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Nicky Hayden had already reappeared at Aragon to replace Jack Miller aboard the Marc VDS team Honda, after being made available, but to no avail, even at Silverstone. For the Australian round, however, the call came to replace Dani Pedrosa on the factory Repsol-Honda which he had not ridden since 2008, his last season in HRC before moving to Ducati. An invitation impossible to refuse.
In Aragón you said you had to deal with the tyres; you struggled a bit with the front, I guess, so do you think you can solve your problems here better?
“Yeah, I hope so. Definitely. I mean, I was able to get to do the full race at Aragón. Hopefully that experience, that track time, will help me start here much closer on Friday. And also, I mean, to have the feeling with the tyres was big, also a little bit of the setup of the bike, so yeah, looking forward to it”.
It must be a tough thing to get a phone call – “Please come over to Phillip Island” – a long, long travel. How is that for a MotoGP rider?
“Yeah, it’s definitely a long travel and a busy few days, but when you get the phone call to come ride Repsol Honda in Phillip Island, well you get the bags and drop everything and go. Of course, I’m grateful for the sponsors, because also there’s a lot of stuff that went in behind the scenes for conflicting sponsors to work that out. Also, you have to get a work visa for Australia and it was not easy to get because I had to wait until Monday morning in the USA, which is already one day behind. So, a lot of details like that to work out, but in the end, I’m here and ready to go”.
You already grabbed a point in Aragón. Do you think it is also possible here?
“Yeah, for sure. I hope to do better than Aragón”.
Now it has been 10 years since your world title.
“Yeah, you know, honestly, when I got the text message I was sleeping in Jerez, so I woke up in the morning and, you know, jumped up on race day like you would, and I saw that message and I was still half asleep, so I was like “what? Phillip… Repsol…” and I had to read it two or three times to understand it so, it’s definitely a great moment for me. Obviously I don’t like Dani to be hurt, but somebody needs to ride the bike and I’m available, so here I am”.
You had another race left, the last in the Superbike championship. Isn’t it too tough to jump back and forth?
“You know, of course it’s tough, but, you know, this year in Superbike I’m not exactly fighting for the title, so I’m thankful that they gave me this opportunity and, it’s not easy, but what can I say? I like racing motorcycles, so I don’t say no”.
Have you seen the new Honda? It doesn’t look much different from the old CBR. What do you expect from it?
“Yeah, I actually rode the bike a couple of weeks ago in Valencia. We did some filming with it, so we’ll see when we get it in race trim, but I’m confident. We can see what a great job Ten Kate’s doing even now with the older bike this year to make it competitive. What we need is more acceleration, more torque off the corners, and I hope with some of the new things with this bike it will give us that possibility”.
How is Superbike different from MotoGP and what do you like and what do you dislike about Superbike?
“There are a lot of differences, but at the end of the day it’s still racing motorcycles. From the feeling of the bike, obviously the amount of flex and the movement are a lot more. The bikes really move underneath you and sometimes I enjoy it, sometimes it’s fun, sometimes it’s just too much. Also, we have the two races in the weekend, which I really like. We have the one bike rule, that I don’t really like as much obviously, being a racer, so it means that you have to have a little different approach to the sessions and the weekends – which way to follow, because you can’t just try one setup here and there. I would say those are some of the big differences. The electronics are very good with the bike. The bike doesn’t accelerate anything like a MotoGP bike, but the lap times, honestly… I mean in Jerez last week I went faster with the Superbike than I qualified with the MotoGP bike – with the qualifying tyre, but sometimes it is very impressive the lap times the bikes can do, considering the price level”.
Valentino is 37. You are 35. How long do you think you will continue to race?
“I realize now that I am not going to be able to race forever. I’m happy in the WSBK championship. It’s been a good move for me. Um… I don’t know. A couple of years? I hope. Ultimately, the goal is to get one more world title and try to be the first rider to ever win both titles. That’s my motivation now, so I guess however long it takes to do that”.
You have had a lot of teammates during your career. Valentino, Barros, Biaggi, Pedrosa, Rossi again and Dovizioso [Nicky adds: Marquez and Stoner]. Can you give me a comment on each one? I mean, what do you like about each one – character, racing, etc.
“It is definitely quite interesting to see the different characters. All racers, myself included, have strange ways, quirky ways, and maybe even can be a little weird sometimes, but they’re all very fast”.
But, one by one, if you say for example, “Barros”, what is the first thing that comes to mind immediately about Alex?
“Very fast. Honestly, he was faster and stronger than I expected from Barros. I think maybe one of the most underrated teammates I ever had”.
Dani?
“Uh… Fast. When everything is right, like he showed in Misano, unbeatable. Who else can pass Marquez, Lorenzo, Rossi in Misano and pull away?”.
Dovi?
“Solid. You always know Dovi is going to be Dovi. He maybe does not get something extra out of the bike, but if the bike is at this level, he will get it to that level for the entire race”.
Stoner?
“Stoner is the fastest guy I’ve ever seen in my life, so I could see it on 250 and even when he was a rookie in MotoGP it was clear, but when I went to the first test in Malaysia when we were both on Ducati, I came home and told my brother “That’s the fastest guy I’ve ever seen in my life”.
What about Valentino and Marquez?
“Valentino, I think the great thing about him, I was teammates with him in ’03 and then many years later, and he is the same guy. With all of his titles and all of his victories, the thing that impressed me the most, of course we know he is talented, but his passion. I think I share that with him. You say I’m 35 and he’s 37, I think we both have enough money, could have good lives, but we still love racing bikes, love the sport, and that’s what brings me back and that’s what I think keeps him going. I get motivation when I see him still winning MotoGP races after everything that he’s done and the low at Ducati, to come back”.
And what about Marc? Because he looks like the new hero. He’s twenty-three…
“Yeah, well, I guess you can ask me after the weekend, but I guess this year we already knew how fast and talented Marc was, but now he’s shown how smart he can be and consistent and he added another element to his game to be able to get these podiums”.
And what about Max Biaggi?
“Max is a four-time world champ, I mean, for me it was a good challenge, because he’s not easy on track or off track, in pit lane, and in the games guys play and for me it was a good experience to be teammates with a guy like that. I had a journalist ask me earlier this year about Vd Mark. He said “Are you worried? He’s so fast. Are you worried to have such a fast teammate?” and I said “Well I don’t know, I’ve had a couple of fast ones before – Barros, Biaggi, Stoner, Rossi – maybe you’ve heard of them. It’s not the first time I’ve had to deal with a strong teammate every day”.
What about your future? We saw a very interesting picture of you and your girlfriend in Venice...
“Well I’m getting older now and I want a family, so I’m very happy with my life now, everything is going well and…”
So we will receive some good news soon?
“Yeah, well, we’ve started and we’ll take one step at a time. We’re engaged now”.
You say that now you are chasing the WSBK title, because only Colin Edwards and John Kocinski won two titles, but they never won MotoGP. So you would be the first.
“That’s my goal. I know it’s not easy. It’s going to be tough, but I think it’s important to have motivation and goals and that’s the last goal of my career”.
You are in a very important cycle among the Americans. Now, since Rainey has launched MotoAmerica, do you think that we will see another American world champion soon? What is the reality in your opinion?
“The reality is, I don’t think soon, because there has certainly been a dip. It doesn’t make me happy to say that, but that’s the truth. But I do hope now that the series, with Wayne involved, can come back, because I still believe Americans can be fast, but it’s true – especially the Europeans now, the riders who come to the Spanish championship, start very young with good competition on good tracks, with good people teaching them and America has fallen behind. I think before, in the 500 days, the dirt track was great training for 500s with no traction control and old tyres, but now the dirt track, yeah, it’s nice training, but I don’t think it’s a necessity, so America now needs to do it like the others: start young on road race bikes and let’s hope we see something soon”.
