The American Roadracing Interview: John Cornwell

Title: The Nature of the Game

By Dean Adams

Copyright 1998 All Rights Reserved

As an interviewer, one way to differentiate between the true expert and the Bozo posing as a know-it-all is to fire off a question, sit back, and then gauge the speed and breadth of the response. Slow, fumbling sentences usually indicate that the subject does not live and breathe the topic at hand. When I sat down with Canadian John Cornwell, however, no such doubts entered my mind as to his expertise. The answers came fast and furious.

Canadian John Cornwell, a former AMA 250 GP rider, slipped out of the AMA 250 GP ranks in 1995 to take a job as an Ohlins suspension technician in World Superbike racing. He has worked in that capacity full-time since then and has become a trusted sounding board to Scott Russell, Anthony Gobert, Colin Edwards, Carl Fogarty, Pier Francesco Chili, Troy Corser and many other riders and teams.

Cornwell--Corndog to his friends--is still a frustrated racer at heart no matter his occupation. The 'Dogger raced a Ducati SuperMono at Daytona this past spring and plans on making a comeback to either 600 Supersport or 250 racing in the future. John Cornwell is known the world over as a good guy and a talented rider--when he raced 600 Supersport here in the States he was the only rider to reap factory cast-off engines and parts that season.

 

 

Q. How would you describe working with Ducati Performance rider Carl Fogarty?

A. Frustrating. Carl Fogarty is not a good rider for development or testing. But Carl Fogarty is probably one of the greatest racers I've ever seen in my life. Carl gets frustrated easily during a test session when he looks at laptimes. He has real trouble motivating himself just to beat lap times. But when he sees other riders in front of him, and this happens occasionally in a practice session, he goes a lot faster. But to do it on his own is difficult for him. So, whether it is a motivation thing or just an inability to be able to judge his own pace . . .like I said, when it comes to races on a Sunday, you can never, ever count him out. Because he can be on the third row and if he gets mad, and if he gets a good whiff that he's okay in the race morning warm-up, look out. He'll be there. He's done it a bunch of times.

 

Q. What kind of motorcycle does he like, set-up wise?

A. Really strange. It's a lot different than what Chili and Corser and some of the other Ducati guys prefer. His ideal bike is basically really soft, front and rear, weight-bias more on the rear than the front. He doesn't want to feel any bumps or any sort of irregularities in the track surface. He wants the bike to be really smooth and complacent. In sort of a contradictory way, he has a lot of trouble with carrying initial cornering speed because he has the bike set up with such a rear weigh-bias. It doesn't turn in as well as it could. And he has to leave the bike on its side for a really long time in the corner to make it go around the corner. Therefore, all the photos you see of Carl when he's leaned over, he's leaned over a lot farther than a lot of the other guys. And he's carrying a lot more cornering speed, you know, from what you see. But the reality is that if he could deal with a bit harder suspension from both the rear and the front, he'd be able to carry the cornering speed that he wants. He wouldn't have to try and bury the thing so deep in the corner to make up time.

 

Q. He can pull of amazing performances though, seemingly from the darkest of circumstances.

A. Yes, at Albacete this year, he didn't qualify very well. It rained in the morning warm-up and he didn't do anything with that. He had a lot of problems, in fact. Then he got mad, went out in the second race and beat everybody. He just left 'em. Like I said, with the kind of set-ups you have on a racetrack like Albacete, where there are a lot of tight corners, you don't think that the guy should be able to do that. But he can. It's weird; he tries to carry corner speed, but he tries to go in so deep on the brakes because he's not able to get the bike turned as easy as the other guys. He's using the rake to get the bike to turn in. So it's a constant battle with him to try and get him to find a set up where it's good on the brakes and doesn't move around on the entry of the corner, yet it turns in very well for him. It's a struggle with him sometimes.

 

Q. What do the other riders say about his set up, if you gave it to Chili or Corser?

A. They couldn't ride it, period. They say the bike won't steer. It's slow, it won't hold the line, and that it's too heavy to change directions. All the normal stuff that you would expect.

 

Q. On another subject, What is your life like in World Superbike?

A. It's okay, but it's pretty stressful. You have a lot of responsibility, from the set-up of the bike to the team and the riders. They look to you for solutions to problems. And some things that might not be your responsibility might be something they ask you about. You have to be very careful to not step over any lines as you can be held responsible for making mistakes on chassis set up. Chassis isn't my area; suspension is. My area is the parts that go up and down. Not what offset the bike has or ride height or anything like that. That's not my job.

 

Q. How much longer do you expect to do this, work in World Superbike?

A. I don't know. It's frustrating because I still have a burn to race. Every time you come to a race like this and you see who's racing, you want to race yourself. I enjoyed the racing and I miss that part of it. By the same token, I'm really grateful that I got this opportunity to work here, because it is really difficult to find a job within racing that will allow you to use the skills you learned while racing. That part of this job I am grateful for and feel fortunate to get.

I'll probably do this for as long as I still feel I've got a bunch to learn, and as long as it's fun. Sometimes it's fun and sometimes it's really not.

 

Q. What is your family life like? Your family is still back in Canada while you're off globetrotting, right?

A. I've got a really, really supportive wife who understands my situation as far as a job is concerned. I'm fortunate that I don't have any children, yet. My wife and I have a really good relationship. Unfortunately, I don't get to spend as much time with her as I'd like.

 

Q. Which rider, from your perspective as a suspension technician, has impressed you the most this year in World Superbike?

A. I would say as far as set-up and knowing what he wants to get out of a bike, it's a toss-up between Troy Corser and Frankie Chili. Corser is way more analytical and has the ability to achieve what he wants out of the bike with very, very minimal adjustments. Chili is a lot more emotional, as you might expect. When things are going wrong, he has a tendency to chase stuff that is really non-existent.

From a pure rider excitement, to watch, of course everybody is going to be pointing fingers at Haga. The guy is definitely the most exciting thing to work with in WSC in quite some time. However, I will say that if he doesn't stay on the bike, which he doesn't seem to do that much--jumping off that thing with great regularity, he's going to be a real hurting puppy.

 

Q. You worked with Anthony Gobert when he rode Kawasaki Superbikes in WSC, and you've now worked with Nori Haga. Many people say the two are very much alike in the way that they ride…

A. No. None. The thing is, Gobert never rode a bike like the Yamaha; the Yamaha has a lot of problems that Gobert did not have with the Kawasaki. The Kawasaki was a razor and handled really well and it was forgiving. The Yamaha is not forgiving. The Yamaha is a pure front-end bike. You have to ride the front end like crazy and have good front tire feel and feel from the front end. You live and die by the front tire on the Yamaha. The Kawasaki wasn't to that extreme.

Anthony is the most naturally talented rider I've seen in a long time, but I don't know whether he could get out of that Yamaha what Haga has. And I say that only because Haga has grown up with that bike. However, I gotta admit that I've been pretty impressed with Anthony's ability to adapt to the Ducati. That's impressive in itself. But the Yamaha is a whole different ballgame. The bike is really old and when you see a guy like Scott Russell struggling big time on it, that's an indication. Scott's a good rider; he's been a world champion, so when Scott can't come to terms with the bike, it kind of makes you wonder.

 

Q. Do you believe that one of the prevailing characteristics you see in World Superbike is a very high level of desire on the part of the riders? Some people think there is, others just think the opposite. What do you think?

A. (Sighs) Oh, man. . .I think I see the same things that a lot of people see in all parts of the motorcycle racing industry. That is that there tends to be a lack of work ethic. There are a lot of people out there who have top-level factory Superbike rides who don't deserve them. There are a lot of people out there who are cruising. You can see it. You've got guys that really push the limit every time they get on the bike. And you've got guys that, like I said, don't do the training. They don't do the necessary testing and when they do the testing, they'd rather be somewhere else. So you don't get quality testing out of them. I see that in World Superbike and it's predominate in the motorcycle racing industry. That's a comment that other team managers have made; I'm not the first person to notice this. And I think it's only going to get worse, because in the words of one esteemed team manager, 'there are more factory bikes than there are factory riders.'

 

Q. So you think that a talented rider with a good work ethic and the all-out desire to win could come into World Superbike and knock this series on its ear?

A. If he had the talent, yeah. The thing is there is so much of an opportunity to develop their riding at this level because there's so much testing. None of the riders, not none, but some, just go right into the WSC way of doing things and right away start bitching about the amount of testing they have to do, instead of looking at it as an opportunity to really develop your riding on that bike. Riders need to look at WSC as the opportunity that it is.

Some AMA riders could come here and do really well. They would have to acclimate themselves to WSC which is very high pressure and a bit more professional, but if they gave it the dedication that it needs, they could do well.

 

Q. So they wouldn't be able to run a restaurant or a shop back home and hope to do well here because they wouldn't be focused enough?

A. Exactly. They need to be a professional about it. They shouldn't be doing that even if they're racing AMA. They need to focus on the job, the bike, and the team.

 

Q. Superbike suspension has become so sophisticated over the past decade, probably more so than engine technology in some cases. Do you feel that twirling all these knobs trying to find a complacent set-up is a distraction to some riders, making them forget to just go out and ride?

A. That's interesting. What you've got here is a situation here where guys like Haga or Corser don't do very much changing to their bikes. They just don't adjust them very much. They leave them alone because they know exactly what that motorcycle is going to do at any given racetrack. They might raise the ride height a little bit or change the settings, but they're not chasing stuff. They're not chasing non-existent problems since they know that everything is a compromise. Gobert is also a little bit like that, because he prefers the bike to stay the same from one racetrack to the next, because it's easier to learn the racetrack (that way). It's also easier to pick a tire if you know that 'this is my basic set up and I won't have to mess around with it too much'.

But, yeah, you're right, the multi-adjustability within a motorcycle is an easy way to get lost.

So, the rider needs to have a good crew too, a crew that knows that they shouldn't step too far away from a baseline set-up. To develop a baseline you have to spend a serious amount of time in testing, establishing exactly what it is that you need to get out of this motorcycle. Which means you'd damn well better be at the racetrack at 8:00 in the morning and not leave until 6:00 at night. And try to be the first guy out in practice and the last guy in, so you get the maximum amount of laps in.

 

Q. Ohlins handles the suspension needs of both Yamaha WSC riders, Scott Russell and Noriyuki Haga. They use different makes of tires on each of their machine. I'd imagine that makes your life difficult.

A. I don't specifically handle that team's needs, but the guy that does have to work on it--he struggles a little bit with them. It's really difficult to use the information from one rider to translate it over to another because the Dunlop and Michelin tires are so different. Michelin has more grip and the tire produces a lot more side-forces. The Dunlop is a lot easier to slide and is a lot more forgiving. So the Ohlins technician there really struggles trying to come up with a suspension compromise that both riders can use. I don't envy him in that position.

 

Q. We're seeing a few AMA mechanics move from America to World Superbike. Is it a better place to be a technician?

A. Depending on the team they were working for, probably. I think anyone who has an opportunity to work in WSC should do it. It's a great experience. You don't get to be a tourist or anything like that, but you get to see so many things that you never would see or experience in America. It's basically another entry on your resume, but it broadens your horizons so much. You can bring so much more to the table after you've worked in WSC and you're able to see how different things are in WSC. I have been told that it's less work than in AMA, but I don't know that. But I do know that the mechanic's learning curve is accelerated.

A lot of American teams should try to do a round of the WSC series outside of America if they can. They should take their crates, go over to Europe and do a couple of rounds. It will make the team better and especially the riders better. Ben Bostrom did well here at Laguna and if he came to Europe with that team, he'd do okay. I think, he'd do pretty well, and he'd be so much better once he came back.

 

Q. What's the biggest faux pas you see in WSC suspension?

A. Changing things. To be good, you have to establish a base set-up, and only go slightly to each side of that with the knobs. You really shouldn't have to do much more than that.

 

Q. There's a talk occasionally that Miguel DuHamel might go WSC racing. He is very fit, has supreme desire to win races, and has a good track record. How do you think he would do in WSC racing?

A. Given that he had good equipment, he'd do well. I think that any of the Americans that raced at WSC Laguna Seca, given the right opportunity, would do well in WSC.

But having said that, a lot of them would be really uncomfortable living in Europe. It already happens, you see a lot of the guys who come from over here, and go over to Europe to race, they need a support system that goes there with them. Europe has a lot of things to offer, but most of the riders who go over there and race do not take the time to explore the opportunity to it's fullest. In many ways, it's the same as it is here in America; but it's very different in subtle ways--in things like the press. The press in Europe… motorcycle racing isn't on the back page of the sport's section in Europe. In Spain, it's on the front page of the main section. And European riders are masters are using the press and the European motorcycle press to achieve their ends. Look at Rossi and Biaggi in Italy, or Doohan. He's always talking to the press and making inflammatory statements to get some excitement generated or to bring exposure to him. You don't have that opportunity here. The riders here don't know how to deal with the press in America.

Q. They're ruined by sponsor-thanking, glad-handing NASCAR

A. Exactly.

 

Q. How much of your job is politically charged? Do you run into situations where politics plays a big part?

A. Occasionally we run into a situation where the team has expressed a desire to test another suspension brand or they've had some questions regarding the suspension that they're using and they want an opinion about something. You have to be careful about what you say. Basically there are two suspension brands here, Showa and Ohlins. As companies, we get along quite well. But, as in anything else, there's going to be politics. It's the nature of the game.

ENDS