Spies 간단 인터뷰~

Spies가 Yamaha와의 결별에 대해 이야기한 간략한 인터뷰가 실린 기사인데, 짧은 내용을 통해 선수들의 라이딩 스타일에 따른 머신 세팅과 거기서 오는 차이가 얼마나 큰지를 새삼 느끼게 되는군요.

Ducati MotoGP new-boy Ben Spies has revealed the reasons behind his switch from the factory Yamaha team to riding a Desmosedici GP13 this season.

The Texan said he wasn't able to ride the YZR-M1 as it needed to be ridden in order to win races. His Superbike riding style - brake late and hard, carry less corner speed and fire the bike out the other side - was nothing like as effective as Lorenzo's smoother style.

"I tried for a long time to ride like Jorge. But our styles are completely different. My natural style is not the smoothest, not the highest corner speed. I like to brake hard, get the bike turned and fire it out of a corner like a Superbike," he told Cycle World.

로렌조 처럼 부드러운 스타일과 코너 스피드를 올리는 방식(이런 면에서 로씨와 로렌조가 참 비슷합니다.)을 시도했지만 자신의 스타일과 너무 달랐다고 합니다. 자신은 슈퍼바이크에서 해온것 처럼 하드한 브레이킹에 이은 방향전환(로씨나 로렌조 처럼 코너 스피드를 최대화하지 못하는 단점)과 강력한 코너탈출을 선호한다고 하는군요.

"It’s hard to completely “180-degree” your riding style. Bike setup changes a lot. You’d be surprised how much softer Jorge’s spring and damping rates are than mine, especially for how fast he’s going. But he’s super-smooth on the bike. If you can get away with that, it’s good because you can generate more grip.

로렌조의 스프링 레이트와 댐핑 레이트가 자신과 비교해 놀랄 정도로 소프트하다고 합니다. 그만큼 그의 라이딩 스타일 또한 슈퍼-스무스하다고 말하고 있네요. 그런 부드러운 주행이 더 많은 그립 확보에 도움이 되나 봅니다.

I rode Valentino Rossi’s YZR-M1 at Valencia in 2010. I did five or six laps, but there was no way I could ride fast; it was too soft. We started fine-tuning the setup for me, and I went faster than Valentino had gone on the same bike during the race weekend. 

2010년 로씨가 탔던 M1을 탔을 때(아마 M1의 첫 테스트 때가 아닐까 싶네요.) 세팅이 너무 소프트해서 도저히 빨리 달릴 수 없었지만 본인에 맞는 세팅을 통해 로씨의 기록보다 빨리 달리수 있었다고 하는군요.

"It’s all about feel. If the rider is comfortable, he can ride the bike to its limit. Same goes for lines around the racetrack; there’s no perfect way to do anything."

The 2010 World Superbike Champion considered switching back to his old stomping ground with BMW, but a great offer appeared from Bologna which he found hard to turn down.

BMW와 계약설이 상당히 진전된 얘기였던듯 합니다. 하지만 Ducati의 계약 조건이 더 좋았나보네요.

"Ducati wanted me on their bikes this year. San Carlo Gresini Honda wanted me really badly, too. I spoke with Fausto Gresini, Shuhei Nakamoto and Livio Suppo at Brno. I told Gresini what I would like, what it would take to get me on a Honda. But Ducati never let that become a possibility. They were ready, and Honda wasn’t.

크게 다뤄지지 않았었지만 역시 그레시니와 HRC와도 꽤 깊은 얘기가 오갔던 모양이군요. 뉘앙스가 아마 HRC의 팩토리 서포트를 요구했던 것으로 보이고 그 부분이 충족되지 않았던게 아닌가 생각됩니다.

"Finally, I came to the conclusion that it was going to be either BMW in World Superbike or Ducati in MotoGP. The package that Ducati put together is an ideal scenario for me. Andrea Iannone will be my teammate. We’re going to have the same Ducati Corse colors but different sponsors. I will have factory bikes, factory everything.

역시 팩토리 서포트에 대한 얘기를 하고 있군요. 두카티가 주니어 팀이라는 이름으로 프라막에 팩토리 서포트를 계획하고 있는 것은 이미 알려진 사실입니다.

"Tom Houseworth will be my crew chief, and Max Bartolini will be my engineer. I asked for Max based on what I’ve seen him do in the past, what he currently does with Ducati’s GP program and after talking with a lot of people. I told Ducati that I had to have Max. They were surprised but in a good way; they knew I’d done my research.

"Ducati is going to do the best they can. They know what they’re doing. Last couple of years, they’ve been headed in a direction that may not have been the best for them. I think Audi is going to do a lot for Ducati, but it’s not going to happen overnight."

스피스가 부상으로 12월 테스트에 참가하지 못한 점은 상당히 아쉽네요. 2월 세팡 테스트가 기다려집니다.