On Track Off Road No. 196

GETD 

BEAST MODE ENGAGED 

2020 KTM 1290 SUPER DUKE R 

The NAKED rulebook has been re-written. The KTM 1290 SUPER DUKE R is now leaner, 

meaner and even more menacing than ever before. Sporting an all-new chassis and suspension 

setup, the flagship LC8 V-Twin 1301 cc boasting brutal forward thrust, blinding acceleration 

and an advanced electronics package, the NEW BEAST is locked and loaded for battle.

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

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

UKED 

Photo: R. Schedl

MotoGP 

NIGHT 

RIDER 

The probing, doubts and experiments of the MotoGP 

off-season can now be locked away. In just over a 

week all will be sealed, and the serious business of 

racing begins at the venue where the teams have just 

completed their last test. Props to Red Bull KTM’s Brad 

Binder for a lap-time that hints at the South African 

rookie’s potential… 

Photo by Polarity Photo

SX 

THE TERRIBLE 

TWO?? 

A tough weekend for some of the 

AMA Supercross field in Dallas also 

sees the first glimmer of daylight 

appearing in the 450 SX standings. 

Eli Tomac (four wins from the eight 

rounds so far) and Ken Roczen (two 

victories and six podiums) are split by 

7 points and are almost 20 ahead of 

Cooper Web. This one could run and 

run to Salt Lake City. Here’s hoping. 

Photo by James Lissimore

MX FEATURE 

THE ONE TO GUN

Twenty rounds of MXGP is on the verge of getting underway and at 23 years of age, the might of 

HRC behind him and two premier class titles in four years it’s hard not to imagine that Tim Gajser is 

getting near his peak. Will the Slovenian claim round one? Or Jeffrey Herlings? Tony Cairoli? Glenn 

Coldenhoff? Gautier Paulin? Jeremy Seewer? Jorge Prado? Romain Febvre? Pauls Jonass? Clement 

Desalle (winner of the most opening GPs of the last decade)? Who is your pick for Matterley? 

Photo by ShotbyBavo

FEATURE 

WHAT DO

By Adam Wheeler. Photos by KTM/S.Romero/M.Campelli 

Polarity Photo/CormacGP & GeeBee Images 

YOU SEE? 

THE EXPERIENCE OF RIDING A RACETRACK FOR 

THE FIRST TIME (WITH A RASPING 2020 KTM 

By Adam Wheeler, Photos by Ray Archer/KTM 

1290 SUPER DUKE R FOR COMPANY)

FEATURE 

There is a moment in 

seminal 1990s action 

movie ‘Point Break’ 

when Patrick Swayze’s colead 

character – the mysterious 

Bohdi – dissects the 

spirituality of riding waves. 

“It’s a state of mind: that 

place where you lose yourself 

and you find yourself,” he 

explains. For decades, from 

a range of motorsport and 

cultural idols and icons, there 

has been a stream of thinking, 

philosophy and meditation 

of existence on the racetrack. 

Mostly connected with 

the feeling or sensation of 

finding (or ‘losing’) oneself in 

the ‘zone’ or being immersed 

in a world of extreme competition. 

We can all watch and appreciate 

that going fast within the 

boundaries of a circuit takes 

extreme focus and concentration. 

It also looks formulaic, 

with similar lines and actions 

from those attempting to live 

within fractions of a second 

of each other. Like any skill 

it takes practice for a degree 

of competence. Unlike many 

pastimes, circuit riding comes 

with an alarming sense of urgency, 

trepidation, occasional 

panic and – buried away 

somewhere and not spoken 

about – fear. 

There was a moment at the 

recent 2020 KTM 1290 SU- 

PER DUKE R launch in 

Portugal where a colleague in 

the British group of journalists 

and testers commented 

“your first time on a track is 

at Portimao with a SUPER 

DUKE?! Fair play…”. Perhaps 

the decision to unearth the 

possibilities of the Austrians’ 

180hp and 140Nm of torque – 

the ‘ultimate’ naked bike – for 

first-time dip around a course 

that former MotoGP ace, 

track day master-instructor 

and key KTM bike developer 

Jeremy McWilliams described 

as “one of the hardest in the 

world” the previous evening 

during the media call was not 

the most lucid. 

Slightly nervous, slightly overwhelmed 

by the ability of the 

company I was keeping and 

extremely curious for the first 

of six twenty-minute sessions in 

fantastic sunshine and twentydegree 

temperatures the moment 

of truth came closer. 

Luckily a two-hour morning 

jaunt around the surrounding 

roads of Portimao gave a valuable 

introduction to the new 

SUPER DUKE and the third

FIRST TIME ON A RACETRACK 

generation of the 1290 ‘Beast’. 

90% new for 2020 the thrilling 

amounts of torque from 

the v-twin was matched with a 

robust and stable chassis that 

genuinely inspired confidence. 

The bike tractored out of the 

tightest country lane with 

ease and a handful of throttle 

was met with the feeling that 

the bike could shift to another 

line at will. 

At Portimao the road-going 

1290s were parked outside 

the pitboxes. A walk through 

the garage delivered the sight 

of another set of Beasts; this 

time in track trim, with four 

models in full PowerParts race 

guise adorned with slick tyres 

and warmers attached. With 

the bikes warm and almost 

ready to go it was at this point 

that the words and guidance 

MCWILLIAMS: “IT WAS PRETTY SPECIAL: GETTING MY KNEE 

DOWN FOR THE FIRST TIME! I BURNT A HOLE THROUGH MY 

JEANS! I DON’T THINK ANYBODY WOULD GET ON A CIRCUIT 

NOW WITH A PAIR OF JEANS...” 

of McWilliams offered something 

akin to a soothing effect. 

The 55 year old has already 

spun a number of test and 

demo laps at Portimao on 

the launch and thanks to the 

prompting of KTM personnel 

like Street Marketing Manager 

Riaan Neveling and Product 

Manager Adriaan Sinke has 

agreed to act as a point of 

guidance. I casually ask if he 

remembers his ‘first time’. 

“It must have been thirty-five/ 

six years ago; at the aptlynamed 

Nutts Corner raceway, 

close to where I live,” the 

Irishman smiles. “We had production 

bikes with street tyres 

and it was quite a special 

moment. We had no restrictions, 

no traffic and could go 

as fast as we wanted without 

worrying about speed traps 

or getting pulled-over. I had 

no idea what I was doing! If I 

went back today then I would 

have sought some instruction 

or direction beforehand. 

It was pretty special: getting 

out there and getting my knee 

down for the first time! I burnt 

a hole through my jeans! I 

don’t think anybody would 

get on a circuit now with a 

pair of jeans. At that point I 

realised I really wanted to do 

more. We also ventured down 

south to a circuit near Dublin 

called Mondello Park. It was a 

little better. Then Kirkistown. 

They are all within a couple of 

hours of each other.” 

I’m doing my best ‘all the 

gear, no idea’ impersonation 

thanks to the people at Alpinestars. 

My Techair-ready 

Specter jacket is the ideal fit 

and the V2 pants with knee 

sliders (being optimistic) 

could not be any more comfortable. 

Black and white SMX 

V2 boots complete the

FEATURE 

compulsory outfit and must 

rank as the snuggest and easiest 

set of footwear I’ve worn 

on a motorcycle. Absolutely 

no complaints. 

As I climb on one of the racespec 

1290s and speed after 

McWilliams down the pitlane 

it’s impossible not to feel a 

‘little MotoGP’ and get excited. 

I mean, how often do you gas 

a motorcycle in the knowledge 

that there isn’t an immediate 

car, pedestrian or traffic 

hazard to look out for? A few 

deep breaths and pitlane exit 

means hard throttling and 

into another environment. The 

plan is to take a few laps to 

follow Jeremy and see which 

way Portimao winds. Almost 

instantly the world is much 

faster and there is less time to 

get things done. I find myself 

doing daft things like flicking 

my gaze towards an imaginary 

mirror before tipping into a 

corner and the fact that Jeremy 

is ahead and seemingly 

cruising with one hand controlling 

the bike and the other 

pointing at lines and zones I 

should hit is even more humbling 

when I have the sensation 

that I am abusing the 

SUPER DUKE far more than I 

would on the road. 

It’s hard to fully commit and 

lean into corners. The track 

is between 10-15 metres wide 

but it seems like 100; it’s 

tricky to know exactly where I 

should be and where I should 

be braking, tipping and aiming. 

At the same moment it’s 

utterly thrilling. The swoop 

into the downhill final turn 

that winds up to the main 

straight is like a rollercoaster 

g-out. The speed up to sixth 

gear makes my head shake, 

my vision blurry and I hold 

onto the SUPER DUKE with 

all the power in my arms and 

with the alarm that I might get 

sucked off the back. 

Turn 1 is a challenge and 

remains so for the entire day. 

The dip into the braking zone 

makes my stomach roll and 

the apex of the right hander 

comes alarmingly into view 

and quicker than I’d like. Jeremy 

tells me to brake when 

he brakes but I have no recollection 

of trusting my skills 

and courage as well as the 

bike throughout the day. With 

more and more laps I’m learning 

that the Brembos of the 

1290 SUPER DUKE are pretty 

damn good and I slowly get a 

bit later and a bit closer. Ironically, 

one of the most daunting 

parts of the circuit – Turn 1 - 

leads immediately into one of 

the best: another right-handed 

kink where you can feed the 

power of the bike in, slide a 

little bit, and then test braking 

prowess again for a tight right 

Turn 4. The section becomes 

a meaty challenge throughout 

the whole experience. Twenty 

minutes feels like twenty seconds.

MXGP NETHERLANDS 


Following Jeremy back to the 

pitlane the sensations are one 

of exhilaration, education, humility 

and wider understanding 

of the art behind track 

riding. 

“I think I was fourteen years 

old when I hopped on my 

Dad’s Superbike at Grant 

Raceway in Michigan and 

everything was too fast and 

everything happens too quick, 

you don’t feel comfortable, 

you don’t trust the tyres: there 

are so many different things 

going on. It’s foreign!” 

Chris Fillmore, former AMA 

Superbike competitor, Pikes 

Peak winner and long-term 

KTM rider is another racer at 

the launch. “I grew up racing 

motocross and hadn’t touched 

supermoto yet. So, you had 

to develop trust between the 

pavement and the tyre. Some 

people have it quite naturally. 

Maybe ignorance is bliss! 

Some people never do.” 

Second time out and we keep 

the traction control on the 

TRACK setting near the top 

and anti-wheel engaged. With 

the barrage on the senses 

fractionally diminished it is 

now easier to concentrate on 

doing things a bit better and 

thinking about positioning. I 

move more on the bike and 

progressively trust the tyres 

to enter corners a little faster 

and a little more committed. 

“I did a lot of road riding and 

it is quite different when you 

get on a circuit,” explains 

McWilliams. “You are looking 

at completely different things 

and obviously don’t have 

those reference things that 

are on a road. On a circuit the 

most important thing is teeing 

the point you have to hit 

before turning in or braking or 

even accelerating.”

FEATURE 

FILLMORE: “I’M COMPETITIVE AND I LIKE PUSHING THE LIMIT 

OF THINGS AND FEELING LIKE I AM A LITTLE BIT ON THE EDGE. I 

LIKE TO DO THINGS THAT SCARE ME. IT OPENS ME UP AND LETS 

ME LIVE A BIT. IT’S HOW I ENJOY EXPERIENCING LIFE.” 

As the afternoon goes on the 

confidence rises, as does the 

appreciation for how road racers 

go about their task. It is 

also easy to comprehend how 

the lightest gesture of braking, 

positioning or acceleration can 

alter fractions of a second of 

a lap-time. As for the racing 

itself I didn’t come close to 

overtaking anybody all day, so 

that’s another aspect that remains 

undiscovered. Chopping 

up the track into sections and 

working out which areas feel 

slow or harder compared to 

others – instead of just riding 

around and around - becomes 

part of the routine. Bizarrely 

it starts to feel a bit like tennis 

or golf: a process of hitting 

a few good shots, followed 

by fist-gnawing ineptitude. 

“That’s a pretty good analogy 

actually,” McWilliams says. 

“What makes a good circuit 

rider? Somebody who is very 

consistent, very smooth and 

learns good throttle control. 

A lot of things you don’t learn 

for the road you must for the 

circuit, like brake management 

and how hard you can pull it 

and how hard you can push 

the front tyre into the turn, 

how much throttle you give 

when you are in the turn. A lot 

of guys will go into a road turn 

and opening the throttle when 

they want to get out: that’s 

not what we do and not how 

we go faster, it’s the opposite 

actually and our rolling speed 

is much higher than it would 

ever be on-road. It’s another 

level.”


“I can only speak from the 

opposite direction actually; 

so being comfortable on a 

racetrack and going onto the 

street,” comments Fillmore 

by way of a contrast. “As a 

racer you hone your skills on 

slicks with tyre warmers and 

we push the limits. We understand 

them. On a surface that 

is unpredictable then that is 

another thing. For a person 

coming from the street to the 

racetrack there are a bunch 

of ‘red flags’ and it was the 

same for me getting on a 

street bike where I wanted to 

be much more cautious: there 

was traffic, white lines, guard 

rails and the knowledge that 

the road surface could change 

at any time or you didn’t know 

what was around a corner. 

On a track you know, for the 

most part, it is in a certain 

condition and there are track 

marshals to let you know if 

there is something wrong. So, 

you start to ‘turn-off’ all those 

little signals in your head that 

might make you hold back a 

little bit.” 

Even from my very limited 

time there was a parallel with 

track riding and other sports 

in terms of the mental void 

where you think about nothing 

except when you are doing. 

For the most part - before I 

knew it - the track’s lighting 

system was flashing to 

indicate another session had 

ended. By the time of the last 

outing I’m still trying to digest 

what I’m doing. Jeremy runs 

as a guide again and gets even 

more specific with track markers 

and speed but gradually 

I’m also thinking about laptime 

and how much quicker I 

must be compared to the first 

try. In the last twenty minutes 

I’m shifting as much as I dare 

off the bike to try and get a 

scuff on the knee slider…but 

without success. I know I have 

marginally improved – even in 

conviction alone and gained 

a much deeper impression of 

the KTM 1290 SUPER DUKE R 

and its capabilities – but have 

also realised how potentially 

addictive this can be. McWilliams 

instantly agrees back 

in the pitbox. “It is something 

that starts as a hobby and it 

can become an obsession,” 

he claims. “There are people 

I coach on track that I see becoming 

quite obsessed. I think 

it tests everything: your brain 

power, your physical shape. 

You have to use many ‘inputs’ 

at the same time. It is not 

the easiest thing to learn in a 

short space of time and every 

time you come back then you 

can improve. The more you 

ride the better you become. 

Why do we keep coming back? 

Probably because we never 

really crack it.” 

“Everyone is different,” says 

33-year-old Fillmore, an avid 

surfer and fan of extreme 

sports (a ‘Bodhi’ if you will), 

when I ask him if there an 

added sense of spirituality 

attached to an activity that is 

hazardous and could be costly 

but then seems to ‘pay back’. 

“I’m competitive and I like 

pushing the limit of things and 

feeling like I am a little bit on 

the edge. I like to do things 

that scare me. It opens me up 

and lets me live a bit. It’s how 

I enjoy experiencing life.” 

A portion of what he says 

strikes a chord. It must explain 

why track days seem like the 

domain of an exclusive club 

but remain popular draws. I 

cannot help but feel that my 

experience was helped by 

the use of the SUPER DUKE. 

The bike felt like a missile 

although the torque meant it 

was a blast and a whole lap 

became a simplistic process 

of flicking between 3rd, 4th 

and 5th until the straight. 

“You have more torque on 

this motorcycle than I think 

anything else out there on the 

market today,” Jeremy said. 

“Torque is our friend: when 

you have that much on-tap it 

makes the riding experience 

that much more fun. It doesn’t 

really matter what gear you 

exit the corner on this bike, we 

never use second gear here. 

We don’t need it because third 

has so much push to get it off 

the corner at any speed.You 

can become a bit of a hooligan 

on this and you can also ride 

it as sedately as you want. 

There is a lot of variety thanks 

to the electronic settings. A lot 

of options.”

FEATURE 

PORTIMAO 

Constructed in 2008 and only 

ten miles from the rolling 

waves of the Atlantic, 4.6km 

Portimao has been a regular 

on the WorldSBK calendar 

since ‘08 and has been described 

as one of the most 

technical racetracks on the 

continent. Current BMW racer 

Eugene Laverty has previously 

likened Portimao as a 

‘motocross track covered in 

asphalt’. The 15-14 corners 

(depending on configuration) 

and the undulations make for 

some thrilling and difficult 

sections with blind corner entry 

and cambered turns constituting 

frequent obstacles. 

Apparently Portimao could 

host it first round of MotoGP 

as early as 2022. 

On the last run I had the traction 

control down to 4 from 

9 and the anti-wheelie disengaged 

and revelled in the 

brief laps with the bike giving 

marginally more movement. 

It still felt wild. The naked 

bike seems simple and almost 

pure in form but the 1290 is a 

sophisticated piece of kit. The 

slick tyres were another dimension; 

where a slide never 

felt too unsettling. “On any 

bike, of course, you always 

have the input of the rider to 

the rear wheel through the engine 

and you have to control 

the engine through the electronics: 

what we tried to do is 

give back the rider a lot more 

feeling for what the engine is 

doing and what the traction 

control is doing and this has 

been a large part of the development,” 

reveals Sinke of the 

2020 model. “We now have a 

6D lean angle sensor. We’ve 

had cornering ABS and traction 

control for a while with a 

lean sensor that measures the 

side-to-side and front to back 

motion of the bike and this 

one also detects the drift motion 

of the bike and it helps 

us to determine whether a 

certain loss of traction of the 

rear. Is it information to make 

that connection between rider 

and bike that much better.” 

Portimao permitted a more 

extensive exploration of the 

SUPER DUKE and its new 

virtues. The satisfying part 

was the fact that I’d ridden 

the 2019 model for almost 

two months the previous summer 

and could already detect 

the improvements on the 

road (the quicker and shorter 

gearbox among various upgrades); 

the amplified limits 

of the track just increased the 

fondness and admiration for 

the bike. 

“We are here just to show 

how good the SUPER DUKE 

is,” Sinke says. “There are 

people that use these bikes 

just for the track and we love 

that because it shows just 

how capable they are and how 

superbikes can be scared! If 

you are a good rider then you 

can be very fast on a SUPER 

DUKE. The chassis, torque 

and brakes: it’s a really good 

package and we hope we 

might be able to convince a 

few track riders to pick it up 

and I’m sure we will. You will 

ride the SUPER DUKE on the 

streets but if you want to go to 

the track then you won’t need 

two bikes.” 

The 1290 lacks a fairing but 

that makes it even more brazen 

in terms of its sporting 

potential. “It is more of a hybrid: 

a race bike but more for 

the street,” ponders Fillmore. 

“The first thing I noticed was 

that you could really plant 

and put a lot of energy into 

the front tyre and trail brake. 

I think that was a bit more 

of a struggle on the previous 

generation. Coming out of


the corner it is really good. It 

is one of those bikes where 

now you can grab a handful 

and feel like you are pushing 

forward. It’s an improvement. 

One of the most impressive 

parts was the chassis and 

when we went onto the street 

I was thinking ‘it’s stiffer so 

it’s going to be more harsh’ 

but the feeling was the complete 

opposite. They did a 

great job of making it so compliant 

for the street.” 

According to Project Leader 

and creator – the man who 

fashioned the first 990 SUPER 

DUKE back in 2005 – Hermann 

Sporn, the traits of the 

1290’s performance were born 

from some serious mileage 

on-track and with the likes of 

McWilliams providing technical 

affirmation for electronics, 

handling (the chassis is threetimes 

stiffer with a freshlypositioned 

engine) and even 

moulding the new Bridgestone 

S22 tyre with a compound 

especially made for the Beast. 

“We were given a free hand 

to make our brief for the new 

bike, and we had some discussions 

with management 

when they saw the amount 

of tests we were making on 

the track,” the Austrian explains. 

“We said: ‘that doesn’t 

mean it will be worse for the 

street…we have to feel the 

limit to know what the tyre 

is doing and so on’. You can 

sometimes only make discoveries 

at the maximum. 95 or 

even 99% is not enough. It has 

to be at 100. The work goes on.” 

“For me it is always about testing 

the limits of what you have,” 

says Fillmore of choice of machinery 

for the circuit. “Right 

now we have the street and the 

track versions of the SUPER 

DUKE and they are pretty much 

the same except for some suspension, 

but the biggest thing 

are the tyres. A slick tyre just 

feels different and you need to 

get up to speed and get to know 

them. The limits are similar…but 

you still need to find them.” 

“The lovely thing about riding 

on the circuit is the idea you 

have a lot more freedom and 

that you can ‘test’ everything 

that the bike is a lot more capable 

of,” says McWilliams, a man 

who has battled on Irish streets, 

against Valentino Rossi and still 

troubles the stopwatches. “You’d 

never be able to do that on the 

road. Today’s machinery is so far 

advanced and with horsepower 

figures right up into the 200s; it 

is not something you can really 

use on the road. There are guys 

that are only riding circuits now 

and forgetting about the road.” 

The search for precision, seconds, 

betterment, a strain on 

the bike’s potential and even the 

eye-widening effects of speed 

seems to be what it is all about. 

I couldn’t recommend it enough.

COMMENT

2020 1290 SUPER DUKE R VERDICT 

BEASTY 

By Roland Brown 

Photos by KTM/S.Romero/M.Campelli 

The Super Duke has long 

been regarded as slightly 

crazy, with its manufacturer’s 

encouragement. Back in 2005 

the original 990 Super Duke 

established KTM as a maker 

of hardcore streetbikes, notably 

when terrorising urban 

Japan in a famously feisty 

promo video. Six years ago 

the 1290 Super Duke R upped 

the stakes in similarly 

wheelie-happy fashion with 

the help of its much-hyped 

Beast prototype. 

Hyper-naked bikes’ popularity 

has inspired a flurry of activity, 

with new arrivals including 

Ducati’s Streetfighter V4 and 

MV Agusta’s Brutale RR joining 

a host of others in combining 

a wind-blown riding 

position with four cylinders 

and outrageous horsepower. 

KTM’s revitalised contender 

keeps its traditional V-twin 

layout to take them on. The 

Super Duke’s distinctive knifeedge 

look is subtly revised; its 

riding position slightly

COMMENT 

sportier thanks to a lower 

and more forward-set handlebar, 

but still comfortably 

upright for street use. A new 

TFT instrument panel is part 

of an electronics revamp that 

includes more easily used 

switchgear plus updated 

Bosch traction control and 

cornering ABS. 

Changes to the 1301cc, 75-degree 

V-twin engine begin with 

a new intake system. A duct 

between the headlight’s aggressively 

angular halves, instead 

of one each side, feeds 

new top-mounted injectors via 

a larger airbox. Many internal 

parts and the crankcases are 

lightened. Peak power goes up 

by 3bhp to 177bhp; more importantly 

the eight-valve unit 

kicks out a hefty 100Nm-plus 

of torque everywhere above 

3500rpm. 

Biggest changes are to the 

chassis, whose retained layout 

of tubular steel frame and 

aluminium swing-arm masks 

a complete redesign. The 

frame uses larger-diameter 

tubes and employs the engine 

as a stressed member for the 

first time, trebling rigidity and 

saving 2kg. 

The engine is held higher in 

the frame, which KTM say 

aids handling and gives a 

5mm higher pivot for the 

single-sided swing-arm, which 

is also substantially stiffened. 

A new rear subframe of cast 

aluminium and carbon-fibre 

replaces saves more weight. 

The WP forks are revised and 

now fully adjustable. More importantly 

the WP rear shock 

gains a rising-rate linkage 

that allows a longer action, 

“STRAIGHT-LINE PERFORMANCE IS NOT 

DRAMATICALLY DIFFERENT, WHICH IS FINE 

BECAUSE THAT MEANS IT’S AS BARKINGLY 

ENTERTAINING AS BEFORE. THE BIG 

V-TWIN LUMP IS WONDERFULLY FLEXIBLE, 

REGARDLESS OF WHICH MODE IT’S IN...”

2020 1290 SUPER DUKE R VERDICT 

while reducing the excessive 

rear wheel travel (from 156 

to 140mm) that was a hangover 

from the original frame’s 

origins with the dual-purpose 

Adventure. 

Straight-line performance 

is not dramatically different, 

which is fine because 

that means it’s as barkingly 

entertaining as before. The 

big V-twin lump is wonderfully 

flexible, regardless of 

which mode (Sport, Street 

and lower-output Rain) it’s in. 

Throttle response is refined, 

low-rev running civilised – 

and the charge from 4000rpm 

threatens to dislocate your 

shoulders. 

On the road that makes the 

Super Duke huge fun as well 

as outrageously fast. It revs 

smoothly, nonchalantly hoiking 

its front wheel if required, 

and despatching gears with 

help from efficient two-way 

shifter. At least, it does if 

you’ve paid extra for the 

shifter and the Track Pack 

that allows the anti-wheelie 

function to be disabled. 

Cruising at 80mph-plus is 

effortless for the KTM, if not 

always for its rider, who has 

nowhere to hide up near 

the 160mph-plus top speed. 

Whether the lack of wind 

protection or reduced, 16-litre 

fuel capacity are drawbacks is 

debatable. More of both would 

be ideal, but wind-blast is part 

of a naked bike’s appeal on

COMMENT 

the road, and the range of about 

120 miles is tolerable. 

The Super Duke always handled 

fine on the road and it’s now 

better still: slightly sportier and 

more composed even when its 

rider is shifting weight or battling 

the wind. Unlike some 

rivals there’s no semi-active 

suspension option, but the forks 

are manually adjustable via 

knobs at the top of each leg, 

and the shock has an equally 

useful remote preload adjuster. 

On track the new chassis is 

a notable improvement, as 

a launch blast around the 

swoopy Portimao circuit in 

Portugal’s Algarve confirmed. 

The KTM felt sharp on its way 

into turns, its frame’s extra 

rigidity beneficial especially 

when slowing with the eyeball-bulging 

force of Brembo’s 

Stylema front calipers. And 

when exiting bends the Super 

Duke was more firm and controllable. 

It no longer squatted 

under power but stayed taut, 

steering more accurately and 

delivering its V-twin grunt 

more controllably to the fat 

Bridgestone rear tyre. 

That chassis improvement 

means that for the first time 

the Super Duke is as capable 

on a circuit as it has always 

been on the road. It’s competitively 

priced, too (at £15,699 

in the UK), even though most 

riders will pay extra for the 

quick-shifter and Track Pack. 

Keyless ignition and cruise 

control come as standard; accessories 

range from heated 

grips and tank-bag to rearset 

footrests and an Akrapovic 

silencer. 

This Beast 3.0 update is an 

effective and timely reboot 

for KTM’s hyper-naked contender. 

Its four-cylinder rivals 

are gathering with menace, 

and the 1290 Super Duke R 

is fighting fit to take them on: 

slightly more refined, distinctly 

more composed and bursting 

with as much crazy V-twin 

character as ever.

“THE SUPER DUKE 

ALWAYS HANDLED FINE 

ON THE ROAD AND IT’S 

NOW BETTER STILL: 

SLIGHTLY SPORTIER 

AND MORE COMPOSED 

EVEN WHEN ITS RIDER 

IS SHIFTING WEIGHT OR 

BATTLING THE WIND.” 

2020 1290 SUPER DUKE R VERDICT

PRODUCTS 

HUSQVARNA 

www.husqvarna-motorcycles.com 

Husqvarna’s 2020 Street functional clothing sees the brand continuing their association with 

Dutch company REV’IT for another batch of fetching and dependable attire that must rank as 

some of the most stylish and subtle on the market. We like the Gore-Tex Pursuit GTX jacket 

which is waterproof, windproof and features several ventilation openings for when winter ebbs 

into spring. The garment has SEEFLEX protection in the elbow and shoulder areas. The Pursuit 

jeans are a cool complement – literally – with COOLMAX elements in the construction 

ensuring effective moisture-wicking properties. The Pursuit jeans have the added advantages 

of triple seams, safety stitching and a relaxed fit for maximum comfort. The Pursuit gloves 

look a little heavy-duty but they are made with dyed goatskin palm, Hydratex® liners and 

knuckle protection and will suit most climate and conditions. We own several pieces of the 

2019 collection and love the way that Husqvarna have crafted clothing that works in the saddle 

but is casual enough to wear on an everyday basis. 

Click on any image for more information.

M 

FEATURE 

HIDING 

TO 

NOTHING 

WHAT GOES INTO A MotoGP 

RACER’S LEATHER SUIT? 

By Adam Wheeler, Photos by CormacGP

FEATURE 

High-tech synthetics or 

the butt of an animal? 

MotoGP and WorldSBK 

race suits offer a wealth of 

protection thanks to the presence 

of airbag engineering but 

custom-made leathers still 

blend properties of materials 

that go back before the wheel 

was even invented. 

Curiosity regarding what 

MotoGP athletes are using 

as their principal form of 

safeguard against high speed 

tumbles and scrapes led us 

to a revealing sit-down with 

Alpinestars Jeremy Appleton 

last season. Just under half of 

the entire MotoGP grid were 

wearing their leather suits in 

2019 (and more than twentyfive 

throughout all classes), 

among them the world champion 

and his HRC brandmate 

Cal Crutchlow. “They have so 

much experience with what 

works and what doesn’t work 

that it is very rare to see a 

problem with the leather or 

any problem,” says the Brit 

who has been using ‘Astars’ 

since 2014. “They are specialists 

and are constantly improving 

and that’s important 

because we have to maximise 

protection with weight, safety, 

design and many things.” 

Onto the details then… 

We have two fundamental 

materials in terms of 

leather… 

It is either bovine (cow) or 

kangaroo and the vast majority 

of riders use kangaroo. 

The reason being that we

MotoGP LEATHERS 

can make the suit somewhat 

lighter because we can reduce 

kangaroo leather to be thinner 

than bovine. It is all to with the 

properties within the skin of the 

animal and kangaroo offers a 

bit more flexibility: the tensile 

strength is similar but a thinner 

kangaroo hide is more-or-less 

the same as a thicker bovine. 

Interestingly the bovine leather 

tends to retain its shape and 

fit for longer, and some riders 

really like that. They like 

the fact that a suit is tight and 

hugs them closer. Casey Stoner 

always liked to have a bovine 

suit because the feel he got 

was very particular. Someone 

like Jorge Lorenzo prefers 

more space and Kangaroo 

works just fine; if the suit 

flexes out for him then that’s 

better. It comes down to each 

rider’s approach and they are 

all super-sensitive to everything. 

So, for us, once we have 

defined the pattern and the fit 

solution for a rider then – until 

a change is planned – then 

every suit is made exactly the 

same as the previous one. 

Riders are sufficiently sensitive 

that they will pick up the 

difference in feel between two 

“CASEY STONER ALWAYS 

LIKED TO HAVE A BOVINE 

SUIT BECAUSE THE FEEL 

WAS VERY PARTICULAR. 

SOMEONE LIKE JORGE LOR- 

ENZO PREFERS MORE SPACE 

AND KANGAROO WORKS 

JUST FINE...” 

different suits and we go to 

great lengths to make sure 

they are identical. Nevertheless, 

you are dealing with 

an item that is made from a 

natural product and there are 

vagaries within that. 

In terms of construction then 

the base material for the suit 

is the animal hide… 

Then it goes through a tanning 

process and we have a 

very unique technology which 

we apply to the outer surface, 

which is a coating that accepts 

the print finish that we 

put on the material. The suits 

in MotoGP are prominently 

printed. That allows us to 

make them as light as possible 

because we are not adding 

extra material and the base 

graphics can be any colour 

and whatever intricate patterns 

to get good registration, 

so they look very sharp. Most 

importantly it means we don’t 

cover up the ventilation system 

we build into the suit or 

the perforation and the suit’s 

natural flexibility is retained 

because we are not putting 

extra layers in. So, in the tanning 

and finishing process 

there are other chemicals 

used to make sure the leather 

feels good; things like antibacterial 

treatment and similar 

considerations. 

For our wet weather suits we 

have an aquaphobic treatment 

we also apply to the 

outer skin… 

For the rain riders have traditionally 

put on an extra layer, 

or a plastic, the problem with 

that - as you have probably 

seen on camera - is that they 

flap around because it is very 

hard to get the fit really tight 

and they don’t breathe very 

well. During a Grand Prix 

you are not getting rid of the 

moisture from a rider’s perspiration 

which is fatiguing. 

So, the aqua treatment has 

been a good win. We’ve substantially 

reduced the intake 

of moisture into the leather 

(which absorbs it quite ef-

FEATURE 

“A LOT OF A KANGAROO 

SUITS IN MotoGP WILL 

BE ABOUT 1-1.5MM BUT 

WE MIGHT LEAVE A LITTLE 

BIT MORE THICKNESS IN 

CERTAIN AREAS. WE COULD 

ALWAYS GO WITH HARDER 

AND STRONGER LEATHER 

BUT THE TRADE-OFF IS THAT 

YOU HAVE LESS FEEL AND 

WITH A STIFFER FINISH. 

RIDERS DON’T WANT THAT 

AND IN MotoGP IT IS ALL 

ABOUT SENSITIVITY AND 

AS LITTLE WEIGHT AS 

POSSIBLE.” 

fectively) so it is around 70% 

better with the treatment. That 

means we tend not to put as 

much venting on a wet weather 

suit and it just shoots the 

water off the surface, which is 

helpful. 

The Pros and Cons to bovine 

and kangaroo… 

Generally-speaking bovine will 

last longer…but that that’s to 

do with the filaments in the 

hide of a kangaroo suit being 

longer and more flexible so 

over time they tend to stretch 

more than a bovine suit. The 

hide in the bovine suit is a bit 

thicker so again you have more 

longevity out of it. There are 

not too many other differences 

between the two. Kangaroo is 

more expensive and, critically, 

you have to select a good hide. 

At Alpinestars we define very 

carefully where the hides come 

from before we even get to the 

tanning process, and with kangaroo 

your sources are always 

going to be limited: the differences 

in quality can be quite 

great. Kangaroo hides can be 

effective provided they are the 

‘right’ kangaroo hides and that 

takes research, development 

and an understanding of what 

makes the right hide.


We don’t add anything specifically 

with the material itself 

to help with abrasion… 

What we tend to do is put 

external protection on the 

suit, like the polymers you 

see on the shoulders, elbows 

and knees, and where we have 

really high wearing areas we 

have either double-thickness 

or we scarf-out the leathers to 

a lesser degree. For instance, 

a lot of a kangaroo suits in 

MotoGP will be about 1-1.5mm 

but we might leave a little bit 

more thickness in certain areas. 

We could always go with 

harder and stronger leather 

but the trade-off is that you 

have less feel and with a 

stiffer finish. Riders don’t want 

that and in MotoGP it is all 

about sensitivity and as little 

weight as possible. Like other 

athletes in may sports these 

guys are operating at the 

absolute limit of their physical 

potential so anything preventing 

that is not ideal. 

The MotoGP suits and 

customer suits are really 

similar… 

They will have the same materials, 

same construction process 

and same performance 

and protection, even down to 

the lessons and applications 

we learn about venting and 

keeping a rider’s body ambient 

temperature during the 

race. We can move that across 

for the customer. In GP we 

are dealing with many highlyindividual 

fits as well as the 

graphic customisation, which 

means that the make-up process 

is slightly different even 

if the technology is the same. 

The suits that we offer to customers 

are simply a couple of 

months behind what we are 

doing with the riders in terms 

of the tech. The Kevlar stretch 

panels and everything else is 

the same spec. 

Of course, not all of the suit is 

leather… 

We have sought to improve 

the flexibility of the suits and 

that’s a case of using aramid 

fibres for the elasticated 

stretch panels that you see. 

On our suit we have what 

we term as a fully floating 

back: there is a multi direction 

stretch panel all the 

way around but that is actually 

concertina leather. So 

we stitch elasticated thread 

through the leather and that 

gives you that ‘accordion type’ 

effect which allows the suit to 

move very comfortably in any 

direction and also means the 

consistent leather itself is not 

being pulled in any particular 

direction because the suit 

flexes out and back in those 

joints. The aramid fibres perhaps 

don’t have the length of 

travel that the stitch has but 

they are very strong and allow 

us to join the leather panels 

with an area that is lightweight, 

very flexible and very 

strong for abrasion resistance. 

Those areas have increased. 

We have probably gone from 

80-90% of leather down to 

something like 65-70% - hazarding 

a guess. The airbag 

has made a difference as well 

because we had to re-spec the 

suit to accommodate not only 

the airbag in its passive state 

but when it’s activated, we 

need to give the rider some 

breathing space. 

Fundamentally the suits have 

remained predominantly 

leather because at the 

moment there is no better 

substitute…

FEATURE 

If you look at all the performance 

criteria from a leather 

suit, then natural leather still 

does the job better than anything 

else. We’ve looked at 

multiple man-made fibres to 

try and improve areas and 

maybe in abrasion you can 

find a better material but it 

doesn’t breathe, or it doesn’t 

stretch or it is too heavy. All 

sorts of issues that don’t quite 

work. There is an ongoing battle 

and the material research 

department are always looking 

at different industries for 

new technologies and new 

ways to define the performance 

characteristics of a 

suit…but the lab test is the 

ultimate dictator before we 

get to the track. Until the lab 

team sign-off for something 

that is proven to be better 

what we’re already using then 

of course it does not make 

it onto the product. Then it 

comes down to our field testing 

at the track. First off what 

sort of response we get from 

the riders and what sort of 

evidence we get out of the use 

of the materials. 

We actually have a test 

team… 

Before the material would 

ever make it to the track it 

would be evaluated through 

all of the scientific processes 

and laboratory analysis. It 

would then go out on the 

road. It’s very likely that Gabriele 

[Mazzarolo, company 

owner] himself would be


trying it. If it got through the 

road stage then it would probably 

come here to MotoGP 

and likely make its absolute 

debut at a test and we would 

involve different riders across 

the categories. The athletes 

themselves – by-and-large – 

tend to be very happy with the 

specification they are using at 

this particular time and any 

change we introduce needs to 

be done in a very open and 

communicated way so they 

understand what it is coming 

and why. They are extremely 

good for testing because they 

are mentally attuned to being 

highly sensitive and capable 

to analyse what is working 

and what is not working 

and what makes a difference 

to the performance on the 

bike. And they are used to 

giving feedback, which means 

we get great feedback! The 

development team are always 

looking to push ideas to 

change technologies as new 

things become available to us 

but ultimately the athletes are 

testing those ideas and new 

construction techniques and 

giving us the ‘yes’ or ‘no’ or 

what adjustments need to be 

made to optimise it. 

There have been times when 

the performance of the suits 

have amazed us… 

I know we had a couple of riders 

in the AMA series – about 

ten-fifteen years ago - go 

down on the Daytona banking 

at very high speed and the 

suits were remarkably intact. 

That was impressive. Perhaps 

the one issue we began to 

look into as a result of those 

accidents was not so much 

the leather technology but 

the control of friction heat. 

Through our auto racing we 

came up with some solutions 

involving Nomex fibre which is 

a fire/heat shield material to 

see if we needed to be lining 

areas of suits for very highspeed 

racetracks to prevent 

that heat coming through. 

More recently the incident 

that immediately comes to 

mind is Loris Baz’s crash in 

testing at Sepang three years 

ago. That was a 200mph+ 

get-off and the deceleration 

between the time that Loris 

lost control and hit the track 

was minimal because we saw 

the airbag data. He hit the 

track at more than 180mph 

and the suit was battered but 

it held and Loris’ only fallout 

from that was a slightly 

bruised elbow. It was a good 

‘pat on the back’ for the development 

team – not that we 

ever want to see riders crash 

or take pleasure in seeing 

them go through that situation 

but the fact that suit held up 

was pretty special. 

It does beggar belief that MotoGP 

is so high tech but we 

are using the same materials 

as the cavemen…! 

But like anything when you 

are dealing with it daily then 

you don’t think of it that way. 

It is a big compliment to 

‘mother nature’ and it is extraordinary 

that something so 

simplistic has stood the test 

of time. With all the technology 

and all the know-how we 

have not been able to replicate 

what we source from an 

animal. The team of people in 

the racing development centre 

and the product department 

are incredibly clever at being 

able to harness properties of 

very natural material that has 

been around forever and find 

ways to use it better and more 

effectively.

PRODUCTS 

ALPINESTARS 

Alpinestars Techair 5 airbag is the latest 

generation of a technology that he company 

have been fashioning for the better part of 

twenty years and the efficiency of which has 

been protecting riders on a weekly basis in 

international racing series. The firm claim it 

offers a greater effect than 18 back protectors 

and now has more upper torso coverage 

than ever (shoulders, chest, ribs and 

full back). It uses 3 gyroscopes and 3 accelerometers 

to deploy in a maximum inflation 

time of 20 to 40ms based on the volume 

of the airbag size. Alpinestars claim ‘the 

impact absorption while wearing the airbag 

results in a decrease of the impact force by 

up to 95% compared to a passive protector’. 

The autonomous product comes in Race 

(triggers at higher speed) and Street settings 

- which are easily configured - and 

is compatible with a range of leather and 

textile jackets in the Alpinestars catalogue. 

It simply slips underneath, is connected via 

cable and provides up to 30 hours of riding 

time before needing a recharge. Expect to 

pay around 700 dollars. 

www.alpinestars.com

SX 

ARLINGTON 

AT&T STADIUM · RND 8 OF 17 · FEBRUARY 22 

450SX winner: Eli Tomac, Kawasaki 

250SX winner: Chase Sexton, Honda

SX TEXAS 

ET 

TRIPLE 

By Steve Matthes. Photos by James Lissimore

SX TEXAS

SX TEXAS

SX BLOG 

THE HARD YARDS... 

The 2020 Monster Energy Supercross series is coming up to its halfway 

point (who knew?) this weekend in Atlanta and we’re starting to 

get some separation here in the 450SX class. But not in a good way in 

case you’re wondering. 

Look, supercross is dangerous, 

we all know this and 

year after year it becomes 

a series with the walking 

wounded going out each 

weekend. We all know this 

but the past weekend in Dallas, 

we saw the first time all 

year just how much of a toll 

this sport takes on people. 

We had round two of three of 

the Triple Crown format, we 

had the second round of the 

250SX east coast and maybe 

we had a full moon. I’m not 

sure because the stadium 

in Dallas is covered but how 

else to explain the carnage 

we saw? 

Let’s recap shall we? 

Monster Energy Kawasaki’s 

Adam Cianciarulo crashed off 

the dragon back and broke 

his collarbone in practice, 

he’ll be out for a month or so. 

His impressive rookie year is 

on hold for now. 

Honda’s Justin Brayton 

crashed five or six times 

throughout the day and 

finally the final one after the 

finish line did him in for the 

night and he missed the final 

two races. 

Red Bull KTM’s Cooper Webb 

had a bad crash in the second 

Main exiting the dragon 

back where he landed on the 

concrete. It was very scary for 

the defending champion and 

although he missed the last 

main event, somehow it looks 

like he will be ok for this 

weekend’s race in Atlanta. 

JGR Suzuki’s Jimmy Decotis 

had a big fall off the, wait for 

it, dragon back, in practice 

and missed the entire race. 

Monster Pro Circuit’s Jordon 

Smith crashed approximately 

14 times in his three races 

while Martin Davalos appeared 

to want to match his 

racing number (37) with his 

number of spills. 

And these are just the ones 

that I can remember, I’m sure 

there were more than a few 

more out there. What was 

it? The Triple Crown format? 

Some riders like Rockstar 

Husqvarna’s Dean Wilson is 

pretty adamant that it’s the 

format that’s doing it as the 

shorter races cause more riders 

to really go for it as well 

as the simple math of more 

laps equals more crashes 

because, well, it’s supercross 

and for most racers, it’s not 

a matter of if they’re going to 

ditch, it’s when.

CREATED THANKS TO 

BY ADAM 

WHEELER 

But you’ll notice that in the 

description above there were 

a few mentions about the 

dragon back obstacle. There’s 

a certain speed you can go 

off of these and more than 

a few guys pushed it a bit 

hard, missed the top jump 

“LOOK, SUPERCROSS IS 

DANGEROUS, WE ALL 

KNOW THIS AND YEAR 

AFTER YEAR IT BECOMES 

A SERIES WITH THE 

WALKING WOUNDED 

GOING OUT EACH WEEK.” 

that “bumps” you over the 

landing. When you miss it, 

things go sideways. Perhaps 

the obstacle itself could have 

been built a little better but 

the riders are always free to 

go to the track crew and recommend 

some changes. The 

track in Dallas was also slicker 

than the riders thought it 

would be. There was a hard 

base to it and traction looked 

good but a few riders told 

me how they would spin out 

there. 

Meanwhile out front, we 

have Monster Kawasaki’s Eli 

Tomac and Honda’s Ken Roczen 

starting to pull away from 

everyone else here as Webb 

crashed out and Rockstar 

Husqvarna’s Jason Anderson 

has had a few bad races. 

“The dragon back was 

sketchy a little bit, for sure. 

I’m sure everyone had a moment 

on that thing because 

the dirt here is really good 

but it breaks apart and gets 

slick and you lose traction, 

and then you get kicked on 

that last one,” said Monster 

Yamaha’s Justin Barcia after 

the race. “So it took out a 

lot of guys. Then there were 

other sections that took out 

guys, too. It sucks to see 

some competitors get taken 

out right now.” 

“In my opinion, it was the dirt 

and the way they built the 

obstacles,” said Brayton who 

was a victim of the night in 

Dallas. “If we have good dirt 

and traction, we don’t see 

BY STEVE MATTHES 

the crashes. The whoops are 

the same way. The obstacles 

and the dirt didn’t match. 

Also, too many whoops on 

dragon back also and the way 

it shaped up didn’t work out 

either. It was more of that, we 

were hoping and expecting 

traction and didn’t get it.” 

I went to one of the more 

outspoken riders on the 

circuit in Chad Reed the day 

after the race and asked him 

about “Carnage Cross” that 

we saw this weekend. 

“It was the easiest dragon 

back I’ve ever raced,” said 

Reed and thereby confusing 

me even more. “There is this 

weird thing on the right side 

of the bars guys can use!” 

Typical Reed, blunt and not 

holding back, continued: “I 

thought it (dragon back) was 

like everything nowadays, 

super fast and easy and the 

top one got steep. The issue 

is everyone’s just used to pinning 

it with no real technique.

SX BLOG 

# 

To me the real problem is 

everything’s so easy and fast 

so when there are crashes 

that are huge and costly. The 

bikes are the best they have 

ever been, tracks are faster 

and easier than they have 

ever been.” 

So there you have it, a couple 

of riders that said they 

didn’t have an idea of why it 

was so nutty in Dallas while 

some others point to the 

track, dirt and the TC format. 

Myself, I go back to the top 

of this column. We usually 

see the field thinning out a 

little more gradual than we 

had at Dallas and maybe, it’s 

the natural order of things 

but this past weekend, we 

were reminded of the brutalities 

of the sport all in one 

night.

GO 

ADVENTURE 



Photo: R. Schedl 

KTM 390 ADVENTURE 

ADVENTURE MORE 

Fuel your restless spirit with a new adventure 

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proven performance credentials aboard this new, 

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the KTM 390 ADVENTURE. Versatile ergonomics, 

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all come together in a comfortable, lightweight 

package – created for those who want to fit more 

adventure into their daily lives.

SX TEXAS

PRODUCTS 

FLY RACING 

Fly Racing’s owners – Western Power 

Sports – have prided themselves on sourcing 

proven, quality goods right across their 

product range and therefore their Sedona 

Tyres project (mainly in the USA) is worthy 

of note. Of particular interest is the new 

MX-208SR; a steel-belted radial carcass 

that allows motorcyclists to run at lower 

air pressure and to withstand hard, sudden 

blows without rebound or shock to the 

bike’s handling. The tyres also feature a 

dual rubber compound with a front elliptical 

and rear drive-link tread pattern. 

“The comfort that I get was unmatched out 

on the trail,” said industry product tester 

Kris Keefer. “On longer days in the saddle, 

the MX-208SR’s almost acted like a second 

set of suspension, which at my age, was a 

welcomed feeling”. 

“The knobbies are the deepest I’ve seen, 

yet to my surprise I did not experience tyre 

roll,” offered former racer Brock Sellards. 

“It also hooked up well on the motocross 

track that was on the dry side. Sedona hit it 

out of the park on this one.” 

Sedona claim the model offers ‘a controlled 

footprint for predictable performance’. Clink 

a link to read and see more. 

WWW.FLYRACING.COM

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er allowing you to look ahead without fear of the roost or branches, 

hen we started developing these for you. 

LEATT.COM

PRODUCTS 

TROY LEE 

DESIGNS 

Watch for the Monster Energy Yamaha MX2 

team (Jago Geerts and Ben Watson) this 

weekend at Matterley Basin: thanks to the 

squad’s new association with Troy Lee 

Designs both the Belgian and the Brit will be 

wearing not only some of the best looking 

gear in the gate but also some of the most 

technically advanced. We visited TLD’s HQ in 

California last year - and will hopefully be getting 

over again in the next two months - and 

can verify that the Ultra Limited Edition line 

is featherlight, stretchy and feels ridiculously 

tough; it’s a premium set of kit and sits at the 

top of the perch with the likes of Fox FlexAir, 

Fly’s Evolution, Answer’s Trinity and Alpinestars’ 

Supertech. In collaboration with Adidas 

the jersey is made from HeiQ® Smart Temp 

Technological fabric which ‘thermoregulates’ 

depending on the body’s temperature. The 

Yamaha Ultra livery won’t be on sale until 

April apparently, so fans should get in touch 

with the company or a reliable TLD dealer to 

make enquiries asap in order not to miss out.

See more on the Ultra here: 

www.troyleedesigns.com

FEATURE 

PLAY 

DROP IT!

READY FOR 2020 MXGP? WE SPEAK TO JEFFREY 

HERLINGS, GLENN COLDENHOFF, TOM VIALLE & 

THOMAS COVINGTON AHEAD OF GP#1 & ASK HOW THEY 

(AND OTHERS) DEAL WITH FIRST RACE NERVES 

By Adam Wheeler. Photos Ray Archer

MXGP 

This weekend the 64th FIM Motocross World 

Championship gets underway at arguably the 

best track on the calendar. For the first time 

in the modern era the British Grand Prix will run the 

gauntlet of late winter weather to open the schedule 

for what will be the tenth MXGP visit to Matterley 

Basin. Not since 2012 has the championship got 

underway on European shores so the turnout from 

across the north of the continent for the initial taste 

of twenty will be curious to chart. In 2019 Matterley 

demonstrated that the southern English can play ball. 

Regardless of the conditions – except for a 2017 MX of 

Nations style deluge – there is little doubting the fine 

stage and course that the Winchester venue provides. 

As March 1st draws closer, we spoke with a handful of 

athletes keen to develop their own individual 

narratives for 2020… 

HERLINGS: “I DON’T FEEL 

I NEED TO WIN EVERY 

RACE” 

There are still a few hours and 

days left to go but it seems that 

a fully fit Jeffrey Herlings is 

ready to slay MXGP once more. 

From an utterly dominant 2018 

in which he owned 17 from 19 

Grands Prix and finished runner-up 

in the other two events 

to a virtually non-existent 2019 

where he made just 4.5 appearances 

(winning two of those 

however) Herlings is hoping 

the pendulum swings back the 

other way. 

Aside from 2012 and 2013 

where he stamped his name 

into the annals of the sport, 

Herlings has bounced from 

dominance to disaster almost 

on an annual basis. 2014: loses 

the MX2 crown by just 4 points 

after having a lead of more than 

150 and breaking his left femur. 

2015: loses the MX2 crown in a 

similar position after dislocating 

his hip. 2016: claims third MX2 

title at a canter. 2017: breaks 

hand on the eve of MXGP debut 

but finishes as runner-up. 

2018: sets a new benchmark for 

performance at elite level. 2019: 

double break to the right foot. 

Herlings could be ready to 

unleash a degree of anguish 

but he insists he is ready to 

sacrifice short-term glory for 

long-term gain from within the 

confines of Red Bull KTM (the 

greatest team ever assembled 

in the premier class) and his 

eleventh world championship 

season. 

We’re struggling to believe him 

as well… 

Mentally, was 2019 worse than 

2014? That year you were still 

very young and lost the crown 

so narrowly [special feature 

coming up in the next OTOR!]… 

Way worse. I think I won every 

GP I raced that year except for 

Mexico [the final round]. So 

it was awesome…apart from 

missing those three-four races 

and then the championship! I 

also had a shoulder injury at 

the beginning of the season. 

But…2019 was easily the worst 

year of my career. 

You had two tricky starts but 

still came back to win and then 

claimed the Nations at Assen… 

it finished well. 

The last races were just the 

cherry. The complete cake was 

long gone. It had been eaten 

by the time I got to the table! It 

was a tough year mentally and 

physically. The second injury 

was not so bad but the first 

one was. I was out for a long 

time. It’s a part of the sport 

where ‘everyone gets their turn’ 

kinda thing; you can see it with 

[Jorge] Prado and it happened 

to Tony [Cairoli] as well,

MXGP 2020: HERLINGS

MXGP 

MXGP 

[Romain] Febvre and [Clement] 

Desalle. Everyone has their 

turn every couple of seasons. It 

frustrating. 

Is there a different approach to 

this season then? Realisation of 

the sixty starts and forty motos 

to come? A repeat of 2018 

perhaps isn’t necessary… 

My mentality is different. I don’t 

feel that I have to win any more 

– I mean, I want to win but in 

the past if I didn’t then I had 

‘failed’ and the world would fall 

in. I’ve learned that your health 

is the most important thing. 

Racing is important to me but 

my health and my life waymore. 

So if I have to take risks 

to win then I don’t want to do it. 

I want to be in the ‘safe zone’. 

You can definitely still crash or 

go down in the start and break 

bones at any time but sometimes 

I went a bit ‘over’. Now I 

prefer to be in the safe zone and 

take a 3rd at whatever race than 

take a risk and end up in hospital 

again. My goal this year is to 

be at all twenty races. And to try 

and fight for the championship. 

Try to become a bit smarter and 

maybe lose a few fights but try 

to win the war. 

In 2018 you virtually changed 

the sport and raised the level. 

Do you ever think about that or 

are you too close to it? 

I did it the Aldon [Baker] way. 

I went all-out. If 100% was the 

maximum I did 110. I watched 

every single piece of food I ate, 

I calculated sleep and jet lag, 

I trained my ass-off, I left my 

social life on the side for almost 

a year. It was tough. I took the 

Aldon method for supercross 

but perhaps went even more extreme. 

It is hard to do that just 

for a few years, physically and 

mentally. It was worth it though 

to come to that level and win 

17 from 19 races and finish 

second twice: I think it is one 

of the greatest seasons a rider 

has had. I also won pre-season 

races, all the Dutch Championship 

events I did, and my class 

at the Motocross of Nations. It 

was almost a picture-perfect 

year…and I cannot do it again. 

First of all you need to be lucky 

and you need to take some risks 

to make it happen: I remember 

starting some races from fifteenth 

and still pushing hard for 

the win. I’m not looking for that 

now. I won the championship by 

something like 150-points and 

through missing a race and you 

can win a championship by just 

5 points if necessary. I don’t feel 

like I need to win every single 

race anymore.

MXGP 2020: HERLINGS 

The way you race makes that 

difficult to believe… 

You need some injuries, and 

then you’ll understand. 

It is rare to see you at anything 

less than 100% committed… 

Look at Assen last year. In 

the last moto I was OK to 

take fourth. I wasn’t feeling 

good that day with the mud. 

I thought ‘if this is my worst 

day – a 2nd and a 4th – then 

I’m still looking good if it was 

a championship’. You need a 

few hospital visits to be able to 

think that like. 

You still looked annoyed that 

day though… 

I was disappointed in myself 

because I feel like I failed…but 

at the same time I was smart. 

It wasn’t my day, but I accepted 

it. I had worked for more 

than two months just for that 

race but nothing went for me; 

the starts were bad, the track 

had been flattened each time 

and that meant it was harder 

to pass, and then the conditions. 

So, I was pissed, mainly 

because it hadn’t rained for 

like two months in Holland and 

then it didn’t stop that weekend! 

Quite a lot went wrong 

for me but looking back I think 

it was one of my best races 

because I accepted not to win. 

It’s something I wouldn’t have 

been able to do two years ago. 

The older you get; is it easier 

to think more like Tony Cairoli 

where a podium each weekend 

means a very high level of 

consistency…? 

Yeah, that’s my goal as well 

this year. There are definitely 

some tracks where I really want 

to go for the win, but when I 

go to somewhere like Russia 

or Czech Republic then I know 

these places are not my tracks. 

If I can get on the podium then 

that’s good enough and – most 

importantly – I get to the races 

after. I need to be at each GP. 

Injuries can happen but you 

have to remind yourself to be 

smart. It’s easy to sit here at 

this table and say it but you’ll 

see it in my racing this year: 

if I can get a win or a podium 

then I’ll try for it otherwise I’m 

OK to let it go.

MXGP 

COLDENHOFF: “I’M NOT A COCKY GUY” 

Another member of the strongest (current) 

motocross nation and something of a recent 

MXoN specialist, Glenn Coldenhoff is sitting 

in front of us in KTM racewear. The hurried 

nature of the factory GasGas deal means that 

Matterley Basin will be the big unveiling for 

the latest marque to grace the premier class. 

The 29-year-old is using his Standing Construct 

450 SX-F in the meantime for the final 

stages of winter prep and an off-season period 

in total contrast to 2019 where he broke 

several vertebrae and raced his way back into 

fitness and form. 

Coldenhoff frustratingly chucked the positive 

momentum from his RedBud Motocross of 

Nations crowning moment into the sand with 

his violent and shocking crash at the end of 

2018 but is hoping that the five podiums and 

three wins (including Assen) from the close 

of ’19 will run into the new campaign. #259 

scaled the top fifteen of MXGP in rapid style 

to snag the bronze medal at the final round. 

Anything like the same level of form will mean 

the Dutchman is an outside title contender, 

regardless of the colour of the plastics.

MXGP 2020: COLDENHOFF 

The question everyone must have for you- 

‘Can I back it up?’ [smiles] I don’t really 

know. I feel very good and had a good 

winter so far I just had a small injury 

before Riola [Sardo in Sardinia and the 

first International race of 2020 at the end 

of January] and that’s why I did not race 

there. It was to the same ribs where I 

broke my back, so I tend to feel any problems 

quite quickly there. Anyway, it was 

just one week off the bike and I rode some 

more in Italy before going to Hawkstone 

Park. I definitely have more confidence 

and more experience. It will be pretty 

interesting to see what I can do from the 

start. 

You’ve always relied quite heavily on 

confidence, so there must still be some 

important value in leading those races in 

Turkey and China and making someone 

like Herlings work hard to catch you… 

Yeah, he also said something like that in 

an interview; like he was dealing with a 

new ‘Glenn’ that he hadn’t seen before. I 

definitely felt really good at the end of last 

season and everybody recognised that. I 

think when Jeffrey is really fit then he is 

hard to beat…but you never know. I will 

try to be up there every single weekend 

with the guys. Consistency is very important, 

and you need to make sure every 

start is good. 

The injury must have severely dented 

the first half of 2019 because people see 

you racing and assume you are fit and 

100%...but that’s not the truth… 

Sure, but I also feel that I underestimated 

myself. I had a lot of pain until the halfway 

point of 2019 and then you are always 

playing catch-up to the others that are fit. 

There was one moment early-on where we 

ended up having a five-week break in the 

calendar and I could work in that period. 

Only having two weeks on the bike coming 

into the season definitely isn’t good. 

In the end I got fit, got better, got more 

confidence and made the results. 

Another obvious question: is a bid for the 

championship a realistic goal? 

I’m not a cocky guy and won’t tell it like 

that but I’m working my ass off every day 

to get the results and winning is the best 

feeling out there. I will go into every single 

race for it. Championship-wise I got 

3rd place last year and there were a lot 

of injuries [to others] but I was also injured 

myself. Anything can happen. I had 

a strong finish to the season and for most 

of it I was around tenth in the standings 

and finally pushed up to third, so it is a 

very long series. I will try to be consistent 

all year long and hopefully be on the box 

many times. 

COLDENHOFF FRUSTRATINGLY 

CHUCKED THE POSITIVE MOMENTUM 

FROM HIS REDBUD MOTOCROSS 

OF NATIONS CROWNING MOMENT 

INTO THE SAND WITH HIS VIOLENT 

AND SHOCKING CRASH AT THE END 

OF 2018 BUT IS HOPING THAT THE 

FIVE PODIUMS AND THREE WINS 

(INCLUDING ASSEN) FROM THE 

CLOSE OF ’19 WILL RUN INTO THE 

NEW CAMPAIGN.

MXGP MXGP 

COVINGTON: “I’M HEALTHY BUT IT TAKES TIME 

TO GET THAT FITNESS BACK” 

Midway through 2018 Thomas 

Covington was picking up 

form. The Grand Prix of France 

delivered the first of five MX2 

podium results in the next six 

races and would represent the 

purple patch of nine trophies 

and a victory that year. That 

weekend at St Jean D’Angely 

he also confirmed that he 

would transfer works Rockstar 

Energy Husqvarna teams 

from MXGP to the AMA and 

head back to the States for 

the first time in more than half 

a decade. Injury and illness 

meant that Covington – who 

would have had one more year 

of MX2 eligibility in 2019 – 

meant his first season as an 

AMA Pro was a write-off. Marriage 

to a Brit and the chance 

to return to Grand Prix as an 

MXGP rookie with the Gebben 

Van Venrooy Yamaha brought 

Covington over the Atlantic 

once more. 

As one of the only Americans 

attempting to find his way in 

the FIM World Championship, 

Covington is still a novelty and 

faces yet another fresh start 

in his career. Can he (or we) 

expect much from a tentative 

first step in 2020? 

First of all: sum-up the Husky 

experience in the U.S. It just 

didn’t work out for you… 

I would have liked to have 

stayed for my last year in MX2 

but the way things were there 

was not the chance to remain 

with Husky for a 450 ride at 

that time [for 2020]. So, I’d 

rather agree to a two-year deal 

in America than maybe 

nothing. Looking back, I 

maybe should have stayed 

but I learned a lot over the 

past year and I’m glad I did it 

regardless because I’d always 

wonder ‘what if?’ otherwise. It 

was a bummer the way things 

went with the illness and a 

few nagging injuries as well as 

moving everything back home 

and getting used to supercross 

it was a lot to take on at 

once. It was a hectic year for 

sure. All-in-all I’m happy to be 

back in Europe. I got married 

last year and that was great. 

It is good to be back ‘home’ 

around family in England. I’m 

enjoying it. 

MXGP, Yamaha and more new 

adventures, so you must have 

stood at a big crossroads 

again at some point…

MXGP 2020: COVINGTON 

Obviously, it was a difficult situation 

with Husqvarna. It was 

my first year in America [as 

Pro] and they expected a lot 

more from me. Things were 

not going well with my racing 

and they were not happy. 

I missed racing in Europe for 

sure, so when the opportunity 

came up to possibly do something 

with Yamaha that was 

really interesting for me and 

I decided to go for it. I have 

always like the 450 and raced 

it at the Nations a few years 

ago. I think it suits me…and I 

was ready for a change. 

You moved from a factory 

team to a blossoming privateer 

team: is that something 

else to get your head around? 

Yeah but it’s not been a really 

big deal because Gebben have 

been really good in providing 

anything that I ask for. There 

are a lot of positives because 

the guys are really eager to 

get the bike dialled-in and are 

listening to what I say about it 

while I’m learning. 

You’ve faced some adversity 

the last few years - and it 

must be character building - 

but being a rookie in MXGP 

must be like starting over… 

Definitely a new challenge 

and the field is very stacked, 

especially this year. It’s pretty 

crazy. I feel that if my fitness 

is good and my bike is dialled 

like I want it then I can put 

in some decent results. Obviously, 

I’m not expecting to 

light the world on fire in my 

first year but if I can get some 

consistent good results then I 

can build from there. 

By the end of your stint in 

MX2 you were disappointed if 

you didn’t make the podium, 

so what do you think MXGP 

will be about? Top tens? 

Yeah, especially this first year. 

I think the top ten will be good 

for me. That’s probably my 

goal; to be in that top ten as 

much as possible and I feel 

that it’s realistic. 

Physically are you 100%? Will 

you go back to the old GP 

training programme? 

Yeah, exactly that. In America 

I was on quite a different 

programme and I drove myself 

into the ground with all the 

pressure as well. I did everything 

and anything I had to 

do to be competitive in that 

outdoor championship but I 

think I pushed my body too 

far. It took about six months – 

after consultation with doctors 

at the clinic – of doing nothing 

to get back to feeling better. 

Now I’m healthy but it takes 

time to get that fitness back. 

With a regular injury - to your 

hand, arm, whatever - you 

can still do some basic training 

but with this it was a case 

of ‘do nothing’. I’m working 

again with Joel Roelants and 

building myself back up. I 

wish I had a bit more time but 

hopefully at some point into 

the season I’ll be back to my 

full potential. 

You’re based away from the 

U.S. again but perhaps more 

settled than ever? 

Yeah, that’s true. I see myself 

staying over here for at least 

the rest of my career and 

maybe even after that too. It is 

definitely a different mindset. 

You’ve had a question mark 

for most of your career, such 

as ‘can he do it on this bike?’, 

and it’s still there. Does that 

feel heavy sometimes? 

At times I guess, last year it 

did get pretty heavy. I had so 

much time on my hands to do 

nothing and you start thinking 

about those things. But 

that also forced me to grow 

up too. I don’t really care any 

more about what everybody is 

saying. I will just do the best 

I can and what is best for me 

without worrying about other 

opinions.

MXGP 

VIALLE: “TO BE HONEST WE HAVE NOT TALKED MUCH ABOUT GOAL 

Red Bull KTM’s Tom Vialle 

has a tough lineage to maintain. 

The Austrians boast no 

less than eight different world 

champions in MX2 since 

2004 and have missed out 

on title success with their 

250 SX-F only four times in 

that period. They have won 

all-but-one MX2 crown since 

2010. 

Understandably KTM are 

top heavy for 2020 with the 

axis of Cairoli, Herlings and 

Prado in MXGP so the MX2 

programme falls largely on 

Vialle’s shoulders for what 

will be only the French youngster’s 

second season in Grand 

Prix. His teammate, Rene 

Hofer, will be hoping to gather 

even a slice of the 2019 ‘Vialle 

rookie effect’ that led 

to seven podium results, a 

maiden victory and 4th place 

in the world. Despite his 

inexperience (but undoubted 

potential) Vialle is one of only 

two riders in the 2020 MX2 

pack that knows what it is like 

to win a GP. 

From the status of being an 

unknown ‘gamble’ for KTM in 

’19 Vialle now needs to cope 

with another level of expectation… 

So, a different season 

ahead… 

Totally different and I keep 

seeing it [a reminder], even 

on social media. It’s a big 

step. Last year I still hadn’t 

done a Grand Prix and had 

no idea of where I could be 

in MX2: top ten? Top five? 

One year later and many 

are talking about me for the 

title! It’s a really big step but 

I know I have the speed and 

I was pretty strong in many 

GPs, especially at the end 

of 2019. I had a good winter 

and I feel good on the bike. I 

want to win as many races as 

possible but I don’t want to 

start-off too crazy, I want to 

stay calm and to see how the 

championship is going. 

You were not over-excited 

or too down in the tough 

moments during 2019; you 

seemed to take everything in 

your stride. Can you envisage 

keeping the same mentality? 

It is a new challenge now and 

the approach for the season 

is really not the same as last 

year. I’m not someone who 

usually gets stressed though 

so I think I will be OK. 

You must have fully assessed 

2019. What did you want to 

improve for this year? 

At the end of last season my 

level was pretty good and I 

was fighting with Jorge. It 

is difficult to improve the 

speed much more, so we 

have worked a lot physically 

to improve the last ten minutes 

of the race and to be 

stronger. I’m also looking at 

the championship in a bigger 

way. In 2019 it was a bit upand-down 

for me and I guess 

that’s normal in a first season 

but I need to be more consistent. 

To be honest we have not 

talked much about goals for 

2020; we just made a plan 

and followed it as much as we 

could this winter.

MXGP 2020: VIALLE 

S FOR 2020” 

Your starts were good and your 

race-rhythm also when you were 

with the leaders but there were 

some motos when you dropped 

back, so what was the weak point? 

Some riders have different 

rhythms. There are some that start 

fast and drop down and others who 

are the other way around and I had 

to discover that in 2019, both for 

myself and of the other guys. I felt 

that was one way I improved every 

race; my knowledge of where to go 

and what to do. 

“DESPITE HIS 

INEXPERIENCE VIALLE 

IS ONE OF ONLY TWO 

RIDERS IN THE 2020 

MX2 PACK THAT KNOWS 

WHAT IT IS LIKE TO WIN 

A GP...”

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MXGP 

AWAY 

WITH 

THE 

BUTTERFLIES 

Matterley Basin is the opening salvo of 

twenty and aside from the unknown permutations 

for the results there are also a barrel of 

different riders and characters dealing with 

the emotions and heightened fuss surrounding 

the first major race of the year. Athletes 

– from rookies, to those with ‘comeback’ 

stories, to those with the added pressure of 

the expectancy to win or challenge for championship 

honours – will all be dealing with 

the slightly closer microscope of ‘round one’ 

in a variety of ways, so we thought we’d ask 

a spread of them about their thoughts, mannerisms 

and attitudes to what is perhaps the 

most intense date of the season. 

Jeffrey Herlings, Red Bull KTM: Nerves? 

Yes and no for the first races. I use the preseason 

ones to get rid of a few issues like 

arm-pump. You go through different phases: 

I remember being super-nervous at every 

GP when I was eighteen - I was very anxious 

about winning – whereas in the last two races 

of 2019 the championship was already decided 

and I lined-up thinking ‘I’m either going to 

win or lose here…and nobody really cares’. 

Shaun Simpson, SS24 KTM MXGP: By the 

time of the first Grand Prix you have usually 

had some pre-season races, maybe even a 

British Championship, so the cobwebs are 

gone, and you are into a weekly routine. The 

first GP is still a massive deal because it’s 

the start of the world championship and the 

first batch of points. 

Tom Vialle, Red Bull KTM: The fact that we 

ride a lot before the first big moto helps, I 

think. We have the practice sessions, the 

qualification heat, warm-up: all to get a good 

feeling on the bike. 

Jed Beaton, Rockstar Energy Husqvarna: 

Having so much time on the track before the 

races help let out the butterflies before the 

races. I think there will be a lot more nerves 

on Saturday at Matterley compared to Sunday 

because people will already have a gauge 

of how they feel and seeing where everybody 

is with their times. It’s weird but Sunday is 

more relaxing.

MXGP 2020: NERVES

MXGP 

Rene Hofer, Red Bull KTM: I usually sleep 

well. It’s a normal situation for me. I might 

be thinking a bit more about the race and the 

routine. You can sometimes feel the nerves of 

other riders around you compared to another 

race. It’s good that the EMX classes are on the 

same days as the world championship because 

that means you can get used to the environment 

and things like the crowd, the busy 

SkyBox and the TV. When you finally make it 

to MX2 then it doesn’t feel like such a big difference 

anymore. 

BEATON: “HAVING SO MUCH 

TIME ON THE TRACK BEFORE 

THE RACES HELP LET OUT THE 

BUTTERFLIES BEFORE THE 

RACES. I THINK THERE WILL BE A 

LOT MORE NERVES ON SATURDAY 

AT MATTERLEY COMPARED TO 

SUNDAY...” 

Beaton: You have a lot of nerves going into the 

event but once you hit the track it just feels 

normal. You have that tunnel-vision until the 

chequered flag when you can look around and 

appreciate the thousands of people that are 

there and see the chainsaws and airhorns that 

you have heard while you’re riding. 

Thomas Covington, Gebben Van Venrooy 

Yamaha: For sure you always get a few nerves 

before the first race but I’ve never been one 

to struggle much with that. I just focus on 

the things I need to do: I know I need to get 

the bike right, I need the right feeling through 

the corner and ruts and then I know I have to 

make a good start. 

Herlings: I get to the gate late because it’s 

usually pretty hot and when I’m there I see 

the other guys but I don’t want to, I want to 

focus on my own thing and not be intimated 

by anyone. That’s how I’ve done it for a few 

years now and since we’ve had the metal 

mesh. What’s the point waiting there for fifteen 

minutes until the guy says ‘OK, go out for the 

Sighting Lap’? 

Glenn Coldenhoff, GasGas Factory Racing: 

Experience helps. A few years ago [for me] it 

was worse. I think I will still feel nervous at 

Matterley but not to the point where it will affect 

me. I’ve done enough races now! I don’t

MXGP 2020: NERVES 

focus on any other guys and I also started to 

question this idea that you have to do a lot of 

pre-season races. Why? I’ll ride at Hawkstone 

and have a few competitive motos against a 

solid field. Although I do believe it’s good to 

have one race before going to the first GP. 

Vialle: I sleep pretty good! I’m actually excited 

more than anything because it feels like the 

last GP – or big race – was a long time ago, 

a lot of months. I really enjoyed 2019. Every 

GP, every day at the circuit, every practice and 

now it means I’m really looking forward to go 

again. 

Hofer: I try to visualise the track before the 

sighting lap and then try to highlight areas 

when I am doing the sighting lap. 

Simpson: In the past we’ve been in Qatar and 

Argentina and there has been a stress-free 

vibe because there is either not much of a 

crowd compared to a European round or the 

paddock is not too busy. There is not so much 

‘weight’ and just the usual amount of duties 

like the TV graphics and photos to be done. 

When it comes to Saturday morning and practice 

then that’s when you start looking around 

at the other set-ups and riders and other 

changes that maybe you hadn’t seen up until

MXGP

MXGP 2020: NERVES 

then. You are also not so sure about your form: 

there is a certain amount of the ‘unknown’ 

about it. I just want to go, get stuck in, leave 

nothing on the table and see where we are; my 

best is only good enough. 

Beaton: In the same way that everything builds 

up to A1 in Supercross and it becomes this 

massive thing and then drops into something 

a bit more ‘normal’ for round two, I think it’s 

similar for the GPs: nobody knows where they 

are going to stack-up and where fitness levels 

are, but once that first race is done you are 

like ‘ah, right, OK…’ 

Herlings: You do know about the others because 

every year when the championship 

starts to fall into place then it is always the 

same guys: it has always been Gajser, always 

Tony, always Febvre. Sometimes people 

step in, sometimes others step away. Prado 

will ‘join’ this year. It’s nearly always the 

same though. 

Hofer: I just try to go smooth because I feel 

that many riders try to show their potential 

at the first big race of the year but we all 

know the season is long. So, you have to 

almost have a ‘pre-season’ mentality: try to 

take it easy and put maximum fun factor 

into it. 

Beaton: At the first round you have to think 

‘it’s a long season’. You cannot get overexcited 

when there are nineteen more to go. 

In my case I will need to be pretty relaxed. 

I missed Argentina in 2019 because of a 

back injury and by the time I’d come back 

for round two people had settled-down and 

I kinda missed that ‘first round build-up’. 

Being back in Europe I think the hype will 

be high and it will be cool.

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MXGP SBK BLOG 

TITULAR TITULAR 

THE VALUE OF THE FIRST... 

Ah, first round hype. To be honest there is nothing like it. There can be 

other challenges and situations such as ‘who can defeat Tony Cairoli on 

Italian soil?’ or ‘who can stop Jeffrey Herlings at Valkenswaard?’ and 

‘will the French prevail in France?’ but there are few better prefaces than 

Grand Prix #1 where every rider has yet to start their roll of momentum 

and confidence and the formbook is blank. 

We all know the factory riders 

likely to be setting the pace 

at Matterley this weekend but 

that doesn’t mean nerves, jitters 

or rustiness won’t come 

into play and possibly determine 

a final result. The British 

Grand Prix is first on the 

slate for the first time in the 

modern era which means the 

conditions could range from a 

moderate late winter climate 

to extremely testing mud, rain 

and wind although it seems 

that the Winchester-site has 

braved the grim stormy UK 

weather fairly well in recent 

weeks. It’s a mixed bag and 

who knows what racer will 

jump out first. 

Matterley will see MXGP and 

MX2 protagonists eager to 

compete after their last major 

outing in the Netherlands 

on September 30th 2019. 

For the vast majority of the 

experienced Grand Prix pack 

it is also the first nibble of a 

big cake that will carry both 

sweet and sour tastes over the 

next six months with visits to 

sixteen other countries and 

three fixtures per month (with 

the exception of July). Once 

the teams start rolling out of 

the UK and on towards the 

Eurocircuit near Eindhoven 

thoughts will already be working 

on the next instalment of 

57 race starts to take place. 

Matterley encourages excitement 

but will also see some 

reservation, especially from 

riders returning from serious 

injury like Cairoli, Clement 

Desalle, Romain Febvre and 

(maybe whisper it with hope) 

Jorge Prado. A couple might 

gorge on the occasion, most 

will show some restraint: this 

could be another decider in 

the overall top ten classification 

on the day. 

The value of round one is 

debatable and will be a source 

of a small feature in MXGP 

Special Edition of OTOR next 

week but mathematically it 

still constitutes a maximum 

haul of 50 points. Take it or 

leave it, considering that only 

two of the last ten MXGP 

championships have been won 

with an advantage less than 

50 at the end of the season.

CREATED THANKS TO 

BY ADAM 

WHEELER 

You could argue for the bolstering 

effect administered 

in the victories by Tim Gajser 

and Jeffrey Herlings in 

Argentina in both 2016 and 

2018. Rookie Gajser went on 

to be champion that year and 

Herlings’ last lap battle and 

demotion of teammate and 

reigning #1 Tony Cairoli set a 

template for the ’18 season. 

In terms of the final outcome 

in the standings then round 

“ONLY TWO OF THE LAST 

TEN MXGP 

CHAMPIONSHIPS HAVE 

BEEN WON WITH AN 

ADVANTAGE LESS THAN 

50 POINTS...” 

one has proven to be fairly 

unprophetic in the last ten 

years. Since 2010 only four 

athletes have won the premier 

class: Cairoli (2010-2014 & 

2017), Gajser (2016 & 2019), 

Romain Febvre (2015) and 

Herlings (2018). From that 

spell only Cairoli (2012 and 

2017), Gajser and Herlings 

have walked away from the 

opening salvo with the first 

win bonus of the campaign, 

just 50%. Other victors have 

included Clement Desalle 

(three times), Gautier Paulin 

and Max Nagl; all of whom 

had their subsequent title 

plights disrupted or ruined 

through injury. 

Of course curtain-closers are 

fantastically dramatic and 

watching Herlings 

limp into the 2014 Mexican 

closer with a weak left femur 

and lose out on his second 

MX2 crown by just four points 

and witnessing the jubilation 

that accompanied David 

Philippaerts’ final race titleconfirmation 

at Faenza in 

2008 (the first Italian to take 

the premier class crown since 

Andrea Bartolini’s 500cc 

success) provided unforgettable 

fare. Those moments are 

few-and-far between however 

whereas ‘round one’ comes 

around without fail on an 

annual basis. 

BY ADAM WHEELER 

That only leaves me to urge 

fans to make the trip to 

southern England. Yes, it 

could be a washout but could 

also also serve up something 

a little different compared to 

the usual British Grand Prix, 

and is worth the investment 

considering that Matterley almost 

didn’t make the schedule 

for 2020 as part of an 

events-promotion and organisation 

landscape that is not 

getting any easier or more 

feasible. Even if the odds 

seem pretty long for a ‘comfortable’ 

Matterley experience 

the chances of catching some 

promising and unexpected 

action appear to be much 

brighter.

PRODUCTS 

THE 

INSIDE LINE 

Motocross is poorly served in terms of books, 

and therefore former Grand Prix rider Rob 

Andrews’ ‘The Inside Line’ is not only a welcome 

publication but a pretty damn good 

one. Andrews’ labour of love in documenting 

a racing life and a career competing in what 

many regard as some of the glory years of the 

sport - the 1980s 500cc FIM World Championship 

- immediately makes his story one of the 

most comprehensive and detailed accounts 

available to any fan. As an autobiography the 

account is obviously first person-heavy and the 

Brit sometimes feels like he has to justify being 

part of the start gate with some legendary 

names but the amount of detail and insight of 

what it is actually like to have raced on ‘those’ 

tracks, against ‘those’ rivals and in front of 

‘those’ crowds makes this one a little 

unmissable. 

The description of the first years falling in love 

with motorcycling throuhg a chance encounter 

and schoolboy racing at the tail end of the ‘70s 

is the start of a journey that would lead up to 

his first Grand Prix qualification in Germany 

in 1984 and then onto podium finishes at the 

highest level, include frank and honest 

accounts of those experiences. 

Andrews can be heard voicing Eurosport commentary 

on MXGP these days so he keeps up 

with the sport and is not some sort of dinosaur 

that has pulled himself off the shelf in order to 

create something that goes up on it. The book 

is full of little asides, whether about passion, 

influential figures like Bryan Wade, paddock 

life or a detailed recollection of the Namur 

Citadel. He doesn’t hold back when it comes 

to describing the lasting effects of injury (the 

danger of supermarket glass doors!) or his 

initial appraisal of the 1985 factory Kawasaki 

KXs. The book costs 40 pounds but Andrews 

has done his homework and almost 400 pages 

are chocked-full of stunning photographs 

both of action and behind-the-scenes. In fact, 

thanks to the clean and appealing design, ‘The 

Inside Line’ is both a story and a picture book 

which only increases the value for money. 

Andrews may believe that modern motocross 

and MXGP fans probably won’t be interested 

in his tale but I disagree. I think many people 

with even a passing interest in the sport have 

been waiting a long time for something like the 

‘The Inside Line’ and the effort and sincerity 

that has gone into the book mean it’s almost 

an essential purchase. 

To buy a copy simply visit: 

www.theinsidelinebook.com

PRODUCTS: 

www.theinsidelinebook.com

NO SHORTCUTS 

FACE FOAM 

SCOTT-SPORTS.COM 

© SCOTT SPORTS SA 2020

SCOTT CAMO EDITIONS

MotoGP BLOG 

ANY TREASURE IN THE DESERT? 

So MotoGP testing is 

done and dusted. The 

new bikes for each 

manufacturer have 

been turned upside 

down and inside out in 

pursuit of maximum 

performance. New 

parts have been 

tested, approved, discarded, 

and everything 

in between. Factories, 

teams, riders are all 

as prepared for the 

new season as they 

are going to be, or not 

quite as prepared as 

they would like to be, 

in some cases. 

Extrapolating the results of 

testing onto the coming season 

is always notoriously difficult. 

The best-laid plans of mice and 

manufacturers rarely survive first 

contact with the cold, harsh reality 

of racing. Pace during a long 

run in testing turns out not to be 

the same as running twenty laps 

in the middle of a hectic battle. 

Only once the bikes and riders 

engage in combat on track does 

the real balance of power become 

visible. We will only really get an 

idea of where the MotoGP riders 

and factories stand at Qatar. 

Or will we? If predicting how the 

season will pan out on the basis 

of testing, is the first race at 

Qatar all that much more instructive? 

If history is a guide, then 

the answer to that is: not really. 

Last year, Andrea Dovizioso beat 

Marc Márquez to win the first 

Grand Prix, but it was Márquez 

who went on to win the title utterly 

convincingly. Cal Crutchlow 

ended up on the Qatar podium in 

2019, but he would only manage 

to get on the rostrum in two of 

the remaining eighteen races. 

2019 is no exception. Andrea 

Dovizioso won the race in 2018 

as well, and again finished second 

after Márquez. In 2017, it 

was Maverick Viñales who took 

victory: he would go on to finish 

third in the championship, 

nearly 70 points behind the 

winner, Marc Márquez. In 2016, 

Jorge Lorenzo won in Qatar, but 

Márquez took the championship 

again. In 2015, Valentino Rossi 

won the first race, but it was his 

teammate who took the title that 

season. You have to go back all 

the way to 2014 for the last time 

the rider who would go on to become 

champion won the season 

opener. 

Why the lack of correlation 

between the first race in Qatar 

and the rest of the season? 

First and foremost, because of 

the test which happens shortly 

beforehand. With three days of 

track time at the circuit before 

the race weekend, everyone has 

their bikes pretty well dialled in. 

No one is scratching around for 

a setup which might work, and 

the bikes barely change between 

the test and the race. Qatar is a 

bit of an oddity as well, for a lot 

of reasons. Being in the desert 

means the track is always dusty, 

as strong winds bring sand and 

limestone dust from the surrounding 

area. Running the race 

at night means track temperatures 

are lower than most other 

events, ironically, without the sun 

to heat the tarmac. This might

change a little this year, though, 

with the starting time pushed 

back to 6pm, shortly after sunset. 

The layout of the track is unusual 

too. From the first corner to the 

last, there are plenty of flowing 

corners were an agile bike 

can open up a gap over a bike 

which doesn’t turn so well. From 

the last corner, the bikes blast 

along Losail’s kilometre-long 

front straight, which registers 

the second highest top speed on 

the calendar, second only to the 

mighty Mugello. But this doesn’t 

mean the track suits an all-round 

bike. Instead, it tends to favour 

machines with either fantastic 

corner speed or mind-blowing 

top speed. It isn’t a track which 

suits compromises. 

The season doesn’t get any more 

predictable after Qatar either. 

The first few overseas races 

take place at venues where the 

teams lack data, so setup routinely 

involves a bit of guesswork. 

Thailand is hot, humid, and 

punishing, and has three massive 

straights. Austin is another peculiarity, 

a rollercoaster of a track 

blighted by subsidence bumps. 

Argentina barely sees any use 

during the year, so MotoGP arrives 

to a dusty and rubberless 

track. 

It is only once the teams get 

back to Europe that they get 

back into their stride. On tracks 

they know like the back of their 

hands, on circuits the engineers 

had in mind when designing the 

bikes, the championship starts to 

shake itself out. By mid season, 

factory engineers will have figured 

out what they got wrong at 

the start of the year, and brought 

parts to address that, adding a 

further twist to the championship. 

Crashes, injuries, mechanicals 

can all add extra complications. 

The season never quite 

pans out like you expect. 

Would I bet on the outcome of 

the Qatar race on the basis of the 

test here? There are a few names 

I’d be willing to put money on. 

Would I bet on the eventual MotoGP 

champion based on what 

happens in the race? History 

tells me I’d do better to invest 

my money in a decent meal in 

downtown Doha. 

CREATED THANKS TO Moto3’S 

NEWEST RACING TEAM 

BY DAVID EMMETT

CormacGP 

MotoGP

Polarity Photo 

MotoGP

MotoGP BLOG 

CRISIS AVERTED? 

Crisis? What crisis? 

One or two headlines 

were made to 

look a touch foolish 

come Monday night 

when Marc Marquez 

claimed parity had 

been restored amid 

the Repsol Honda 

ranks, and he would 

sleep easy in the ten 

days between the end 

of the preseason and 

resumption of hostilities 

on 8th March. 

Qatar provided the backdrop for 

a turbulent three days for HRC 

and its trio of riders attempting 

to make sense of the 2020 

machine they will command in 

what will be MotoGP’s longest 

ever season. The long, fast right 

bends that mark out the 3.8-mile 

Losail International Circuit were 

the new RC213V’s kryptonite on 

days one and two as a lack of 

front end feel (sound familiar?) 

dogged Honda’s boys. 

Come the close of Sunday’s running 

and it was hard to conclude 

anything other than things were 

looking dire for the factory that 

has emerged from each of the 

past three seasons with MotoGP’s 

elusive Triple Crown. Its 

riders using the latest factory 

trickery were 14th, 19th and 21st 

on the time sheets. And it didn’t 

end there. 

The elder Marquez was unable 

to lap the track within a second 

of riders he beat with one eye 

closed a year ago. Cal Crutchlow 

abandoned his media duties in 

favour of resting a right arm that 

had ballooned up to the size of 

pig’s thigh after a bruising crash 

at turn two. And class rookie Alex 

Marquez was sporting the kind 

of thousand-yard stare normally 

associated with returning war 

veterans. 

“Of course I’m worried,” Marc 

told us on Sunday. The issue 

stemmed from front instability 

and a lack of agility. “We’re pushing 

on entry and stressing the 

front tyre and the consequence 

is that you push the front more.” 

Crutchlow chipped in, saying “we 

can’t decelerate the bike and 

we can’t turn the bike with this 

pushing that we have on it. So, 

it’s essentially, you’re holding the 

brake a long time, you’re unable 

to turn the bike in the middle of 

the corner.” 

We all know one of Honda’s 

maxims is to provide power, 

believing it a requisite of its riders’ 

jobs to do the rest. But even 

their technicians’ efforts seemed 

a touch extreme. Last year’s machine 

was no walk in the park, as 

Crutchlow and Jorge Lorenzo’s 

struggles demonstrated. With 

their comments appearing to go 

unheeded, management in the 

factory team was privately less 

than impressed with the fruits of 

HRC’s winter labours. 

So, the following day, when 

engineers were spotted wheeling 

one of Takaaki Nakagami’s 

’19-spec RC213Vs into the reigning 

champion’s garage, it was 

safe to assume drastic measures 

were being undertaken at a less 

than ideal time. Team manager 

Alberto Puig told a group of us 

they were attaching and testing 

parts from the ’18 machine, as

well as last year’s, including the 

aero package. 

Later that evening there were 

smiles. And just out of shot sighs 

of relief. “We found the problem,” 

Marquez exhaled. His time was 

some way off pace setter Fabio 

Quartararo. But he was within 

range of both Suzukis and Maverick 

Viñales. For a man that 

hasn’t finished a race outside the 

top two in 18 months that’s all 

that is needed to know he can 

push to repeat his feats of the 

past four years. 

Rushing to any hasty judgement 

at this test is a perilous 

task. Historically it’s never been 

kind to Honda with the track’s 

flowing sections more suited to 

the Yamaha and Suzuki’s characteristics. 

Repsol Honda was 

approaching full-scale meltdown 

here in 2016 before Marquez won 

two of the first three races (and 

finished third in the other) on the 

way to a third premier class title. 

Last year Crutchlow lingered in 

17th in the test yet both were on 

the podium two weeks later. 

Let it not be forgotten he is still 

some way off peak fitness, too. 

A damaged nerve in the right 

shoulder continues to prod him 

with pangs of pain. His crashes 

at both of this year’s tests 

stemmed from a lack of upper 

body strength to save the kind of 

front slide he’d recover from the 

brink in previous years. And unlike 

the recovery twelve months 

ago on the left shoulder, nerve 

damage has no definitive timeline 

for full rehabilitation. 

And while Marquez’s mood was 

upbeat, Crutchlow is only too 

aware of the task ahead. “It’s 

the same problem that I said I 

had in Valencia when I first rode 

it. It felt even worse in the area 

[where last year’s bike was weakest]. 

It seems that they’ve carried 

on with it, and this is where 

we are today. So let’s see if they 

can work a miracle.” It’s all well 

and good building for one of the 

greatest of all time to win. But if 

the others struggle for top sixes, 

top eights or top tens, recent history 

may well repeat itself. 

CREATED THANKS TO Moto3’S 

NEWEST RACING TEAM 

BY NEIL MORRISON

MotoGP BLOG 

If you were in the Englishman’s 

shoes, you’d surely be feeling 

maximum frustration. Like last 

year, Honda’s thinking seems 

to have mirrored what technical 

chief Takeo Yokoyama spelled out 

last year. “We concentrated in the 

winter time [of ‘18/’19] to give 

him as much power as possible, 

knowing that there will be some 

other problems. But we decided, 

OK, the problems will come, 

but again, he’s the best rider, so 

maybe he can manage.” 

To be fair, this thinking has been 

good enough to bring the rider’s 

title home in each of the past four 

years. But for how long can Honda 

continue placing all its eggs in the 

Marquez basket without getting 

caught out. With Viñales, Quartararo, 

Rins and Mir all lurking in 

the shadows, you do feel they’re 

riding their luck.

PRODUCTS 

MX VICE 

Not content with being the best online outlet 

for news and updates across their social 

media and website platform, MX Vice are 

diversifying with items of casualwear, their 

lengthy but entertaining Podcasts (always 

better with studio guests or interviews interspersed) 

and their interactive MX Manager 

game. The ‘fantasy’ MX Manager is free to 

play, features some great prizes and is a fun 

way to bench-race with hundreds of other 

fans that think they know which rider is better 

at bringing in the points. 

www.evenstrokes is the e-commerce offshoot 

that features a range of premium brands at 

competitive prices. Well worth checking out. 

WWW.MXVICE.COM

MotoGP

FEATURE WorldSBK 

FIVE TO FLY 

IN WorldSBK 

RESIDENT WorldSBK EXPERT AND 

NEW OVERSEER OF 

WWW.RACINGLOWDOWN.COM 

STEVE ENGLISH GIVES US HIS FIVE 

TALKING POINTS (OR QUESTIONS/ 

THOUGHTS) AHEAD OF ARGUABLY 

THE MOST COMPETITIVE 

CHAMPIONSHIP CAMPAIGN FOR A 

NUMBER OF YEARS 

Words & Photos by Steve English

WorldSBK 

Suddenly Redding was winning races again, 

and the confidence that was his hallmark as 

a youngster returned. The swagger was there 

but so was humility. As a racer, the 26 year 

old had seen his career hit rock bottom. It 

taught him who to trust, who had his back 

but most importantly it reminded him how 

much fun racing can be. Redding showed 

that winning races can come easily because 

he loves the grind that goes on behind the 

scenes. 

SCOTT REDDING: 

HISTORY MAKER? 

No rider has ever won a British Superbike 

and World Superbike title in consecu- 

tive years. Can Scott Redding be the first? 

There’s a real chance that the Englishman 

can live up to the hype. 

In his final years in MotoGP it was easy to 

forget that Redding was the youngest Grand 

Prix winner at one point in time; a 15 year 

old that turned up for his Grand Prix debut 

in the 125cc class and promptly qualified 

on the front row of the grid in Qatar. This is 

a man who won races in the 125 and Moto2 

classes and also had podiums in the premier 

class. Talent was never a question but there 

were plenty of doubts hanging over him by 

the time he was discarded by Aprilia. 

Twelve months ago, Redding moved to Brit- 

ish Superbikes as a curiosity. Would he be 

able to resurrect his career and adapt to 

British tracks? Would he be able to get the 

most out of a production-based bike after a 

decade riding Grand Prix machinery? Would 

he be able to deal with the pressure of being 

a big fish in a small pond? The answer to all 

of these questions was a resounding yes.

2020 WorldSBK TALKING POINTS 

This was shown by his recovery from pre-season 

injuries. Breaking his leg while mini bike rid- 

ing in Spain last winter left him with in a race 

against time to get fit for Round 1. Team boss, 

Paul Bird, had laid it out in no uncertain terms 

to Redding how close he was to finding another 

rider following this injury. His career lifeline was 

slipping away from him. Training and rehab took 

over for Redding and when he lined up on the 

grid at Silverstone, he had already done enough 

to prove his hunger and determination. 

From that point onwards he showed why it 

was always likely that BSB would be a “one 

and done” operation for him. His talent, 

experience and speed didn’t surprise any- 

one but his approach to the season did. His 

performances at Oulton Park, Brands Hatch 

and Cadwell Park were very impressive and 

showed that he was a quick study for new 

tracks but also that he could accept being 

beaten and ride for points with a bigger pic- 

ture in his mind. 

That bigger picture was the title, and when 

he was crowned champion at Brands Hatch 

in October it was richly deserved. Can he 

repeat the trick in 2020? Redding will have 

all the tools at his disposal to get the job 

done and can start the year with lots of momentum 

behind him. He goes well in Phil- 

lip Island, loves Qatar, knows Jerez better 

than any other track on the planet and then 

heads to Assen which was a second home. 

Success breeds success and the confidence 

that comes from winning keeps a rider roll- 

ing. Redding is ready for the confidence to 

flow in WorldSBK and he won’t be underesti- 

mated in ‘20.

WorldSBK 

KAWASAKI: 

REA OUT FOR SIX, 

LOWES OUT TO 

SURPRISE 

2019 was the best we’ve seen from Rea. To 

win that title meant giving everything he had. 

Can he go to the well again in 2020? 

Jonathan Rea was a heavyweight boxer in 

2019 but as he juked it out with Alvaro Bautista 

for the title it was more about rolling with 

the punches rather than landing a knockout 

blow. It was Rea’s best championship but also 

showed how easy it can be to lose his grip at 

the top. Getting the job done showed that he 

is still the man to beat but also that the competition 

is closing in. 

The Ducati V4R was a game changer in 2019 

and it will only get stronger. Kawasaki are back 

with the same bike as twelve months ago and 

as the ZX10RR gets longer in the tooth, the 

odds for Rea extend too. That he was able to 

weather the storm and come out on top shows 

that you underestimate the five times world 

champion at your peril...but it’s the chinks 

in the armour that his rivals will focus upon. 

Winning is hard but to keep winning is even 

harder. Look around the sporting world and 

there’s countless examples of this but Rea was 

so relentless last year once momentum shifted 

his way. He was a pitbull backed into a corner 

after four rounds and he came out with only 

one intention; to put everyone in their place. 

Let’s see if he has the same fight in 2020. 

On the other side of the Kawasaki garage Alex 

Lowes joins from Yamaha. Being the teammate 

to Jonathan Rea is a thankless task; he’s the 

greatest Superbike rider of all-time. Rea never 

gives an inch. Who’d want to be compared to 

that? After spending three years as teammate 

to Michael van der Mark and having grown up 

with an incredibly competitive sibling rivalry, 

Lowes is arguably the best placed rider in the 

world to slip into the second Kawasaki berth. 

He won’t be fazed by days when Rea beats him 

and he won’t get carried away if he comes out 

on top. He knows that world class racers all 

have their days and that it’s about the 

balance of 39 days of on track action throughout 

a season.


Winning and learning from the team is the target 

for Lowes. The move to Kawasaki meant that he 

switched to a crew that had won six of the last 

eight WorldSBK crowns. The team - and not the 

bike - was what impressed Lowes immediately. 

He’s quietly confident for 2020 but also very 

realistic. The goal is to make sure that he adds 

to his Brno 2018 win. Despite a weather interrupted 

testing programme, Lowes has felt more 

and more comfortable every time he’s ridden the 

Ninja. 

He’ll need to adapt his riding to the Kawasaki 

compared to the demands of the Yamaha but 

braking harder in a straight line and being aggressive 

was what marked him out as a British 

Superbike rider on a Honda. This could be the 

year that he makes the step forward and becomes 

a regular race winner.

WorldSBK 

FULL FACTORY HONDA: CAN THEY LIVE 

UP TO THE HYPE?


Honda is back! We said it twelve months 

ago but now it’s the real deal… 

When it was announced at EICMA in late 

2018 that HRC would be back in WorldSBK 

as a full-factory effort, it set up a chain 

reaction of expectation. For the first time 

since 2002 Japan was taking an interest in 

winning a Superbike title. It was a massive 

story. It was fantastic for the series…until 

the opening round when suddenly it became 

clear this was a year of gathering data. 

As the season went on it became clear that 

the story for Honda in 2019 was “nothing to 

see here.” It was disappointing at the time 

but when the bikes rolled out in January at 

the Jerez test the initial buzz from EICMA 

came right back! The bike looks tiny, it’s 

got a strong engine and seems to be cutting 

edge at every angle. This is what HRC is all 

about. With lots of Japanese engineers com- 

ing from HRC HQ this is clearly a proving 

ground for them, maybe before they move to 

MotoGP, and the same can be said for me- 

chanics and crew members. They are shy on 

experience in Superbike racing, but maybe a 

clear set of eyes can be used to their advan- 

tage. 

The excitement around Honda also comes 

from their acquirement of Alvaro Bautista. 

The Spaniard won the opening 11 races of 

2019 and has the tools to be a WorldSBK 

champion. 

“Compared to Ducati this is different. I was 

comfortable with the Ducati straight away, 

it was like putting on a glove because the 

engine character was the same as MotoGP 

with the V4 engine. Now I’m using an inline 

four and that’s different, but this is a very 

new project and we’re working in a good 

direction with the bike and evolution of the 

bike. We need more kilometres but Honda 

are working day and night in Japan.” 

Bautista and Leon Haslam offer a strong rider 

line-up with Takumi Takahashi also join- 

ing WorldSBK for a full season. Hiring Domi 

Aegerter as a full-time test rider also shows 

their ambitions. This project will leave no 

stone unturned but 2020 is likely to be an 

inconsistent year. The key for Honda will be 

to maximise their good weekends and come 

away from those races with podiums. 

When Honda puts all their chips to the centre 

of the table they expect to win big other- 

wise heads will roll. Patience might be key at 

the start of the campaign but it’ll wear thin 

very quickly if the Fireblade isn’t cutting it at 

the front. 

“This is a full factory team and it’s just like 

in MotoGP,” Bautista said recently. “It’s full 

of Japanese engineers from HRC. There’s 

nothing for us to be envious of because the 

level is high. Honda is serious and we’re 

supported by HRC. I’m convinced that we’ll 

fight for good results. Alberto Puig and 

Kuwata-san have been at the tests and that 

shows how serious they are about this pro- 

ject.

WorldSBK 

BMW: WILL 

LAVERTY 

FINALLY GET 

BACK TO 

WINNING? 

Last year BMW sprung a surprise with 

their return to WorldSBK. Tom Sykes 

had podiums and a pole position. In 

2020 they’ll expect to make another 

step 

Shaun Muir has set a target of fourth in 

the world for Tom Sykes. To do that he’ll 

have to beat factory riders from Kawasaki, 

Ducati, Yamaha and Honda. It’s not 

impossible but it seems like a stretch to 

see the 2013 world champion achieve 

it. Winning races again should be Sykes’ 

aim, and then wait and see where the 

chips fall for the points at the end of 

the year. Mr Superpole showed that the 

speed is still there with the switch to 

BMW but a step is needed to be able to 

fight for race wins over a full race distance. 

That step can come over the winter but 

it would still be a big ask for Sykes to 

consistently win races. Phillip Island is


a chassis circuit where Sykes 

impressed last year. With 

more power on tap he might 

be closer in Australia than 

people expect but it’s later in 

the season that the wins will 

be possible. Donington Park 

will definitely be the round 

circled on his calendar. 

For Eugene Laverty, this is 

last chance saloon territory. 

Whichever BMW rider comes 

out on top is likely to have 

their contract extended but if 

you’re beaten by your teammate, 

you could easily be 

the maximum. During winter 

testing, Laverty was focused 

on dialling in the electronics 

on his bike and making 

them more progressive. Finding 

the right feeling was key. 

In Portimao it seemed they 

had achieved this, so now it’s 

about getting the most from 

the bike and hitting the front. 

With almost the entire grid 

in a contract year it’s more 

important than ever to have 

momentum from Round 1, and 

Laverty will know this. The 

dynamic within the team will 

be very interesting. Sykes has 

“FOR EUGENE LAVERTY, THIS IS LAST 

CHANCE SALOON TERRITORY. WHICHEVER 

BMW RIDER COMES OUT ON TOP IS LIKELY 

TO HAVE THEIR CONTRACT EXTENDED BUT 

IF YOU’RE BEATEN BY YOUR TEAMMATE, YOU 

COULD EASILY BE SHOWN THE DOOR...” 

shown the door. Laverty is 

now six years removed from 

winning races, an eternity for 

a man that grew accustomed 

to challenging for world titles, 

and now it’s put up or shut up 

time. A series of bad injuries 

robbed him of opportunities in 

recent years and a succession 

of poor bikes didn’t help his 

lot. 

relaxed since leaving Kawasaki 

and is back to his gregarious 

self. He will row his own boat 

in terms of setup, and the 

team has already seen that 

Laverty offers them feedback 

that helps develop the bike. 

Will this divergence be the 

difference between the two 

riders? 

He needs to make the most 

of his BMW opportunity and 

that means using the two 

days of testing in Australia to

WorldSBK 

Michael van der Mark and 

Toprak Razgatlioglu. Has there ever been a 

more eye-catching partnership in WorldS- 

BK? No matter what the results this pair 

will be a box office draw in 2020 

YAMAHA: 

TOPRAK 

VS VDM 

For three years Yamaha has had one of the 

most complete and even rider pairings in 

the Superbike World Championship. Alex 

Lowes might have left, having finishing third 

in the world in 2019, but in his place comes 

Toprak Razgatlioglu. The Turk would have 

been a fantastic gun slinger in the wild west. 

He’s brave, never knows he’s beaten and has 

the fastest reactions this side of the Black 

Sea.


Up against him is Michael van der Mark. 

The Dutchman oozes natural ability. Riding 

comes easy to him and at times in his career 

he relied on his talent too much. In recent 

years he’s been able to knuckle down and 

get the most from himself. If you want an il- 

lustration of what van der Mark can do, look 

at some of his battles with Jonathan Rea. 

Going toe to toe with the five times champi- 

on doesn’t faze the Yamaha rider, and having 

come out on top of those battles he’s clearly 

not a man to be underestimated. 

The same goes for Toprak who, like van der 

Mark, claimed his first WorldSBK victory by 

coming out on top in a gloves-off battle with 

Rea. The young duo won’t be afraid of upset- 

ting the apple cart. Being the first rider from 

their countries to win WorldSBK races? Job 

done. The objective now is the title. 

They have the talent and both could cut it in 

MotoGP. Winning is the key to getting there 

on a good bike and giving themselves that 

opportunity. The Netherlands is an impor- 

tant market in motorsport, as seen by the 

crowds at the Dutch TT and the return of 

Formula 1 to the county, and Turkey has a lot 

of eyeballs to engage with for television. For 

both riders the road to MotoGP goes through 

the opposite side of the garage.

WorldSBK BLOG 

TIME TO GO AGAIN... 

Even though we are almost two months into 

2020, when you work in WorldSBK, there is 

an almost spiritual feeling crossing the bridge 

that connects the towns of San Remo and 

Newhaven. Arriving on Phillip Island, 17,000km 

from home, it’s only now that the new year has 

really just begun. 

It is quite fitting that the 

season should kick off so far 

away from the European base 

of the teams that compete 

in the championship. It feels 

like we are properly starting 

an adventure for another year 

and it brings with it a tangible 

sense of anticipation. We 

have had the winter testing 

and the team launches and 

here were are, ready to start 

the first round, with teams 

and riders resplendent in the 

new liveries. 

The sense of anticipation for 

this year’s season is greater 

than it has been for some 

time. Sure we still have the 

same reigning champion for 

everyone to aim at but the 

distance they have to reach 

seems to be shortening. The 

two-day test at Phillip Island, 

immediately before the race 

weekend, is always an opportunity 

to see who is ready 

for the task ahead and who is 

facing an uphill struggle from 

the start. 

In the Honda camp the difference 

couldn’t be starker. 

At one end of the pit lane 

the HRC squad arrived fresh 

from a team presentation in 

Tokyo days before. They were 

fully prepared and look every 

inch the factory outfit they 

are. At the other end of pitlane 

however, the MIE Althea 

Honda squad, run by Moriwaki 

Engineering, had also 

come from the presentation 

in Tokyo but spent their first 

day in Phillip Island stripping 

down a road bike, pillion seat 

and standard lighting switch 

gear included, and building it 

into a race machine that they 

could go testing with the following 

day. 

In Phillip Island they were 

represented only by Takumi 

Takahashi. They had 

confirmed Jordi Torres as 

a second rider at the team 

presentation but it was too 

late in the day to get a bike 

together for him to race 

this weekend. On track the 

contrast couldn’t be starker 

either. Takahashi was over 

five seconds slower than 

Leon Haslam on the factory 

machine, who ended the test 

fifth fastest overall, only half 

a second off Jonathan Rea. 

That and the fact that the 

MIE machine blew an engine 

on the first day leaving 

Takahashi to jump off it at T4 

as flames billowed out from 

under the fairing. On to bike 

no.2 then. 

In the factory team Haslam 

would appear to have adapt-

BY ADAM 

WHEELER 

ed to the new Fireblade far 

quicker than his team-mate 

Alvaro Bautista who, it was 

reported, admitted to struggling 

to find a set up he was 

confident with and had only 

been concentrating on getting 

a good feeling with the 

bike rather than setting a 

fast lap time. 

LAST YEAR WAS 

UNIQUE IN THE WAY 

THAT BAUTISTA 

DOMINATED, AND I 

CAN’T SEE IT 

HAPPENING THIS YEAR 

AGAIN, 

There doesn’t seem to be 

much room for maneouvre 

at the top of the time sheets 

as we head into a day-off at 

Phillip Island. The Yamahas 

of Loris Baz and Toprak Razgatlioglu, 

the BMW of Tom 

Sykes and Scott Redding’s 

Ducati, alongside the aforementioned, 

Haslam, were 

all within half a second of 

Rea, who only set his fastest 

lap on the second day. He 

improved his time from the 

first day by half a second but 

I think that improvement is 

more down to the rider being 

a bit more in the groove over 

any set up changes to the 

Kawasaki. 

With all that anticipation 

floating in the air the old 

cynic in me has been offering 

some words of caution 

- we have been here before. 

Phillip Island is a fairly 

unique circuit that throws up 

some close racing, regardless 

of the class, and I don’t 

expect this year to be any 

different. What is doesn’t do 

is open a window to the form 

for the rest of the season. 

Last year was unique in the 

way that Bautista dominated, 

and I can’t see it happening 

this year again, but Razgatlioglu, 

Sykes and Redding 

all seem to be within striking 

distance of Rea. 

Rea himself looked relaxed 

and comfortable. Phillip 

Island is of course a second 

home to him as his wife 

BY GRAEME BROWN 

hails from the Island and 

her parents still live here. A 

few years ago Jonathan and 

Tatia built their own house 

so every night after leaving 

the track JR heads home 

to sleep in his own bed. 

He therefore seems pretty 

chilled when he is out and 

around in the paddock. On 

track there are a few little 

terriers starting to nip at 

his heel but I wouldn’t bet 

against him just yet. 

Looking to the year ahead I 

have mixed feelings about 

heading from Phillip Island 

to Qatar. I never like going 

there but straight after such 

a good event in Australia will 

bring me back to earth with 

a bump. That said getting it 

out of the way and having 

Argentina as the last round 

to enjoy is actually quite a 

pleasant option. Let’s hope 

that this year when we go 

there we don’t have any difficulties 

with the track and 

more importantly we crown 

another World Champion.

T 

WorldSBK 

Steve English

HE JOY OF 6? 

JONATHAN REA ON THE 

SEARCH TO KEEP BREAKING 

NEW GROUND 

By Adam Wheeler. Photos by Steve English/GeeBee Images

WorldSBK 

For all the promise at Honda, the 

mystery of Yamaha, the growing 

potential of BMW and the strong 

personalities now a factor with the works 

Ducatis, it is still the world championship 

winning Kawasaki Racing Team that carry 

the strongest narratives into the 2020 

season of WorldSBK. 

There was a showbiz element of their 

‘talk show’ format for the 2020 Team 

presentation, well within an audible 

throttle blip of the Circuit de Barcelona- 

Catalunya pitlane. The KRT workshop 

had been transformed into a stage where 

much was made of the crew’s first ‘home’ 

event – due to take place at the track 

in September and where, unbelievably, 

they’d tested for the first time in their existence 

a few days previously – but also 

where questions were centred around the 

adventures ahead for 33 year old Jonathan 

Rea and 29 year old incoming newbie 

Alex Lowes. 

“I HAVE NEVER LOWERED MY 

MOTIVATION AND I LIKE TO SET 

TARGETS. I GUESS I AM ADDICTED 

TO THE BIG W. THE UNIT I HAVE 

AROUND ME WORKS SO WELL: 

I WALK AWAY, COME BACK AND 

ALWAYS FIND A BETTER BIKE.” 

Lowes gave-off a confident air. The former 

Yamaha man may be holding a 

heavy chalice as teammate to the fivetimes 

#1 and assuming a role that frustrated 

both Tom Sykes and Leon Haslam 

but was clearly relishing the competitive 

environment, equipment and atmosphere 

that proved so effective for Rea from day 

one of joining the Catalan set-up in 2015. 

As for the champion, Rea once again 

props himself up as the largest target on 

the range and prepares for another season 

of arrows from competitors, critics, 

fans and neutral followers of the sport 

that would like to see a changing of the 

green guard. Rea was pelted by Ducati 

and Alvaro Bautista in 2019 but somehow 

found a way to reverse his predicament 

and profit from the wavering aim

2020 WorldSBK: JONATHAN REA 

of the Spaniard in the second half of the 

campaign. It was his hardest test and 

real proof of his mettle as title-holder. 

Rev limits aside, Rea’s quest to stay at 

the peak of his profession means he welcomes 

the next threat: how long can the 

hegemony endure? 

When the few hundred guests were funnelling 

to the other side of the workshop 

for drinks and copious plates of ‘pernil’, 

we snuck through to grab JR for a few 

questions on his perspective for a twelfth 

superbike season and whether he can do 

it all again… 

Last year you tried to boost your fitness 

further and you also keep using Fabien 

[Foret] as a rider coach, so what has 

been the off-season project this time? 

“[ON ALEX] ON TRACK HE IS VERY 

COMPETITIVE AND IT’S THE RIGHT 

TIME TO COME TO THE BEST TEAM 

IN THE WORLD. I THINK A 1-2 IN THE 

CHAMPIONSHIP IS A REALISTIC GOAL 

WITH HIS LEVEL. IT WILL BE COOL WHEN 

HE IS BEATING ME OR IS FASTER IN SOME 

SECTIONS BECAUSE I WILL BE ABLE TO 

UNDERSTAND AND ADAPT.” 

GeeBee Images

WorldSBK 

That’s an ongoing process. I completed all 

the human performance testing that we 

do in the team this week and last week 

and I’m surprised because I am ahead… 

but I’m getting older! Physically I’m hitting 

good marks. The most important 

thing is to stay healthy, especially with 

the first races happening in quick succession. 

Australia is not followed by a big 

break anymore. I’m still working a lot on 

my style with Fab and my focus for this 

year is trying to get my bike to turn a bit 

better, especially in the longer corners. It 

is a characteristic we struggle with a little 

bit. So, a few aspects of my riding and the 

turn is the main area. I will have to understand 

how the start of the year goes and 

adapt accordingly. 

“[ON POSSIBLY REACHING 100 

WINS] WE HAVE SOME RECORDS 

NOW; I THINK THE LAST ONE WAS 

SEVENTEEN IN A ROW. I DON’T 

MEAN TO SOUND UNGRATEFUL, BUT 

IT WAS ENOUGH JUST TO BE PAID 

TO RACE, THEN TO WIN & TO GET 

A CHAMPIONSHIP: I TICKED ALL 

THE BOXES SO THE REST IS JUST A 

BONUS.” 

2019 seemed stressful but also enjoyable: 

did you get something from it? Was 

it educational and, if so, does it sustain 

motivation? 

Yeah, especially in the first races when 

it was clear that Ducati had come with 

a really strong bike and package. It was 

super-fast, especially in a straight line 

and it was really hard to see past that in 

the first races. It was only after I had accepted 

that and seen it as a challenge as 

opposed to [thinking] ‘we’ve been beaten 

again’ I could change mentality and come 

a bit closer when we returned to Europe 

[and] winning that round in Imola was 

good for my confidence. After that I think 

Alvaro just knew we were going to be 

there every race and he started making 

some mistakes. It was a season of ‘thirds’ 

because in the first third we got beat, in 

the second he made some mistakes - and 

we were thereabouts - and in the last third 

we dominated. It was a season that – back 

in February - I never expected to finish as 

it did but that’s racing: twists and turns. 

You’ve taken titles through wins and 

dominance but – even generally – there 

have not been many campaigns where 

the reigning champion has been so comprehensively 

beaten in the first stages… 

A few races really stick in the mind. Donington 

race one was wet and Alvaro was 

still leading the championship but I saw 

it as a real opportunity to win and put 

pressure on him. I remember going out 

in that race and only thinking about 25 

points. Sometimes it is strange with mindset. 

Sometimes when you are chasing 

you have ideas of pushing for a win but 

if I make a mistake and lose more points 

I am further away. It was like that at the 

beginning of the year but at Donington – 

where it was easy to crash – it was like 

‘Jonathan; you have to win’: those were 

the exact words that Guim [Rosa, Team 

Manager] said to me Saturday morning at 

breakfast. We had to have 25 points…and 

we did it. It was almost the biggest race 

of the season for me. The Qatar weekend 

was special because I did the triple at a 

place where I thought I would really struggle. 

Positive attitude. Now I’ve come to 

the front, won from the front, won from 

behind and I think mentally it puts me in 

a better place for whatever will come.

2020 WorldSBK: JONATHAN REA 

For this year why do you think people 

are asking you about Scott Redding so 

much? Is it because he’s expressive? 

Almost brash? It could be a good clash… 

I don’t know. I think as long as there 

is respect between riders then there is 

never need for a clash. I mean, it is hard 

to build a rivalry with someone as quiet 

as Alvaro. I enjoy the battle. I’ve had a 

fierce rivalry with Chaz Davies for a few 

years and Tom Sykes and then the position 

against Ducati with their V4. I’ve 

been part of this championship for years 

now and at this part of the season everyone 

gets excited. Potentially there are 

challenges from everywhere. Maybe the 

media are talking about Redding because 

he ‘puts it out there’ so much and he’s 

not scared to talk himself-up but if you 

do that then you can also hang yourself 

out to dry. Alvaro got on with things very 

quietly. There will be other challengers, 

and you have to respect everybody but to 

put your finger on who might be champion 

at the end of the year then there are 

arguments for five-six guys if they get it 

right and run with it. My idea is to be one 

of them. Let’s see. 

You could say you’ve gone ‘beyond’ 

the point of people wanting to see you 

knocked off the perch. How has that 

changed your philosophy towards racing? 

Does it make your shoulders even 

broader? 

It’s funny now, even with maturity… 

people are happy for you when you win 

your first championship and the second 

as well and then it starts to get a bit sad 

because now people cannot even look 

in your direction in the paddock. Other 

riders. You feel that. But it then makes 

you stronger because you know how 

they work. I feel like I am the same guy 

still doing the job. Having a young family 

gives you clarity. I know one day I will 

get beaten and the idea is to prolong that 

day arriving as much as possible really. 

It has definitely gone past the point of 

people being happy for you but in SBK 

now the travelling support I have from 

Northern Ireland is incredible and if I 

look at the support on social media with 

the mentions and replies then I have so 

many fans and not a lot of negativity, 

which has really helped. Of course when 

you put yourself out there and post stuff 

on social media then people can get to 

you but generally I’ve had very positive 

feedback and that’s really nice. I don’t 

want to make big statements. I try to be 

as humble as I can and get through it. 

It’s funny…with success you can feel the 

change of people’s perception of you. 

You can see you get under people’s skin 

a lot more and there are some that you 

enjoy doing that to and others that end 

up judging you for different reasons. I’m 

conscious of what I am doing, and I am 

really supportive of my team and I know 

my fans have my bag. If I can continue 

what I am doing that will be amazing. 

GeeBee Images

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BACK PAGE 

Tom Vialle 2020. By Ray Archer

ON 

TRACK 

OFF 

ROAD 

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