CHAMP BUT NO COLOSSUS
by Mat OxleyAlex Criville has won the 500 world championship after eight years of trying. And he still lives at home with his mom.
He's no colossus like the man who went before him but no one gets to be 500 world champion for nothing. Alex Criville has paid his dues and after eight years of trying he's the king.
It's all too easy to suggest - and impossible not to - that he wouldn't be champ if Mick Doohan hadn't crashed massively at May's Spanish GP. But Doohan made a big mistake that damp afternoon at Jerez and, as they say in racing, to finish first, first you must finish."Of course, I would like to have won the title with Mick out there racing but it didn't happen that way," he shrugs. "That's racing - Mick made a mistake. We had done two GPs before Jerez, I beat him once, he beat me once, so who knows what might've happened? All I can say is that it wouldn't have been easy for him."
Criville had spent years in Doohan's shadow, beating him on occasion, but it took his team-mate's exit to clear the path to the title. Once the Aussie was off the scene, he found life easier. "I feel more comfortable, more relaxed and when you ride relaxed, you ride better," he said as he assumed Doohan's role of 500 dominator, winning the next four races. From there it was a forgone conclusion Criville would win the title.
But he seemed determined to make life tough for himself, crashing out of the next GP at Assen and dislocating a hip. A week later he won in Britain, showing a harder side to his character we'd first seen after his bloody accident at Assen '97. Another two wins and two second places from the next four races and once more, Criville appeared to be making his destiny inevitable.
But no, he tumbled again at Valencia and then fell heavily during Australian GP qualifying, cracking a wrist. Suddenly the title was slipping away. With four races to go, both team-mate Tady Okada and Suzuki's Kenny Roberts were within striking distance.
Doohan could hardly believe what was going on, watching the action on TV, often from his hospital bed after a long series of operations to the legs, arm and wrist he battered at Jerez.
"Alex was going in cycles, from nervous to okay and then back again," says the five-time champ. "The pressure seemed to get to him but he should've just got out there and do what he normally does every weekend."Criville couldn't get it together to win again but he pulled himself back from the brink and at Rio he did just enough to put the title out of anyone's reach, with one race to go.
His analysis of the year's events is straightforward: "Roberts looked strong at the start of the season but he had problems and made mistakes as the season progressed, while Biaggi found it difficult to be competitive on the Yamaha. My team-mate Okada turned out to be my toughest rival."
Like Doohan before him, Criville has the advantage of experience. He has ridden for Honda ever since he graduated to 500s from 250s in '92, so he has an intimate knowledge of his team, his bike and its tires. He also learned a lot from racing alongside the Australian.
"The big thing with Mick is that he works hard on his riding. Most of the time he doesn't change so much the bike, he just pushes himself very hard and rides 100 per cent all the time, right from the first practice session at every GP.
"I've been riding for the official HRC team for six years now, so I feel part of the family. I used to change so much on the bike but now I don't, just like Mick. After all that time I know I've got the best settings and that's important for my head."
Criville can expect a tougher time when he comes to defending his title in 2000 because both Roberts and Biaggi were starting out with new teams and bikes in '99. Both the American and the Italian should have their machinery better dialed in for next year.
As Spain's first 500 champ and the first European 500 winner in 17 years (since Franco Uncini won the '81 crown) Criville has his place in history. In fact, he had that long before he wrapped up the 500 title. In '89 he became the youngest world champion when he took the 125 title at his first attempt, in '92 he was the first Spaniard to win a 500 GP, in '95 he was the first of his countrymen to score a 500 pole and last year he was the first Spaniard to lead a 500 championship. Spain has many motorcycling legends - men like Angel Nieto, Jorge Martinez and Sito Pons - but no Spaniard had conquered the premier class until Criville came along.
And yet for all that success he's an unusual motorcycling hero. At 29 years old he still lives at home with his mother and he's ultra shy, even boring, though rumor has it he undergoes a dramatic transformation away from the paddock, once he's got a few beers inside him.
Criville comes from a conservative family, living in a small town outside Barcelona and he's perhaps old fashioned for someone who's not yet into his thirties - he even crosses himself before starting each world championship meeting. Yet he's a major superstar back home, over four million people watch every GP on TV in Spain where bike racing ranks second only to football. Superstar, yes, but he's no superhuman like Doohan.
Then again, who is?
ENDS
CRIVILLE'S CAREER
Born: March 2 1970
Lives: Seva, Spain1985: First race, Honda 70
1987: First GP, Spain (80)
1989: First GP win, Australia (125)
125 world champion (JJ Cobas)1990: 11th 250 world championship (Yamaha)
1991: 13th 250 world championship (Cobas Honda)
1992: First 500 win, Holland
8th 500 world championship (Honda)1993: 8th 500 world championship (Honda)
1994: 6th 500 world championship (Honda)
1995: 4th 500 world championship (Honda)
1996: 2nd 500 world championship (Honda)
1997: 4th 500 world championship (Honda)
1998: 3rd 500 world championship (Honda)1999: 500 world champion (Honda)
19 GP wins (5 x 125, 14 x 500)
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