#team yamaha roberts

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Yamaha YZR500 | Loris Capirossi | Team Yamaha Roberts

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Wayne Rainey’s interview with Cycle News, 1997

When I'm watching a race, or when I'm watching qualifying, and I'll see a look on a rider's face, I'm analyzing a situation to what I think it is. I'll watch a corner and I'll say, "That guy's off-line there. Did you see that?" I'll see that stuff. It's all so clear to me how it needs to be done. But most of the people that I have to be around don't see what I see. So sometimes it's frustrating to me that I can't be out there doing it and sometimes I'm pulling that in because, it's just like if you just did it like this the people, riders can't comprehend or understand that. There's a lot to this analyzing that would take all day. It's just that I'm different, I guess.

This is the truth.

This is Wayne Rainey's life the past few years in his own words, what he's been through, how he's coping. Being in a wheelchair hasn't slowed him down as much as it should have. He still puts in 17-hour days and most of those hours are devoted to racing. Making his team better, making his riders better, making himself better. It isn't easy being Wayne Rainey, it never was, it never will be. He possesses that defect in his personality known as perfectionism. It must be viewed as a defect only because he lives in an imper- fect world that he can no longer control as he did when he was winning three 500cc World Championships in a row, and nearly four. "Riding for me is both a blessing and curse," he believes, and he means it. He asks of others what he asked of himself and cannot understand why you would want to give less. "He's the most amazing person I've ever met," says his team manager and good friend Tim O'Sullivan, whose previous vocation involved dealing on a regular basis with brain surgeons. No one ever beat Wayne Rainey by outworking him and they never will.

Every year brings a new challenge. First it was winning championships as a rider. Next it was winning championships as a team owner. He started slowly, but soon found himself in a very high-stakes rivalry with Kenny Roberts, a friend he considers a brother. Now that Roberts has moved on to his own project, Rainey is the standard- bearer for Yamaha and his job is to restore the factory to the glory that he afforded it as a rider. It won't be easy. But for Wayne Rainey, it never is.

Let's start with Marlboro. What happened to the sponsorship?

There's a few different stories I've heard from each different guy, three different Marlboro guys. But the one I think I have to rely on is that there was a budget cut, because that was the most senior guy that told me that. That came on the 20th of January. The 20th was a Mon- day. They said there was a budget cut on Friday.

And they called you up and said...

No, I was just making my weekly call. I usually make one on Monday, one on Wednesday, and one on Friday. And that was my Monday call. And it was like 6 o'clock their time in the evening. I guess they weren't even going to tell me that day either.

When they called, did they tell you at the time that it was a budget thing?

The guy who told me didn't know why. He was just told that there's nothing there for you. And so I called the higherups and asked what happened. They said, "Well, we had a budget cut." "You guys just recently had one?" "Yeah, we're sorry." So I didn't have much time to think about it. I had a team to put together so I was on an airplane the next day to Japan.

What did Yamaha say?

They, officially, I don't think have ever been told by Marlboro that there's been a separation. They were pretty upset about it because I had told them all along that Norick (Abe) looks good and there was never any question about that. That budget for Norick always came from (Phillip Morris) Lausanne (Switzerland). Because that was my (Tetsuya) Harada budget that was there the year before and that budget didn't change, the numbers on that. The only thing that we were trying to put togeth- er was the second rider. And I believe that what Marlboro was trying to do was get the second-rider program sorted out. Kenny (Roberts) and I just didn't know all the way through if we were going to have sponsorship. We were talking weekly too. So they started throwing (Jean-Michel) Bayle's name around with me and a proposal with Bayle at the beginning of January. I didn't like that so much because I thought that was Kenny's only leverage he had to keep his sponsorship. So I refused to speak to Bayle about it. When they made the decision, Kenny didn't know either if he was going to have it or not. I think Yamaha coming on board just shows that they're serious about Grand Prix racing. It was a big push on their part to keep the team going and just get on with it.

Was there any chance that they could have just said, 'No, we can't afford it."

They could have very easily, I think, if they would have had some more teams to choose from. We had never ever geared up for NO from Marlboro. We just kept planning like the Marlboro thing was going to happen. And when it didn't happen they were pretty much in a corner. It was either do it or we have to stay home. Within 15 minutes of me being there they did it.

When did you decide on the second rider?

About half an hour after that meeting. I had told them, being so late, we need a second rider. And they weren't really gung-ho on a second rider. And then I told them the problem that I've been having for the last couple of years is having one rider and not having a back- up for the riders to have some kind of rivalry in the team to push each other. And I said the only guy I'd really want to put in there would be Sete (Gibernau) because of the job he did for us on the 250, and he's a good-size kid and he speaks very good English and we'll bring him on to test. They agreed with that philosophy and so far it works well.

Did your money last year come from Marlboro Italy?

Loris's (Capirossi) money did, not Harada's. Harada's came from Lausanne, which was (Norick) Abe's budget.

What do you think the team has to offer to Marlboro?

The Yamaha factory effort. Abe, myself. It's a good image.

What is it they get by sponsoring you? Do they want to win races or do they want to sell cigarettes?

I don't know. I think when I raced for them they wanted to be on TV. Okay, after my accident they haven't been on TV much and I think that's the philoso- phy behind Phillip Morris, they want to be racing for the top three and that's what we were hoping to do with Abe this year is to get him up on the podium because this is his third year. Abe's a young kid, he's flashy, he's fun to watch, he's exciting. If you look at Mick Doohan, he's not real exciting, but he wins. But you can pretty much write down what he's going to say each time and with these young guys coming up it's exciting and it's a good image for Marlboro to get in behind. You've got the factory effort and you've got my experience and you have these young guys. I think there was quite a lot to offer. I don't know what else you can offer.

Maybe someone who speaks English?

(Abe) does speak English. In Malaysia we did a Marlboro press conference and he spoke English there. I told him if you're going to do this thing, if you want to have a better chance for your career, you have to speak English. He did it. He was nervous. When I asked him, his first comments were in Japanese, then he changed them to English. He's making an effort at it.

There was also a story that Marlboro came back to you at some point.

Well, it wasn't Lausanne, it wasn't Switzerland that came back. They've always been in charge of sponsorship, they've always been the center of the world. It's getting a bit tougher for the Europeans now. The Asian people came back, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Japan. They still wanted to keep the relationship with Yamaha and myself and Norick. So we did a deal with them.

But it wasn't for full sponsorship for this year. Lausanne didn't want to sponsor the whole team for this year and next?

I don't know where Lausanne stood on the whole thing. All I know is that I said no to them because they came to us two weeks before the first race. They made a decision January 20th and I haven't looked back. I've gotten trucks painted, everything's done.

What did they offer you two weeks before the first race?

It was the Asian group that came to us. And they said, 'Hey, we want you.' You guys were involved in the decision.

They were?

That's what I thought. They didn't know about it. Not at all. They still want to keep that going. They're enthusiastic, they want me to work on their Indone- sian program. Right now they like what they're hearing and they like what we're doing.

So that's why they're sponsoring you in Indonesia and Malaysia.

Right.

Any reason why they're not here (at Suzuka)?

Japan is its own market. There's a European branch that does worldwide sponsorship. And so then Malaysia and Indonesia are out of Hong Kong and they wanted that relationship. They didn't say no, they wanted it. And Japan is its own market. It's not part of anything else. It's like a third party.

Let's go back to last year. When the year started it was full of promise. You spent the winter with Loris Capirossi. It didn't work out as well as everyone had hoped. What went wrong?

I think there was a variety of things. One, Loris, he was World Champion in his first two years. He went from being a working man every day to being World Champion status and he missed a few years of labor, what the real world's really like, and the team catered to him before and pretty much took care of everything. Coming to my team, being with me, I was used to doing my own program. I trained my way, I developed a certain way, and it made me really strong. And when he came to my team it all worked really good, he understood the whole thing. But then he had a few accidents. I think he fell off nine times and some weren't his fault, some were. I think when he went home the star status wasn't as strong as it used to be and he started lashing out. I wasn't used to that. I was used to bearing down and reaching inside myself to find a little extra to pull out, but one thing that I've learned since my accident is that I did it my way and nobody else does and I see why I was successful. Most of these young guys come up, they get paid a lot of money and they don't want to work at it. And he had to reach inside to go find out what was wrong, and that's something I'm not going to push. I want a guy that's going to come to the team and wants to work at it. And that's what I've got with my two riders now - I feel that they're working hard. I think Loris just...he was worried about his career. Second or third year not thinking that he was going to be as sought out after as he was before. The beginning of the year was great, everything was on a roll. We had some good results. But in the end you could just see the fire going down. I wasn't used to that. I didn't really know how to respond to that because me being a racer was always wide open or nothing. It was completely different for me to do this.

He wasn't happy with the way the team was run?

I don't know if it was so much the way it was run as what he felt he needed out of the team as far as bike setup. He didn't really lash out at me so much. Every time I was hearing rumors about him being unhappy, he'd say, 'No Wayne, everything is fine.' But he was afraid to confront me, I guess. And then we'd read in the press, especially after he left, that the team didn't do what he wanted. It's hard to get the team to do what you want if you don't tell the guy who can make the changes. So, he wasn't honest with me at all.

What did he want? Anything specific?

All I know is that he wasn't happy with his mechanics. I went over each guy and he said, 'No problem, no problem.' I didn't know at that time that he'd already made a decision to leave. This was a couple of races towards the end of the year. I'd seen that there was a change and I was trying to get out of him what he needed. He had a deal with Aprilia that was a certain amount of money for three years and he wanted to go back to doing it his way, I guess.

Would you do anything differently?

No.

How about with Tetsuya Harada?

With Harada I could sense the frustration in him because of the tire problem. Yamaha didn't push that 250 thing real hard and I saw that. I could understand that, but I didn't understand some of the things he was doing on the race track by just riding around. I've been in those situations and I pushed hard, no matter how bad it was. And there were times that I rode my stuff that it was just impossible. But that's me. I can't expect that out of everybody. Especially the results that I had, from the outside they probably look like Wayne's thing was pretty good most of the time. But a lot of the times on Sunday morning, man, I had to suck it up and go after it.

Do you think that since Harada wasn't in the championship he wasn't willing to try as hard?

I was explaining to Harada, we could have a tire advantage and we could really make Max (Biaggi) upset if we keep pushing that advantage. I said, 'Hey, we're on a tire nobody else has.' But, again, I was thinking that was an ideal situation. I was trying to sell it to him and it worked, it worked for a while. In Indonesia, we won. He just flat out out- rode them. Here (at Suzuka), the Michelin should have been terrible here. He was pole position and he was a second behind and in three corners he caught right up, but Max sucked him in there and he fell off. And as soon as he fell off and he hurt himself a little bit, he was just like, some of the stuff that he was telling me is that "Wayne, I've already been World Champion. I don't need to go out there and prove myself anymore." And I said: "Yeah, you do, you do. When you're World Champion you've got to keep proving to everybody that you're World Champion no matter what situation you're in. If it's bad, you've got to do the best you can. But if you're going to ride around in 18th, I'm not used to that." I said, "All you're doing is hurting your career riding around in 18th."

But the tire choice was a bit controversial. You tested at Shah Alam, back to back, the Dunlops and the Michelins. They tested Dunlop in November and in December they tested Michelin. I wasn't there for that test. He was sold on it. Isn't that a track that favors Michelins over Dunlops, generally?

Probably. It's temperature. But 250s aren't hard on tires. It's more of a profile thing. Dunlop has always been quicker than Michelin in the 250 class, even in Malaysia. So, after the Malaysian test he liked the way the bike turned and he thought that there was a lot of promise there.

And he made the choice?

He didn't have the choice. Yamaha was pushing hard for Michelin. And Marlboro and Yamaha were tired of hearing about tire problems. Put the same tire on as everybody else, and to make everything smooth we went with the 250 tire. But Harada wasn't happy with it, honestly wasn't happy with it. But again, he could have been. The philosophy was working for a while until it threw him off. Then he wasn't willing to work anymore.

What was the final straw that caused him to leave the team?

He never said, "I'm leaving." I said: "Hey, Tetsuya you're riding around. I bring all these guys here and we need you to put the effort in." And he just couldn't do it. And I just said, "Hey, it's okay. Why don't you just stay home and I'll put somebody else on the bike. I know you're not going to push." I said "You've worked hard to get where you're at and we'll put somebody else on it." I think he was quite happy with that.

You knew at Barcelona that he wouldn't be back.

We had Sete (Gibernau) testing at Czecho. His (Harada's) last race was Imola. With Tetsuya there was no effort left. I had to fulfill the contract, but I didn't want a guy out there riding around. Especially when we had done some tests and I was talking to him and I could see that he just gave up and it just wasn't worth it to me to watch all that. I needed to give somebody a chance that was willing to ride it and do the best they could and Sete was the guy.

So the season ends, and you start thinking about this year. When did you make your rider choices?

Abe was always there. Everybody knew that, Marlboro, Yamaha, myself, Kenny knew that, that Abe was coming two, three races from the end of the year. We won the last race, but I knew something was up because Loris was just so distant there. He tested the '97 bike on Monday and I could just tell he maybe needed a break. He just wasn't the same kid; he was real distant. Then I got a fax saying he left the team. That kind of surprised me because Loris and I were pretty good friends and we'd worked good together. He and I never had a problem, but then he left. I had Abe and we were just wondering who the second rider was.

Who else did you talk to?

At that stage, the first people Marlboro had me talking to was Max (Biaggi). But I kind of got in the same position with Marlboro with Max as I did with Mick (Doohan) and Marlboro. With Mick, Kenny had a contract (with Marlboro in 1995). So I was talking to Mick, and Marlboro said we need a letter of intent so I got that. I was talking to Mick in '95 and Kenny had a contract with Marl- boro in '96 already done. It was already done. That's why I chased Mick because I wasn't taking nothing away from Kenny. And Marlboro said you need a letter of intent from Mick because he's done this a lot to us before. I'm thinking, well, that's news to me. So I got a letter of intent signed, everything was done. I did everything that Marlboro had asked.

Then Marlboro went to Kenny at the very next race and said, "You need Mick Doohan." After they had already seen everything that I had done. They knew that I had him. So that's when they were going to give me Loris. And Mick stayed at Honda because it got real cloudy after that and I just said, "Hey I don't want no part of that." It was kind of like what happened with Max. They said talk to Max. And Max was going: "You know Wayne, I hear you talking to me and stuff and Marlboro, they're also telling me to go race a 250. I'd like to ride a 500 but they want to keep me in 250." They had talked for a month. I felt like they were doing the same thing to me with Max. They'd say, talk to Max. As soon as you hang up the phone, they'd say, "No, no, you're going to ride a 250." So I said, "Well, what do you want me to talk to Max for?" That was the thing that was going on that just didn't make sense. And they said Max is not an option, talk to Luca (Cadalora). So at the end of November, beginning of December I was talking to Luca. Through this, Marlboro comes up and Luca wanted a lot of money to ride for Marlboro. He figured that there was a lot of money there for him, but there wasn't. I tried to tell him that.

You were always critical of Luca, both as a teammate and afterward. How could you hire him?

Well, I was talking to him and I was telling him why I was critical, which was pulling in when things weren't right. Or Luca, "What's it going to take for you to beat Mick Doohan?" With Luca, I don't hide that fact at all. I wasn't real high on Luca. I was really excited about Abe. But if it helped to sell sponsorship maybe I could work with Luca. This was all going to be up front with Luca and the stuff I was talking to him about, he knew I was critical of that stuff. I'm not afraid to tell people. The thing is, that I'm a racer still, I can't race no more. When I go to a race track I'm there to race. And I let everybody around me know that we're not here to make money and say hi to the crowd, we're here to win and everyone's got to do their job. And maybe that's where I'm different than other people. Maybe I push hard and stuff, but I don't think I push that hard. But looking back on what I did and how I pushed and how I got the team to do it a certain way, maybe it's a little bit hard on these guys. I don't know.

So how do you change that?

By example I guess. When I fell off at Donington, I had a concussion. I figured out a way to race the race and make something happen. But most people aren't like that. Most people are going to go out there and race and go, "Well, if I get a good start maybe somebody will make a mistake and I'll take advantage of it." That's just the way I thought about racing. It consumed me and there was never any compromise.

But you can't teach that, can you?

No you can't, you can't. It's hard. It's different now. I was never satisfied. I see a lot of young guys coming up and their salaries have to be there. For me to get motivated by money, I don't need it. I enjoy coming to the race track and I enjoy trying to help the riders and com- ing up with possible scenarios that could happen in the race and seeing it pan out. I was just talking to Ralf Waldmann yesterday and he was talking about his hand and stuff. I said, "Hey, Max can make a mistake this year," and he made one the very next day. That's the way you've got to think. With some people you get done talking to them and they say, "What's that Rainey talking about?" I don't know. I just look at it a lot different than everybody, I guess. I've had to tone down some things, and some things I'm not willing to.

Like what?

When I'm watching a race, or when I'm watching qualifying, and I'll see a look on a rider's face, I'm analyzing a situation to what I think it is. I'll watch a corner and I'll say, "That guy's off-line there. Did you see that?" I'll see that stuff. It's all so clear to me how it needs to be done. But most of the people that I have to be around don't see what I see. So sometimes it's frustrating to me that I can't be out there doing it and sometimes I'm pulling that in because, it's just like if you just did it like this the people, riders can't comprehend or understand that. There's a lot to this analyzing that would take all day. It's just that I'm different, I guess.

Can you accept what you have to accept? And for how long?

Yes and no. I accept the way I am now as far as what my life is because this is the way it is and I can accept that. But there are some things that happened in my life that I'll never accept. Some of it's personal and some of it is right here in front of me. Some of it's complicated, some of it's black and white. Sometimes I got to the race track... For instance I was in Phillip Island this year and I got very emotional because I just miss being out there on a motorcycle. I didn't miss the pressure of racing for a championship, that I'm over. But I do miss the physical thrill of riding a 500. I was watching Mick (Doohan) and I thought, "I know exactly what he's doing out there." It was nice to be able to watch Mick and relive that moment again. It was tough to sit in a wheelchair and watch it for sure.

But there are other times when you don't want to be out there.

Yeah, I have to be very, very patient right now, much more than I ever was when I rode because live got to realize that I raced for 28 years, or whatever it was, and how I did it, I was successful doing it all the way until the very end. I've got young guys now that if I tell them to change their line two inches, they're going, "How do you change two inches, Wayne?" I think, yeah, well, that's true. They wouldn't understand two inches because they're riding within 12 inches. I was so precise in what I needed that sometimes I showed up at a race track and I couldn't use the line I wanted until Sunday morning because the track wasn't clean enough yet. And that line I wanted to get to wasn't there until I kept chipping away at it for two days. Most people don't understand that, but that's how I thought about it.

And you haven't been able to find anybody that will go about it the same way?

I thought with Loris I got a guy that's wanting to do it and I was showing him some training stuff and I thought, "Wow, this is great." But, then reality set in and it really came time and he had to dig in on his own without me, it just wasn't there for him. That hurt me a bit because I was kind of trying to live through Loris a bit, and I did for a while. But when it stopped happening it was a real reality check for me that I have to be more patient. It wasn't like I was out there screaming and yelling. I was just like, "You should try that, you should try this." When it came down to it he just didn't understand and most people don't.

There are times that you're not even 100 percent sure that the way you did it was the right way. You didn't know when to back off.

That's true. You can get riders and most guys to a certain level pretty quick. You can show them the basics and they'll excel. But to really go past what I can feel or say they have to be willing to go out and search for it themselves. That's something you can't teach and that's desire. And that was my strong point. Not having it good all the time and trying to make something happen. But when I lined up to go out to race or out to qualifying I knew that I was going to be trying. I just feel that I was at a certain level in my life that consumed me that I can't get right now and it is frustrating, it really is. And I think the only way that I can get that is by riding again. And sometimes I just have to watch and stay back and let it happen and sometimes it's no fun at all.

Is there anyone out there who you see who's as committed as you are?

Mick's (Doohan) the only guy. The only guy I see that I can see is doing it right is Mick. And, I think he's doing a great job staying motivated and having fun and he's the only you can say, "You're doing it right." Because the other guys are just waiting for Mick to make a mistake instead of trying to push him into a mistake.

Do you ever point that out to your riders? Do they know?

I think the general thought when it comes to Mick is that we're racing for second. That includes (Alex) Criville. They're not racing Mick, they're racing everybody else. (My riders) see Mick doing it. He's flicking it a certain way and he's keeping it on line. And my guys say, "Well, I can't keep it on line." I say, "Mick does it right there." They say: "Yeah, but Mick's stronger. He's physically tuned his brain and muscles just to ride that 500." Well, you're not going to get there. You're not strong enough and it's going to take you a few years to get strong enough. They want the result now, they don't look it as a race by race thing. It's like if they don't have it today then we've got to change something else. I don't know what you're going to change.

What about after Mick? When he retires, what happens then?

I think it becomes exciting again. I think with Mick out of there I'd get new life. There's a lot of guys who are a couple of levels away from Mick. Everybody I think just races for second, but with Mick out of there it's exciting for them to talk on TV again and for us to go, "Hey, maybe we've got a chance this weekend." Mick's talking about racing another year. I said, "Why don't you race the 250 class or something?"

That's another change this year. How much different is it being able to concentrate on just one class this year?

It's wonderful. I can sleep in a little more because I don't have to get up. My day starts at 6 and ends at 11 every day. And most of that is just getting prepared to get up and getting prepared to go to bed. That 250 thing was a completely different set of circumstances, problems. The team was completely separate from the 500 team, the engineers, their particular problems, completely different than the 500s. There was no camaraderie between the two teams. And so I'd put on my red hat over here and mess with the 250 team and then I'd go out in the garage and come back in and change teams and go work with the other team. It was a lot of work on my end. You're trying to keep everybody motivated, because that's what it was - it was work. Keeping everybody motivated. And when I rode it wasn't work, it was just, this is the way it is. And, again, it's me understanding how everybody does it.

You've said that Tetsuya and Loris were completely different to deal with. Tetsuya could motivate himself more, at least in the beginning.

Tetsuya is really, really strong mentally when things are right. But when it's not right he's three-quarters throttle. I believe you have to be even more full throttle is when things are off a bit because the rider is going to have make up 70 percent of the deficit that we have. And Loris, he rides all on lap time. If the lap time's good, he's happy. But if it's not, it's like, fix it. I can't do it. If I could fix it, I'd be in my leathers.

Was that 250 Yamaha as bad as it was made out to be?

Yeah. It was electrical failures and seizing up on the warmup lap. I think at the end there Yamaha just gave up on the 250 thing and when they saw the effort Harada was giving they just went: "Hey, he's not trying, we're not going to try." Let's work more on this 500 thing. Kenny beating up on Yamaha in the press was hurting me and my sponsorship thing with Yamaha and Marlboro. I'm trying to do a good job in the 250 class and trying to protect the interest in the 500 class and I think both of my efforts suffered because of the effort Yamaha was giving.

But Kenny's always beat up on Yamaha.

Kenny's always beat up on Yamaha, but we were winning. Kenny said, "You know Wayne, we keep winning on that thing we're not going to get a better bike," and he was right. But I'm the one riding it and I didn't have a choice. And we would get in some huge arguments over there's no way that we can win on this thing and then we'd go out on Sunday and win. Kenny would go, "Wayne, how are we going to get a better bike?" But I didn't have a choice. But, now, the situation that he was in, and I was in, is that we could beat up on Yamaha all we wanted, we weren't going to win. I think Kenny convinced some people that that was the case and I knew all along that we needed the riders, the riders had to suck it up. Because. the Yamaha got so much better because they weren't winning the last couple of years. You can ask Mike Sinclair on Kenny's team about the Yamahas, a good rider could win the World Championship on it. Kenny's own guy would say that.

How's Yamaha's position changed from last year to this as far as development?

The problem we were having with Kenny last year, Yamaha and myself, was Yamaha wanted Kenny to stop all of his development. And there was some friction with Yamaha and Kenny. So then Yamaha was in a delicate position because they had Rainey Marlboro and Roberts Marlboro and if they showed more favoritism to me, they'd say Kenny's got this big team and you need to support him so Yamaha had to hold back. Whatever they give me they didn't want Kenny to have because I think they believed Kenny was doing something else. So, my effort suffered from Yamaha because they were trying to protect their sponsorship with me. It was really difficult with what Kenny was saying with Yamaha and the way things really were.

How does that translate to development?

For instance we showed up at a test and as soon as we started the bike Kenny's guys come over and said: "What's this? Oh, you guys got differ- ent cylinders on it, where's ours?" Kenny'd make a phone call to Marlboro and Marlboro would say: "Hey, what are you guys doing? You're helping Wayne, you're not helping Kenny." That's what I mean. We could develop, but with Kenny in there we couldn't do it.

So this year how's it different?

I tell you, it's been a joy. The way Team Rainey is now with Yamaha is a lot better for me because I don't have any controversy with taking something away from Kenny or Marlboro jumping in with, "How come the bikes are no good?" Now Yamaha has been able to develop stuff on Sete's bike, which is why he came, to develop. And it's really good, really good. Yamaha's putting a lot of money into it so we've got make sure it's right when they build it. We don't want to go off in some direction that's wrong. Right now we've got some new stuff that going to be really good when we get to Jerez.

[aprilias]

I don’t want to get ahead of myself and say omg aprilia is a championship contending bike for many different reasons but I really really wanna know what was going on in Fabio’s head when he said no thanks

[crownmoto]

[scotianostra]

On July 30th 2003 Multi race winning Motorcyclist, Robert Steven ‘Hizzy’ Hislop died.

Hizzy, as he was affectionately known once said “If I’d never thrown my leg over a bike, I’d never have lived.”

Robert Steven Hislop grew up in the village of Chesters, near Hawick in the borders. His father started the interest of both he and his brother Garry in motorcycle racing. This was short lived at the time as he lost his father and a few years later his brother was killed at Silloth circuit. He ended up with a serious alcohol problem which led into depression.

Hizzy thankfully recovered and began his Isle of Man road racing career in 1983 by finishing second in the newcomers’ race at the Manx Grand Prix.

On short circuits, his first championship success came when he won the 250cc British Championship in 1990. Superbike victory followed with the British Superbike Championship in 1995. Some attributed his success to James Whitham leaving the series mid-season to deal with cancer.

Although he did not take a BSB victory in 1996 or 1997, Hislop was hired by Rob McElnea’s dominant Cadbury’s Boost Yamaha team for 1998. The nature of the fight for the championship between Hislop & team mate, fellow Scot. Niall Mackenzie, was illustrated by a near-collision on the last lap at Snetterton which cost the team a 1-2 finish. Hislop generally matched his countryman before a serious crash took him out of title contention.

His last championship success came in 2002 when he won the British Superbike Championship riding a Ducati. A notable feature of his season resulted from Hislop lapping Donington Park circuit more quickly on a superbike than the fastest Moto GP machine: Hislop’s modified production Ducati was heavier and less powerful than the bespoke Grand Prix bikes.

The 1992 Senior TT was described as an absolute classic. It is often described as one of the best races in TT history.

After their successful 1991 TT on all conquering Honda RVF machines, Hislop and Carl Fogarty had not planned to return in 1992. However, they both lined up on the Glencrutchery Road that year on unfancied machinery: Hislop was ona Norton with Fogarty on a Yamaha. The Norton Hizzy rode had been developed on a shoe string budget when compared with the Japanese competition. John Player had no intention of backing Steve’s TT campaign but after scratching around for some support and with minimal testing time, the team headed for the Isle of Man.

Hislop’s Norton took to the circuit in the unconventional white livery of Steve’s long term sponsor Abus. Hislop and the team defied the bike’s detractors by taking a fine 2nd place in the opening TT F1 race. The bike proved it could complete 6 laps of the gruelling Snaefell Mountain Course in hot weather so the team looked forward to Friday’s Senior TT.

Hislop’s main rival was Foggarty, who started at number 4. Steve started at 19. Not only did this give Hizzy more traffic to contend with but it also gave the crowd an anxious wait as the officials calculated the time difference between them. As the race progressed, the two riders smashed records they set the previous year with Hislop taking a narrow advantage into the final lap. In a last-ditch attempt to catch Hislop, Fogarty recorded a record lap time of more than 123 mph on his Yamaha. It was all in vain however as Hislop guided the fly splattered Norton home to an historic win. This was one of Hislop’s greatest achievements and one of the most popular TT wins. Carl Fogarty’s lap record stood for 7 years.

Hislop and Fogarty went on to become two of Britain’s most successful motorcycle racers, winning many races and championships. It was the 1992 Senior TT that saw them battle together for the last time.

Described by some as a flawed sporting genius, success in the world championships never materialised for Hislop. This was possibly because of a self-destructive aspect to his character. The flaw may have led to a number of well-publicised clashes with other riders and teams in the British championships which hindered progress into international series.

Having lost his brother and many friends in motorcycle accidents, he made a point of never going to the funerals of fellow racers, saying:

“Some people might find that a bit callous. I only ever attend family ones and people find it a bit strange that I won’t go to a friend’s funeral, but it’s just my little way of shutting off.”

Steve Hislop died in a helicopter accident in July 2003, near Teviothead, Roxburghshire and was interred in the village of Chesters near his birthplace of Hawick, Scotland. He had two children.

There is a bronze statue in memory of Hizzy in the grounds of Hawick Museum. at Wilton park and another at Onchan Head, Isle of Man, as seen in order in the pics. The last pic is a cairn near Teviothead, the scene of the helicopter crash, it reads……

‘Hizzy’ This cairn was built by a few friends of Steve Hislop, British Superbike Champion, who was tragically killed in a helicopter accident near this site, on July 30th 2003.

Kind permission was granted by His Grace The Duke of Buccleuch.

[waru-chan8]

Would you rather MotoGP Edition!

Okay this is a little game of would you rather... between the MotoGP (and others) series. Please feel free to add your own if your want (but please no F1-related) and share if you want. This is just for fun.

🎵 Would you rather let rather learn how to play piano with Pol, bass with Joe Roberts or guitar with Zarco?

💍 Would you rather let Luca organize your wedding (traditional/fairy tale) or Álex Rins (Party theme)?

🍴 Would you rather have a BBQ with the Binder brothers or Paella with the Márquez?

🏆 Would you rather third wheel a podium between Fermín&Alonso or Joan&Álex back in their Suzuki era?

🏄 Would you rather have surf lessons with Joe Roberts or windsurf with Dani Pedrosa?

🔄 Would you rather learn have a cooking class form Arón or a cross-snitch one from Pol?

💇 Would you rather learn Enea's or Bezz routine to keep their curls?

🏅 Would you rather learn martial arts with Raúl or learn sailing with Luca?

🛵 Would you rather train for a whole day with the VR46 Academy at the ranch or with Maverick (and Dani)'s band of misfits at the Rocco's ranch?

🎧 Would you rather let Bezz, Fabio or Jorge Martín DJ at your party?

👅 Would you rather learn languages with Dani (Spanish, Catalan, English, Italian, French and some Japanese) or with Miguel (Portuguese, Spanish, Italian, French and English)? (I know there's a Moto3 rider that speaks up to 8 languages so if anyone knows who he is, I'll include it).

🛍️ Would you rather let go shopping for clothes with Taka or Dovi?

👗 Would you rather lend a dress to Rins, Bezz or Canet?

🐉 Would you rather let Fabio or Arón desing a tattoo for you?

🖼️ Would you rather let Vale, Marc or Aleix design a helmet for you?

🧨 Would you rather participate in a Estrella Galicia challenge with Joan Mir or in a Red Bull Jorge Martín?

⛷️ Would you rather go skiing/snowboarding with the KTM/Ajo Squat/Tech3 team or with the VR46 Academy?

🏖️ Would you rather go on family vacation with the Academy at Ibiza or with Aleix, Jorge M. and Fermín in Bali?

🏍️ Would you rather ride for an historic team (Honda, Yamaha or Aprilia) or for a new one (KTM)?

🐼 Would you rather use a shark or a bunny as your animal/brand?

[42bakery]

Hi Waru! I wanted to ask you because you seem to know a lot about moto2 stuff, but how much of a difference does it really make if you’re on a kalex or boscoscuro? Or is it more the team itself that makes the difference? (and the rider ofcourse)

Hi there anon 👋👋👋👋👋

It really depends on the rider and the team really. Let's go back for a moment to 2022, when Arón said that 'Boscoscuro has to be ridden like Marc Márquez, while a Kalex is ridden like Álex Rins' he had ridden both bikes, so he does understand. This tells us that a Boscoscuro is an aggressive bike, which doesn't necessarily mean their rider has to be aggressive, and a Kalex is a gentle bike. So kind of a Kalex is like a Suzuki/Ducati/Yamaha while a Kalex is more like a Honda or a KTM.

Now each bike has their own differences. A Boscoscuro chasis will prefer a flowy track such as Aragón, Philipp Island, Argentina (which is also a low grip track) or Silverstone. The Kalex on the other hand seems to work better in twisty and Stop&Go tracks such as Catalunya or Austria. On top of that, until the Pirellis, the Boscoscuro seems to work better in low grip conditions, Pedro himself said that, hence why Fermín did such an amazing job in the Asian and Australian leg of the championship last year.

This year, however, the Boscoscuro bikes have said over and over again that their bike prefers the soft compound. Alonso in more than one occasion has said that the bike demanded the soft tyre. And the MSI team had said the choose to put the hard compound to study how it'll work when they are forced to use it, meaning that bike has clearly a preference. This make me think that they might have a grip issue this year. It also adds up when you look at the results and you see that Kalex has been better than them at their strong tracks. Maybe it's just an adaptation issue that will be solved by next year as in general Boscoscuro has a solid and competitive package.

Now, about the teams, it influences in 2 ways. The first one is when a suplier like Kalex has that many teams (12) and riders (24), they have to choose the 'top' teams. Meaning not all the teams have the same material or get it later. On the top of my mind, top teams are KTM, Italtrans, Marc VDS, Gresini and Yamaha. This blows my mind because Fantic had better results but is not a top team according to to Kalex.

That same thing applies to the riders because top teams will have more saying than other, and that translated on how they help or hinder the bike development.

On the other hand, as Boscoscuro is as small manufacturer, they allow all riders to give their opinion and feelings on the bike. It also allow them to share all the date. They still decided who get the material first, and so far it's been first Fermín, second Alonso then the MSI team. This might change now that the Marc VDS also got the bike, and apparently Yamaha master camp too.

The second way a team can affect the riders, it's the teams dynamic. This is why a rider like Roberts struggle in Italtrans, but is doing much better in American Racing. Their rider advisor (ex-rider) took him under the wing and help him settle in London where most of the team lives. This helped him more settle. That same team dynamic is also what makes some rider feel more heard or ignoring and increase their confidence. An example of this is Arón, in the Pons team he was very heard and he was given what he asked, however what he needed is someone who told him 'no, focus on what you have before making the changes' whenever he got lost, and he got it with Jairo Carriles.

Now rider's innate riding style does affect because it means they will need to change their riding style more or less. It's also about how quic they adapt or can change their riding style and their ability to change it.

Overall, it depends on each rider, but overall, I will said it's the rider's riding style and their ability to change it is what will affect more.

I hope this helps anon.

[sbknews]

Four in a row! Fermin Aldeguer makes some Moto2 history

That's a wrap for 2023 in the FIM Moto2™ World Championship and Fermin Aldeguer (CAG SpeedUp) stole the limelight yet again as he took his fifth victory of the season and fourth in a row. The Spaniard was untouchable as Aron Canet (Pons Wegow Los40) had to settle for P2, with Alonso Lopez (CAG SpeedUp) coming out on top in the battle for the final podium spot in P3. The Boscoscuro rider stretched the field right from the beginning as he had Canet clinging onto his coattails in second place. With 20 laps to go they already had a substantial gap to Marcos Ramirez (OnlyFans American Racing) in third as the hot pace from Aldeguer stretched out the top five. Ramirez was out of touch to threaten the top two and had Jake Dixon (Inde GASGAS Aspar Team) for company as the Brit was desperate to find his way through with the prospect of a third overall in the Championship still tangible.

However, at the front Canet was confidently responding to Aldeguer's pace, and the two were Dixon's rivals in the fight for third overall. With 17 laps to go Canet was the fastest rider on the circuit too as he set the quickest lap of the race so far and bettered it one lap later. The battle for 3rd then began to hot up even more as a flying Lopez caught Ramirez and Dixon as he brought Somkiat Chantra (Idemitsu Honda Team Asia) to join the party with him. But Lopez made his way through on Dixon with 14 laps remaining. The Spaniard was on a charge after fighting his way up from 14th on the grid to sit in fourth place with his sights set on Ramirez ahead of him. 12 laps to go and Aldeguer was able to extend the gap to 1.5s. The Spaniard continued to put down his relentless pace and took victory in Valencia by 3.982s, with Canet bringing home second. The fight for the final place on the podium went absolutely to the wire as Lopez got through on Ramirez but the American Racing rider then went for a lunge at the final corner on the final lap. It was a well-judged one, but Lopez got the cutback and won the drag to the line. The points scorers Behind Ramirez in P4, Chantra got the better of Dixon in the end as the Thai rider capped off his 2023 season with a 5th place as he pulled eight tenths on the Brit in P6. Dixon ends 2023 fourth overall, with his compatriot Sam Lowes (Elf Marc VDS Racing Team) completing his final Grand Prix race in seventh as he gets set for a move to the WorldSBK paddock. Joe Roberts (Italtrans Racing Team) took eighth ahead of his teammate Dennis Foggia, with Albert Arenas (Red Bull KTM Ajo) completing the top 10. Ai Ogura (Idemitsu Honda Team Asia) claimed P11 ahead of World Champion Acosta, who ended his season with a P12 after a fraught start and tougher race. The Spaniard's attentions now turn to Tuesday's Valencia Test. The final point scorers were Manuel Gonzalez (Correos Prepago Yamaha VR46 Mastercamp), Barry Baltus (Fieten Olie Racing GP) and Jeremy Alcoba (Gresini Racing Moto2™) who took 13th, 14th, and 15th respectively. That's it for Moto2™ in 2023 and what a season it has been! Acosta leaves as a World Champion as Aldeguer sends a huge message to his rivals ahead of 2024… watch this space! For more Moto2 info checkout our dedicated Moto2 News page Or visit the official MotoGP website motogp.com Read the full article

[nwbeerguide]

Saporro U.S.A. teams up with Tokyo Hiro to release a unique six-pack can.

Press Release

ESCONDIDO, CA ... Sapporo U.S.A. announces its partnership with renowned artist Tokyo Hiro as the brand prepares to launch its new six-pack can and first-ever limited-edition artist collaboration package. Tokyo Hiro is best known for his tattoo artistry and has designed album covers, merch and more for professional athletes, bands and brands like Bad Religion, The Offspring, Mötley Crüe, Motörhead, Fender, Addidas, Hurley and more. Joined by their Japanese heritage and passion for artistry, Sapporo will feature the custom artwork of Tokyo Hiro on Sapporo Premium limited-edition six-pack cans releasing in January 2024.

Fans of Tokyo Hiro and the Sapporo brand can now experience Hiro’s distinctive style and artistic approach in a documentary-style video at SapporoBeer.com/TokyoHiro. The limited-edition six-pack featuring Hiro’s art and celebrating the 2024 Year of the Dragon will be available at stores nationwide beginning in early January 2024. 

In a campaign launched this year, Sapporo is spotlighting moments and people that ‘Shine Through’ in meaningful and unexpected ways. Tokyo Hiro’s story is a testament to the power of leading with passion. Born and raised in Tokyo, Japan, Hiro began spending time in the U.S. in high school. He walked away from his prospects as a professional baseball player for his infatuation with American culture, punk rock, metal, and tattoo artistry. An apprentice of the legendary Bob Roberts of Spotlight Tattoo, Hiro’s tattoo business soared landing his ink on celebrities and his designs on everything from Los Angeles Football Club soccer kits to Yamaha guitars. Later, seeking to bring deeper impact to his life and work, Hiro co-founded the Rock & Roll Rescue, which works with high profile musicians to raise awareness, support, long-term care, and financing for rescue animals. Tokyo Hiro is an artist, musician, activist, and a true embodiment of the Sapporo brand.

“To me, beer is synonymous with Sapporo, how could I say no to this?” explained Tokyo Hiro of the opportunity to partner with Sapporo. “Growing up in Japan, Sapporo was the beer my dad always drank, and it’s the beer I drink here in the U.S. When I was asked to celebrate the Year of the Dragon on Sapporo’s packaging, I knew I had to draw the best dragon of my life. It was harder than I expected!”

Sapporo is the oldest beer of Japan and the number one selling Japanese beer in the U.S., growing 7.6% year-over-year within the rapidly expanding import beer category. This is Sapporo Premium’s first six-pack can package in the U.S., and first limited-edition artist collaboration package. Sapporo and Tokyo Hiro will unveil the artwork in January 2024. For more information, visit SapporoBeer.com/TokyoHiro and @SapporoBeerUSA on Instagram.

[boanerges20]

Yamaha YZR500 Loris Capirossi /Team Yamaha Roberts

[anyawinget]

Europe e-bike Market Advancements, Trends and Demand 2021 to 2028

The Europe e-bike market is expected to grow from US$ 11,706.81 million in 2021 to US$  48,810.57 million by 2028; it is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 22.6% from 2021 to 2028.

The Europee-bike Market report is the most important research for who looks for all information about the market. The report covers all information about the regional markets, including historical and future trends for market dominance, size, trades, supply, competitors, and prices, as well as key vendor information across the region. Forecast market information, SWOT analysis, Europe e-bike market scenario, and feasibility study are important aspects in this report.

Request Sample Copy of this Report@:

https://www.businessmarketinsights.com/sample/TIPRE00027242

Top Companies in the Europe e-bike Market include:

Aventon; Giant Bicycles; Haibike; Merida Bikes; Accell Group; Robert Bosch GmbH; Shimano Inc.; Specialized Bicycle Components, Inc.; Trek Bicycle Corporation; and Yamaha Motor Europe N.V.

Europe e-bike Market Split by Product Type and Applications:

This report segments the Europe e-bike market on the basis of Types is:

On the basis of Application, the Europe e-bike Market is segmented into:

Objectives of the Report:

·         To carefully analyze and forecast the size of the Europe e-bike market by value and volume.

·         To estimate the market shares of major segments of the Europe e-bike.

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Key questions answered in the report include:

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Finally, the report presents market information in the most comprehensive manner. The report structure has been maintained to provide maximum business value. It provides critical insight into market dynamics and enables strategic decision-making for established market participants and those willing to enter the market.

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[aprilias]

Just for my own documentation (and anyone else’s if they want it) here’s a summary of Thursday at Silverstone. This is going under the cut because while this is a summary, I myself cannot summarise the words lmao.

The basics/area/idk how to describe it:

- Arriving at the track it really feels like more people are here for Thursday than last year (hopefully this continues for the weekend since this is regularly not a well attended race in comparison).

- There was also so many people wearing different merch whereas the last 2 years have been pretty much Marc and Vale. Fabio I think actually looked the most popular this year, but there was a surprising amount of Martin fans.

- The one thing I’m disappointed about is that last year they changed the bit around the fanzone from grass to gravel and it’s the same this year. It makes it a lot more inaccessible and its so difficult to get to the activities and stuff.

- In fact I think they changed the layout way more this year but it was still fine, just weird that they don’t want us touching grass lol.

- The fans as a whole behaved well but there were a few people that were rude, not necessarily towards the riders but towards other fans.

The paddock:

- The paddock opened at 11 but the queue started at like half past 10, but it really didn’t take long to get in so it was fine. It was ridiculously hot though.

- The paddock itself is massive, but for the GP teams its too small unlike the old layout. They’ve had to add a secondary part at the back for some of the smaller teams in Moto2/3 for their hospitality and motor homes.

- They didn’t have anywhere to get drinks in the paddock unlike last year. We wouldve had to leave to get drinks but luckily we bought water and they had refilling stations.

- We wanted to get to the pitlane for the bike reveals and the queue was… well just absolutely ridiculous to put it mildly. We decided to skip it which was sad but we got to watch the reveals on the screen (Yamaha and Pramac won for me and I love Trackhouse’s too).

The auction:

- The auction is so fun. Basically all the riders put something of theirs, for example a knee slider or boots or something, and then people bid (slightly ridiculous) amounts of money for them for the two wheels for life.

- Joe Roberts was brought on stage and he was giving away part of his race winning bike from mugello??? They got 4k for it.

- Jake Dixon was there on stage but he was ill. He brought Summer (his daughter) out on stage and she waved at all of us which was so cute.

- The auctioned a Prosecco bottle that was signed by Johann Zarco, Jack Miller and wait for it…. Pecco Bagnaia. No one else seemed to care how ironic that was but I burst out laughing.

- Johann Zarco talks a lot. By a lot I mean he may as well have presented the auction himself. That’s all I can say about the MotoGP riders that I didn’t know already.

- Actually I just want to say that Fabio seems really shy and reserved but he knows how to work a crowd. The British crowd absolutely love both him and Rins but I genuinely think he’s the best supported rider here, maybe even more than Marc.

- He also did the auction for his boots which was absolutely hilarious. He wanted to buy them himself too but got outbidded 😭

- Also Remy kind of said on stage that it appears he will be doing another year of WSBK with Yamaha!!!!!

- We left early because of the rain but it was so fun, if I had money then I would’ve been bidding on stuff but it was fun regardless.

The riders (and team people i suppose):

- Met the Moto3 baby goats extremely early and David and Collin are both lovely and so polite too.

- Ran into Massimo Rivola. I have a picture with him and he smiled at me when he saw I was wearing Aprilia merch. Also found Pablo Nieto and Frankie Carchedi and said hello to Nadia Padovani.

- My friend saw Somkiat in the motorhome and shouted at him, and he kind of jumped and pointed but he came down for a chat and a photo. Again, he is probably one of the, if not the, nicest person in the whole paddock.

- Found Celestino and again he is so nice but also comes across as really shy. I actually told him he was my favourite out of everyone and he seemed really grateful for it (unless he thought I was crazy which is also possible).

- Saw somebody who I thought was J.A. Rueda but I’m not 100% sure. Also ran into both Senna Agius and Jeremy Alcoba and when I tell you those boys look the same its crazy.

- Saw Albert and had to stop myself from apologising that I jinx him every weekend. Also a great guy it seems and we saw him a few more times after that.

- Not saying it’s necessarily him all the time but it’s two years in a row I’ve had a very negative experience of a certain #1. Never said hello or anything when people said it to him, unlike literally every other rider (yes including Fabio and Marc and any other person you want to try a pull a gotcha card on).

- I need to issue a public apology to Jorge Martin because I saw him on his scooter and shouted “Hola Jorge” from a distance and following that he got swamped. He’s not off the shit list but he was actually a nice guy. I also asked if he could sign anything Aprilia yet (thought I’d ask because i had my pen and cap) and he smiled and said not this time.

- I have had skin-on-skin contact with Fabio (not even out of context: he touched my arm while I was helping him escape on the scooter from a crowd).

- I didn’t see him but my friend did and the good news is for the first time in two years Pedro has arrived at Silverstone not on crutches!!!

- Saw Maverick, Aleix and Enea (who was walking back and forth around Aprilia for some reason). They were down the opposite end to all of us but all smiled and waved. Maverick disappeared somewhere so I’m pretty sure he’s a wizard.

- Found Luca who was lovely again. Also Miguel who said he has given up dentistry now!! Again lovely and stopped for as many as he could, as did Bezz.

- We stopped to get some shade, which conveniently ended up being outside the Yamaha hospitality. Got a picture with Remy and I got thrown off because he was speaking perfect Italian to someone.

- Saw Sarah (Jake’s wife) and we said good luck to him for the weekend, and we asked where he was but she told us he was ill (which you could tell from the auction lol)

- David Muñoz was laughing at everyone queueing for and just sat there on his bike.

- Saw Ai and he was really patient because I could not get the camera to work. Again such a lovely guy and in case anyone was curious: he and Somkiat are still really good friends and Somkiat was riding Ai around on the same scooter so they’re still cool.

- I said it earlier but favourite rider of the day: Tony Arbolino aka loml. I cannot even tell you how nice he is because that deserves a post in itself. He was so happy I had his cap that he thanked me before I could thank him for signing it (his signature is interesting to say the least lmao I put the picture so you be the judge). Also some man offered to take our picture but I didn’t realise and I’m fairly confident it was his manager.

So yeah this was basically my day. If you wanna ask about any other riders cause I saw so many (the ones I’ve mentioned are the ones I have pictures with or of) then feel free to ask but yes 11/10 day, would recommend it to everyone. Hopefully we have a good weekend to follow!

[dailyrugbytoday]

2023 Japan Rugby League One fixtures & how to Watch

New Post has been published on https://thedailyrugby.com/2023-japan-rugby-league-one-fixtures-how-to-watch/

The Daily Rugby

https://thedailyrugby.com/2023-japan-rugby-league-one-fixtures-how-to-watch/

2023 Japan Rugby League One fixtures & how to Watch

The 2022–23 Japan Rugby League One – Division 1 season is the twentieth top flight league season scheduled to be played in December 2022 through to 2023, in the newly rebranded Japan Rugby League One. The competition consists of twelve teams, including two promoted teams from Division 2, Sagamihara Dynaboars and Hanazono Liners.

The format and schedule was announced on the 16th of September 2022. It will consist of a round-robin fixture, before entering into a knockout style play-off for the final four teams. It will feature two conferences (A, B). Teams in each conference will play the teams in their respective conference twice (one at home, one away), and six matches against all the teams in the other conference, three being at home and three away. Each team will play a total of sixteen seasonal fixtures, plus additional play-off matches, including relegation play-offs.

2022–23 Japan Rugby League One – D1 Countries  Japan Number of teams 12 Date 17 December 2022 – 20 May 2023 Promoted Hanazono Liners Sagamihara DynaBoars Matches played 42

Japan Rugby League One Teams

Club Prefecture Coach Stadium Capacity Black Rams Tokyo リコーブラックラムズ東京 Tokyo  Peter Hewat Komazawa Olympic Park Stadium 20,010 Green Rockets Tokatsu NECグリーンロケッツ東葛 Chiba  Robert Taylor Kashiwanoha Stadium 20,000 Kobe Steelers コベルコ��戸スティーラーズ Hyōgo  Dave Dillon Noevir Stadium Kobe 30,132 Spears Funabashi クボタスピアーズ船橋・東京ベイ Chiba  Frans Ludeke Edogawa Stadium 6,950 Red Hurricanes Osaka NTTドコモレッドハリケーンズ大阪 Osaka  Johan Ackermann Yodoko Sakura Stadium 25,000 Saitama Wild Knights 埼玉パナソニックワイルドナイツ Saitama  Robbie Deans Kumagaya Rugby Ground 24,000 Shining Arcs Urayasu NTTコミュニケーションズ シャイニングアークス東京ベイ浦安 Chiba  Hugh Reece-Edwards Chichibunomiya Rugby Stadium 27,188 Shizuoka Blue Revs 静岡ブルーレヴズ Shizuoka  Naoya Okubo Yamaha Stadium 15,165 Tokyo Sungoliath 東京サントリーサンゴリアス Tokyo  Milton Haig Chichibunomiya Rugby Stadium 27,188 Brave Lupus Tokyo 東芝ブレイブルーパス東京 Tokyo  Todd Blackadder Ajinomoto Stadium 49,970 Toyota Verblitz トヨタヴェルブリッツ Aichi  Simon Cron Paloma Mizuho Rugby Stadium 15,000 Yokohama Eagles 横浜キヤノンイーグルス Kanagawa  Keisuke Sawaki Nissan Stadium (Yokohama) 72,400

Read more: 2023 japan rugby league one fixtures

how to Watch 2023 Japan Rugby League One 1

Watch the full match replay of the competition of takes place within the tournament of Japan Rugby League One. Japan Rugby League One (JRLO) 2022-2023 season kicks off in Tokyo on Saturday 17th December 2022 in round 1 with several of the title-contending teams squaring off in Division 1, but there is action across all three divisions this weekend.

There are three matches in Division One on each day of the opening weekend, with Divisions Two and Three also kicking off.

Asian Rugby Tournaments 2022-2023

Hong Kong Women XV Looking For Series Clean Sweep Over Kazakhstan.

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Hong Kong and Chinese Taipei To Play For U19 Silverware.

HKRU 2023 New Year’s Day Youth Rugby Tournament.

[42bakery]

They basically facilitate the signing because they want to keep the Australian market open because if there's no Aussie, then they broadcaster won't renew and they lose money.

They basically tried to do the same for Dixon when Crutchlow retired and they also might try to do the same if Aprilia/Trackhouse starts to talk with Roberts.

However, DORNA has no real power and it's the team who does all the signing. DORNA can mediat and incentive, but as it has been seen, teams still can say no.

And why Miller? Apparently Aussie and Brits love him despite he just not being that good or in general being an asshole. In my opinion, Picking GArdner would have been better. He's also Aussie, he is much more friendly and less controversial and has already worked with the Yamaha. On top of that, it would be the redenption arc we want and closing the Gap between WSBK and MotoGP

Why on earth does Dorna get to determine who Pramac pick to race for them? Like this is supposed to be a SPORT guys!

it's nothing new really but the way this move has been done is 💀💀💀 you can't say the sport needs more non spanish riders and then do nothing about the source of the problem ie. the most competitive feeder series being in spain...

[scotianostra]

On July 30th 2003 Multi race winning Motorcyclist, Robert Steven ‘Hizzy’ Hislop died.

Hislop was from a close knit, Scottish Borders family. He grew up in the village of Chesters near the town of Hawick with his father Sandy, mother Margaret and younger brother Garry [his best friend]. Sandy encouraged his boys to be enthusiastic about competitive motorcycling and take up racing.

However his father died when Steve was 17, then Garry was killed in a racing accident at Silloth circuit in 1982 aged 19, Steve’s enthusiasm waned and he slumped into an alcohol fuelled depression.

However, a trip to the TT races in 1983 inspired him, and he decided to compete there, with his first win in the 1987 TT Formula 2 Race on a Yamaha.

He went on to become the fourth most successful TT rider of all time with a total of 11 wins, including four victories in the senior race - the TT’s premier event. In total, he took the podium an incredible 19 times. But for many domestic fans, the victory held most dear is his win on the rotary-engined Norton in 1992 - the last time an all-British machine won a TT.

Unlike a lot of TT specialists, Hislop was also extremely good on conventional racing circuits and was tipped by many for world championship success. When he won the British 250cc Supercup for Honda in 1990, everything looked set for a glittering career in grand prix, following his countryman Niall Mackenzie.

But promise was never turned into reality, and he never marketed himself in a way which would secure a GP ride. Later, he expressed regret that he had not contracted a personal manager, who could have directed his talents on the bike into a career off it.

He was twice British superbike champion and also won in world superbike and world endurance racing. Hislop excelled at endurance racing and was world champion in 1993 - but again didn’t capitalise on this success.

Much of the problem lay with his dual personality. With race fans he was often the most charming, accessible and easy-going of all his generation of riders. However, he was often difficult for teams - despite his astonishing skill on the track.

Even after winning the 2002 British superbike championship, Monster Mob Ducati team owner Paul Bird did not renew his contract, and Hislop was fired from the Virgin Mobile Yamaha team in July of this year - and mid-season sackings of a team’s lead rider are rare occurrences.

Injuries did not help his career either. In a miraculous escape, he broke his neck at the 2000 world superbike round at Brands Hatch and then, unaware of the seriousness of his injuries, discharged himself from hospital. In 2002, he suffered horrendous injuries when a safety fence lifted and he hit a solid barrier behind it. Despite this enormous setback, he went on to win the 2002 British superbike championship.

Conscious of the fact that his racing career was coming to a close, Hislop had been taking helicopter flying lessons with the aim of becoming a commercial helicopter pilot.

On July 30th 2003 Hislop crashed his hewlicopter just eight minutes after leaving a friend’s home in Hawick to fly solo back to Buckinghamshire.

Steve has two statues in his memory, one on The Isle of Man, the other at Wilton Lodge Park in Hawick. He has two, £2 coins that were struck by the royal mint in 2019 to mhonour him.

There is a cairn near Teviothead close tothe scene of the helicopter crash, it reads……

The last pic is a cairn near Teviothead, the scene of the helicopter crash, it reads……

'Hizzy’ This cairn was built by a few friends of Steve Hislop, British Superbike Champion, who was tragically killed in a helicopter accident near this site, on July 30th 2003.

Kind permission was granted by His Grace The Duke of Buccleuch.

[oldtimeracing]

Kenny Roberts - 750 Yamaha by Keith Nunns Via Flickr: Kenny Roberts on a 750 Yamaha rounding Goddards onto Wheatcroft Straight in the early 1980s at, I believe, a European Cup meeting. A one off where teams from Britain, USA and either Europe or the Rest of the World competed against each other in a number of races at Donington Park