Transcript

Jonathan Rea · Rusty's Garage

0:02
A listener production.
0:14
I'm automotive commentator and journalist Greg Rust and this is Rusty's Garage.
0:29
In this episode, I'm at Phillip Island in the Kawasaki team's hospitality area with their superbike star, Jonathan Ray.
0:38
Now the goat in this sport, Ray is just about to start his bid for a fifth straight title.
0:45
To be able to chat one-on-one for this long on the eve of race weekend, the start of a new season, is almost impossible when it comes to World Championship motorsport.
0:56
But Jonathan is engaging and proud of his incredible achievements, even if the milestones didn't sink in straight away.
1:08
When I passed Foggy's record of 59 victories, that was a moment where I thought, hey, I can finally be proud of being talked about in the same breath as these guys.
1:19
For many years, when I equaled Bayless's three titles...
1:24
I kind of looked at them guys as heroes.
1:25
I never really put myself in the same bracket.
1:28
And he was actually a journalist who read out my stats to me after my third championship, and he said that I was equal in championships with Troy Billis.
1:36
And I thought, no way, really?
1:39
So that was kind of a moment where I thought, hey, maybe I'm doing a good job, and it kind of sinking in a little bit.
1:46
Motorsport connections for you go way back.
1:50
For people that maybe haven't heard the stories, what are your earliest memories of your grandfather's involvement and even your dad's own racing?
1:57
Because it was your life, wasn't it?
2:00
Yeah, to be honest, I was so young, I can't remember too much about my granddad before he passed away, but I remember just his legacy of supporting Irish motorcycle racers, road racers, especially Joey Dunlop, and then my dad as well.
2:12
So my earliest memories of bikes was kind of...
2:16
running around the race paddocks with my dad, generally getting in the way of his mechanics and when they were doing wheel changes and whatnot.
2:23
I can remember being super proud of him and always wanting him to win and seeing the difference a race win made to him or if he had a bad day and whatnot.
2:30
So I think that...
2:33
That kind of was really infectious.
2:34
You know, I wanted to do that.
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And, of course, you can't race a superbike when you're five years old, but you can race a motocross bike.
2:40
So that was the natural stepping stone to get a motocross bike and start riding dirt bikes.
2:45
Are the stories of you, you know, on the lounge at home, leaning off the arm and kind of commentating your own bicycle race, is that all true?
2:55
Yeah, yeah, completely.
2:56
Especially the bicycle race thing.
2:57
I remember I used to have my mum...
3:00
take lap times around the house.
3:01
I mean, it was only a 20-second lap or something, but I was always focused on lap times since I was so young.
3:07
And then I would pretend I won a race.
3:09
I don't know why, but I'd always do a post-race interview in an American accent.
3:14
I guess it was because, you know, Jeremy McGrath was one of my heroes and, you know, growing up Swants as well, and I'd hear them guys.
3:21
My Texan accent's not that great, but...
3:24
Yeah, I used to feel like I was Kevin Swanson.
3:28
And it was really cool.
3:30
It was something I did, and I used to think it was hilarious.
3:33
What is it?
3:33
I mean, heroes are important for anyone when you're younger like that.
3:36
What was it about Swanson, McGrath, that you saw and that you admired?
3:40
Well, my grandfather travelled the Grand Prix circuit with Joe Miller.
3:45
There's a Miller Racing 500 Grand Prix team from Northern Ireland.
3:48
My dad was always sponsored by Joe.
3:50
So they went together and he got me a...
3:52
He did a championship year, I think it was 1993.
3:56
He released a book, like a picture book, and he signed it to Jonathan Best Wishes Kevin.
4:01
I used to think he was the dog's balls, you know?
4:04
He was the guy that would turn up with a broken collarbone or wrist and manufacture things in the bike to make it more comfortable and still go out and win.
4:11
You know, he had no business beating them out of HRC and doing and whatnot, and he did it in inferior machinery.
4:18
I kind of liked his attitude.
4:20
But they say you should never meet your heroes, and it was definitely the case with Swanson.
4:23
I met him...
4:25
We had a mutual sponsor and we were in a hospitality suite once and I just interrupted him for a minute and said, hey man, you're my hero.
4:33
And he gave me absolutely nothing.
4:34
He was busy and I was like, oh shit, what a dick.
4:37
And then he came to Imola one year, I think it was 2009 with,
4:42
my manager Chuck Axelund and we went out for dinner and I told him this story and he's the life and soul of the party and you know he's one of the only guys now that texts me every race, win or lose, whatever, he's always sending me messages so I always think that was incredible because I must have just caught him in a bad moment because he's such a good guy and it's kind of ironic, he was my real hero and McGrath just because growing up on motocross he dominated supercross and motocross back in the early 90s.
5:10
You got your first bike around the age of two.
5:14
Did your dad have to part with some money from the TT success in order to buy that bike?
5:18
And it was like a cold Christmas day and you would not stop riding it.
5:21
Is that true?
5:22
That was it.
5:22
You know, my hands were not even big enough to reach the brake levers.
5:29
So he used to always sit me on his bikes and I'd rev them.
5:32
Yeah.
5:33
But I kind of never figured out brakes.
5:35
So I was just on the... We had lucky about a big piece of, you know, garden that I didn't crash into anything.
5:40
But I got it straight away.
5:42
And I think I actually rode a motorbike before I rode a bicycle without stabilizers.
5:48
So it was pretty cool.
5:49
But technology is mental.
5:51
You know, my two kids now, they're riding balance bikes.
5:53
And they went straight from that to pedal bikes.
5:56
And now with all these, like, little electric motocross bikes being invented now, they were riding at two years old.
6:01
It's mental.
6:01
So...
6:03
Yeah, for me it was a Metallarjet 50 and then I just wanted to race.
6:08
And it was, yeah, when I raced I wanted to win and when I started winning I never wanted it to stop.
6:14
Peewee was the first proper race bike, wasn't it?
6:16
But it was, she was a pretty wet day and I don't think it ended too well.
6:19
No, I rode through a puddle and the old electronics and the Peewee weren't the best, you know, so it stopped.
6:25
I remember being in hysterics, crying and crying and Dad sort of had to tell me to stop being a spoiled brat.
6:31
These things happen.
6:33
And I moved straight, I think there was an Italian bike, a Malagotti 50.
6:38
That was my first proper racing bike, because the Peewee, I only did a few race meetings in that.
6:42
And then there was the 50cc modified class.
6:44
So I had this Malagotti 50, and it was a pretty fast thing.
6:48
It was good and...
6:51
It doesn't feel fast at the time, but then now when I see...
6:55
Sometimes I take Jake's little 50 up and down the lane, you know, just to run it in and whatnot and check the brakes before we go riding, and they're weaponed, you know, so fast.
7:04
So it's kind of cool to see that kids can get involved in motorsport so early.
7:10
Do you see in them the same sort of things that you were doing, and are you cool with the fact that they may follow the same path?
7:16
Because clearly they seem passionate about it, don't they?
7:18
Yeah, they both do, and they're both really different.
7:20
I mean, I don't really see...
7:23
I don't see what myself and any of them, to be honest.
7:26
They're really quite different.
7:28
I mean, one's very methodical and analytical and kind of...
7:35
smooth on the bike and he's getting faster and faster jake and loves it tyler on the other hand he's he's only three so i shouldn't really judge him too much but he didn't really care but then he gets on his electric bike or even the pw and he's rocking you know he's does everything right sticks his leg out when he should and it's kind of thinking like but he doesn't care if i say hey you want to ride today he's like no
7:59
So it's kind of funny.
8:01
And then I watched Jake have his first proper big crash.
8:03
And there's a kid crashed his bike in front of him on a, on a downside of a jump and he hit it.
8:09
How's that as dad, the racer who's been through that?
8:12
How did, how did you find that?
8:13
Yeah, he hit him pretty hard.
8:15
It was the first time I ran straight across the track to get to him.
8:18
And, um, he seemed just a bit dazed, but he completely ragdolled and I got, I got scared, you know?
8:23
And so I'm happy for them to ride bikes and whatnot and, um,
8:28
If they really want to.
8:29
Of course, it's an expensive sport in itself, and I prefer to hang up my boots and go and have nice family holidays after racing.
8:35
I don't really fancy hanging around a race paddock for the rest of my life, but if that's what they want to do, it's given me a great life.
8:41
And not just from a career point of view.
8:43
I've met so many good people, and a lot of my friendships are forged through motorbike racing.
8:47
I mean, I lost touch with all my school friends.
8:50
They're all through all my core friends.
8:53
friends or from motocross or road race so it's it's given me a great life from that point of view you and i are sitting here talking inside the the kawasaki hospitality now at the world superbike around at phillip island but your connection in some respects with with green machines actually goes goes back a ways when you were 10 i think didn't you have a kx60 and you had some good success on that machine yeah i mean that's
9:15
Aside from my world championships, this is the only other major championship I won.
9:18
I won the national British 60cc championship in 1997.
9:25
I rode Kawasaki's through my younger schoolboy years before moving on to other manufacturers.
9:30
It's just kind of fitting that my next major championship is a world championship with them.
9:35
In fact, the...
9:39
Kawasaki operations manager from Europe, Steve Gottridge, who I do a lot of contracts and whatnot with.
9:45
He was the Team Green schoolboy motocross manager of 1A Motocross, so it's a really big connection and it's quite cool that he's involved in this road race program now.
9:53
I think I read somewhere that you don't consider yourself to be a good mechanic.
9:57
Is that true?
9:58
No, definitely not.
10:00
Why?
10:01
We normally do a motocross camp every year in Spain.
10:04
In the last three years, I've gone myself, and there's always something that happens to my bike.
10:10
I destroyed spokes one year, I had a sprocket bolt come out one year and sheared the swing arm.
10:19
This year I brought my own mechanics, just to keep on top of things.
10:24
My bike's always the cleanest one on the paddock, but it's not always guaranteed to finish the race.
10:29
I'm talking about my personal bikes now, you know.
10:31
Not the race ones, not the race ones.
10:32
My mechanics here at KRT are second to none, and touch wood, we haven't had too many issues.
10:37
The love of the motocross thing was something I wanted to touch on a little bit more as well.
10:41
That pre-season training that you've done like that, how beneficial have you found that?
10:45
It's become routine now.
10:46
It's almost part of...
10:49
what I want to do, and it's kind of a bit of superstition now attached to it.
10:53
But when I first joined KRT, I'd come from nine years being in another team and eight years being in another team, and I was coming in as a sort of clear...
11:06
joining Tom Sykes, who was 2013 World Champion.
11:08
So I wanted to go and meet my team and start forging a relationship in the off-season.
11:13
And I did that, and then it's just become part of what I do.
11:15
I think from a physical point of view, motocross is good, but it's not the best preparation, because obviously you can...
11:23
It's very risky, but from a point of view of concentration, it's incredible.
11:27
You know, the track's always changing.
11:29
You have to make split-second decisions on the bike, and you can kind of replicate some things with your brain, what you're doing on the superbike.
11:38
Things are coming at you so fast on the superbike that you have to make them little decisions at the same time.
11:42
So it's as much as about mental preparation for them 35 minutes or whatever than it is physical.
11:49
Your good friend, Andrew Pitt, the double world supersport champion, reminded me of just how deep that love is for motocross, for supercross and things like that.
12:01
It's probably a hard one to answer because you've had some great success in circuit racing.
12:06
Which is the greater love for you?
12:10
I think it's difficult because I really am enjoying it.
12:13
A few years ago I had said motocross.
12:16
But I'm really enjoying my job right now at Kawasaki here.
12:19
I'm enjoying the atmosphere in the team, but I think from a real personal point of view, it has to be motocross, because I can load my bike up pretty much in my own band and go and hang out with my mates, and there's no stress involved with it, and it's good fun.
12:34
Where when I throw my leg over the ZX-10R, it's tough.
12:39
You know, I'm paid to come here and be fast,
12:42
in the end tried to sell motorcycles for Kawasaki.
12:45
That's good when it's going great, but when you have a tough day and things, you're under pressure a bit, and you have to find that next half a second or tenth of a second, it's really tough.
12:53
And so I don't enjoy that.
12:55
I don't enjoy this pressure side of things.
12:57
I get nervous, I always get nervous, especially before the...
13:00
before the start of every single race.
13:01
So the motocross thing is a lot more easygoing.
13:05
People would probably be quite surprised by the fact that you get nervous.
13:09
I mean, here you are, four world championships, greatest ever in superbike terms, but you get nervous.
13:16
Yeah, I think, I just think it's the... You know, I dealt with, back in my early days, I dealt with some sports psychologist, and I was always one that was thinking...
13:27
What if this happens?
13:28
But in a negative way, you know, what if I get a bad start?
13:31
Or what if this guy does this in the first lap?
13:35
Or what if my tire is not the right one today or whatever?
13:38
Where now I've learned to control all that feeling.
13:42
I've got good processes to go through before.
13:44
But I still get nervous, you know, going to...
13:46
It's like a nervous excitement as well.
13:48
I'm excited to ride the bike, but I'm always nervous that...
13:53
things don't go the way I want because in your brain before a race I always use some visualization techniques and always visualize the perfect start and how things should be and I get nervous that it's not going to play out how I imagined so I'm quite real as well you know sitting down before a race weekend I can kind of understand where the race weekend is being without pumping up my own tires if you like and
14:16
Try and bring a better reality to it.
14:18
A lot of athletes often talk about having a nervous wee, a nervous piss before the race.
14:23
Oh, yeah.
14:23
And trying to, you know... Bike racers forever have tried to sneak them on the grid.
14:27
You can't do that now because there's big fines, isn't there?
14:29
No, well, do you know, I just wrote a book recently, and it's the only thing that never reached the book, I forgot to say, because my mechanic was waiting.
14:38
I had a pace in my leathers once.
14:40
I'd done it in part... And I could never do it normally because of the nerves.
14:43
And then...
14:44
At Donington Park 2016 or 17.
14:48
It was the race I won actually, it must have been 17.
14:52
And I had a bit of a dribble.
14:54
And it was obviously coming down, running down the bike, and there was a little pool of fluid under the bike.
15:01
And my chief mechanic, without warning anyone, nudges my other mechanic or two,
15:07
and points down at the pitch on the ground and and he does a whole finger dab and like finger tested and he told me he says he came back he didn't say anything he was kind of relieved then but when i got back to park firmer he was pointing his finger in my face telling me you dick you pissed on the bike didn't you and i was like oh yeah sorry i forgot about that but yeah so um our relationship is pretty strong to be fair
15:29
I'll bet.
15:30
Congratulations on the book.
15:31
I mean, I don't know you well enough to say this, but it sounds like just you talking as you read the book.
15:38
Yeah, exactly.
15:41
I kind of, when I wanted to do it, I wanted to be honest.
15:44
Firstly, I thought it's way too young to do an autobiography, and then I had...
15:49
My profile in the UK was rising, especially with, I went to a sports awards and finished runner-up to these established stars, and I had a few book offers, and I thought, no way, really?
16:00
And then in the end, my publicist sat down, and we had five offers, so I thought, all right, we might as well.
16:04
write a story now and let's see.
16:07
And I want the publishers were all quite, and they all had different deals on the table and I was quite strong that I wanted to write a story how I wanted, not how the market would receive it or how a story they wanted to tell.
16:23
And they let me write my own story, which was nice.
16:26
with a great co-writer and good friend of mine Steve Booth and You know he helped me I want to be open and honest and you know if people didn't like some of the things in there I couldn't hide behind it because it's how I felt and I think People that only see my career recently see the success, but they didn't see the times where I was sort of
16:47
doctors telling me I could never race again, or the geographical challenges of living in Northern Ireland, you know, going to Europe to race, and going to the UK to race in the early days, and the sacrifices my parents made, it was nice to write back.
17:00
That was the funnest part, you know, writing the early chapters, because I was kind of reminiscent of
17:06
You know, times back when I was growing up through schools and whatnot, it was nice.
17:10
The injury list for any bike racer is normally quite big, and it is for you.
17:15
But you brought up there a minute ago the crash when you were 17.
17:19
You smashed your femur, your leg.
17:21
And the doctors really were basically saying, not only would you not race again, but you wouldn't ride it.
17:26
Yeah, well, I broke my femur so bad that they, I mean, they fixed me pretty good.
17:31
It took three operations over a 10-month period to get things right.
17:36
Four operations, sorry, over a 10-month period to get it right.
17:39
And then it started to heal.
17:42
They just told me that my leg couldn't withstand another crash.
17:46
So of course I could ride again, but it was under this doctor's advice that I should never ride a bike again.
17:53
Which in some sicko way just kind of fired me up to prove this guy wrong.
17:56
You know, and it was...
17:58
I couldn't mention any names in the book, but I did tell that story of...
18:02
It's kind of daunting, you know, sitting down as a 17-year-old and a professional doctor and telling you can't ride.
18:09
But it did go in one ear and out the other.
18:11
I was sat beside my performance manager at the time, Darren Roberts, and he was used to dealing with athletes that would come back from much worse.
18:19
So, yeah, it's a broken leg at the end of the day, bones healing.
18:25
I had a great support network around me in the end.
18:27
It was a tough time mentally because I thought I was kind of just on the cusp of doing okay at bike riding, but I wasn't getting wages or anything.
18:34
So I was thinking...
18:35
Shit, this could be me in just a normal 9-5.
18:37
And I had no plan for 9-5.
18:40
What would Jonathan Rye have done?
18:41
I did not have a backup plan.
18:43
So I was in a real dark place of what my life was going to be.
18:46
But in the end, I got a lifeline.
18:48
I got a superbike ride in the British Championship and a chance.
18:52
That kind of fired me up in them dark months to get ready for 2005 it was.
18:58
Yeah, 2005 when I was 18.
19:00
When you got that visit from Neil Tuxworth and Red Bull and things like that, you clearly were not expecting them to offer you the British Superbike ride, were you?
19:09
That was the last thing you thought they would tell you at that stage?
19:11
Yeah, definitely.
19:12
Yeah.
19:14
I mean, I was a bigger guy.
19:17
I was always sort of, you know, I'm much lighter than I was back then.
19:20
I was a chubby little guy.
19:22
But, yeah, I wasn't cut out for super sport.
19:25
You know, I was a solid unit back then, and they wanted to, they thought my riding style was good for a super bike, and, you know,
19:33
Red Bull were really keen back then to show that there was a stepping stone from 125 to Supersport to Superbike in the national championship.
19:40
So I did an okay rookie year, and then the second year, I beat Carl Harris in the official team and Sheehan Byrne to fourth in the championship.
19:51
And that put an end to the... And Eugene Lavery in the same year finished second in the British Supersport championship.
19:58
So it was kind of...
20:01
justification for the budget from Red Bull, if you like, that they'd done what they set out to do.
20:06
They pretty much took pizza boys that had no CV to be right up there in the national championship.
20:12
I came from motocross, so it was a good story.
20:15
That project finished, and I signed for the official Honda team in the British championship.
20:22
In the book, there is quite a funny yarn about your grandmother.
20:26
Wonderful supporter right the way through.
20:29
And she got a bit uptight about the Honda machinery that you had at the time.
20:33
I mean, you're doing your level best with it, clearly, and I think that's how you approached it in your mind.
20:38
But she wanted to address matters with them, didn't she?
20:40
Oh, yeah.
20:41
God love my nana.
20:42
Her heart's in the right place, and she rings me all the time.
20:46
And I sort of...
20:47
I have to...
20:49
I have to just not answer a few calls because she would ring me all the time and then I answered this one call.
20:54
I remember it was sat in my motorhome and she was saying, Jonathan!
20:57
you need to get me that guy's number from Honda.
21:00
It's like, what do you mean?
21:01
The boss of Honda, what do you mean the boss?
21:03
There's hundreds of us.
21:04
That bike of yours isn't, it's not strong enough and the commentators are saying this and that.
21:09
I'm like, flip me, Nana, you know, get over it.
21:11
It's kind of how it is, the bikes.
21:14
It's subjective as well.
21:15
You know, I always felt at Honda that I had a, they always done their best.
21:19
You know, the team was great.
21:21
Unfortunately,
21:23
Until 2002, Honda never took Superbike serious until, ironically this year, we're sat talking.
21:30
The HRC are back now with the Altea Honda team and Leon Camier and Kean Ari, so at least something's changed.
21:37
But whilst I was there, it was pretty much a privately run team out of Holland and they've done a great job.
21:43
I spoke to Pity for this.
21:45
You guys were teammates at one point.
21:47
What was he like to, you know, work with as a teammate?
21:50
And you've become very good friends off track.
21:53
Yeah, Pity's one of my best mates now.
21:54
We hang out quite a lot.
21:55
Back then in Supersport as well, he kind of, he took me under his wing a bit.
21:59
Before I, when I signed for World Sport Championship, I went and stayed with him in his apartment up on the Gold Coast.
22:07
I actually spent Christmas and New Year there with a friend of mine and we hung out.
22:13
Going from the national championship to the world championship is a big step.
22:16
You know, it's a lot of things to learn, airports, hire cars.
22:19
And I was just young and dumb and kind of on the world's superbike train.
22:23
And it kind of took me under its wing and educated me a little bit.
22:27
And then...
22:29
I remember midday between sessions, we'd be in my motorhome watching episodes of 24, you know, the TV program 24.
22:38
We ended up getting addicted to that together.
22:39
But then the rivalry started at mid-season, end of the season.
22:42
I started doing pretty good and winning some races.
22:44
So we created a bit of a rivalry.
22:46
Then I ended up riding Superbike the following year and Pity ended up staying in Supersport.
22:51
So the rivalry was kind of gone and we sort of remained really good friends and...
22:56
I think we got married in the same year, even 2012.
22:58
And our wives are good friends, they're really good people at the pits.
23:03
And just yesterday, actually, we were in the park for his little boy's sixth birthday.
23:08
So we like hanging out with AP and he's one of the good guys of the sport.
23:12
It's nice to see him.
23:13
He's still a rival now, bloody hell.
23:14
He's working for Alex Lowes.
23:16
So we never talk anything technical nowadays.
23:19
Unfortunately, he couldn't give me a heads up of how fast or how slow they really are at this test, but he's a super good guy.
23:27
Here's a little slice of that chat with Pity, and when he first noticed Jonathan Ray's potential for greatness...
23:36
I think we saw when he got to do the one event at the end of the year, that first year on the Superbike in Portugal, Troy Bayliss' last race.
23:45
He qualified on the front row on the Honda, which hadn't done a lot and since then hasn't really done a lot ever, except in his hands.
23:55
Over the years we chatted a lot about when it came up contract time, everyone wanted him to ride, but he never quite was game to take that step.
24:02
Me and many other people were like, you've got to go, you've got to get on to something else.
24:08
I sometimes think that he wasn't sure what would happen, the expectation if he would or wouldn't win, but I think everyone was sure it would happen.
24:16
And we saw what happened when he finally, BMW wanted him, Ducati wanted him, Yamaha wanted him.
24:21
He eventually jumped to Kawasaki and we've seen what's happened.
24:25
And I think probably the only sad thing out of it all is we're never going to see him in MotoGP.
24:32
I've no doubt he would compete at the front in MotoGP for sure.
24:37
Because that boat has sailed from an age point of view, from a timing point of view.
24:40
Why wouldn't that?
24:41
I mean, I know he subbed for, I'm talking to him about that, about the fact that he subbed for Casey Stoner at one point.
24:46
Yeah.
24:46
And, you know, a lot of people might think 7th and 8th, that's where he finished on Casey's bike.
24:51
But a lot of people don't realise too, both events had rained on Friday at Mizano and Aragon, and they didn't want him to use Casey's engines, so he didn't really ride the bike.
25:00
And he finished 7th and 8th.
25:01
And, you know, there's regulars in there in MotoGP that can't buy a 7th or an 8th after four years, five years on the bike.
25:10
And, you know, he kind of doesn't fit the Dorner Spanish Championship, young Spanish kid, next Marquez type role.
25:17
So they're kind of not interested in him, which is...
25:21
call it a passport, you know, and he's not quite English.
25:24
He's Irish, so I have no doubt that, you know, on one of the factory bikes there, he would compete at the front.
25:34
I'm not saying he'd beat Marquez or...
25:36
or whatever, but he would compete at the front.
25:40
And I think he would have won races, he'd be on the podium.
25:45
But, you know, it's a theoretical argument because we're never going to see it happen, unfortunately.
25:51
And even at the end of last year, him and his management crew went around everywhere and Scott at the door slammed in their face and said, we're not interested in superbike riders, which is a shame.
26:00
So he sort of settled with the fact that he'll make good money out of it.
26:06
spend more time with his kids and do less races per year and race superbike and try and win another world championship we'll talk more with jonathan ray on his championship success with kawasaki in a moment
26:31
Superbike racing is a category of motorcycle racing that uses highly modified production motorcycles.
26:37
As the slogan says, win on Sunday, sell on Monday.
26:41
Okay, partnership with Kawasaki has been phenomenal.
26:45
The first time you rode the Ninja, the ZX-10, what were your first impressions and what are your memories of that?
26:52
Firstly, I couldn't believe how easy it was to ride, you know, the throttle response, and I was expecting this real animal because I could see it on track being so fast, but I soon realised then that I...
27:03
a fast bike that makes the lap time is just an easy bike to learn, an easy bike to ride.
27:09
The team welcomed me with open arms.
27:12
Perry Reba created a great bond inside my little team and a nice happy place for me to learn in the off-season and start mounting the challenge.
27:21
Then to win my first...
27:22
I had never even been in the podium at Phillip Island.
27:24
Then we turned up here my first year with Cowie.
27:28
I don't think they'd been in the podium either.
27:30
They certainly hadn't won a race for many years.
27:32
And I turned up and won, which was nobody expected.
27:36
And, yeah, I can't quite believe what... Nobody was prepared for what happened next, really.
27:42
We just kept winning and winning and winning.
27:45
The bike...
27:45
now that you're about to contest the 2019 championship.
27:49
Give people a bit of an insight into the machine in terms of horsepower.
27:53
I mean, you talk about it effectively having kind of power to weight ratio that is very similar to Formula One in some respects.
28:00
Yeah, I guess so.
28:01
I think we probably accelerate a Formula One car in the first sort of 25, 30 metres.
28:07
And then once they start changing gears, they drop us.
28:11
Even with MotoGP, it's exactly the same.
28:13
We do the winter testing with them and off the corner we...
28:16
We have a slingshot on them bikes, but as soon as they start hooking gears, they accelerate like nothing else.
28:22
So it's, I don't exactly know horsepowers, but sort of plus 220 horsepower, 170 kilos.
28:31
You know, wrestling that around the track.
28:34
You know, trying to be on the same bit of tarmac every single time.
28:36
The G-forces, it's tough.
28:38
What's that like around Phillip Island?
28:40
I mean, it's such a legendary track here.
28:41
What is it like to wrestle one around here?
28:43
Well, it'd be a lot easier if there was no wind.
28:45
Bloody hell.
28:46
You know, it's so windy here.
28:48
No matter what day you arrive, it's the wind somewhere, whether it's in your face or behind you or to the side of you.
28:53
But it's a real challenge, especially that change of direction up through the hay shed from Siberia.
28:59
It's tough, you know, wrestling the bike, trying to put power to the ground because you're always on the side of the tyre.
29:04
There's pretty much, aside from the start-finish straight, there's not many straights here where you're completely at zero degrees.
29:09
So it's...
29:12
It's a challenge, it's a nightmare for set up around here, the bike to be really good because you need a balance of stability but agility.
29:20
You also need to look after the tyre for 22 laps.
29:22
It's notorious for putting a lot of stress on the rear tyre.
29:26
So the crew chiefs and suspension guys and electronic guys are definitely earning their money this week.
29:31
You end up, I think, at times with a tyre contact patch.
29:34
It's about as big as your credit card or something, isn't it?
29:36
I mean, it's really minor.
29:37
What sort of top speeds around here?
29:39
I think the top speed is around two 17 Ks.
29:44
We've seen this this weekend already.
29:48
I think that was by one of the Ducati riders.
29:51
I think we were a few Ks behind that.
29:53
So it's fast, you know, it doesn't feel fast until you start braking.
29:57
You know, you're in a nice happy place inside a warm helmet and the ear plugs in.
30:01
It's kind of everything's under control until you sort of hit the brakes and have to change direction.
30:05
And then it all starts again.
30:06
So it's pretty cool.
30:08
You described one of your young blokes before being very methodical in the way he goes about stuff.
30:12
Is that you before the start of a race, when you go through launch control procedure, when you roll up and you're about to go, is it a method and following that?
30:21
Pretty much.
30:21
It's a habit now, a routine.
30:24
You know, I have, and I like to go through the same kind of routine before each and every race.
30:30
Yeah, there's things I do that could be seen as superstitious or whatnot, but I always... Like what?
30:37
I know I always put my left side on before my right and there's loads of things, it's weird.
30:42
I always put my helmet on at a certain time on the countdown timers, the ear plugs in at five minutes.
30:49
Yeah, all these things just come force of habit really.
30:52
And yeah, my mechanics all know that now and they sort of, they just let it all go.
30:59
I'm not like weirdo or anything with it, but I've definitely got a bit of a system.
31:03
Looking at the evolutions of the bike since you joined Kawasaki, how different is the bike to that first year that you raced with them?
31:11
And what about the input that you've brought to the table?
31:13
Yes, it's a team, but you've clearly had input on that.
31:16
Yeah, sure.
31:17
When I first arrived the bike was so strong.
31:19
They had a lot of years of development.
31:21
In 2015 the bike was solid.
31:23
In 2016 they came with an all new bike, completely new shape, engine, chassis.
31:28
And it was really tough to learn.
31:30
You know, my riding style probably wasn't the best for the bike and I had to reinvent myself a little bit.
31:36
Unfortunately, now the way the rules have gone these last years, I wish I could go back to how I kind of was in 2015, because now I've learned the bike's been, if you like, developed for guys like Tom in the past, who had a real stop-and-go style.
31:52
So I've adapted that approach.
31:53
I mean, my style now is more extreme than it was when I first joined.
31:57
So now we don't have the same amount of power, probably,
32:03
We've probably dropped about 20 horsepower since 2014 over the regulations being more simplified for other manufacturers and whatnot.
32:12
So we've kind of just had to adapt with each and every rule change.
32:17
Now the bikes are pretty close to what you can buy on the street, which is nice.
32:23
And of course they spend a lot of money on parts and suspension and electronics.
32:28
But this year we got a new update on our bike, which gave us a few more RPM.
32:33
But that sort of 16, 17, 18 year was just growing pains, reacting to the regulations and trying to get the bike in a good base setup.
32:42
And now again we have...
32:45
you know a different um engine specification with more rpm that we were trying to adapt to because with all these little subtle changes it makes a difference on the chassis as well so we're sort of uh we had a great winter test until we came here and then we needed to you know adapt the bike to phillip island and then monday tuesday was a huge data finding um weekend to put into practice for the weekend so it's um
33:06
We're always learning with this bike and it's always a big process.
33:10
Lots of talk about the V4 power plant that rivals have.
33:14
Okay, so Alvaro Batista has been very good in the pre-season testing on the Ducati.
33:19
Some say it's a bit like MotoGP Arsenal being brought to the table in this battle to try and beat you.
33:26
Do you feel that way?
33:27
Certainly in the media, I can feel it a little bit, but no doubt he's a fast guy, super fast.
33:35
He's a world champion in Grand Prix.
33:38
When he, I forget the right, it must have been Lorenzo.
33:41
He replaced when he was here in GP, he was on the podium.
33:47
So he's a fast guy, but of course...
33:50
He needs to find his feet.
33:51
He's going to be, he's been super fast here in the test.
33:54
It's a great track for him.
33:56
And Ducati seems to be working well.
33:58
They were super serious when they built this V4 to come and try and win a super bike.
34:03
So that's, gives me a lot of motivation, you know, and kind of, not that you kind of have to have someone or thing that motivates you, but
34:14
It's good that he's here and he's fast because it makes me want to step up even more.
34:21
Maybe after these four years of winning a championship, that's exactly what I need.
34:26
Four straight world titles.
34:27
The numbers are absolutely remarkable that you've achieved along the way in the battle for each of those.
34:33
Is there a standout one for you, a standout title and why?
34:39
Yeah, there's a couple.
34:40
I think 2016, because it was a new bike.
34:44
And also I was fighting, not fighting, my wife and I were struggling at home with our second child, Tyler, you know, who wasn't the most easy baby.
34:52
So I remember breaking down when we got to Phillip Island in 16, thinking, you know, how the hell am I going to do another season?
34:59
Like, how am I going to win a championship?
35:01
Because we were getting no sleep.
35:03
He had silent reflux.
35:09
So he's in constant pain, the little guy, but he's a bundle of laughs now and completely healthy, but that 16 sort of winter was tough.
35:19
I'd won a championship.
35:22
Kawasaki had me on a media trail around the world, and Tars had just got pregnant.
35:26
It was real hell, them months.
35:30
And it was a tough few rounds.
35:31
I kept thinking, how am I going to get through this season?
35:33
And we ended up winning with a new bike.
35:35
So for me, that was the biggest...
35:38
That was the biggest success so far, winning with the new bike in 16.
35:42
And then becoming a father for the second time, and it sort of doubled whammy.
35:49
On paper, do you feel like 19 is going to be one of the toughest you'll face?
35:54
Well, it'll definitely be tougher than last year, because last year was pretty seamless, to be honest.
35:58
We didn't face too many challenges.
36:01
But of course, yeah, I feel that.
36:03
I can feel that.
36:04
You know, a lot of manufacturers now are taking super bikes serious.
36:09
You know, Tom, my ex-teammate, whose huge talent has moved to BMW, who seemed to be stepping up to Superbike.
36:17
Ducati have come with this new bike, and Yamaha are race winners already last year three times.
36:21
So Superbike has all the ingredients to be amazing.
36:25
But, of course, I want to keep on writing my story as...
36:29
you know, the keep winning races.
36:30
And I feel we can.
36:32
I really feel motivated that I can keep winning.
36:36
But we'll see.
36:36
That's the beauty of it.
36:37
We haven't turned a wheel yet and everyone's excited.
36:39
So we'll just try and go out there and do my job.
36:43
Fabian, as a riding coach, I mean, naturally there's a whole team of people around you, but how valuable, how important are those people, and particularly him?
36:50
Fabian's great.
36:54
We rented an apartment together in St Kilda, Melbourne for a summer, I think, in 2011.
36:59
And I spent a lot of time with him.
37:01
And when he was retiring from World Championship and just doing World Endurance, I started feeling the need to have someone help me.
37:09
I had a very old-school, fixed style, and I wanted to...
37:13
After I won my first championship, I started feeling like this could be the top.
37:16
You know, I might just, tomorrow might not happen.
37:19
And I wanted to keep investing in myself and trying to stay there.
37:23
So I thought the next best thing was to bring a rider coach on.
37:27
I think I was one of the first guys to do it now in this paddock.
37:29
Now it's become bloody fashion.
37:31
Everyone's got themselves not only a man friend, but they've got themselves a riding coach.
37:36
So it's...
37:38
He's very good at helping me mentally prepare the weekend.
37:43
In the beginning I wanted him to help me on track with riding style and also analyzing others, what they were doing better than what I was doing.
37:49
And then he's become more and more involved in trying to help me prepare for the race mentally.
37:57
We analyze other riders' performance, like the lap times and whatnot, and we can make a plan together.
38:06
In fact, the only time I didn't listen to his plan last year, I ended up on my ass and took out by my teammate.
38:11
Because he had this... You know, and Bruno, our pace was so fast, he told me, listen, you need to just get stuck in on this second race and come from ninth and win.
38:20
And I was like, oh, mate, no, honestly, I'm going to, like...
38:24
We made a plan to step by step just have a casual start.
38:27
So I end up, my first lap I made pretty much no positions.
38:30
I was fighting with Tom in seventh or eighth.
38:34
And then I got wiped out.
38:35
So it was probably my fault I didn't listen to Fabian and get my head down from turn one.
38:39
But he's a cool guy.
38:41
He was quite fiery as a rider, but working together, he's very calm also.
38:47
And it's quite good for me because
38:51
Sometimes when you're inside Kawasaki or the team, you just see everything as... Everything's the best, you know?
39:00
And sometimes having them honest eyes out on track where there's no bias in your eyes, he can say, hey, listen, it's probably the best the bike's going to be this weekend.
39:08
We can't... You need to get on and ride it now or stop looking for time in this area because you're not going to find it or...
39:18
I mean, he's also...
39:21
He's really good at patting me on the shoulder and helping me out, but I've had a lot of bollockings off Fab as well.
39:30
I come in and complaining about stuff, and he tells me, what are you complaining about?
39:33
You're not even trying.
39:34
I'm like, yeah, I'm busting my ass.
39:36
He's like, no, you're not, you're cruising.
39:38
I think it was Argentina.
39:39
It was a new track, and I got him a radio last year in free practice too.
39:45
And I sent him out to a chicane and asked him, hey, I need to find out if people are running the inside curb on the first part.
39:54
Anyway, I came in like middle of the session.
39:57
He was in the box.
39:58
I said, what are you doing?
39:59
He says, I'm not even going to watch.
40:00
He says, you're just cruising.
40:01
I said, what do you mean I'm cruising?
40:04
So he's one of them.
40:05
He's super honest with me, doesn't let me get away with much.
40:08
And I really appreciate that because...
40:12
Because you need that now because we're at the top level and all these little parts help.
40:17
So sometimes the biggest thing in racing is your brain.
40:20
So if you've got someone helping you in an honest way, whether it has to be constructive, but if it's sometimes hard to hear, I'd rather hear it from Fabi than anybody else.
40:30
Aussie bike racing fans will remember the fact that you subbed for Casey Stoner in MotoGP.
40:36
What they may not remember, of course, is that that was an immensely busy period for you.
40:40
I think you went back to back between MotoGP and World Superbike Races.
40:43
There was probably hardly a break there in weekend terms, was it?
40:45
I think there was six weekends in a bounce, and I was coming from Suzuki 8 hours, and a test thrown in there in the middle of it all.
40:55
So I think, let me get this straight, Tars will kill me, but I got married the 7th of July, and then I went to do the 8-hour...
41:05
on the end of July, and pretty much from that I came back the summer break and sort of bike for a couple of weeks, and then I went back to back sort of bike and MotoGP for five weekends, it was nuts.
41:15
And the biggest difference was the Bridgestone front tire at the time was like, wasn't normal.
41:23
You know, you had to make that work.
41:27
It went against all logic that you'd apply to a Pirelli tire, start to trail brake and release the brake into the apex, where you had to keep so much pressure in that thing to keep it deformed enough to let you turn.
41:38
And I just kept thinking I was gonna crash, and I kept staring down the barrel of this bike when I was sat in the garage thinking, if I crash this thing, it's probably worth more than I am.
41:48
It's so expensive, the bike, and I was kind of in awe of it.
41:51
I was kind of scared of it, to be honest.
41:54
Probably didn't help the fact that when I walked to the first test for the first time, Nakamoto told me, hey, just come and enjoy this and don't crash the bike.
42:01
And I was like, oh, you know, thanks for that great demotivator.
42:07
I'm just going to ride around now.
42:08
So there's part of me that wish I had a three caution to the wind a bit and got stuck in.
42:13
But I had a seventh and eighth and worked with some great engineers and learned a lot.
42:18
Ate some great hospitality food.
42:19
Yeah.
42:20
And, yeah, felt like a factory Grand Prix rider for a few races.
42:23
It was pretty cool.
42:24
On balance, those results were actually really good.
42:27
A, there was a bit of wet weather to contend with in there.
42:29
Do you feel like you got a fair shot at it?
42:32
And is this sort of unfinished business on that side for you?
42:34
Definitely not unfinished business.
42:36
I mean, my time for a good opportunity at MotoGP has passed.
42:40
32, I feel really young and good, but in Grand Prix terms, I'm past it.
42:46
There's fishing for guys out of Moto3 and Moto2, and that's...
42:51
But...
42:52
And I did get a fair crack of it.
42:54
You know, I got there on the Repsol Honda team.
42:56
It was one of the best teams around and whatnot.
42:59
But coming in three quarters of the way through a season when everyone's up to speed with little or no testing and both weekends in Mizano, I mean, this is September, this is summer in Europe, but both weekends, freakishly, I had wet weather, all three free practice, one and two.
43:13
So the first time I rode the thing in Anger was qualifying and...
43:19
It was tough, but yeah, it is what it is.
43:22
And yeah, I just, like I said, I worked with some great guys over there and learned a heap of a lot that I was able to apply in Superbike.
43:31
So the main focus, of course, is now keeping what you're doing going.
43:35
But what about beyond this?
43:37
I mean, family's got a history in TT, for example.
43:40
Are there other things in racing that you would like to tick the box?
43:44
Um...
43:46
Not really, to be honest.
43:48
I kind of... Tarsely hate me for this, but I kind of want to do a bit of Vets motocross racing.
43:55
Do you?
43:55
Yeah.
43:56
Not right now, obviously, but I'd like to do some proper family holidays.
44:00
I mean, unfortunately, my schedule is so busy that I have to combine family holiday times with racing.
44:08
So sometimes after Mizano, we stay there and combine it, or Portugal or whatnot.
44:12
So last year was so busy that I vowed that this year I'd try and do a proper family holiday.
44:18
Travel the world a bit more.
44:19
see like places because i get to see a lot of the world but i get to see an airport a higher car in a hotel and a racetrack so um some of these places i'd like to visit and aside from that just watch the kids grow up and that'll be enough nice let's power to the finish here with a couple of things the late barry sheen mick do and troy balas they've all kept bikes from their career have you done the same and is there a favorite
44:42
Yeah, I have my championship bikes now.
44:45
Also, I have my first ever Italojet 50.
44:50
Do you?
44:50
It's being restored.
44:52
Where did you find that?
44:53
Did your family keep it?
44:54
I traced it.
44:55
We traced it.
44:56
No, we didn't keep it, but we traced it back and got it, and it's been fully restored.
44:59
The only thing is it was a heap when we got it, but the ignition cover was gone, so we had to get some parts machined, so it's not exactly original.
45:07
But it's the chassis.
45:09
Yeah, it's the thing, and it's the bike.
45:12
That's awesome.
45:14
I don't collect a lot of bikes and stuff like that, but my first championship bike's very special.
45:21
In fact, together with my 17 bike, it looks so out of date now.
45:25
2015 ZX-10R, yeah, it's a completely different shape, but back then it was like a work of art.
45:31
But it's weird how subtle differences, things become, look really old all of a sudden.
45:37
But that bike's in my trophy room upstairs in the house.
45:41
It's really nice.
45:43
Also, I restored an old, years ago I got this old CB550 restored in a sort of like scrambler, dirt tracker style thing with flat bars.
45:53
On any sundae kind of thing.
45:55
Yeah, Tarsh told me we don't have anything inside the house.
45:58
There's a room for some stuff in the house, but generally in our house there would be no references to motorbikes.
46:05
But I've got up to three bikes inside the house now, so I'm doing well.
46:09
You are doing exceptionally well with the negotiations.
46:11
You mentioned Tash.
46:12
Let's talk about her.
46:13
Because we're recording this at Phillip Island.
46:15
She's effectively from here.
46:17
You're very proud, I know, of your Irish roots.
46:19
But we feel like you're a bit of an adopted Aussie, mate, aren't you?
46:22
Yeah, I spend a lot of time out here.
46:25
Generally in the off-seas.
46:26
Not so much now that Jake's at school, but...
46:29
We have a place, and we built a place down by the golf course here on Phillip Island, and a place up in Brighton, the Victorian sort of Alps, if you like, the mountains.
46:39
So we spent a lot of time there, and I enjoy the cycling here.
46:42
The community's really nice, especially locally.
46:44
I mean, she fell into racing by being a waitress at the local restaurant that her team ate in, and she expressed that she wanted to travel the world, and her team boss gave her a coordinator job.
46:54
I ended up working with her at Neil Tuxworth back in 2007.
47:00
We met then and then like Andrew Pitt, she was kind of my go-to girl for
47:05
where should I, what airport should I go to or hire a car and then yeah we got together and then made it a serious deal Good on you.
47:14
Do you find it safe when you're cycling on Aussie roads?
47:16
How do you find the Aussie roads when you're going for a pedal?
47:18
Yes and no because Aussies are pretty used to cyclists and because the weather's good the culture, I think the what Cadell Evans has done for cycling here has been great also the Orica Green Edge effect
47:35
is made cycling cool, but there's a huge minority of Australians when they get behind the car of a...
47:41
Sorry, a huge minority.
47:42
There's a minority of Australians when they get behind the wheel of a car, they turn into some maniac.
47:47
And especially with cyclists, I've definitely experienced road rage and trying to be run off the road.
47:54
But that's...
47:56
minority and you get that all around the place so I think generally it's um it's a beautiful place to to ride your bike you know you should be very proud there's the roads are incredible um the coffee culture and cycling is incredible you know you can't not have a ride without a nice cappuccino and a dirty muffin at the end of it so um yeah it's a nice place to ride a bicycle cool five track and do you have a uh a habit that annoys you when you're on the road
48:26
My favourite track would probably, it'd be a toss up between here honestly.
48:31
Not that I'm great here, but here in Portimao for two different reasons.
48:37
Here because you're always in fourth and fifth key around corners like nowhere else in the world.
48:40
And Portimao because it's the closest thing to a motocross track.
48:43
You know your bikes dance, it's like a roller coaster.
48:46
So that and you say, do I have a pet?
48:49
Is there a pet hate that, you know when you're on the road, when you're driving, that other motorists do something that really annoys you?
48:57
Here in Australia I've got...
48:59
I can't understand the roads here.
49:02
I always get amped to come in here and land in Tullamaroon, such a good mood, then I get on that Monash and I'm like, oh, what am I doing?
49:09
You've got trucks on the outside lane, got people undertaking, there's no system.
49:14
In Europe we've got a slow lane, a sort of passing lane and then a really fast lane.
49:18
And you'll do 100 Ks an hour, right?
49:21
And you pass someone at 101, they're going to convince you like you're going to kill someone.
49:25
And it's so funny.
49:27
It's a much laid-back culture, everyone.
49:29
But behind the wheel, it's funny.
49:32
So I do...
49:34
I think I got pulled over once doing...
49:37
I think it was 120km somewhere, over the speed limit.
49:41
And this copper was going to convince me that I was a murderer.
49:44
He was trying to convince me that I was a murderer.
49:45
But standard speed limits in Europe are like 130, and that's completely normal.
49:49
But this guy was going off on one at me, and I was like, I was just like, why does everyone just get so tense all of a sudden?
49:56
But yeah, that's definitely the traffic system here is...
50:02
It's a bit of a free-for-all and people get uptight, but, yeah, I can deal with that because the people are pretty cool.
50:06
Last one.
50:07
If Tarsh gave you the green light, if you could get the Grail machine, whatever it is, it could be an historic bike, an historic car, it could be something cool that's currently out there, what would you have to have in the garage?
50:19
Ooh.
50:19
I mean, she would let me have whatever, but...
50:29
I don't know, I'm kind of doing a project.
50:31
I'm trying to put a 250 two-stroke motocross engine, KX250, in a recent KX450 chassis.
50:39
So that's gonna take up a lot of space in the garage and whatnot, so she might have to park her logs outside for a bit.
50:45
What's the reason behind that project?
50:46
Why are you doing that?
50:47
I don't know.
50:47
I just thought it would be cool to do a bit of a hybrid bike.
50:51
Because two strokes are cool.
50:52
They've kind of died off the face of the earth in racing terms.
50:55
So if I could make an old, I think 2008 was the last year Kawasaki did a competitive two-stroke race.
51:02
250 engine so i'm trying to find a good donor engine at the minute i've got the chassis waiting there and i just need to cut it in a few areas of course i'll not cut it i'll get someone to help me but um yeah i've got the donor chassis and bits and bobs already for it and nice suspension so i just need to get a good donor engine
51:18
It's been fantastic to talk to you, mate.
51:20
You're exceptionally grounded for what you've achieved and it's enormously difficult to get this kind of time on a World Superbike weekend, so we really appreciate that.
51:30
You're on a roll, showing no signs of slowing down.
51:34
Only rider in history with four straight World Superbike titles.
51:37
Record for most victories and podiums in the paddock, mate.
51:39
Just congratulations.
51:41
Phenomenal.
51:41
Thanks so much, Greg.
51:42
Thank you.
51:47
Rusty's Garage is written and presented by me, Greg Rust.
51:51
Series producer and editor is Alex Mitchell.
51:54
Audio production by Darcy Thompson.
52:04
Listener.