You have been in the sport many years, can you tell some things about your career? E.g. how you came to work in the World Championship? Where have you worked and for how long with the current Suzuki set-up?

Well I went to my first GP in 1975 and 76 was my first full season and I’ve been turning up ever since then. At first with Kawasaki, then with Honda and since 1992 with Suzuki.

Has it been tricky to keep pace with the technological development of the machinery in your time in the pit-lane? What was the most interesting era for you?

Being here all the time has allowed me to grow with the changing technology and keep up to date with that side, if you come new to the sport now there are a lot of things you must pick up on, that could be difficult to embrace everything at once. I can’t really say there was one interesting area, but the constant evolving of GP bikes over the years and now week-to-week is quite phenomenal.

What riders have you worked with and which do you admire most, for whatever characteristics?

I’ve been lucky to work with several world champions, Kork Ballington, Wayne Gardner, Freddie Spencer and Kevin Schwantz. It’s difficult to pick one out as they all had different traits and characters; however they were all determined and reached their goal of being a World Champion in different ways.

Who was the most accomplished in terms of machine set-up and gelling with the rest of the team in this respect?

Kevin Schwantz was very popular with the fans and he was also very popular with the team. He is still a part of Team Suzuki and a frequent visitor to GPs. As well as our current riders Kevin is always a welcome addition to our garage.

Has getting Suzuki’s four-stroke machinery up to speed been a big challenge?

Yes, obviously it’s been disappointing that we haven’t won many races over the last few years, which is of course is what we are all here to do. This year we feel we are a lot closer and that Suzuki has made a huge effort with the 800. It seems to be working well and everybody in the team and at the factory is working hard to make sure we reach our goal, which has to be to win races!

How has the paddock changed in your years in the sport? Do you like how MotoGP currently looks and operates?

It’s a lot bigger and busier now. As the sport has grown it has also become more professional. The one thing that has remained the same is that it is just as competitive as it always has been; we just go about things in a different way now. MotoGP puts on a good show and we have a big fan-base both at the tracks and on TV. If you mention the riders’ names around the world they are now more recognised and that can only be good for the sport.

What are the ins-and-outs of your current job?

I have a great team of mechanics, tyre and data guys, fabricators and suspension engineers, so my job is just to put it all together on the day. We do spend a lot of time away and that can be a bit of a strain, but it is still a job I enjoy doing.

What is it like working with John? What would you say are his strong points?

John is a really interesting character. He has a fire burning in his belly and he wants to succeed. Sometimes he can be a bit aggressive – but that’s fine – I would rather have him like that than have someone with no character at all. He knows that when the chips are down he has to get out there and do it. There is only so much we can do with the bike, but we know he will always keep his end up!

 Source: suzuki-motogp.com