Q&A with Don Sakakura: Who will get Roger Hayden's ride?

In motorcycle roadracing today, there are few rides that pay a good salary and provide a proven, championship-winning motorcycle prepped by a thoroughly professional team. When that team also happens to be the winningest team in U.S. Superbike history, the opportunity becomes even more mouthwatering for a host of hungry, young, talented racers.

When Roger Hayden announced that he would retire at the end of this season, he opened up a spot on the Yoshimura Suzuki Racing team. It's an opportunity that can fairly be called not just potentially career-changing, but also life-changing for a young rider, and Sakakura, Yoshimura's senior vice president, will decide who gets it.

The field of candidates is wider than you might expect. In 2016, when Jake Lewis was injured before the season began, Yoshimura called in former MotoGP racer and Moto2 world champion Toni Elias to fill in. Elias won races from the start and the team kept him on. He won the MotoAmerica Motul Superbike championship last year.

One of the rumored candidates for the Yoshimura ride is current KTM MotoGP rider Bradley Smith, who is without a job for 2019 at this point. But it appears Yoshimura is more likely to give the spot to someone already in the MotoAmerica paddock.

The obvious candidates include two current M4 ECSTAR Suzuki team riders: Valentin Debise in Supersport and Lewis in Superbike. Then there's Yamalube/Westby Racing Superbike rider Mathew Scholtz, the only rider other than Elias and points leader Cameron Beaubier with a Superbike win this year, and Monster Energy/Y.E.S./Graves Yamaha rider J.D. Beach, who is currently running away with the Supersport title.

I asked Sakakura, who has been involved in many of Yoshimura's 200 wins in U.S. Superbike racing, how the decision will be made.

Common Tread: So, did your phone blow up when Roger announced his plans to retire at the end of the season?

Don Sakakura: Yeah, as soon as the announcement came out from Suzuki, the phone, the emails. There's interest in the team and in MotoAmerica not only from riders in the paddock, but from abroad. High-level riders who have interest in relocating to America and racing. I think that's a strong statement that the team, the series, there's people watching what we're doing. I hope it's going to continue to grow and attract more talent from outside.

CT: Do you lean toward choosing someone already in the MotoAmerica paddock or one of those riders from outside?

DS: The situation with Toni was kind of a fluke and fortunately for us it really worked out very well. But I think, generally, our first priority is a rider who is familiar with the MotoAmerica paddock, the tracks we race on, the tires we race on. The track configurations are a bit unique in America, compared to the others. That's important, but not a decision-decider for us.

It's not an easy choice. There's a lot of good talent in the paddock now and a lot of guys are available and interested.

CT: Who is involved in making the decision?

DS: Myself and Suzuki Race Manager Pat Alexander will make the final call. I also go to some of our experienced crew members and get their viewpoints and try to make it a team, joint effort, so everybody's comfortable with the decision that we make. Everybody, of course, has a lot of different opinions, but generally they see talent, they see a strong work ethic, they see a very serious, professional racer, those are the guys that we want to bring our way.

CT: What process are you using to make a decision?

DS: What I've been doing, honestly, is trying to get to know these guys a little better. I bump into them in the paddock and say hello, good morning or congratulations but other than that, I don't really know them that well.

My approach is I like to get to know what they do away from the race track. To me, that's an important component of the whole package. What they do for training, how they mentally prepare, how they physically prepare for the racing season. Those sorts of things are important as well as the results on the race track. How they can adapt to our program here. Who might fit in the best. A question I ask is technically how involved they are in developing the settings on their motorcycle. At this level, most of the guys are very involved, which is very important. Especially with the electronics and some of the settings we're playing with now, it can get overwhelming if you're not familiar with that.

CT: Toni is 35 years old, a very experienced rider. Is your goal to pair him with a younger rider you hope will be with the team for many years to come?

DS: That's the plan. Toni, I think, has several good, strong years left, but we need to find that next generation of younger rider that's coming through that in a year or so could be a championship contender in the series. So it's a long-term commitment.

CT: There have been reports you'll make a decision soon, maybe before the next round at Pittsburgh. Is that likely?

DS: We're going to have make a decision fairly quickly. Our goal is to have somebody signed by the end of the season and there's a whole process of formalizing the agreement. Having it official by (the final round at) Barber (Motorsports Park) is our goal.