Austria, with its rather chilly weather and a rainy day, immediately forced us to ditch our swimming trunks… Accustomed to Italy’s 38 degrees, as soon as we crossed the border, we were reminded that winter still exists somewhere and that another summer (finally, I’d say) has come to an end.
So, the free practice sessions were held on a wet track. Some riders didn’t even go out on track, hoping for better weather the following day.
Leo, on the other hand, came out as proud as a fireman and threw himself onto the wet track as if it were dry. It was the sort of thing that makes you smile. But the track proved him right: he was in the spotlight practically the whole session. It was his home Grand Prix, in front of his fans and his sponsors, and we all enjoyed it. In the end, he took home twentieth place, which perhaps doesn’t mean much on paper, but let’s also bear in mind the long lap penalty he’d ‘brought with him’ – that is, the one he earned in the last race due to a collision.
And it was right here that he announced to the world that he’s leaving… He wants to try riding a KTM, which he believes offers better performance.
What can I say… I’m sorry, but that’s just how it is. On some tracks, like this one, the difference between the two engines is clear and the KTM has the edge. But there are others where the Honda performs better. It’s always been that way.
In my opinion, it was a rather hasty decision. Fellon, one of our former riders, for example, made a similar choice. That time, he too found himself in similar circumstances to Leo’s. Sometime later, he came to me and said, with his heart on his sleeve: “Ah, if only I’d listened to you…” I must admit I really appreciated that.
I’ve noticed that this happens very often: parents, thinking they’re doing what’s best for their children, end up giving in to them straight away. But this is where parents should have the courage to act like parents, rather than friends, even if it means getting a couple more ‘f*** off’s’. These guys need to be encouraged and supported to challenge themselves.
Because today it’s the bike, tomorrow it’s the team, the day after tomorrow it’s the chief engineer… there’ll always be something else. And guys, today telemetry speaks Italian! In the past, perhaps you could have said, “The bike isn’t working!” and you didn’t have all the tools to fully understand what was going on. Today, telemetry is like an X-ray. You can see everything. You can see where the rider is losing out, where he’s making mistakes, where the bike isn’t performing. In bold, down to the last detail – even with better punctuation than this article. And when you’ve got all this data in front of you, you can no longer hide behind an excuse. You must face reality head-on and work on that.
That said, I’m still happy for Leo and I wish him all the best.
But let’s turn to O’Gorman, who started from the fifth row. We were expecting a good race, but it turned out to be SURPRISING. It was a fiercely contested race, full of overtakes that made you go ‘wow’, and in the end… he finished sixth, having started sixteenth. “I didn’t want to take any risks for fourth place,” he confessed to me when he arrived in the pits. Pini, perhaps in his final Moto3 race, was putting in a mad final lap, going all out… So, Casey did the right thing. Sometimes you also need to know how to bring home a result.
In short, when he starts from the back of the grid, he’s more relaxed. With the eyes of a tiger, he brings out that extra spark. When he starts at the front, however, he puts himself under too much pressure. He has very high expectations. It’s fine to aim for the podium, but this still causes him a few problems. But all in good time.
We’re off to faraway Japan, followed by Indonesia and so on; there are still plenty of races ahead of us, plenty of tracks, plenty of split times, plenty of gates… for us, these are just opportunities to grow. The time will come when we’ll set off with the podium in mind; in fact, maybe I’ll be the one to ask him for it. For now, we just need to have fun, learn and put our foot down.
-PaoloSic58-