events around him.

The second half of the Aragon race was a case in point. There was a chance to appreciate the tyresaving talents of fellow Ducati man Andrea Dovizioso from up close.

“He was a little tighter in a few corners and getting better at acceleration whereas typical-me I was going in far too fast, running wide and opening maybe a little early.

Once he came past, I understood what I needed to do.” Sunday’s outing saw him put this in practice for the full 27 laps.

“He’s arriving,” crew chief of nearly two seasons Cristian Pupulin believes. “He’s learning new things every race. He’s improving his behaviour during the race. He’s using more his mind more than his talent. That is important. OK, he’s not 100 percent consistent but he’s young and he can improve that last step that he needs to do. “[Last year] was quite different.

He was trusting 100 percent in his talent and not working so much

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in other areas. In MotoGP in these years you have to manage the tyres, to not ruin them in the first laps, the first part of the race to be patient and calm to have something more at the end.”

“I’ve worked with Ruben Xaus, Carlos Checa, Loris Capirossi, Casey Stoner, Nicky Hayden, Marco Melandri, Andrea Dovizioso… so I’ve seen a lot of riders. Jack’s talent is one of the best that I saw. He was lacking the ‘managing’ of the weekend and the race.

But now he’s improving so it’s possible he can reach the top positions if he still continues to improve like this.”

Team boss Guidotti concurs when assessing Miller’s improvement in 2019. “I think it’s a mix of technical status and maturity. He realised he had to make more, more and more, to develop his way of training, his way of thinking. It’s a difficult sport.

The competitors are on the moon. He needs to raise his level [again] in the near future to stay constantly on the podium.”

At 24, Miller still has time on his side.

Should he continue to show the intelligence witnessed on Sunday, those “constant podiums” won’t be long coming round.

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IN THE SHOT

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Phillip Island: a place of beauty, speed and fear. A photographer’s playground perhaps. Taking a photograph is a very personal activity and most of us can-or-have made hundreds in our time. However, it must be said that there is a knack to it when the point of interest is operating at exceptionally high speed.

I’ve tried myself and maybe if I was lucky, I captured the back wheel, a leg or an exhaust. Photography is obviously as skill that is developed over time predominately through dedication, evolution and the willingness to make a hefty investment in an industry where the technology is evolving and that is generally so commonly watered down. Many become good, but few have the chance to crack the market. HRC Repsol Honda Team photographer Cormac Ryan-Meenan (CormacGP) and Rob Gray (Polarity Photo) are among those who conquer these challenges with little protest and have come out swinging with top teams.

It all starts the same: a camera, lens and a receipt that weighs down your pocket. Then, trying to break into a sport that is loved and admired by millions. MotoGP is no different. Walking around the paddock there are so many men and women with cameras draped over their shoulders and photographers like Cormac and Rob have multiple pieces of equipment just to do their job.

From camera bodies, to lenses, to flashes, monopods, travel bags, converters, extenders and rain covers, the list goes on and the cost would blow you away.

However, those who are serious about their path take a gamble on themselves and have the work and contacts to prove it.

Cormac: “No one sees the cost behind it. People think you have a camera, take photos and make money straight away. Which couldn’t be further from the truth. They are so expensive and when I had all my gear stolen last year I had to fund my entire kit, all over again. The window to make money has become narrower. I think if you are in that window, the potential is higher than it’s ever been. It’s super difficult to get into and even harder to stay inside. I think if people knew what you had to do from the time you woke up to the time you get to bed, 80% of people would not want to do it. It’s expensive, time consuming, difficult and tiring, but I do love it.”

By Sienna Wedes

Rob: “The first time I ever really looked at the prices of entry level or half decent equipment, I was really shocked and those prices haven’t come down. If anything, in some cases they have gone up.

You get a lot of people who have managed to afford one or two pieces of the equipment which is expensive but they have resigned to the fact that they are probably not going to make proper money out of it long term. It makes you learn that you have to charge what you are worth and not to undervalue yourself.”

Other media and team members rush over to photographers after a crazy crash, or an artistic picture is published and it’s clear that the demand is there. Naturally, this puts even more pressure on photographers to perform and cater to the expectations (sometimes unrealistic) of teams/ sponsors/magazines. They form one of the pivotal connections between the sport and the fans. It is easy to be flippant and forget that every photo we see across a race weekend is either a spur of luck, a strain of inspiration or a work

necessity. They are trying to keep up with the growing constructs of the modern world just as we are and with the influx of social media being so instantaneous.

Photographers never stop moving and trying to be better than each other.

Cormac: Each time you improve, then people perceive that as your new base level. Next time they expect you to get that magic thing on top of what you have already done. Which ok, sometimes you can do it and sometimes you get lucky. But, then other times I can’t do that. Either it doesn’t exist in the day or no opportunity presents itself.

Rob: Everybody can see everything, it is so accessible. Any team or PR person or outlet can look out there and see what every other team is posting. If there was that one shot of a crash or the sea in the background or whatever just because a certain team got it, they instantly think ‘well, have you got it? Can you get it as well? Why don’t you have it? Back in the day that content

wasn’t accessible. But now, they see it and then they think ‘that’s what we want’. The expectation constantly goes up.

Within this world of immediacy, lies the struggle of finding your authenticity and style and battling against perfectionism. For teams, the ‘perfect photo’ is one that is either action packed or simply reflects the brand. That however, is not how a photographers mind works. Every inch of the photograph is analysed as they zoom in to examine their work. There is a gut feeling. And most of the time they are their worst critics. The addition of posting on social media where every man and his dog can have their say only makes them second guess themselves. It removes the romance of releasing photos that make you feel something and replaces it with anxiety.

These men and women are just brave enough not to listen to all the noise but that doesn’t mean they’ve pressed the delete button more than once.

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Cormac: Yes, all the time I only see what’s wrong with them and not what’s right. I have a folder called ‘instagram’ on my Mac’s desktop and about 2% of those pictures actually make it to my instagram account. I try not to care about what other people do.

I don’t think I’m a perfectionist, I’m learning to embrace what’s technically ‘wrong’ because I see photography as art, a painter has his brush, and me my camera.

Art is subjective and I want to ‘break down’ the walls of what’s perceived as ‘right or wrong’, I don’t think there’s a right or wrong. You just have to keep going.”

Rob: I’m basically a perfectionist. I spend way too much time overthinking and overanalysing the ins and outs of each photo.

Whether I should do this-to-it or that-to-it or if I should post it or which one I should post; sometimes it even stops me from posting at all. Cormac is hard on himself too. There is an unavoidable balance but if you don’t do that then I don’t think you’d change. You don’t grow. Your

vision of a perfect picture never changes because you’ll always just get that sharp photo with a nice background until you find something wrong with it.”

Photographers help bridge the gap between the paddock and the rest of the world. They battle against social constructs, team/ media/sponsor requests and the yearning to improve and be the best in their own minds. Anyone can take a photo but few can take the photo.

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First pick is the Strata (left). FLY call this a ‘4 season’ jacket on account of being able to adapt and customise the layers according to the climate.

It boasts 600 denier poly-fabric resistant material and 1680D ballistic nylon in the high impact areas. The back protection can be upgraded to FLY’s Barricade CE Armor. Use the full complement or strip it down to the base layer (right): the Strata is practical as well as offering reassurance with its certified standards. The price is 259.95 dollars with three colour options.

The Butane Jacket (middle, top, 189.95 dollars) has an advanced poly-fabric main shell for excellent abrasion and tear resistance. Apparently, it has HYDRAguard which means it’s also effectively windproof and waterproof but also breathable. The garment has removable protection in the shoulder and elbows and a spine protector. The form of the jacket helps keep the armour in place.

It has an inner pocket and a removable thermal liner. Waterproof zippers, reflective panels and an internal waist zip to link with FLY Racing pants means this is versatile gear and great value for money. The Women’s Butane Jacket (right) costs 169.95, comes in seven different sizes and four different colour schemes.

FEATURE

THE TURN AROUND LESS THAN A YEAR AGO, ALEX MARQUEZ WAS WRITTEN OFF AS OVER-HYPED AND CRASH-HAPPY. BUT NOW HE’S ON THE BRINK OF A SECOND WORLD TITLE. OTOR CAUGHT UP WITH THE CATALAN TO FIND OUT HOW.

By Neil Morrison, Photos by CormacGP/Polarity Photo

FEATURE

T

welve months is a long time in motorsport.

Anyone in doubt need look no further than Alex Marquez. Once a figure scorned for his freequent crashes and carelessness, the 23-year old is just two races from taking a second world title. And it’s only a matter of when – not if – he secures a spot in MotoGP for 2021.

Where has it all gone so right for the figure once described as having more talent than Marc Marquez by Marc Marquez himself? Those weren’t easy times for Alex through 2016, ’17 and ’18 Moto2 campaigns when he was routinely mocked for falling out of promising positions and failing to outdo his teammates.

Then his elder brother’s words appeared to weigh heavily on his shoulders..

But the younger Marquez has cut a different figure in 2019.

He took an instant liking to Triumph’s new 765cc triple cylinder engine and the internal reshuffle within his Marc VDS team - and appointment of ex-racer Joan Olive as team boss - quelled the internal competition that existed between opposing sides of the box, allowing him to operate with a newfound air of calm.

Crucially the addition of David Garcia (previously Dani Pedrosa’s data technician in

MotoGP) as crew chief for 2019 has helped instill Marquez with the self-belief that seemed to go missing after his championship success in Moto3. Take any one of his five victories this year, and he outclassed the opposition with a blend of sheer speed and careful, measured thinking.

There have been tribulations along the way, including a glaring error at Silverstone and an unexpected midseason swoop from a rival team.

But from that first win of the year at Le Mans to a brilliant fight back in Austria, barely anyone was able to lay a glove on him from May to late August.

On Track Off Road recently sat down with Alex to discuss his season so far, why having the right people around him has been crucial to his recent success and how he’s learned to deal with the expectations that comes with being a Marquez (and even showing he can match his sibling’s exploits for saves with the spectacular images in the race of Motegi).

Are you surprised at how 2019 has gone?

Surprised? No. I think we worked quite well, but the difference in the championship is quite good.

Dunlop introduced a new rear tyre at Jerez. From there you have been capable of podiums everywhere we’ve gone.

Did that make the difference?

In Argentina and Texas the potential was also there! The only thing we missed was the consistency in the race.

Some laps I was losing one second, then later it’s so difficult to recover. When you’re on the limit, it’s easy to make a mistake. I already said after Texas, we are not so far from our limit. So to put everything together, we were not so far.

At Jerez we had the new rear tyre that we worked on quite a lot, more than the other guys in the pre-season. When we got to Jerez we knew how to adapt to it. The team had really clear ideas how to work on the bike in that area because we had a lot more information from preseason. When we arrived there I was really consistent. Also the new front tyre in Qatar, for example, I was the only Kalex using the hard one. So then I put it in Argentina and Texas, but it took a

lot of time to know its limit.

From Jerez, I started to know exactly what that tyre could do so it was also that. Overall, it’s been a combination of the front and rear tyre, the set-up and how we adapted to them with the team.

It seems that you are a lot calmer in races this year. If you have a difficult start, you don’t panic. Do you think mentally you’re more mature?

If you do a really good practice and are P1 and P2 through qualifying, if you have the right people with you, and they give to you that calm for the race to say, ‘If something happens, don’t fall’ then it’s easier. If something happens, like in Barcelona on the first lap, you say, ‘OK, I have the rhythm. If I cannot win, I cannot win. But now I try to make my rhythm and I see where I finish.’ So when you know that you have the pace, you can go to the race with another mentality and just be calm. So this is the big change. In previous years, I was more in trouble in FP1, FP2, FP3. There were more questions for the race.

If I didn’t make a good start, I would lose the front group and then I wouldn’t catch them because the rhythm was so similar. So this year in some races I have a little bit more. Then you have a plan for the race.

ALEX MARQUEZ

The situation is completely different compared to the other years because normally I was the other one, chasing my opponents. I’m feeling confident. At Silverstone I made a mistake. It was my mistake, but the confidence and the level that we’ve shown in every practice is really good.

FEATURE You’ve won five races so far.

Has one given you extra satisfaction?

The Sachsenring! Every year we struggled a lot there in Moto3 and then even more in Moto2. I had a lot of crashes and made a lot of mistakes.

From the start of the season we made a plan of every circuit, of which ones I preferred more. For the Sachsenring I thought we needed to get through it and then we’d see.

But I crashed in Assen [he was hit by Lorenzo Baldassarri], a bad result I came back in Germany. It was a big relief.

There is new management, new people and new way of working in Marc VDS in 2019.

How difficult was it last year with everything going on behind the scenes? And how different is it this year?

It was difficult for sure. You try to not listen to people and say ‘It’s all OK’. It was not really easy to control. Then with the new contract [for 2019] there was a little bit of confusion with that. In the end we controlled it quite well because after Le Mans it was really critical. Last year there was more tension inside the team. This year, the team did a lot of changes inside with Joan [Olive] and a new technique. The group is calmer and everybody is working in the same way. Everybody is only focused on racing, not on business and other things.

Holland because it’s not your mistake. But from our side, we had a test [at Misano after Silverstone] and I crashed in the test, you already build up a little bit the confidence so it’s already forgotten. That’s it.

Also it was a good experience.

I was on the bike and coming from many places that was really good, and I say, ‘okay, I can make what I want with the bike, but I will not crash.’

Good also for that.

When you were still racing in the Spanish Moto3 championship Marc told us, “Alex is a

super talented rider, maybe even more talented than me.”

Looking back, was it difficult to manage these expectations that were put on you?

Yeah, for sure. Also the extra pressure that you have.

It’s easy to control when the results are coming easily.

Like in Moto3 the first year I was already there, then world champion the next year. But bad results came in ’15, ’16, a lot of crashes. In that point it’s difficult to control the pressure. People were trying to compare me with my brother who is one of the most tal-

ALEX MARQUEZ

At Silverstone you made your first mistake of the year. Was it easy to bounce back from that because of your earlier success this season?

I knew it was a good track for us. If there were some problems, I’d still have been in the top five. But then I tried to make the gap to the first group small and go with [Jorge] Navarro, who was the main rival for that race. But I was a little bit nervous. I was only focussed on making the gap, on pushing and not thinking. It’s easier to react after a mistake like in Jerez or

FEATURE

“IT’S NOT EASY TO BE COMPARED WITH MARC; AND NOT JUST ME – FOR ANY RIDER IN THIS PADDOCK. BUT I LEARNED FROM THAT YEAR A LOT TO CONTROL THIS PRESSURE...” ented riders ever. It’s not easy to be compared with Marc; and not just me – for any rider in this paddock. But I learned a lot to control this pressure, to not think about what the people are thinking about you.

Now I know that I made my career in my own way.

You’re staying with Marc VDS for another year in Moto2.

Having the same people around you is a big help, right?

Yeah. It’s what I had in Moto3 because I was with the same people from the Spanish championship. This is what I was missing a little bit last year. I have a really good relationship with Joan and he pushed me in the test. He knows me and he knows how he needs to say things. To say ‘push now’, or ‘clutch a little bit’, ‘you are a little bit over the limit’. So I have this confidence also to speak directly to him. And also with David

[Garcia], my crew chief, I didn’t know him before but from the first day when I sat with him at a table, I saw that he was a guy with a lot of experience in MotoGP. I remember the first meeting he asked me: “Do you

There was a lot of speculation mid-season about your future.

Was that something that was quite close? Looking at other teams, the view of MotoGP, what was the situation there?

There was some contact because Petronas was looking for a rider to fight for the championship. The rumours of having a contract with Yamaha in MotoGP, they were only rumors. I was only watching

some contacts [between the team and me]. But from the first moment I was really clear with everybody that my objective was to continue with Marc VDS. They did all these changes inside the team to give me the confidence. They gave me the opportunity to come to Moto2 in 2015. I feel so appreciated inside this team. We are like a family. So it was not correct that now everything is nice to go to another team. In bad days and good days you need to stick together.

ALEX MARQUEZ

want to win?” I said, “Me? Of course. You?” He said, “Yeah, of course. If I came to work with you, it’s to win. Not to improve. It’s because I want to win and I want to make a career with you.” He was working in MotoGP before so Moto2 was a risk for him. [He thought] ‘this rider, I need to find the confidence in him to do then go to MotoGP again.’

It’s the dream of the technicians, of the riders. So this confidence that I have with the people is the main thing.

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FEATURE

Chop it up

By Adam Wheeler

Photos by Ray Archer

SHOULD MXGP CHANGE? THE CASE FOR A SHAKE-UP AS 2020 APPROACHES… AND THE THOUGHTS OF GRAND PRIX RIDERS

FEATURE

F

rom what feels like the dawn of time motocross has been a two-moto affair but is one of the very few motorsports to accumulate those races for an overall winner. The two outings harness some of the essence of the sport: endurance, adaptation, strength, fortitude and a capable motorcycle. The action is often as rewarding for the spectator as it is for the racer: full-bore competition and all the possibilities and stories that a double dose of laps and luck can entail.

But is motocross and that age-old structure stubbornly resisting evolution as the second decade of the century approaches?

Traditional models for coverage, TV broadcasts, sponsorship and the revenues that help racing series’ existence are going through change.

There is little escaping the facts or the feeling that motorsport is trickier or more expensive than ever, that sporting events are harder to stage due to dwindling crowds, that the fans themselves have much more in the way of distraction and digital immersion compared to even ten years ago.

Should motocross twist also?

Should it explore ways to entice and find the next one or two generations that might help it to prosper or even survive? Are the kids (and their parents) that can and want to ride and who can fuel the next ten-twenty-thirty years of motocross participa-

ful figures that float around MXGP (and motocross is not the only sport, by a long shot, to accentuate its marketable worth) it still seems in decent enough health. Walking around most paddocks it’s possible to see hundreds of For the sake of nostalgia and a spellbound kids and for every forty-something that still aplukewarm attendance like preciates the papery-feel of a Imola there are strong ones magazine, the cover design of in France or Holland. But the a CD, remembers when politics importance of watching and was not 95% lies, loved the even interacting with a sport smell of two-stroke, there is now via a screen cannot be a lot to be said for resistance ignored. Quality TV and digital to change. For all the fanciconveyance of something like MXGP has become essential for the sponsors that are involved, the ones that could arrive and the potential catchment of new and future fans.

“TRADITIONAL MODELS FOR COVERAGE, TV BROADCASTS, SPONSORSHIP AND THE REVENUES THAT HELP RACING SERIES’ EXISTENCE ARE GOING THROUGH CHANGE...

SHOULD MOTOCROSS TWIST ALSO?” Like it or not MXGP, in particular, has been referenced alongside sports like F1 and MotoGP for the way that the series is trying to expand to a global audience, the level of presentation and professionalism, in using officially approved teams and becoming more elitist through the increase of races and geography.

Depending on your viewpoint that is either a detachment from the roots and ethos of motocross or it is a simple case of moving with the times.

Motocross might seem quite archaic in its simplicity but let’s not forget that the FIM World Championship has been partial to experimentation. The one moto format was used from 2001-2003 as all three 125, 250 and 500 classes were brought together in a single calendar. Partly through necessity and partly through prioritisation for TV, contemporary promoters and Youthstream predecessors, Dorna, sliced the race programme. It was a strategy that was ahead of its time: motocross certainly wasn’t ready for it in terms of acceptance from the paddock. Combined with an erratic and decreasing calendar (2003 saw only 12 rounds – 12 starts compared to the 60 riders will face in 2020! - and included Stefan Everts’ successful attempt to win all three classes at the French GP at Ernee) meant a low point of interest and a high level of concern. Riders complained bitterly of the format at the time, the way Grands Prix were disappearing and of things like the farcical 2002 Motocross of Nations. Youthstream entered the scene and restored those values and some of the old venues but the riders’ ire

CHANGING MXGP & ONE MOTO

tion and fandom fully onboard with the relentlessness of an AMA SX/MX schedule and the – admittedly - drawn out fourmoto-four-hour commitment that MXGP requires through a screen?

FEATURE would rise considerably again when the first big cultural bend took place and prizemoney began to evaporate: it was the death knell for the old concept of the privateer.

By the beginning of the next decade Youthstream were looking at the idea of a ‘Superfinal’ and combining both MXGP and MX2 classes for the second moto. The scheme was promising on paper but had two significant flaws: it made the action even more convoluted (MXoN style) for the viewer and created consternation over safety and the mix of machinery around a fast course like Losail in Qatar.

As thoughts move to 2020 the question is whether MXGP should contemplate another variation or even revolution.

Standing back from motocross and there are many other disciplines that are wriggling. MotoGP has a flawless premise (two tiered and short qualification sessions and one race per category) but has endured a myriad of technical and sporting rule alterations in the search for parity. Supercross has used the Monster Energy Cup to trial format novelties and has employed a Triple Crown race arrangement the last two years, Enduro has splintered into two series and dallied heavily with the Indoor Extreme show,

while something like BSB has also embraced an Americanstyle ‘Showdown’ finale.

MXGP can hold up a metal mesh start gate, a qualification ‘heat’ (for ten years now) and a goggle lane as the only significant amendments, as well as throwing all manner of support class into the pot to laden the weekend.

Change for change’s sake is an accusation that could be thrown at WorldSBK. Never mind the mind-boggling technical rules of race prototypes and RPM limits, the production-based series has weaved from its two race format (something that worked by treating each dash as a sepa-

“The target became making sure that televisions were switched on and fans were watching,” explains journalist, photographer and commentator Steve English. “Adding a race to the Saturday schedule in 2016 was the first step.

This was motivated by a goal to give fans more action on “qualifying day.” For this year the Superpole race was added to Sunday’s schedule. The tenlap shootout race has been well received by riders.”

“It has been a few years now since they changed the two race format on a Sunday and

introduced the Saturday race,” says GeeBee Images and OTOR’s Graeme Brown. “This was primarily to secure a live TV slot with MediaSet but many people felt that it diluted the essence of WorldSBK.” “In a fan survey last year it was shown there was still an appetite for two races on a Sunday and so a 10 lap Superpole race was introduced to the Sunday programme,” the Scot adds. “It certainly gives the fans more action on a Sunday and seems to have been well received but the Saturday race remains.”

“Overall the new schedule in WorldSBK isn’t perfect but we get an extra race and an extra

opportunity to see them battle it out on track,” says English.

“Some paddock insiders have called for the Superpole race to be held on Saturday and used to set the grid for two grids on Sunday. Some have called for it to be scrapped.

Some have said they love the changes. Having taken family members to Donington Park over the last two rounds I asked them for their thoughts and they’re verdict was clear; having more action on track throughout the weekend was only a good thing.”

More track time has an obvious benefit at the circuit but this still hasn’t helped inflate WorldSBK crowd figures (and their live Paddock Show/Podi-

CHANGING MXGP & ONE MOTO

rate entity) to two-over-twodays, a reversed grid and now three races.

FEATURE

um set-up is brilliant and very accessible). For the screen it makes even more sense; a WorldSBK TV/internet fan or viewer has the luxury of dipping into any race, without worrying about other results and the appearances of a final different podium order as found in MXGP. There is the danger of damaging the image and identity of a series with too much meddling. Is MXGP too niche to withstand a hefty makeover?

There is also the issue of practicality with the current amount of track time or even an increase: twenty Grands Prix means a lot of gate-drops and more propensity for injury and therefore weakening the entry list.

Why not ask the stars themselves? Even though the hypothetical nature of the question means it is a little unfair, we still put a few of the present MXGP riders ‘on the spot’ to gauge reaction to a one moto Grand Prix, or a two moto format but with the second racer longer and more distinguished for the final result…

REACTIONS Jorge Prado, Red Bull KTM: I raced my whole life doing two motos. So, it would be a very different system…for training as well.

Jeremy Seewer, Monster Energy Yamaha: It would be a big game changer.

Tony Cairoli, Red Bull KTM: My view is still the same as it was a few years ago: one moto on Sunday would be the best, as it is for all the other main motorsports. The fans that have been following motocross for fifty years will not agree but if we want to step things up and make them a bit better we need to introduce new people and fans, otherwise the sport will go down. I think people get bored with the format.

Shaun Simpson, SS24 KTM MXGP: The one moto thing scares me a little bit because it is all down to that one chance…but that’s the case for many other motorsports. I do think it would generate more interest in motocross if it was just one moto. It might not be good for the riders but for the sponsors

and brands it would be a good way to go. Even for a massive motocross fan like myself it’s a big ask to sit down for two or four motos on a Sunday.

I think it’s hard for people to grasp now what’s going on with the sport and things like why there is a ‘virtual GP winner’ in the second moto.

Ben Watson, Monster Energy Yamaha MX2: To try and make it a little bit more pristine or special, a ‘one race or nothing’ would really emphasise consistency by the end of the championship. [But] If it went that way then my first reaction is that a one race format should mean a one day format.

Adam Sterry, MXGP: My opinion is split. From an injury point of view there are too many races and the level of risk increases. I’ve never really thought about a one moto format but figured it might be cool to do three-four shorter races at one round. With the way they prep the tracks now then at the end of the moto nothing really happens, so one moto could be boring on that front. Maybe three 15 minutes or 20 minutes + 2 laps would be more exciting.

CHANGING MXGP & ONE MOTO

FEATURE

Jorge Prado, Red Bull KTM: If you did one moto then the tracks would be flatter as well.

Jeremy Seewer, Monster Energy Yamaha MXGP: For twenty GPs I think one moto would be an option because we are at the stage where it starts to get heavy for everybody. A one moto format could help but I think it will also not make such a big difference because we are already shipping bikes and travelling thousands of kilometres just for one race. It is tough if you have a bad one, but then you can liken that to F1 or MotoGP. Romain Febvre, Monster Energy Kawasaki: I really don’t know. It would be the half of what we race now and I think this is a bit too extreme: forty motos to twenty.

If you make a mistake then…?

I lost almost five GPs in 2019 because of injury but could still push up to nearly fifth in the championship.

Jorge Prado, Red Bull KTM: Maybe it would be easier to get it on TV but I like the two moto system: it’s motocross.

MotoGP, F1 and Supercross have one, motocross has two and that’s the identity. It’s what makes it special. You need to be consistent twice.

Glenn Coldenhoff, Standing Construct KTM: It would work for TV but for the sport itself and for us as riders I think we should stick to two motos. I feel it brings more for the fans to have two motos.

We already have a qualification heat so maybe skip that.

Shaun Simpson, SS24 KTM MXGP: A GP is won by being consistent over two motos and being able to redeem yourself if you’ve had a bad race.

Jeremy Seewer, Monster Energy Yamaha MXGP: Logically, as a rider, one moto brings more pressure. But there is also pressure with two motos: a bad moto is still a bad moto but there is also that small chance of being able to save something. It also rewards the guys who are consistent.

Gautier Paulin, Monster Energy Yamaha MXGP: It is a big challenge because you are breaking tradition. It is something that we’ve spoken about quite a lot and I think I would be open to it. As a rider it is cool to have two motos and as a fan also: to see more starts. But to be more popular it would be good to go to one moto because you would increase interest as well as immediate understanding of the race.

Glenn Coldenhoff, Standing Construct KTM: If you mess up the start then you cannot do anything more that day. With two motos it is always more exciting.

Jeremy Seewer, Monster Energy Yamaha MXGP: It would be a big change. I don’t know what the spectator wants to see; maybe it increases the spectacle because it is only one race and everything is decided in one hit or maybe they want to see more than two! It’s tricky to say.

Calvin Vlaanderen, MXGP: I don’t know how one race could work. We had it a few years ago in the Europeans and personally I don’t like it.

Adam Sterry, MXGP: For watching MXGP on TV then one moto makes sense, but it might not be so exciting for people at the event. It could depend on the track; if you have a place like Imola then nothing will really change but a track like Lommel where there are so many options for passing then one moto could

be good. If one of the top boys gets a bad start then they can come back.

Calvin Vlaanderen, MXGP: We go to a new track every weekend and it doesn’t get boring. But I’d still like to see a one-day schedule and maybe it would be cool or interesting to try three shorter motos at some events.

Gautier Paulin, Monster Energy Yamaha MXGP: Forty riders behind the gate might not be the way to go any more. If we are twentyfive to thirty then this is fine for me. The level of the sport is getting higher and it feels like we are getting faster and only the best can keep their place. There are twenty GP winners in the class: it is cool to see that talent and people are not getting lapped after three laps.

Adam Sterry, MXGP: If it is something that might help the sport be better or bigger then I’d be up for it.

It would be nice to actually see a change. I like the Monster Cup format where they have short, intense races and where somebody else can win if they make the right start.

One moto would be something to think about.

CHANGING MXGP & ONE MOTO

Thomas Kjer Olsen, Rockstar Energy Husqvarna: I had one moto in the Europeans [EMX European Championship] for one year and, for me, it wasn’t really the nicest thing for motocross. I grew up with two motos so it would be hard to make the change.

FEATURE

WATSON: “IF SATURDAY WAS PRESS DAY & WITH LONG ‘OPEN’ SESSIONS TO DO LAPS, WORK ON YOUR SET-UP AND GET READY FOR SUNDAY – WHICH WOULD BE A QUICK FREE PRACTICE, A QUALIFICATION RACE AND THEN THE MOTO - THAT CAN WORK.”

COPING WITH ONE, LONG RACE Jorge Prado, Red Bull KTM: Forty minutes? It’s too long, even for spectators. I mean, thirty plus two when I am watching it on TV is too long, it’s boring. The Qualifying Heat is too short and the current moto length is really on the limit of being boring. But then if the races are too short then a bad start and one small mistake can throw it away.

Calvin Vlaanderen, MXGP: It would have to be longer than 30+2.

Shaun Simpson, SS24 KTM MXGP: The length of a longer moto does not phase me one bit. We used to do 35 plus two.

Gautier Paulin, Monster Energy Yamaha: To go to 40+2 we’d need am enduro fuel tank! We already struggle to finish a thirty minute moto in Lommel. When I started my Pro career the motos were 35+2 and we already had to fit a bigger tank then.

A NEW SCHEDULE Shaun Simpson, SS24 KTM MXGP: If you just sit down for one race – 40+2, winner, podium, interview, job done – then this could be an easier way to sell the sport but it’s a massive effort to go anywhere for just forty-five minutes of race-time. I think a Grand Prix could drop down to one day then with practice, qualification and race and have all the European support races on the Saturday.

Ben Watson, Monster Energy Yamaha MX2: At the moment with twenty races and three sessions per day it is a bit too much. Add the pre-season Internationals – which we use as preparation – and a handful of national races that can be obligatory for some teams and riders then it feels like a lot.

Romain Febvre, Monster Energy Kawasaki: I’m not scared of a longer calendar because when I started in GPs it was already sixteen/ seventeen rounds. We race the GPs but we also do preseason races which we like and we need. I also do the Dutch Championship between GPs because I like to keep the race rhythm. So 20 rounds is not bad for me.

Thomas Kjer Olsen, Rockstar Energy Husqvarna: It would be more obvious to skip the qualification moto instead. That would help us out a little bit. I wouldn’t be a big fan of the single moto deal.

Jeremy Seewer, Monster Energy Yamaha MXGP: What makes MXGP so tough, in my opinion, is all the travelling but also that event schedule from Friday evening to Sunday evening. We’ll have events and signing sessions and have to sit around a bit before the qualification race – which takes a lot of energy – before we finally go racing on Sunday.

Ben Watson, Monster Energy Yamaha MX2: If you are flying to Argentina or China for just one day then it feels like a long way for not much. If Saturday was press day and with long ‘open’ sessions in order to do some laps, work on your set-up and get ready for Sunday – which would be a quick Free Practice, a Qualification race and then the moto then I feel like that can work. I quite like that strategy and structure.

Calvin Vlaanderen, MXGP: One moto would pull us into the same as other motorsports but I feel it would be better to have a one day event. The whole weekend is drawn-out and it’s a long calendar for everyone.

CHANGING MXGP & ONE MOTO

Gautier Paulin, Monster Energy Yamaha MXGP: I would really need to think about it but it might be a solution to go like MotoGP or F1: people will look at a race on the TV and know who is the winner.

I think we would make the sport a bit clearer.

FEATURE

TALKING BLUEPRINTS The maxim ‘if it’s not broke, then don’t fix it’ underlies some of the rumination on these pages but while there might be little call or need to unearth the foundations of a sport that doesn’t mean you should neglect analysis or the possibility of experimentation. Even if Adam Sterry’s thoughts about trying a three moto programme glides away from the premise of trying to make the sport more obvious or digestible to new fans it does indicate that there is some appetite for change.

In short, what would we do?

Youthstream have already stated that they have no desire to alter the weekend structure or tradition for a Grand Prix, so MXGP is unlikely to change from being a two-day affair, especially when a 48 hour window for an event allows clubs, circuits and organisers more opportunity to increase revenue for the initial outlay in establishing a Grand Prix infrastructure (think fencing, facilities, staffing, maintenance).

But that doesn’t mean the format of a Grand Prix has to remain rigid.

Taking a less radical route then how about maintaining two motos with new emphasis?

The first is a shorter dash for world championship points for the first ten positions: 10-1. This gives spectators at the circuit another fill of action, and Grand Prix riders a valid reason to compete while keeping one eye on lines and set-up for the crucial second moto. The second showpiece event can last 35 minutes plus 2, run the current points scheme down to 20th position and provide the framework for a much easier and sellable TV package.

What about the standings?

The table will make sense to the indoctrinated MXGP fan and the first moto will end up providing another narrative stream as the season moves on; single digit points will become more valuable and essential. Youthstream could still give full online broadcast importance and coverage to that first race but in terms of the ‘Grand Prix’ then the prestige and the bigger championship haul goes down to that second ‘single’ moto. A renaming might help make it clearer. The first outing could be something a rudimentary as the MXGP Sprint Race and the second as MXGP Grand Prix Race. The results, TV pictures and press conference

would all focus on the podium of the Grand Prix race. The implications of the Sprint race would only come into play when confirmation of the title is on the line.

A far simpler alternative would be to adopt the WorldSBK model and have two races, two winners. Perhaps give the second moto more prominence or credence for broadcast? Points should also only be awarded to 15th (or maybe even 12th!) position to heighten their value.

As seen by comments from the riders then placing more relevance on one race will require a cultural shift, a real change in thinking. Ben Watson’s remark that ‘if you are flying to Argentina, China or Indonesia for just one day then it feels like a long way for not much’ is a good example.

It would be a long distance for one key moto, but that’s the Grand Prix; and riders would be duty-bound to prepare as well as they can for that crucial moment as much as any other. The fear of not having a second chance to amend for a mistake should not be a barrier in performance for elite level motorsport athletes.

Youthstream CEO David Luongo was kind enough to respond to an enquiry for the company’s viewpoint on any potential MXGP shapeshift.

The firm, recently acquired by the Swiss entity Infront, have faced their critics in a fifteen-year stewardship of the FIM World Championship but they are fully aware of the delicacy of taking Grand Prix into the leftfield. “We are always open to evaluate some changes that could help to develop and help MXGP to grow,” he said. “In the past, promoters already tried these kind of changes and the result was very negative. MXGP is very successful right now and the format of today is very good. The classical format fits perfectly to motorsport fans with the two days of racing and the two races on Sunday. Motocross is also an endurance sport and one single race would change completely the roots of our sport. We would take a too big risk to lose the historic fans to maybe seduce some news ones.”

CHANGING MXGP & ONE MOTO XXXXXXXX XXXXXXXX XXXXXX XXXXX

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answer racing Look no further than the Elite Korza for one of Answer Racing’s most popular gear sets. The product has the stamp of approval from Red Bull KTM with Jorge Prado racing to his second MX2 FIM World Championship using the performance and reliability of Elite and teammate Tony Cairoli also comfortable enough in the gear to win four of the first five rounds of 2019 MXGP. The Elite jersey (55 dollars) features premium moisture-wicking fabrics, lightweight self-bonded cuff opening with perforated stretch dart, fade-free sublimated graphics, a composite collar, lycra cuffs and an extra long tail. The pants (160) are constructed from high-strength nylon and polyester, neoprene backed leather knee panels, a silicone gripper waist band, a lower leg mesh (for unobstructed air flow), an adjustable internal waist fitting system, stretch fabric panels, sublimated graphics and pre-shaped knees. Fill the head-to-toe look with the AR3 Korza glove (35 dollars) that has a suede cinco synthetic leather palm, multiple stretch materials, silicone ‘grippers’ on index and middle fingers and an extra layer across the thumb. Riders looking for even more performance can check out the Answer Trinity collection while the new Akron is also worthy of a glance.

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6

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troy lee designs A recent trip to the MIPS facility in Sweden only emphasised the need for any 20192020 crash helmet to have the means of addressing rotational acceleration. If your current lid has no method of helping to fight the potential lethal effects of this impact (basically any crash where your head will not receive a direct, flat impact) then consign it to recycling. Troy Lee Designs have been an avid supporter and flagbearer for MIPS and with this safety element integrated into their products have been able to concentrate on refining an extremely practical, appealing (naturally for TLD) and effective crash helmet. The SE4 comes in three different shell constructions - carbon, composite and polyacrylite – each with three different sizes.

The carbon weighs only 1325g and has a massive 20 intake ports with 6 exhausts to ensure a premium cooling sensation. Expanded Propylene is the base material of the chin bar to ensure tough durability, the 3D contoured cheek pads feature an emergency release system and snap-in washable comfort liner with CoolMax and Dri-lex fabric. Plastic screws ensure that the peak will break away easily. The SE4 carbon also comes with the spare peak and helmet bag. The polyacrylite is a good option for a smaller budget with a few less intake ports, different fabric interiors and is slightly heavier at a still-reasonable 1500 grams.

Crucially, it still has the MIPS technology.

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husqvarna We’ve shown some of the new stylish street riding garments and casualwear produced by Husqvarna in the last few issues but the brand also have a compliment of practical off-road gear, and in keeping with the rest of the growing portfolio (in allying with an expect apparel partner) Husqvarna have paired with French apparel brand Shot for the Factory Replica selection. The blend of colours and logos ensure a look that will dovetail perfectly with the current Rockstar Energy Husqvarna MX2 Grand Prix team.

The products themselves are made of the typically durable, stretchy and lightweight material and construction you’d expect from modern-day motocross riding wares. The jersey weighs nextto-nothing, is ventilated and boasts material with moisture wicking properties. A suitable amount of engineering has gone into the pant that Husqvarna describe as ‘ensuring high levels of breathability, flexibility and protection.

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FINAL REAS Blog by Graeme Brown, Photos by GeeBee Images

LOSAIL · OCTOBER 25-26 · Rnd 13 of 13 Superpole Race winner: Jonathan Rea, Kawasaki Race one winner: Jonathan Rea, Kawasaki Race two winner: Jonathan Rea, Kawasaki

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SBK BLOG

END OF A SEASON EPIC

More than Europe’s largest MC store

The last acts of the 2019 FIM Superbike World Championship have been played out in the desert heat of Qatar. The focus now turns to 2020 where the jigsaw puzzle is almost complete. Whilst most of the rumours and conjecture over the ‘bums on seats’ part of the equation have been resolved a final piece still has to be put in place.

As we move into November WorldSBK finds itself in the now familiar position of being the last major motorsport championship to publish a schedule of any form for the coming year. It’s something I have become familiar with, but something no less frustrating. On a personal note I have been asked by more than one client to prepare a budget for 2020. Teams and manufacturers are trying to set their own budgets for next year and it is impossible to do so without knowing how many races the series will have, and in what countries they will take place.

What would seem to be the case is that WorldSBK is falling out of favour with venues as they themselves fight for bottom line. It is all but confirmed that the championship will not return to Buriram in

Thailand, now that MotoGP has secured the early season slot on the calendar and news from the US suggests that the race at Laguna Seca is becoming less likely by the week.

Those comments received sharp criticism from the top brass at Dorna’s HQ but maybe they themselves have a conundrum to solve and the split interests across MotoGP and WorldSBK is not helpful.

Whilst WorldSBK plans to retain a 13 round calendar both MotoGP and Formula 1 are increasing the number of dates each year. F1 will have a ridiculous 22 races in 2020 year whilst MotoGP has increased to 20. It’s laudable that both these series have venues that are desperate to host an event, but I can’t help thinking that it is to the detriment of other forms of motorsport. In relation to WorldSBK and MotoGP the situation over Buriram does nothing to allay the fears expressed previously by FIM President Jorge Viegas that to have Dorna representing both series is unhealthy.

The issue I guess, like everything in the modern world, comes down to money. In an article in Indonesia by Tempo.Co, the Governer Anies Baswedan outlined the costs to the government to host a race in Jakarta: Formula 1 would be $29.4million USD and MotoGP would be $7-9million. There was no mention, and I have no knowledge, of the costs for WorldSBK, but if we use the same ratio (F1 to MotoGP) and assume that it’s a third of the value then the cost of hosting a WorldSBK event would be around $2-3 million USD. If you are Dorna and you have a choice

By Graeme Brown

between placing a MotoGP event or a WorldSBK event at a venue which would you go for?

That said I had previously heard a story suggesting the smaller size of the paddock, and associated staff within the organization, meant that the profit levels for Dorna of staging a WorldSBK and a MotoGP event were pretty much the same, especially those in territories where everything has to be airfreighted. I will, however, state again, I have no direct knowledge of the costs involved and with many of these things we are left to forming our opinions on hearsay.

Something I touched on in my last grumblings The point is that most of these costs are met by local, regional and sometimes central governments.

They make the calculation based on the revenue generated in the local economy by the hundreds of staff and thousands of fans who will visit the location over the course of a race weekend and spend their money in the hotels, bars and restaurants of the surrounding towns. I have written previously about the hotels and businesses in Alcañiz that survive solely on the basis of the events

that take place at Motorland Aragon throughout the year.

With both F1 and MotoGP calendars expanding there is only so much of the state funded pie to go around.

If MotoGP had only 17 or 18 rounds on the calendar there would be venues that had been left out and may be keener to host races like WorldSBK. However, it would seem that if a track applies to have Formula 1 or MotoGP, and if the cheque book is big enough, then they’re in.

That could be leaving other championships like WorldSBK scraping around.

From what I know at this stage, based on some rumour and gossip, the 2020 WorldSBK calendar will look more or less the same as this year, without Buriram for sure and possibly without Laguna. Oschersleben in Germany looks a fair bet to fill a space in the summer, probably early August, and if Laguna Seca does fall from the calendar I have heard that Circuit de Catalunya would be offered as a replacement but that in itself may bring forward a series of date changes.

Losail could actually become the first round of the series in early February and Catalunya would be the final round. Having the season finish in Qatar in front of minimal crowds is not ideal. It’s also a place where many like me want to leave as soon as they can. Jamie Morris and I finished up working at 3am and drove straight to the airport to fly home.

As did Aruba Ducati, HRC and a fair few of the teams in the paddock it would appear. Having the last race in Europe would mean a bigger crowd at the race and also the possibility of a prize-giving ceremony where all the teams, mechanics, support staff and everyone involved could attend and enjoy.

On the rider front, announcements are coming thick and fast. In the last few weeks a number of team and rider rosters have become clear, with only a few loose ends to tie up.

The main switch in the paddock was confirmed last time out in Argentina with Alex Lowes taking up the seat vacated by Leon Haslam in KRT. This is a great opportunity for the 2013 British Superbike Champion and it may be a pivotal move in the 2020 WorldSBK campaign.

SBK BLOG

I still can’t help thinking that Kenan Sofuoglu has been premature in steering his charge, Toprak Razgatlioglu away from Kawasaki.

I understand his reasons, and I am sure Yamaha are absolutely delighted, but in recent races Razgatlioglu has shown to be a committed and bona fide challenger to Jonathan Rea. Guided by his crew chief Phil Marron, Toprak has finally got to grips with the Kawasaki ZX-10RR and had he stayed with Puccetti Racing I would have put him down as one of the favourites for next year. Now he will move to Yamaha and will need to find his feet somewhat in a new team and on a new bike and all that that comes with.

Over at Yamaha both men have scored wins and podiums but haven’t been consistent enough to challenge for the prize. It will remain to be seen if the young Turk can offer that little extra consistency on the 2020 YZF-R1.

Lowes has steadily improved since he arrived in WorldSBK for his rookie season in 2014. He made an instant impact on the Crescent

Suzuki by scoring a podium in only his third event in Assen. However, visits to the rostrum have been less frequent over the years and it wasn’t until Brno 2018 that he broke his duck and took his first WorldSBK win. This year he has improved again and has been rewarded with third in the Championship. The current situation reminds somewhat of Jonathan Rea from his rookie year with Kawasaki in 2015. He was showing great potential and winning races on a Honda that was clearly at a disadvantage to the rivals. Likewise Lowes with the GSX-R1000 was no match in terms of development and factory support to the Kawasaki, Aprilia or Ducati. That he scored two podiums in his first WorldSBK season was admirable.

He has been a key component in the development of the Yamaha YZF-R1 race machine and he, like the bike, has progressed each year since. As with Rea in 2015, a move to Kawasaki could be the Cinderella moment for Lowes that finds him on a machine where it all falls into place and he becomes a regular in winner’s circle in 2020.

It was great to see Scott Redding win BSB the other weekend. From the point of giving up a year ago to clinching the title and a move to WorldSBK; it’s a clear vindication of his talent. I am sure he will take a little time to adapt to the factory Aruba Ducati, with the different electronics etc, but that is what testing is for and having hurled the kitchen sink at the championship this year and falling short, I expect to see the fridge, the oven and the microwave coming as well this year from Borgo Panigale. I read on the WorldSBK website that for Ducati they considered Year One of the Panigale V4R project as having exceeded expectations but for 2020 winning the title is no longer an ambition but a requirement.

A requirement for who? Ducati?

The riders? Dorna? That’s a pretty bold statement to make and with a new Yamaha and Honda on the grid alongside those all conquering Kawasaki’s it is not something that can be taken for granted in any way. I am sure the Ducati management and the team have their own ambitions for the year but I can’t imagine they will stick their heads that far above the parapet.

Yamaha appear to have a desire to be the most visibly dominant manufacturer in the paddock.

There will be no less than six officially supported riders on the WorldSBK grid in 2020: VD Mark and Razgatlioglu in the ‘factory’ team; MotoAmerica star Garrett Gerloff will be joined by WorldSSP runner-up Federico Caricasulo, as announced last week for the re-branded GRT Yamaha Junior WorldSBK team; and Loriz Baz will have a yet to be announced teammate at Ten Kate.

On top of that there is to be a shake-up in their WorldSSP line up, six, possibly seven, bLU cRU riders in the WorldSSP300 championship, and a whole new European series for riders aged 12 to 15, all riding identically spec’d YZF-R3s. There really will be a strong hint of blue in the paddock next year.

In the coming week or so it is widely expected that Xavi Fores will be announced as the replacement for Razgatlioglu at Puccetti Kawasaki and Leon Haslam is very close to signing a deal for next

season, with the strong money suggesting a seat alongside Bautista in the HRC squad. The chat at the weekend in Doha was that Honda would themselves have five bikes on the grid, with an all Japan squad run by Moriwaki and Kiyonari and Takahashi as the riders, alongside a privately-run Althea bike as we have had this year.

The new Fireblade has finally broken cover in Japan with a video and images being released of a test mule being ridden by Stefan Bradl. It is expected to be presented in its final form at the EICMA show in just over a week’s time and we will then get an idea if there is potential to turn it into a thoroughbred.

WorldSBK in 2020 is certainly shaping up to be the most intriguing season for some time but the main focus for everyone has to be how to stop the winning machine that is Jonathan Rea on a Kawasaki.

JR put an emphatic full stop on the 2019 season with a triple win in Losail at the weekend.

It was not a situation any of us saw back in June and huge credit has to be given to the Northern Irishman and the Kawasaki team for turning it around.

With the other manufacturers now upping the game with new machines and changes in the rider line ups I do get a distinct impression of a feeling that Kawasaki have had their own way for too long. Many armchair scribes, and journalists as well, still say that JR and Kawasaki winning is terrible for WorldSBK. If that has provoked HRC, Yamaha, Ducati et al to take the fight to them good and proper it could actually be the best thing for WorldSBK.

PRODUCTS www.scott-sports.com

scott sports Scott took advantage of the recent Monster Energy Cup to launch their brand-new Fury goggle. The Fury is a direct descendant of the flagship Prospect model, so you can expect the same excellent field of vision, innovative lens-lock system, light-sensitive lenses and suitability for the WFS50 Rolloff kit. Where it differs from the Prospect is (firstly) in the price; it is a slightly cheaper offering. The Fury also has a smaller frame, so it is the ideal solution for riders and Scott customers that might be concerned about the size of the sister goggle for their particular helmet fit.

The premium Prospect holds the edge for face foam and outriggers and still has a wider strap but the Fury is an ideal middle ground. Scott were lacking a product that sat between the long-established Hustle and Tyrant (don’t forget the benchmark face-fitting tech in the frames of those goggles) and the Prospect, and now the Fury is that proposition. Expect the same array of cool colours and designs to enable plenty of choice.

FEATURE

THE ULTIMATE REBOUND

By Steve English, Photos by GeeBee Images/Steve English/MCH Photo

FEATURE

L

egendary basketball coach John Wooden once said that “sports don’t build characters, they reveal it.” This season certainly revealed a lot about Jonathan Rea. He was utterly relentless in his pursuit of a fifth world championship but this season was unlike any other.

Playing catchup through the year Rea was faced with his toughest test; Alvaro Bautista and Ducati. The former MotoGP rider arrived in WorldSBK like a hurricane. He destroyed everything in his path to win races by over ten seconds. By the time the paddock had arrived in Europe the Spaniard was commenting that he was “changing the level of Superbikes and forcing riders to change their styles.” It was a bold claim but one that couldn’t be challenged at the time, such was his supremacy.

“If this was boxing I’d have been on the ropes in those early rounds,” said Rea after wrapping up the title. “I’ve never seen a turnaround like this one. Of course every season your target is to win the championship but honestly after four rounds it was…a big dream. We couldn’t see any weakness in the package of Alvaro Bautista and Ducati.”

“It’s the strongest package I’ve ever faced,” he adds. “Assen was a real moment where it opened my mind. I felt like that was one of the tracks that we could go to and pick up some wins. When we didn’t win our heads dropped a little. We went to Imola next and we managed to survive there and take some wins, but one of the races was cancelled due to the weather. Up until then I felt like we were drowning but just to get that little bit of a gasp of air was enough to compose ourselves and give us the belief that we can aim for some results during the year.”

“IF THIS WAS BOXING I’D HAVE BEEN ON THE ROPES IN THOSE EARLY ROUNDS. I’VE NEVER SEEN A TURNAROUND LIKE THIS ONE. IT WAS…A BIG DREAM.”

Mid-season the Spaniard said “Watch: Johnny will find a way this season. He is the best.

There’s no doubt about it in my mind. He’ll find a way.”

At one point that faith seemed like blind conviction. The past four years had shown what Rea could achieve but Bautista was rewriting the history books. For Rea the reason was clear; the top speed advantage of the Bologna bullet.

JONATHAN REA

In the early rounds of 2019 - when Bautista was racking up eleven consecutive victories - Rea was forced to settle for runner-up finishes in ten of those races.

It wasn’t enough to stay close to Bautista in the standings, after Assen he was over fifty points adrift - at one point in the season the gap stretched to 61 - but Rea kept the faith. More to the point his crew chief, Pere Riba, kept resolute.

FEATURE “When we went to Thailand we really saw the advantage the Ducati had,” he explains. “That was a tough weekend.

It’s really hard when you’re losing that much on the straight to make it up in the corners and on the brakes. We were racing ourselves and carrying more corner speed and getting a better exit than the Ducati. With our bike in terms of stability and mechanical traction it’s probably the best out there. We just lost so much in the acceleration areas around the lap that it was hard to make that up.”

“Alvaro made a series of mistakes as well which didn’t make the championship easier but it meant that you could actually manage to be in the championship,” he reasons.

“WE WORKED HARD BUT I STILL CAN’T UNDERSTAND IT TO BE HONEST. I DIDN’T EXPECT THE LAGUNA WEEKEND TO TURN AROUND THE WAY IT DID. TO GO ELEVEN RACES UNBEATEN AND THEN TO FACE THE CHALLENGES HE HAS, I JUST CAN’T UNDERSTAND IT...”

“I feel like he threw the championship away…but we did stand up and win the races we should have won. It was just tiring in the beginning because even with all the second places I was having to fight for them. It wasn’t like I was just riding around. The Yamaha’s were super strong at the start of the year. We had to dig deep to challenge.”

“I didn’t know much about Alvaro until this year,” Rea says. “I heard from people that I needed to keep the pressure on him because the season is long and to keep the lead all the way through is hard.

At the beginning of the year you couldn’t really see much hope but [his] mistakes in Misano and Jerez were completely uncalled for. His crash in Donington I can understand because it’s a very, very treacherous part of the track in the wet. It’s easy to get caught out there.

Even series regulars can get caught out.

Throughout all this, I was just trying to keep doing my own thing. It’s really hard to manage the championship from the front, I’ve been in that position, and when you’re chasing you have nothing to lose at times.”

Having seen Bautista start to make unforced errors in Jerez and Misano, Rea started to see a chink in his rival’s armour. By the time the paddock travelled to Laguna Seca the stronger colours in WorldSBK had shifted. Bautista was crumbling and a crash-filled weekend saw the Spaniard leave the United States with his title hopes in tatters. No points from three races had left him with little chance.

“We saw a whole different side to Alvaro compared to the beginning of the year,” Rea opines. “Every time the cameras went in the garage in the early rounds he was full of smiles and double hand waves. He was an angelic kid. After the first crash it was still the same; he was still his happy-go-lucky self. After making a few more mistakes though he was a shadow of the beginning of the season.”

“We worked hard but I still can’t understand it to be honest,” he continues. “I didn’t expect the Laguna weekend to turn around the way it did. For Alvaro not to score in all three races, that really helped my cause. To go eleven races unbeaten and then to face the challenges he has, I just can’t understand it. I really can’t. I can’t understand how you can go to Phillip Island in your first race on a new bike and new championship and mentally be that strong to win races by fifteen seconds.To then go to Thailand and do pretty much the same. Then we went to Aragon and he was still winning by a distance.”

“It’s really hard,” he pauses. “I wouldn’t want to be in his position. I certainly wouldn’t want to be answering to Guim Roda if I did that, because he would be the toughest guy on me when I make a mistake, even this year. So to have a catalogue this year I’m sure is really tough.”

While Rea can be critical of the mistakes that Bautista has made he’s far from critical about his rival’s style. Describing the Spaniard as “clinical on track. He does everything right and his level is very high.” It’s clear there’s a respect for the challenge he faced but that leads into so much mystery for how and why the mistakes piled up.

JONATHAN REA

“You could see the stress building on his shoulders. That’s when we just had to keep relentlessly delivering results every weekend. I didn’t need to win races. I just needed him to see me beside him on the podium. I wanted him to know that I was right there and he couldn’t have a bad weekend. Since Imola we out-scored him every weekend. I’m really happy to turn the season around like that. But there was definitely a bit of help from his side.”

FEATURE

JONATHAN REA “YOU’RE ALWAYS IN A COMPETITIVE BUBBLE. YOU NEVER STOP AND TAKE STOCK OF WHERE YOU ARE. IT’S ALWAYS ABOUT THE NEXT CHALLENGE...”

FEATURE

“I think it’s clear that the window of setup for the Ducati is very narrow and we see that with Chaz, one of the top riders, dialing the bike in through the year.

In those early rounds they looked had the bike in the window and the engine is so strong that he didn’t need to be last on the brakes or he didn’t need to put the bike under too much stress. He was already gaining tenths of a second on the acceleration areas. The yo-yo effect was clearest to see in Thailand. He would be long gone into the braking zone for turn three but we would have a chance because I could release the brake and have a go at him because of the strength of our bike.

“It’s been a crazy year but I stand by what I said at the start of the year [about taking a knife to a gunfight in races]. It was frustration that made me voice my opinion really early when I should have maybe stayed calm but the difference in speed is crazy. I’d need to really look hard to see how many times he passed someone in the braking area but generally it’s been down the straight passing one and two guys at the same time.

“I’ve had it in the past where we’ve lost 1400rpm in a season when they change regulations for this year Ducati lost 250rpm is absolute peanuts. The people that are on the defensive are guys inside Ducati, but if you speak with knowledgeable people inside the paddock, they know. They know what we’re racing against. The other riders, the other manufacturers they all know what we’ve seen this year. The Ducati is very strong in that area but it’s not the complete package.

“I feel like as a real package we have top package. We just missed the speed they have. I’m sure if you give us whatever the horsepower difference is, we would run into our own problems. I’m just calling it as I see it, but it’s just very demoralizing throwing the kitchen sink at it and just losing free time on the straights.”

While a season like this has left Rea with an unexpected world title it’s also one that he knows is just a stepping stone.

In racing if you’re at the front of the field you’ll always have people gunning for you. You’ll always have to work harder to stay at the top than you do to get to the top. To win races is hard in this class

“For me, the motivation comes from being so happy doing it. I don’t know anything else. Until the lack of motivation comes or an injury or the lack of competitiveness I think I’ll keep doing it for as long as I can. It doesn’t feel like work. I’ve a family with two young kids. The dynamic has changed for me now because it’s not just about racing.

Once I stop enjoying it and the sacrifices you make aren’t worth it that’s the time I’ll hang up my boots. I can’t see it happening anytime soon though because I’m really having a lot of fun. but to keep winning races is even harder.

There are very few times when a rider truly can reflect on their successes.

“You’re always in a competitive bubble.

You never stop and take stock of where you are. It’s always about the next challenge. After winning the championship in France I was already thinking to Argentina. After Qatar you think about next year. It’s ticking boxes. I moved back to Northern Ireland last year and bought myself a dream home. We’ve a home cinema and sometimes I sit there, and I’ve got my world championship trophies on display, and I’m so satisfied. I can feel really proud of what I’ve done.

“I feel like I can still be competitive as well for a few more years. You think about what more can I do? You think about how can I keep going and achieve the same thing?

There’s no better or worse.”

There’s no better or worse but there are bigger numbers. More wins to chase, more podiums to stand on, more points to be had. More titles to be won. Five world championships aren’t enough for Rea. He’s chasing more and more. Winning is a drug for a serial champion. They get up in the morning and train harder than ever to stay on top. Can Rea keep the run going in 2020? Only a fool would bet against it.

JONATHAN REA

“FOR ME, THE MOTIVATION COMES FROM BEING SO HAPPY DOING IT. I DON’T KNOW ANYTHING ELSE. UNTIL THE LACK OF MOTIVATION COMES OR AN INJURY OR THE LACK OF COMPETITIVENESS I THINK I’LL KEEP DOING IT FOR AS LONG AS I CAN. IT DOESN’T FEEL LIKE WORK...”

FEATURE

FIRST PUBLISHED ON THE KTM BLOG WWW.BLOG.KTM.COM

AT THE TURN OF THE DECADE KTM MANUFACTURED ONE OF THE MOST STRIKING AND SURPRISING SUPERBIKES ON THE MARKET BUT IN A FEW SHORT YEARS IT WAS GONE. WHAT HAPPENED TO THE RC8?

DEATH OF AN ICON

By Adam Wheeler Photos by KTM Images

FEATURE

W

olfgang Felber leans back in his seat. The former racer and lead technician has lent a hand to many KTM projects and was a leading figure in the company’s emphatic first step back to MotoGP with the Moto3 RC250GP in 2011. Talk of the RC8 – an initiative that he led and steered – brings a certain air of satisfaction to his demeanour.

KTM’s first superbike was initially (and surprisingly) unveiled as a prototype at the 2003 Tokyo Motor Show.

“When we fight Japan, we want to fight them in their own office,” claimed current R&D Head Philipp Habsburg upon the bikes eventual launch. “The reaction was very enthusiastic…”

Prior to the crisis that slapped the global economy towards the end of the decade, KTM were on a firm path to expansion and diversification (something that they would eventually resume, streamline and accentuate after the financial fallout). Part of that process was creation of model that would enter a sportsbike market that was still vibrant and seeing motorcycles like Yamaha’s YZR-R1, Suzuki’s GSX-R and BMW’s S1000R inspire the fray.

“I remember back in July 2005 when the project was green-lit for production,” he continues. “As with most initial new projects in KTM there

was not really the in-house specialists at the company, so we developed the bike while also hiring and training the people to get it done.”

KTM allegedly sunk 10 million euros into a philosophy that a smiling Felber recalls as “a 1200 v-twin ‘moped’!” But, as with most innovations that see the light of day at Mattighofen, experimentation had started before that dramatic unveiling in Tokyo and well before a young designer (now Lead Creative at the Kiska

agency and the power behind the Super Duke 1290 and latest KTM models) by the name of Craig Dent would be awestruck by the sight of the RC8 on the front of a British weekly motorcycling newspaper.

“When we made the first 950cc V-Twin engine back in 2001-2002 we had already done a very rough Superbike prototype together with a German company,” Felber recounts. “We used them as our workbench. Then there was another prototype that had

DEATH OF AN ICON: KTM RC8

It was a bold move for the brand that had opened eyes with the Super Duke road bike in 2005; a significant player outside of the off-road core of the company. “At the time KTM was less mainstream,” explains Felber. “We started work on the RC8 thirteen years ago and KTM was more of a niche supplier then.”

FEATURE shock. it was a big hurt for all of us, and of course the project and engine development. The second thing was the economic crisis in 2008; the bike was being produced at the same time that everything started to crash. The third thing was that – around that time – instead of five suppliers to Superbike racing there were eight or nine and the market shrank dramatically from one day to the next.”

KTM were winning 125cc and 250cc Grands Prix but MotoGP was unstable with changes in the capacity limit between 1000cc and 800cc and eventually a CRT sub class. Superbike and the production regulations seemed a better arena for KTM’s first track weapon. Of course, the RC8 was not conceived merely as a Pro racer’s tool or a rich person’s toy.

even more of an RC8 design about it and was built in 2001. That was followed by the show bike built for Tokyo. During the RC8 development there were constant questions about why it was taking so long! But the bike did not officially begin life until the summer of 2005, so twoand-a-half years before it was confirmed to come into stock production.”

The RC8 was a product of ambition, and the technical architecture was advanced but it was also a victim of misfortune and, crucially, timing. “There were three unlucky things,” says Felber. “One was the sudden death of one of our chief engineers on 2nd of September 2006. A big

The bike offered a preview to the ‘slight of hand’ that the 1290 Super Duke would eventually deliver: in other words it looked and promised to be one thing (with the Super Duke it was this image of being ‘The Beast’) but ended up being something a whole lot more. “The RC8 was not designed just to be a WorldSBK base,” says Felber in the confines of a meeting room in the old Race HQ in Munderfing. “We wanted to have a perfect road bike. That was the beginning of the philosophy towards it and that’s why the motorcycle is roomy and adjustable.

It was more of a racebike by accident finally.”

Despite the step into the unknown and the difficulties that 2007-2009 would bring KTM did not ease-off the gas (Felber: “there was always good support.”).

The investment remained steadfast and apparently almost 50 engines bit the

dust to get the RC8 just right. The R&D crew funnelled a stream of torque into riders’ right hands. Even into some of the best in the business. “I was surprised how good it was as a road bike when we made a comparison test,” says former Grand Prix winner Jeremy McWilliams.

“It was able to hold its own really easily, especially with the chassis. It was one of the easiest bikes you’ll ride on the road or the track.”

There were other redeeming features. “I wanted to set a new benchmark for manufacturing quality for KTM but also in general,” says Felber. “If you look at the welding on the frame and how the wiring

harness was made ‘invisible’: there is not a single piece of improvisation on that bike. We spent a lot of time on it. The other thing I’m proud of is the technical layout and how you can work on the bike.

It’s not such a big deal for the average customer who will leave it in the dealer or garage for any maintenance or repair but I was a racer and I worked on all my bikes by myself. I recently changed the frame on my own RC8 from black to orange and I did it in one afternoon. I think mechanics like to work on that bike.”

And, there were those looks. Felber: “I knew we were making something powerful. Kiska’s work is always polarising

DEATH OF AN ICON: KTM RC8

WOLFGANG FELBER: “WE WANTED TO HAVE A PERFECT ROAD BIKE. THAT WAS THE BEGINNING OF THE PHILOSOPHY TOWARDS IT AND THAT’S WHY THE MOTORCYCLE IS ROOMY AND ADJUSTABLE. IT WAS MORE OF A RACEBIKE BY ACCIDENT FINALLY...”

FEATURE

with their styling. In fact it is not just styling; it is a statement. If you see the RC8 nowadays it is like it’s a bike from 2025. I love that approach. It is not a bike for everyone. It was polarizing: both for the look and the technical layout with that under-slung exhaust system that made it appear totally different, and the small and narrow tail section.”

On the track the RC8 was being raced to top five results in AMA Superbike by the likes of Chris Fillmore and even starring at the Isle of Man TT. In Europe KTM established a team to enter the competitive IDM German Superbike series. “The IDM was more-

or-less a European Championship,” says Felber. “It was fully open for tyre development and no restrictions on things like electronics.” The RC8 would go on to beat the competition. More important than results however was the chance for KTM to learn about road racing. It was a process that fed directly into their stunning Moto3 Grand Prix title-winning debut in 2012. The RC8 was the icebreaking machine that made the journey to MotoGP much smoother. “The IDM was an ideal playground to develop the bike but also people,” says Felber. “We raced for

three seasons and it was extremely useful. We were learning a lot about tyres together with Dunlop, and we won the title. We reached a level where we were able to tell [Magneti] Marelli how and what we wanted to change with our electronic software.

That all fed into the new Moto3 project because it was clear that 2011 would be the last in the German Championship before all the people moved into Moto3. We had to start early actually, and I had to split people between IDM and Grand Prix. In the end we had a fully capable and working group for road racing.”

“To be honest it was a big surprise to jump on the IDM version of the RC8 with the full-on Magneti Marelli spec from the road bike,” he remembers. “The improvement in performance was an eye-opener. Whatever Wolfgang and the boys had done with the bike it had huge mid-range: it was incredible and pulled like a train. I still haven’t ridden anything like it to this day that makes that kind of torque and mid-range power.

Wolfgang told me it was still only making 185-87 horsepower but it felt like 210; it was that good.”

As with almost every motorcycle there were imperfections and the rough waters around the development and production bore an influence. “We were aware that we’d need some good electronics on the bike, but due to the ’08 crisis there were thumbs on budgets everywhere and we did not get the chance to develop it in this term,” Felber says.

Journalists were quick to praise the RC8’s strengths upon its introduction but they also identified some of the quirks. “Idiosyncrasies?

I guess the slightly rough gear change, and also those typically unmistakable looks, which I’m not sure enough people liked,” says renowned British bike tester Roland Brown. “And the fact that by sports bike standards it was so comfortable and versatile, but I don’t think it got enough credit for that.”

On the whole though KTM had hit the mark. “I remember it was well received and

I think it also sold well in the first year, especially in Great Britain,” Felber says. “I think 2000 bikes from the 2008 generation were sold there; that’s a sign that it was accepted by customers.”

Towards the end of the second decade of the century the RC8 is gaining almost cult status.

Particularly as KTM indulge more and more in road racing. “I and many of the other journos thought it was very competitive with Ducati’s 1098, which is pretty high praise,” says Brown.

A competitive bike and a highly rated one: so why is the RC8 no more? The change in the WorldSBK playing field was the first ‘closing of the door’. Felber explains why: “The bike was planned as a 1000cc superbike. The engine was going to be a robust 1000cc capacity with the potential for enlargement over the years and this quickly became the case as Ducati forced the FIM to set the new limit to 1200cc. We were somehow on the wrong rail.

The intake section with the throttle body dimensions was designed for a 1000. When we became aware that we’d need to beef it up to 1100 (initially) and then 1200 the deadline was already gone to increase the throttle body. This was one of the ‘birth defects’ of the RC8. It was not a

DEATH OF AN ICON: KTM RC8

While the RC8 was being modified and chiselled in Germany McWilliams was also running a separate test programme.

“We got Jeremy on the bike after remembering him well from the original MotoGP project and still, to this day, he is fantastic to work with and still so fast with so much expertise over what seems like fifty years of racing!” Felber grins. “He’s loyal, honest and he’ll never talk s**t.”

FEATURE

disadvantage at all for the production bike – in fact it was a big help because with smaller units you get better gas flow and better rideability – but it always limited us in top power to enter WorldSBK.” “There was a new version with new throttle bodies in the prototype stage, which at the time did 215hp, not too bad but we never got the release to switch it into production and have the proper base for world superbike racing,” he adds. “It was simply a

company strategic decision in 2011 to go Grand Prix racing instead of WorldSBK because we could not do both…and it was the right decision. We were always very busy and were a small group so there was not too much time to be disappointed that we did not see the RC8 in World Superbike.”

As a track asset the RC8 had limited use, but surely there was a case for keeping it in the KTM portfolio? In the end the project fell foul of other

priorities and the allocation of resources. “I cannot really answer the question as to why the RC8 is not here anymore but I can give a few points of view. KTM always ran an economic growth policy, so you had the small displacement Indian bikes coming along, the new Super Duke and many other projects.

I think KTM simply had to choose where to put our R&D efforts and a Super Duke or a smaller Duke brings in more money and is more strategically important than an RC8.

DEATH OF AN ICON: KTM RC8 R&D – that it will be resurrected at some stage!”

We have new customers. It was the better solution. There were also some comments from Mr Pierer about the speed of Superbikes and they should just be on the track. I mean, a Super Duke is also a fast motorcycle and in the end I think it was just a matter of resources and economic calculation.”

For those that rode or raced the RC8 the bike was missed.

“I still think to this day it still stacks up against what other manufacturers do,” says

McWilliams. “Of course everything has moved on in terms of electronic wizardry but we would have done the same with the RC8. I got to ride it – the original IDM bike – again at the end of last summer and it brought home how good it was as an all-rounder. If we had the chance to make a 1290 with the same chassis I think it would be back up there as ‘one of the bikes to have’ in the garage. It was a shame that it wasn’t kept alive. I’m still hoping – as are some of the other guys in

The RC8 was a technical, stylish and functional template for KTM’s road bikes and the ‘accelerating’ racing division.

It was also a memorable addition to the company’s history: perhaps even the ultimate definition of KTM’s DNA to affect and move motorcyclists.

“Given KTM’s amazing success since, I guess you’d have to say that Stefan Pierer got it right as usual and made the correct call to invest in other stuff rather than throw more resources at that rapidly shrinking market,” concludes Brown. “It would have been great to see them continue the development though. I guess it’s never too late to change his mind and make a MotoGP replica…”

TEST

CIRCLING OF A BADGE Words by Roland Brown Photos by Phil Masters/Indian

TEST

Y

ou don’t need to wear a steel shoe to ride Indian’s FTR1200S, but a metal skid-plate strapped to your left boot sure would add the finishing touch. The FTR is the ultimate US-built race-replica – a streetbike designed to echo the works FTR750 on which Indian ace Briar Bauman recently won the firm’s third consecutive American Flat Track championship.

The FTR750’s story is remarkable. When recently reborn Indian re-entered flat-track racing in 2017, the famous old marque had only ever won three Grand National titles – all back in the early Fifties, just before the original firm went bust. More than 60 years later, Indian had built an all-new 750cc Vtwin, and hired four-time champion Jared Mees to ride it. Mees won nine races en route to a stunning championship victory, which he repeated the following season.

The FTR1200S streetbike is a very different machine to Mees and Bauman’s factory racebike (and to the customer FTR750 that privateer racers can buy for $50,000 apiece), but its inspiration is clear. With its lean lines, neat detailing and flat-track features including 19-inch front wheel, the 1200S is much sportier than traditional V-twins, yet still unmistakably American in style and motive power.

Its 1200cc, 60-degree V-twin engine is based on the Scout cruiser’s 1133cc dohc, eight-valve unit, and is comprehensively reworked with new cams, bigger valves, increased compression ratio and lighter crankshaft. Peak power is increased to 123bhp at 8250rpm, and a new electronics package gives multiple riding modes and traction control.

Styling and chassis layout follow the 750cc racebike closely, featuring a tubular steel frame and diagonally mounted single shock unit. The distinctive dummy gas tank houses the airbox; the real tank is under the seat.

The wheels wear relatively slim, specially developed Dunlop tyres with a flat-track tread pattern.

The FTR’s riding position stretches arms out to the wide one-piece handlebar, and puts feet slightly forward with the reasonably low seat giving generous leg-room. The higher spec FTR1200S (which costs £12,999 to the standard model’s £11,899 in the UK) has a stylish TFT touch-screen that facilitates rider input including switching between the Sport, Standard and Rain riding modes.

INDIAN FTR1200S

TEST

“THE BALANCER-SHAFT EQUIPPED V-TWIN PULLS HARD AND SMOOTHLY AT THE TOP END, BARKING IN PLEASANT BUT RESTRAINED FASHION AS THE FTR CHARGES TOWARDS A TOP SPEED OF ABOUT 140MPH...”

INDIANWORLDSBK FTR1200S POR

TEST As soon as you pull away it’s clear that the FTR is not machined from the same block as other big naked sportsters like Ducati’s Monster 1200 or BMW’s R1250R. It’s every big inch an American V-twin, with a distinct character all of its own. At 225kg it’s heavy by naked bike standards but the underslung fuel tank keeps its centre of gravity low and helps slow-speed manoeuvring.

Straight-line performance is enjoyably lively, especially in Sport, the most aggressive of the three riding modes. Throttle response is slightly abrupt at slow speed, more refined in the softer modes. The balancer-shaft equipped V-twin pulls hard and smoothly at the top end, barking in pleasant but restrained fashion as the FTR charges towards a top speed of about 140mph. The gearbox is sweet, though disappointingly not aided by a quick-shifter.

The chassis manages to provide stable handling and also respectable agility despite the 19-inch front wheel, which can’t match the light feel of a typical 17-incher. With those wide bars and fairly sporty geometry the bike still steers with a light touch, helped by relatively narrow tyres. The specially developed Dunlops enhance the flat-track image although the 150-section rear will break traction in slightly too authentic fashion if you’re careless with the throttle, leaving the traction control to prevent inadvertant sideways action.

The FTR1200S has adjustable Sachs suspension at front and rear, as opposed to the standard model’s more basic units. Both ends are quite firm but the generous 150mm of travel allows a respectably plush ride, and there’s sufficient damping to keep the Indian on track when cornered hard. Radial fourpiston Brembo Monobloc front brake calipers give heaps of stopping power, in very marked contrast to a genuine flat-tracker’s lack of any front brake at all.

The authentically small, low-slung fuel tank’s capacity of just 13 litres gives a range of less than 100 miles, though the wind-blown riding position means you’ll normally be glad of a break by then. The FTR’s usability can be enhanced by accessories including a touring screen, single pannier and luggage rack. For a machine inspired by a championship-winning racebike, that’s pretty versatile.

More practical FTR-based models, including adventure and sports-touring V-twins, are like to follow before long, but in the meantime this first of the family is a fine effort. Almost inevitably the FTR1200S has a few rough edges but it’s a capable addition to the big-bore naked sector. And if you’re a fan of Jared Mees, Briar Bauman and America’s crazy go-fast, turn-left sport, Indian’s challenger offers a connection that no rival bike can match.

INDIAN FTR1200S

“ALMOST INEVITABLY THE FTR1200S HAS A FEW ROUGH EDGES BUT IT’S A CAPABLE ADDITION TO THE BIG-BORE NAKED SECTOR...”

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MotoGP Pramac Ducati in need of a clean. By CormacGP

ON TRACK OFF ROAD

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