my Italian is not that good, so I'm kind of slow... I supposed it could happen.
Ok then from page 6 (Part 1):
quoteLet's go back to work stuff. Are you in direct contact with Husqvarna? "I speak to them constantly, to get or give them information. Sometimes I call Pit Beirer, sometimes Robert Jonas, I follow things very closely"
Do you think Max's results could lead to an internal conflict between KIM and Husqvarna? "Sometimes you can have some headaches because of them, but the kind of headaches you want to have more often and I think they are happy with the job we are doing. However, even if it's still the same property, they are two totally different brands and I think the internal battle could rise the product level."
We have spoked a lot about Max, but what do you have to say about Todd Waters and Nathan Watson Kimi? "Todd is a realy interesting driver, unfortunately, last year he has been a bit unlucky, but until then he was doing just fine, considering it was his first year in MXGP. Now he has comed back to show some very good things, like in Matterley, some weeks ago. This is like his first year and we are not expecting much from him. I like Nathan very much too, he's very young and also very fast, doesen't have much experience yet and he hurt himself this year but he's a great driver for us for many reasons"
Next year, will you continue with the same driver line-up? "I don't know yet, it depends on many things, I do hope so because I like all three of them and I think they all are very good in this structure, which is very important to us, but it is to early to tell"
It is funny to hear him answer those kind of questions like Tania said
Oh man, my internet went off and I lost some questions, I gotta go now, maybe Miezi can finish for me, I'm sorry I couldn't be of much help.
Let's see if I can have time for a couple more... Page 6 (Part 2)
quoteAre you surprised with Villopoto's season? "Obviously, him coming to race the GP is a possitive fact, it's very important from a media point of view, but I think that it's very difficult for an American to adapt to the World Championship, it has nothing to do with the Nationals. They are much different and I also think that living here it's not easy for him. I have been many times in America and things are much different, it's a very distant culture from ours, a way of living that is a long way from ours. Even the race tracks are a lot different."
Ovviamente un weekend storto può capitare, ma se il fine settimana difficile è come quello di Matterley Basin, in Inghilterra, ci può stare! Obviously a bad weekend can happen, but if the weekend is difficult as that in Matterley Basin, England, he can stay here!
Quote: miezicat wrote in post #200Ovviamente un weekend storto può capitare, ma se il fine settimana difficile è come quello di Matterley Basin, in Inghilterra, ci può stare! Obviously a bad weekend can happen, but if the weekend is difficult as that in Matterley Basin, England, he can stay here!
Oh, it means: I can bear with it or I can deal with it.
Quote: miezicat wrote in post #200Ovviamente un weekend storto può capitare, ma se il fine settimana difficile è come quello di Matterley Basin, in Inghilterra, ci può stare! Obviously a bad weekend can happen, but if the weekend is difficult as that in Matterley Basin, England, he can stay here!
Oh, it means: I can bear with it or I can deal with it.
quoteWhat didn't work, accoding to you? "I wouldn't know, If I were him, I would have come to Europe to test for the winter, looking to adapt as much as possible before the start of the World Championship. It's always the same story when people from that part of the world comes here, they are always surprised how difficult the tracks are here and then when they try to adapt, it's always to late. However, it's a real shame he hurt himself because he was an asset for everyone. We hope he can return soon, because until he was still racing it was very interesting, I think everyone felt under pressure, having to push hard to be ready to face it".
Are you planning to continue in this adventure for long? "I think so, that's the plan, but I can never know what will happen. We still have a lot to do, but now we are getting help from the results".
Quote: miezicat wrote in post #200Ovviamente un weekend storto può capitare, ma se il fine settimana difficile è come quello di Matterley Basin, in Inghilterra, ci può stare! Obviously a bad weekend can happen, but if the weekend is difficult as that in Matterley Basin, England, he can stay here!
Oh, it means: I can bear with it or I can deal with it.
thanks Tania maybe will be good to put it all together in the end so it's not too confusing
quoteIn any case it was a quite fast and linear path, at least seen from the outside. It took a few years, little by little I was able to put together the right people and the things that serve to reach a good result.
How did the collaboration with Antti start? I have met him in 2010, initially I wanted him as a rider for the team. We met at my house in Switzerland and we talked a lot, luckily nothing has happened (laughs). And it was better that way ; we had no good bikes nor an efficient structure. Now I know him well, I know that maybe I couldn’t have given him what he wanted to race and today we wouldn’t be such good friends that we have become over the years. In any case he was setting up his team and was deeply involved in his project as a rider.
Later you ended up, however. When I decided to make a change to the project IceOne, I sold all the facilities, including the truck, and redid a new truck. At that time I met with Antti occasionally to ride motocross together, so, visiting him, I began to know him better and realized that I liked the way he ran his team, his ideas were the same as mine. I do believe that, you do things right or don’t do it at all.
Antti but was still a rider, although he was managing everything himself. But he was at the end of his career and yet another injury, I thought it was the right time to offer him to manage my new team. He had always expressed his intention to remain in the world of Motocross once he would stop with racing. I called him and I suggested my idea; I needed someone who knew thoroughly the sport and who also had the experience as rider, but not that of twenty years ago. He has an excellent reputation and can work with anyone, I was told it would be appropriate to talk to him and get him to stop, because he wanted to run another year. And he accepted.
From where did you start planning the new IceOne? From the truck, I hated what we had. I wanted something more pleasant and functional, with a better image, which would say who we are and where we want to arrive. We went to a company that builds structures for racing, they are the best. They are working for McLaren. I personally designed the truck in detail and then Antti has completed the work with the final touches but it was already pretty much all done.
Are you telling me that not only you like riding a bike but you deal with the team at all levels: truck, riders, motorbike ... Obviously I am in the fortunate position of having with me a person like Antti, attentive to even the smallest details. I have full confidence in him and we talk a lot, even when I have other things to do, even if I would want to follow the championship more often. We think exactly the same way and everything is easier when there is harmony.
What are the most important things to have a winning team? Everything has to be nice and functional. The mechanics may have to make some effort to keep everything neat and clean but it's worth it, so they work in a better environment. Everything must be done in the most professional way possible, it is essential. It must not only look nice and professional, but it must be professional. Everything has to be in order, shall not lack anything and things have to run to perfection. Maybe to get all this you have to be a bit tough with those who work for you but that's how things work and it’s the only way I know to do things right.
Did you ever expect to be leading the MXGP this more competitive year? (remember that the interview has been released by Raikkonen before Nagl’s injury at Teutschenthal) Max is doing a fantastic season, we expected a lot from him but I think he's surprising everyone by how he is driving. Having more drivers that are strong and a bit of change is good for the atmosphere. It brings a little bit of novelty. If I can’t come to watch the races, I watch on TV and if I’m busy with something else I record. I must say that the show is truly remarkable.
What is the secret of Nagl version Husqvarna 2015? For a good race the departures have become crucial and luckily Max is always there in front. I think he was very unlucky in the past but that today he is getting what he has always deserved.
How did the choice of Nagl happen? He was in my notebook, one of my first choices always, if you want to believe it or not. Obviously it was not so easy to get him earlier but I have always considered him a perfect rider for us. He is a very decent person and also a very fast rider, with KTM was one of the strongest around and without injuries could have got more.
How did you convince him to leave HRC? The fact that he would have a bike similar to the KTM he knew so well, certainly helped. Max has always loved this kind of bike, although today they are a little bit different. I've always liked him and last year he had found his speed again, achieving many victories in the season finale.
And that's when you thought of him? No, we started to talk to him before he returned to the top. He also was interested to come to us. I don’t want to have people who come just for the money or because they have no alternative, it’s better that they stay home. I want riders convinced of their own choice.
Maybe someone would think that since you are behind all this, there was easy money ... Unfortunately in motocross there are not many riders who can afford major contracts. We pay the right for a rider who has proven to be worth. There is still talk of a lot of money.
What do you like most about Max? We had other drivers before but compared to him there is a difference. He is super professional in everything he does, he is always searching for the detail and cares for every smallest detail maniacally.
It's surprising? Yes, we expected him to do well but you can never be sure, there are always a thousand unknowns. I'm surprised by a few things: do you remember how hard it was at the end of last race? Obviously a bad weekend can happen but if the weekend is as difficult as that in Matterley Basin, in England, I can live with it! Motocross is a sport so difficult and delicate where the slightest mistake can cost you dear and the continuity of the results is essential. We are very happy at the moment but winning races and winning championships is much different. We try to do the best for him and know that he will do the best for us, then we will see what will happen, the season is long.
Watching you from outside, you, Antti and Max seem to have the same approach to the races, the same mentality and the same point of view: you are quite introverted, shy, not very talkative but definitely effective in what you do ... We are quite similar and we work in the same direction with the same goals, it makes everything easier.
You are all three new dad since a few months, you speak only about motorcycles when you are together or also of children and diapers? Antti wants to talk about Formula 1, but I forbid it (laughs).
Yes, I'm sorry I have posted in parts. I've just numbered them all to help with the order.
Page 6 (part 4) and last:
quoteI imagine that your partners are satisfied? "I think so, with Husqvarna things are going great and I happy to show our sponsors that they have made the right choice. We don't have much, but the , ones we do have are very important. I don't like the truck and the motorcycle full of thousands of logotypes and since we can afford it, we work with few and selected partners. For sure we want to get better and grow.
Is it called IceOne because of your nickname in Formula 1: Iceman? "No, it's a coincidence, it's the name of the structure I had created when I participated in the World Rally Championship with Citröen, I liked it and I decided to use it also in my Motocross team"
( Yes, Kimi, but didn't you named your WRC team IceOne because of Iceman anyway? not buying that one )
quoteGood luck Kimi, hoping to see you always in our MXGP world "I hope to come more often and to follow closer every time this fantastic sport, in which I am investing a lot".
We continued our plesant chat with the crappy Finnish coffee that meanwhile gets cold in the cups, laughing and making jokes like friends in a bar. Di "algido" F1 driver has let out a passionate and upset Motocross fan, one of us. There may be many Kimi Raikkonens but the one being known "on the field" I liked a lot
Please Tania, review this last paragraph because I don't feel I got it right.
Quote: WHATEVER wrote in post #208Yes, I'm sorry I have posted in parts. I've just numbered them all to help with the order. ( Yes, Kimi, but didn't you named your WRC team IceOne because of Iceman anyway? not buying that one )
yes, thought that too. Maybe it was Citroen's idea
it's ok. I just thought we will make one post with all parts in the end but it's fine like this too
quoteWe continue our pleasant chat in front of the awful Finnish coffee, meanwhile cold in the cup, laughing and joking as friends at the bar. The icy Formula 1 driver has given way to a passionate and avid fan of motocross, one of us. Probably there are many Kimi Raikkonen, but the one known "in the field" I really enjoyed a lot.
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Wed Jul 15, 2015 8:12 pm
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my Italian is not that good, so I'm kind of slow... I supposed it could happen.
it's like a saying or? 
it's on 5th page
