The winter period and the plan of preparation for Honda World Motocross must have been busier than usual with a brand new CRF450R to get to grips with… Yes, exactly, with the prototype coming we knew that the build-up to 2012 would be busy and of course very important. When we went to Japan last October for the test and the race in Sugo Honda presented a bike that was already very close to what we wanted for the 2012 FIM World Championship.

The boys tested well out there and then the next version arrived at the end of December, which is much earlier than usual, certainly the past two seasons. It meant we could begin work in Italy straightaway and learn about the CRF and find out anything else that we wanted to do before the first races came around.

We tested in Mantova after the Starcross in February with the Japanese technicians and we also put in a lot of work in Sardinia in the weeks before with people from Showa and their new air suspension. Honestly I’m really happy with the work the team is constantly doing with the Japanese and they are making a big effort for us.

We were very efficient with our time during the winter and the riders also. Every day there has been something to do and between Italy, Sardinia and some races planned for Holland before the first grand prix there has been a lot to try.

Do you think the ’12 bike ranks as one of those Honda ‘specials’?

For sure. I think even the Bolley four-stroke [former 250cc World Champion Fred Bolley unveiled the original CRF450R in 2001] we had more than ten years ago wasn’t as special as this. Our bike now is a prototype and isn’t pre-production. The
2013 production bike is ready and the components on that machine are not the ones on ours. The machines that Bobby and Rui have in their hands are made for racing only and we are really excited.

Honda, Dunlop, Showa…all big companies making a big push through the team. This has to be a good thing for the sport doesn’t it?
It is great to see big factories like that involved in racing and committed to winning. We had almost twenty people working around one bike at the Mantova test…everyone is doing their best for this project and I love seeing the interest it is generating.

Is it hard to deal with a brand new motorcycle?

Especially because the 2011 bike and its performance was already very good… What you say is true because we had a very capable bike but looking towards the future – and because our programme is based on three years – the 2011 race bike was an awesome thing, maybe the best we ever had but it was at the peak of its development cycle. To be able to make another big forward step would not have been easy so the decision was made to start something new; to create a symmetric bike, a different concept. It means we have to work much more now, but over three years we will be able to do some good stuff and have more possibilities. The base of the bike – what we tested in Japan - is already brilliant and means we don’t have to change so many things.
Rather the process is about looking and finding small improvements. This new CRF 450R is right at the beginning of a journey and every day we discover something. I am eager to see what it can bring us.

What is your opinion of Showa’s new SFF Air suspension?

It is great. The riders gave positive feedback straightaway, which was incredible. Normally if you change an aspect of a bike that big then it can take time to find the right direction, adapt and reach a high level of satisfaction. In this case the first tests pointed towards an immediate improvement. The system is more progressive in every sense.

Last summer, after Evgeny’s accident at a Belgian Championship meeting, you spoke quite strongly against non-GP races. With the same rider now committed to Dutch and Russian events why the change of tact for 2012?
Basically because Bobby needs to race. It is the best way for him to get the job done and do his training. I spent a couple of days with him before the Starcross and Mantova and we were driving away from a fitness test in Italy and he was looking out of the window, a millions miles away. I asked him what he was thinking about and he said ‘racing’. He is a guy who needs action and can only go round and round an empty track for so long. Our plan this year is to be a bit more aggressive towards the World championship and really attack each race.

Is the scenario a little bit like Bobby is ‘the racer’ and Rui the more ‘technical rider’ for feedback on the machine?

It is a little bit like that because Rui’s technical skills are improving even more and Bobby really is the racing guy. It means we can have two slightly different strategies in the team. Both riders have exactly the same material and both have the same goal, but Rui can approach the championship with perhaps a bit more of a wider, long-term view while Bobby can go for it every race. We will see what happens, this can all change of course.