| Full name: |
John Marvin Kocinski |
| Born: |
March 20, 1968, Little Rock, Arkansas, USA. |
| Current address: |
Sacramento, California, USA |
| Hobbies: |
Dirt bike riding, water-skiing, R/C cars, skiing |
| Favorite racetrack: |
Laguna Seca (USA) |
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Favorite racers: |
- Eddie Lawson
- Giacomo Agostini
- Freddie Spencer
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| Nicknames: |
The Kid, Little John,
The Eagle |
| Favorite food: |
Salads, pasta |
| Favorite drink: |
Iced lemon tea |
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Short answer: "We needed more testing."
Long answer:
(according to Erv Kanemoto, John's team manager that season)
"I have enormous respect for John and his ability, but
learning to ride an NSR500 quick and consistently takes a lot of work. In
the first few tests we did for the 1999 season, John could turn some quick
laps, but not consistently. But just before the season started,
in the final test, John was really starting to
understand the bike and got real consistent.
I knew he was getting a feel for the bike."
"After Motegi, it seemed like we didn't go anywhere.
It's hard to make changes mid-season and due to our
budget, we couldn't put together any tests."
"The NSR and John weren't a good match.
The Honda has its strengths and weaknesses, and to be
successful, you need to utilize the strengths.
The way I see it, the Honda accelerates well.
A rider needs to get into the corner hard,
stop the bike, lean it over and then stand it up as he accelerates out.
It accelerates hard. John's style was to carry lots of entrance speed, and to
trail brake deep into the corner, carrying lots of speed right down to the apex.
The bike's not suited for that, for carrying lots of mid-corner speed.
"I'm not saying any of this to put John down, but if he had
more time on the bike before the season started, it would have made all the difference.
People don't understand how much pressure is on the riders once the season starts.
You need to ride the bike without the pressure of lap times, qualifying and racing.
We needed more time in the off-season. The NSR is a different
animal than anything John had ridden. There are only so many available
adjustments on the bike to suit it to the rider, and you have to learn to work
within those adjustments. John needs another year or two to deal with how
the bike works when it's full of fuel or when the tires go off."
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Short answer: Anything you'd like.
Long answer:
Of course all the places where you see question marks. Pictures of John waterskiing.
A recent portrait picture of John.
If you have any, please send them.
If you don't have a scanner to your availability, contact me
and we'll see what we can do. Any other pictures that you have and that do not appear on the pictures page.
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