Cycle News

VOL. 50 ISSUE 40 OCTOBER 8, 2013 and you're only getting 80 percent out, that's okay, but when you're putting a lot in and not having a lot of light, it's tough. That's life. I'm sure a lot of people experience that. Your best overtake this year? I guess I shouldn't say Indy, because it was probably a bit too much, and I didn't gain a position because Bradley [Smith] beat me in the end, so there's not been a whole lot of thrilling ones this year. That was quite exciting, jumping over the curb and stuff. But when you pass someone for eighth instead of ninth, then it's hard to say it was a good overtake. How many times do you lose the front in a race? What do the cameras not see? A lot. The cameras don't really do our sport justice. Sometimes now when you're getting high-speed and really close, but there's other angles so far away. Like Qatar… it looks like the guys are out doing a track day. For sure they don't see a guy pushing the front, you do see on TV, but on track I wouldn't say you lose the front every lap, but there is corners where you're pushing the front every lap. Sometimes I'll watch the video of the session with my mechanics and want to show them a loose moment, so they don't just hear what I say but they also see physically that the bike was doing this. Sometimes they say: 'Wow that was close, you barely saved that one.' And I say: 'If you can see that on TV, sitting on the bike it's a lot closer.' Like that thing in Germany. That was good TV. But there's other things that look like just a little slide, but on the bike it was a big one. Has Marc Marquez upped the pace? What's left to be said now? He is definitely a game-changer. His style and his approach is incredible, and what he's been doing. He's 20. I remember 20, but I wasn't leading the World Championship. He doesn't really have any weaknesses from what I've seen. A little bit in the rain at Le Mans, but he figured that out by half-race. He's fast, he's determined, he's smart, he's charismatic. He's making it tough for a lot of us. Are you glad you're not his teammate? I'd probably take my chances to be on that bike [Repsol Honda] right now. What are the biggest changes in the time you've been in MotoGP? What do you miss from 10 years ago? What's worse and what's better now? I do miss qualifying tires. Talk about 'the best feeling': you do a lap right with a qualifying tire front and rear, qualifying fuel and even set-up - that would be a good feeling. I miss those but I think… the 800s: you probably don't need me to tell you that wasn't the most glorious era of MotoGP. For the most part, I think they run a good ship round here. They do a good P57 job on safety. I think MotoGP has a lot going for it. Do you miss having enough gasoline? Is MotoGP too much of an economy run now? Yeah you'd get to pull wheelies on the cool-down lap. I don't make the rules so I don't get too caught up in them. The fuel… I don't know if it's the right way to limit MotoGP, but it is how they do it; I don't really have a better answer. I don't think weight is better, I wouldn't want a rev limit. We have a mental picture of you and your brothers spending every day on your dirt track. Do you ever get tired of riding bikes? Not too much. Maybe after a couple of bad back-to-back races and then doing a test Monday and Tuesday, those are hard. I love a motorcycle, but I love racing bikes. I do have a streetbike, but I don't ride it too much. I like riding at the limit. I'm a bike guy. We don't ride dirt track every day, but if I'm home, a couple of times a week. I was at [Valentino] Rossi's ranch last week riding. That was pretty fun. Finally, when you were dropped by Ducati, did you think at all of going home to race AMA in the States? No – World Superbike was a real possibility, but AMA – I don't have any interest at the moment. The series is not doing great. Most guys are paying for the rides or riding for free. I still got an itch to try to get that dirt track win, though. CN

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