On Track Off Road No. 194

FEATURE
the final battle. Everybody is
waiting now for when I will
lose or if I am beaten in a
race. The way that some rivals
celebrate beating me, like in
Austria or UK this year, they
do it in a championship mode!
That’s good news. It doesn’t
make me angry. It shows me
that it was difficult for them to
beat me.
To always want to do that
must, again, be tiring. Maybe
it is something that will wane
as you get older…
Could be, could be. The moment
will arrive when someone
beats me [regularly]. I
know that you can go up-upup
in your career but then
you get to a point where it
starts to go down. That downhill
can be fast or slow. You
have to make it part of your
job to have a slow downhill!
You have to be aware that
when this moment comes it
is time to change the mentality
because if not then you’ll
be lucky to get through that
period.
You talk about passion but
how long do you think that
will last? How long will it
keep you right at the peak of
this sport and profession…
It’s a lifestyle. Perhaps this is
not the best word but it’s like
a ‘drug’. In my holiday time
I know I can be three weeks
near a beach if I wanted to but
I know this won’t make me
happy. I won’t be relaxed. One
week is OK but by the second
week I’ll need a bike, a ride.
I will get to the first MotoGP
test after the winter and while
it is good to be riding [a
Grand Prix bike] again I need
to be racing. I joke sometimes
with my mechanics that, for
me, we can remove Friday
[practice] from a Grand Prix! I
want to go direct to Saturday
because qualification starts
to get the adrenaline running
and then the biggest shot
comes on Sunday.
You and that Repsol Honda
are a part of the furniture in
MotoGP. What could possibly
be next?
Continue! The best fuel I
have in my body is the taste
of victory. I see all the effort
I make during the season
has a very good conversion:
this is the best thing. People
sometimes say ‘you win many
times…’ [makes a gesture
of boredom] but the feeling
is really the opposite. I
want more, more and more.
When you win then you can
do many events, lots of training
and many kilometres on
the bicycle and you don’t get
‘tired’. When you have hard
moments then that’s where
you feel it. It is different. The
body is somehow happy when
you win. Anything you want to
do seems like a good idea! It
is difficult to understand. But
I feel good in Honda and my
target is to continue here. And
to continue winning.