Alanf's blog...

Last year I built a combined road race calendar for 2005 (with race dates for AMA Superbike, AMA Supermoto, World Superbike and MotoGP, as well as local races like the MRA, the local round of the AMA Supermoto series, the local round of the AHRMA series and the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb). I found it really useful so I decided to do it again for 2006. Here is the current road race calendar for this year:

February:

25 - WSBK @ Losail International Circuit; Doha, Qatar

March:

5 - WSBK @ Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit; Phillip Island, Australia

11 - AMA SBK @ Daytona International Speedway; Daytona Beach, FL

26 - MotoGP @ Circuit de Jerez de la Frontera; Jerez, Spain

April:

8 - MotoGP @ Losail International Circuit; Doha, Qatar

23 - WSBK @ Circuit de la Comunitat Valenciana Ricardo Tormo; Valencia, Spain

23 - AMA SBK @ Barber Motorsports Park; Birmingham, AL

29 - AMA Supermoto @ California Speedway; Fontana, CA

30 - MotoGP @ Istanbul Park; Istanbul, Turkey

30 - AMA SBK @ California Speedway; Fontana, CA

30 - MRA @ Pueblo Motorsports Park; Pueblo, CO

May:

7 - WSBK @ Autodromo Nazionale Monza; Monza, Italy

14 - MotoGP @ Shanghai Circuit; Shanghai, China

21 - MotoGP @ Bugatti Le Mans Circuit; Le Mans, France

21 - AMA SBK @ Infineon Raceway; Sonoma, CA

28 - WSBK @ Silverstone; Silverstone, UK

June:

3 - AMA Supermoto @ Road America; Elkhart Lake, WI

4 - MotoGP @ Circuito del Mugello; Mugello, Italy

4 - AMA SBK @ Road America; Elkhart Lake, WI

4 - MRA @ La Junta Raceway; La Junta, CO

10 - AMA Supermoto @ USA International Raceway; Shawano, WI

17 - AMA Supermoto @ Miller Motorsports Park; Salt Lake City, UT

18 - MotoGP @ Circuit de Catalunya; Catalunya, Spain

18 - AMA SBK @ Miller Motorsports Park; Salt Lake City, UT

24 - MotoGP @ TT Circuit Assen; Assen, Netherlands

25 - WSBK @ Circuito Internazionale Santa Monica; Misano, San Marino

25 - PPIHC @ Pikes Peak Hill Climb; Colorado Springs, CO

July:

2 - MotoGP @ Donnington Park; Donnington Park, Great Britain

8 - AMA Supermoto @ The Palace of Auburn Hills; Detroit, MI

9 - MRA @ Miller Motorsports Park; Salt Lake City, UT

16 - MotoGP @ Sachsenring Circuit; Sachsenring, Germany

23 - MotoGP @ Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca; Monterrey, CA

23 - WSBK @ Brno; Brno, Czech Republic

23 - AMA SBK @ Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca; Monterey, CA

30 - MRA @ Motorsport Park Hastings; Hastings, NE

August:

6 - WSBK @ Brands Hatch; Brands Hatch, UK

6 - AMA SBK @ Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course; Lexington, OH

13 - MRA @ Pueblo Motorsports Park; Pueblo, CO

20 - MotoGP @ Automotodrom Brno; Brno, Czech Republic

20 - AMA SBK @ Virginia International Raceway; Alton, VA

27 - MRA @ La Junta Raceway; La Junta, CO

27 - AMA Supermoto @ TBA; TBA, CO

September:

3 - WSBK @ TT Circuit Assen; Assen, Netherlands

3 - AMA SBK @ Road Atlanta; Braselton, GA.

10 - MotoGP @ Sepang International Circuit; Sepang, Malaysia

10 - WSBK @ Eurospeedway Lausitz; Lausitzring, Germany

10 - MRA @ Motorsport Park Hastings; Hastings, NE

17 - MotoGP @ Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit; Phillip Island, Australia

17 - AHRMA @ Miller Motorsports Park; Salt Lake City, Utah

24 - MotoGP @ Twin Ring Motegi; Motegi, Japan

24 - MRA @ Pueblo Motorsports Park; Pueblo, CO

October:

1 - WSBK @ Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari Imola; Imola, Italy

1 - AMA SBK @ Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course; Lexington, OH

8 - WSBK @ Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours; Magny-Cours, France

14 - AMA Supermoto @ Music City Motorplex; Nashville, TN

15 - MotoGP @ Circuito do Estoril; Estoril, Portugal

22 - WSBK @ TBA; TBA, South Africa

29 - MotoGP @ Circuit de la Comunitat Valenciana Ricardo Tormo; Valencia, Spain

November:

4 - AMA Supermoto @ Queen Mary; Long Beach, CA

Well, it looks like I’ll be making a few trips to Utah in ‘06 since both the AMA has moved from the now deceased Pikes Peak International Raceway to the new Miller Motorsports Park near Salt Lake City. They have even thrown in a Supermoto event to make the event even more enticing despite the long drive. Then AHRMA moved their Fall event from the Pueblo Motorsports Park to Miller Motorsports Park as well. I already have my tickets for the combined MotoGP/AMA races at Laguna Seca in July so I will definitely be out there this summer. Finally, I’d like to catch some MRA races, since I try to support the local racers, but that will be pretty challenging this year since all of the races are so far away from the Denver metro area. Naturally, I will continue to watch everything on TV and do my best to provide some coverage here on the blog for all the races and in my WSBKPod podcast for the World Superbike races. Make sure to mark these dates on your calendar and watch some racing this year, preferably in person but if not then at least on the tube.

[image from the MotoGrandPrix.it web site.]

There is an old proverb that says “The devil is in the details". The idea is that no matter how good the overall plan the minor things are what make or break any project. Well, this past week the Sepang track held the first tests of the year for the MotoGP teams and for many the success or failure of their upcoming race season will be determined in these next couple of tests. For today’s blog entry I’ll be talking about the teams and what some of those devilish details may be for each of them.

First up, lets look at the various Honda teams. The factory Repsol Honda team had a busy test program for Sepang. Primarily, they have to realign the development of their 2006 RC211V behind their new lead rider, Nicky Hayden, after focusing on Max Biaggi last season. Since Max and Nicky have dramatically different riding styles this means that the Honda engineers may have had to make dramatic changes to their bike between ‘05 and ‘06. This will be Hayden’s first time developing a MotoGP bike so he will have to learn quickly how to hone in on problems so that he can provide accurate feedback to the engineers after just a few laps. He will have to quickly and efficiently go through all the myriad options for the new bike to find the best base configuration. Then he can start the fine adjustments necessary to optimize the package. If he picks the wrong path this week he will probably be chasing his tail on setup all season long.

Next on the Repsol team’s list was the continuing effort to get MotoGP rookie Dani Pedrosa up to speed on the bigger four stroke after he spent the past two seasons dominating the 250GP series. The Spaniard’s small physical stature, as well as his lower muscular strength, means that the bike has to be adapted to fit him and Pedrosa has to develop the endurance needed to ride the bigger bike. Dani’s crew has to get the bike adjusted to match the rider, then get the rider up to speed on the bike and only then can they start to develop the combination of the two to get ready for the upcoming season.

The satellite Honda teams have their own challenges. The Konica Minolta Team has the biggest challenge because they haven’t made either of the official MotoGP tests since the last race of ‘05 and have thus not even started their development program. Their absence is probably due to the costs required to travel to and take part in these tests but their chance of being competitive in ‘06 are dramatically reduced by missing these tests. This is a real pity because rider Makoto Tamada seems capable of running up front but will likely be unable to do so until the team has had a chance to find the correct setup for his new model RC211V…something that is particularly difficult to do during the race season.

On the opposite end of that spectrum is Team Gresini rider Marco Melandri. Like Hayden, Melandri is leading development of his team’s bikes and is returning to a team as the top rider. He’ll have the support of his team but will also have the added pressure of stepping into a lead development role after being the “B” rider behind Sete Gibernau in ‘05. Its unclear how soon Melandri will get an ‘06 RC211V so he could be doing his Sepang test work with a final model of the ‘05 bike or maybe he is already working with an ‘06 model. His new teammate, Toni Elias, on the other hand is having to learn a new bike having moved from Yamaha to Honda this year. In Elias’ favor is that he’s working with the same sponsor, Fortuna, from ‘05 while the rest of Team Gresini have to learn the responsibilities that come with representing a new company.

Finally, there is the smallest and newest Honda satellite team, Lucio Cechinello’s new MotoGP squad with rider Casey Stoner. Stoner has the advantage of having ridden a RC211V at the test last November but at that time it was with the now defunct Pons team. Now Stoner has to work out the kinks with a different team while also adapting to the big MotoGP bikes after a few seasons racing with Pedrosa in the 250 two stroke class. Fortunately, he raced for Cechinello’s team in 250s so he already knows his crew but it appears sponsor Carrera isn’t making the leap to the premier class so who knows who much money the team will have to support their ‘06 effort.

As long as I’m talking about Honda, I should also talk about Kenny Roberts, Sr’s TeamKR. After nearly withdrawing from MotoGP at the end of last year they are back for this season with a Honda motor in their custom made frame. Kenny Roberts, Jr was finally confirmed as their rider and was riding the new KR211V at Sepang. The big devil for them is adapting their chassis to the Honda motor in the short amount of time between the end of the previous season and the start of the next one. Based on their comments after this week’s test it appear their current frame is too stiff and this means the bike isn’t handling as well when leaned over as will be required to be competitive. They will have a new frame for the next test but it won’t have any alterations based on their Sepang tests, just an alternate geometry based on their initial designs from last Fall. Time is working against the TeamKR folks to get in enough testing to fully develop their new bike before the first race of the season. Worse yet, they can’t really test tires or suspension or engine electronics until they have the frame dialed in.

In this same boat is the Suzuki team. John Hopkins as been tasked with leading the GSV-R development which appears to be all, or at least mostly, new for ‘06. This means he’ll have to find the direction needed to guide development of a new bike, as opposed to working off an iterative design like Hayden is doing with the Honda. On the positive side, the old Suzuki seemed to have serious power problems so hopefully Hopper is working with a better motor this time around. Rumors have it that Suzuki may be trying out pneumatic valves and enhanced electronics, in addition to the normal chassis adjustments, exhaust configurations, suspension components and tires so there will be plenty of options to work through. On the negative side, he’ll be somewhat alone in this engineering work since his teammate Chris Vermeulen is a MotoGP rookie who is still trying to come up to speed on riding such a powerful bike. Fortunately, Suzuki test rider Kousuke Akiyoshi was on hand at Sepang to help out the two factory riders.

Kawasaki is a step ahead of Suzuki by working with an evolutionary design of their ZX-RR Ninja and also by having returning rider Shinya Nakano as their lead rider. On the other hand, they appear to be trying out another variation of the big bang firing order for their motor which means less peak power and more stress on the motor. Based on Kawasaki’s improvement the past two seasons it would appear that Nakano is an excellent development rider so they are probably in good hands in this regard. His teammate, on the other hand, is MotoGP rookie Randy de Puniet who will be learning to ride the big Kwack at these initial tests. Like Suzuki, this means that all the testing is dependent on a single rider. They are racing to speed up their development with the front running manufacturers while being hampered with the smallest R&D budget of the bunch and only minor sponsorship. Money is definitely the detail they have to overcome.

Even further down the testing path is the factory Yamaha team. They have two returning riders, a championship winning bike with only evolutionary improvements, an experienced crew and a big money sponsor behind them. The only things waiting to trip up this team will be of their own making. For Valentino Rossi, this is likely to be over confidence. It seems unlikely that Rossi would underestimate his opponents but given his apparent focus on testing Formula One cars in ‘06 it is possible that he’ll lose some of his focus. The only reason I think he would undertake these driving tests are because he feels certain that he can win in MotoGP while also learning a new form of racing. It is possible, however improbable, that this could finally be the chink his armor that his rivals have needed for the past five years. For his teammate, Colin Edwards, it will be finding the confidence to perform at his peak while being in the shadow of his spectacular teammate. The path to gaining this confidence took a small hit at Sepang when Edwards crashed during testing and his M1 burst into flames. The other impediment to gaining this confidence is knowing that development is based primarily on Rossi’s, rather than Edwards’ feedback, so the Texan will effectively be riding someone else’s bike. The claim as always been that Edwards and Rossi have similar riding styles so perhaps this year’s test results will finally prove or disprove that assertion. The only other trap waiting to catch the Yamaha team is the impending legal battle with Altadis over the claimed breech of the Gauloises agreement. if the litigation goes bad for the Japanese company they may end up paying significant penalties to their ex-sponsor. This is money badly needed to pay Rossi’s extravagant salary, development costs of the 800cc bike for ‘07 and to keep the current M1 successful in 2006.

Unlike the factory team, the only satellite Yamaha team this season is starting out with a lot of obvious pre-season challenges to overcome. First, the Herve Poncharal lead Tech 3 team is still working out how many riders they will have. At the moment, Brit James Ellison is confirmed but rumors are swirling about that Carlos Checa may be added before the next test at Phillip Island. Second, if Checa is added it is likely that they will then have to deal with having two different tire manufacturers supplying their team since Ellison is sponsored by Dunlop while Checa has a long standing association with Michelin. Third, the team is still looking for sponsorship after being abandoned by Fortuna during the Rossi-Gauloises fiasco. So with a new rider, new tires and no money the team will have to develop their bike for the upcoming season while also being distracted with rider, tire and sponsorship negotiations. It is not even the little details that will hamper these guys it is the overall chaos of their big plan.

With that depressing situation out of the way lets cheer up a bit by looking at the Ducati team. Lead rider Loris Capirossi is back and helping develop this sixth generation of the Desmosedici MotoGP bike. In addition, he has been teamed with star rider Sete Gibernau who has previous experience at developing bikes from his ‘05 stint with Team Gresini. Both racers have been turning fast lap times and both ended the Sepang test with bragging rights as the top two riders. The modifications to last year’s GP5 model seem to have again improved the Duck’s handling while maintaining it’s class leading power output. It also appears that Ducati learned from their ‘05 pre-season tests mistakes where a dramatically new slipper clutch/engine management system was forced on the riders and resulted in crashes and injuries. These in turn reduced testing time and eroded rider confidence in the bikes. Perhaps Ducati’s devil’s were washed out last year and they have a solid plan in place for this one.

Or perhaps they have just shoved those vexing details down to their satellite team D’Antin Ducati. Where the factory team is set with experienced riders and a strong sponsor, the D’Antin team is struggling. They recently signed ex-Kawasaki rider Alex Hoffman and recent World Superbike racer Jose Luis Cardoso as riders but both missed the first test back in November. Neither have raced a Ducati before, though Cardoso has raced for D’Antin in the past and Hoffman did race in MotoGP last year. The two riders will have to come up to speed on the customer GP6 Duc before they can begin to adjust the bike to try to improve their lap times. What the team does have going for it is an even closer level of cooperation with the Ducati factory compared to last year and a current version of the bike, rather than the one generation old version they have raced in the past. What they are going to be hampered by is the lack of sponsorship and thus the costs associated with both testing and racing.

Finally, the underdog of the season is the WCM-Bimota team who, like the Konica Minolta team, didn’t have the funding to run the pre-season tests. They are, in fact, at an even greater disadvantage because they are only a couple of months away from the first race and don’t yet have any signed riders or a running motorcycle. The current rumors are the Brit veteran Jeremy McWilliams and American GP rookie Jason Perez will be riding their bike and it is assumed they will be running a KTM powered bike that is somehow badged as a Bimota. However, until they show up for the first race of the year I think that their participation, as well as certainly their competitiveness, will be very much in question.

Let me say one more word about how the devil is in the details during testing. It is always risky to make assumptions about a team or rider’s preparedness based on the lap times given for a test. On the one hand, you never know when the rider is testing components and when they are focusing on a fast lap. Likewise, you never know when they are or aren’t throwing down fast laps with super sticky qualifying tires as opposed to testing at race pace on harder tires. However, there are two bits of data that are very useful and that is seeing all the lap times and the number of consecutive laps run throughout the entire test. Unfortunately, this data isn’t generally available and, if it is, it may come from the teams rather than an unbiased third party like the FIM and thus be of questionable accuracy. Only if we could see the times that riders have run consistently and the average lap times over a simulation of race distance would we be able to make some real predictions about the upcoming season.

However, the one abstraction of this that is available is to at least see who consistently shows up at the top of the lap charts that are released since those riders are the ones most likely to be doing their test and development work at a fast enough pace to be helpful. For example, the Ducati riders were fast the second and third days of the test. It is possible that this was due to their access to the spectacular Bridgestone qualifying tires but it is also likely that they wouldn’t have wasted the time on qualifying tires unless they felt their setup was pretty solid. If not, they would likely have continued to focus on their development work by running race simulations on race compound tires.

In contrast, a rider like Kenny Roberts Jr is consistently near the bottom of the lap time charts because he is currently running about three seconds off the pace of the front runners. Any development he does on the bike right now, aside from collecting data on their frame stiffness issue, is unlikely to be useful later because the frame, suspension and tires will all react differently when dealing with the stresses created when running a faster pace. The sooner the frame is fixed, and no longer holding KRJR back, the sooner he can push up the lap times and start developing the bike at the speed it needs to run to be at the front.

Like the past few seasons, at this stage of testing it looks like the factory Ducati, Honda and Yamaha teams have done the best job of exorcising their pre-season demons. It looks like Gresini Honda are well positioned and that Kawasaki is again well placed to improve. Less clear is the situation at Suzuki though it does appear they are putting forth their strongest effort yet. Finally, it looks like the others are going to be struggling throughout pre-season testing and probably into the early part of the ‘06 season.

[image from the Yahoo Sports UK web site.]

So I, like most of the official motorcycle press, spent a lot of time last year heralding the new guys that were joining the sport of bike racing. Guys like James Stewart, Ben Spies, Max Neukirchner, and Marco Melandri got more than their fair share of bits and bytes at the beginning of the season. However, as it turns out, 2005 was a good year to be one of the old folks. Despite many current racers being considered near retirement age, the old guys generally stuck it to the youngsters last year. What is really amazing is that this trend was pretty consistent across all disciplines of motorcycle racing.

First off, the sports of Supercross and Motocross have always been considered a young man’s sport. They are two of the most physically intensive sports in the world and the combination of jumps, ruts and crashes can exact a harsh toll on the body. The top news story at the beginning of the 2005 AMA Supercross season was the 19 year old sensation James Stewart. However, at the end of the season, it was the seasoned veteran Ricky Carmichael, at 25 years old, who swept both premier AMA Supercross and Motocross classes. In SX, 23 year old Chad Reed was second overall but the runner-up in the outdoor series was Kevin Windham who is two years older than Carmichael. Impressive stuff for guys on the second half of their twenties but the real surprises are found just a little further down the championship points listing.

As I pointed out in a blog posting last season, old timer Mike Larocco embarrassed most of the factory teams by bringing his privateer Honda home in 5th place in championship. Not bad for a then 33 year old. Even 34 year old Jeremy McGrath turned in some strong riders in his one-off appearances in ‘05, showing that the King of Supercross can still teach the youngsters a thing or two.

Want to really blow your mind? Take a look at the AMA Motocross points table for 2005. Despite competing in the most physically demanding form of dirt bike racing, 40 year old John Dowd managed to snag 7th overall in the AMA Motocross division aboard his privateer Suzuki! This guy was born in 1965, turned pro in 1988 and was the 1998 West Coast 125cc Supercross Championship…the year Dowd start racing in the Pro ranks James Bubba Stewart was two years old and Chad Reed had just turned six. For a little perspective, remember that Reed finished the ‘05 season in 8th, 15 points *behind* Dowd, while Stewart finished up in 12th a staggering 135 points down on the vet. Lets all say it together now…"JD is the man!”

Alright, so the more experienced riders did well in the premier class. Surely the young guys made their mark in the entry level 125 classes. I mean, there has to be a whole hoard of teenagers out there just waiting for their chance to race with the twenty-somethings, right? Well, sorry to disappoint but the stats don’t bare that out either. The 125 champs, Grant Langton (1st in 125 SX East and 4th in 125 MX) and Ivan Tedesco (1st in SX West and 1st in 125 MX), are both already in their twenties. Langston was 23 last year and and Tedesco a year older. Not exactly ready to hand up their riding boots but not representative of a youth movement either.

Fortunately, things in the dirt world aren’t totally bleak. James Stewart looks to have turned around a miserable ‘05 and is riding strong this year and starting to live up to the hype. The teenage Alessi brothers seemed to have knocked the edge off their egos and are steadily improving as riders. Ryan Sipes, who had some strong showings in the 125 class last season, is just barely breaking the twenty mark. The two Ryans, Villopoto and Mills, are still in their teens and both are riding well so far in this year’s Supercross Lites class. Hopefully these are the guys that can step it up and run with the grey hairs. Frankly, I think they will have to if they want to justify their getting a factory ride in the year couple of years.

Okay, lets shift gears now and look at my personal favorite: Road racing. Its generally understood that road racing is an environment where older and more experienced riders can be competitive against the young up-and-comers. Still, the stats for 2005 have to be a little disappointing for the folks that are looking to the younger generation for the next big thing. Of the four championships crowned in the AMA series, three of them went to riders who are in their thirties. Matt Mladin won his *sixth* AMA Superbike title while at the same time celebrating birthday number 33. His 32 year old teammate Aaron Yates topped the ultra-competitive Superstock class to put a third championship trophy on his mantle. Miguel Duhamel, the elder statesman of the AMA series, brought home his seventh AMA title by winning the Formula Xtreme class despite being just a couple years shy of forty. Even Tommy Hayden, the relative spring chicken of the 2005 AMA champions, isn’t exactly representing the youth movement since he was 27 when he sewed up his second straight AMA Supersport title. This trend towards old riders is generally true across the entire AMA Superbike paddock with only a handful of riders under the drinking age and all of them eligible to vote.

Okay, lets look a little further afield. 2005 World Superbike Champ Troy Corser was 34 when he lofted the title trophy last summer. In fact, the WSBK paddock has more riders over the age of 25 than they have riders under that age and the series appear to be skewing their average even higher in 2006 with ex-GP castaways like Alex Barros, Troy Bayliss and Max Biaggi rumored to be racing there. It is nearing the point where WSBK teams should drop sponsorship from youth oriented companies like Corona or Koji and switch over to old foggie brands like Geritol and Metamucil.

Alright, since I mentioned the topic of MotoGP up there I’ll admit that things are looking better in the Grand Prix paddock. While seven time World Champ and 2005 title winner Valentino Rossi isn’t exactly a rookie at 26 he’s also a decade years younger than some of his competitors were in ‘05. Things really start to look up when checking the stats of second place Marco Melandri (23) and third place Nicky Hayden (24). The outlook is even brighter when checking the age of the new comers to MotoGP for ‘06 as Dani Pedrosa, Casey Stoner and Chris Vermeulen are all under 25. Finally, things are downright heartening in the 250 and 125 classes were the average age on the podium is regularly under 20.

Alright, how about a couple more quick examples of how old age and experience is overcoming the exuberance of youth? In the world of AMA Flat track racing, it has been Chris Carr who has dominated for the past half decade. The younger riders in series look up to him as a mentor and, at 37, its a good thing they do because he is old enough to be their father.

Finally, as a sign of respect, I’ve saved the oldest for last. Logic would dictate that a rider that is 44 years of age shouldn’t be able to win at anything in competitive motorcycle racing. Yet the legendary Jeff Ward did just that in 2004 by tying up the premier class in the AMA Supermoto series and it was only a stalled bike in the final round that prevented him from winning it in 2005 as well. In fact, the past three seasons have netted Ward one Supermoto championship and two second place finishes…not bad for a guy who won seven AMA Motocross championships in the 80s.

I want to see the various forms of motorcycle racing grow and thus I’m always looking at the young guys to see who will be the next big thing. However, for 2006, I have to say “Viva la Veterans!".

[image from the Motocross.com web site.]

So, it has been over a month since I posted my last entry. I guess I took a longer break than I’d anticipated after hitting the one year milestone on the blog. Well, all that time off hasn’t been completely wasted though it will take awhile for the full impact the break to actually bear any fruit here. On a more personal note, I also used that time off to take a relaxing holiday vacation to Savannah, GA, to catch up on some other aspects of my website that needed attending, to make a small dent in the large stack of books that had built up on my night stand and to watch quite a few movies that had been on my “must see” list. I’m now recharged and very excited about resuming the blog here in the new year. I hope all the readers had a good holiday and that you are excited about the upcoming year of motorcycling. Now, on to one of the backlog of topics I’ve been wanting to write up…

When the MotoGP class introduced 990cc four strokes in 2002 (after having been dominated by 500cc two strokes since 1975) it brought Grand Prix bikes to a new level of performance. It also opened the door for speculation that the racers of four stroke production based Superbikes could be the future stars of MotoGP rather than the two stroke 250cc GP riders which made up the traditional training ground of world champs. The most logical feeder series for MotoGP was seen to be the World Superbike series and by 2003 two of the biggest stars of World Superbike were sitting astride MotoGP bikes: Colin Edwards and Troy Bayliss .

However, a funny thing happened on the way to the 2003 MotoGP championship…the old guard continued to dominate aboard the new four strokes. Rossi won the title in ‘03 with Gibernau and Biaggi rounding out the top three. Young American Superbike champ Nicky Hayden was the top guy with previous production bike experience finishing out his freshman year in fifth just behind Loris Capirossi.

Despite other Superbike pilots like Neil Hodgson, Noriyuki Haga, John Hopkins, Ruben Xaus, Shane Byrne, James Ellison and Kurtis Roberts all giving the MotoGP bikes a go over the past few years, none have had much success against the more experienced Grand Prix racers in general and Valentino Rossi in particular. For 2005 there appear to be only two riders on the MotoGP who came up through the World Superbike ranks: Colin Edwards and Chris Vermeulen.

In contrast, half of the riders currently confirmed for the ‘06 World Superbike season have prior Grand Prix experience: Norick Abe, Alex Barros, Franco Battaini, Troy Bayliss, Max Biaggi, Pier Francesco Chili, Troy Corser, Michel Fabrizio, Noriyuki Haga, Regis Laconi, Fonzi Nieto, Andrew Pitt, Roberto Rolfo, Chris Walker and Ruben Xaus. Of these riders, eight are guys who came up through the GP ranks (Abe, Barros, Battaini, Biaggi, Chili, Laconi, Nieto, Rolfo) before moving into World Superbikes. This leads to the question of which is really the feeder series for which?

Granted, most of the riders moving from MotoGP to World Superbike are generally regarded as being in the twilight of their careers but that doesn’t make the depth of the field any shallower. In fact, given the number of riders over the age of 30 who have won titles in the past few years the whole idea that someone is beyond winning at age 35 is being seriously challenged. The MotoGP series is banking on younger riders, primarily those from the 250cc class, to carry their torch into the future and of the current MotoGP riders only six have previous world championships (Rossi, Edwards, Pedrosa, Melandri, Vermeulen, Capirossi). World Superbike, on the other hand, seems to have built a hugely competitive roster made up primarily of experienced riders of which ten have prior world championships (Corser, Bayliss, Biaggi, Iannuzzo, Foret, Gimbert, Fabrizio, Muggeridge, Alfonsi and Pitt). Clearly World Superbike holds the edge when it comes to bragging rights about their riders.

Now, I don’t think that any current rider would pass over a decent MotoGP ride for a World Superbike ride but I do think that the World Superbike series has taken a huge step forward in the past year towards becoming the premier world class motorcycle road race series. Depending on what happens with riders and teams in ‘07 when MotoGP switches to the 800cc bikes (and costs again take a big jump) there is still a chance for World Superbikes to surpass MotoGP in power, popularity and perhaps even prestige. In the meantime, MotoGP needs to hope some of their young riders can finally beat Valentino Rossi so they will deserve the reputation afforded GP racers.

[image from the Max Biaggi web site.]

The past few weeks have really pulled back the curtains on the ugly inner workings of the MotoGP paddock. There has been a shake up in the bizarre love triangle that is the factory-rider-sponsor relationship and the fall out has given us a glimpse at exactly who calls the shots when it comes to racing at the highest level of the sport.

I’m going to use three different examples to illuminate this situation:

First up is a tale of riches to rags with one Max Biaggi as the star of the show. One year ago the word came down from the people on high at Honda that Biaggi was finally being given the opportunity of his lifetime. A ride on the factory Repsol RC211V with famed tuner Erv Kanemoto at his side. All of Honda’s development effort would be resting squarely on the shoulders of the veteran Italian rider and he was expected to wrest the MotoGP title away from rival Valentino Rossi and his Yamaha. That dreamy state lasted until the first race at Jerez and then quickly slipped into a nightmare season for the Roman.

As the races wound down Biaggi started making more and more negative comments to the press about the state of the bike and support he felt he was (or perhaps more accurately wasn’t) receiving from Honda. When the big bosses back in Tokyo heard about this they were less than impressed. In fact, they tried to keep him from racing at the final race at Valencia and promptly thereafter sent out a mandate to all the Honda teams saying that Biaggi would not be given a Honda for 2006. When Camel, Biaggi’s personal sponsor, heard this they threatened to pull their millions from Sito Pons satellite team. This set up a show down between Honda, Sito Pons, Biaggi and Camel. If there was ever a situation that would show who calls the shots in MotoGP, this would be it. And the result? Biaggi won’t be riding red next year and Pons won’t be getting any financial support from Camel for this team. Clearly Honda has shown that for next year they intend to be completely in charge of their MotoGP teams, even at the risk of ruining a faithful partner’s funding and maybe even threatening the team’s ability to exist. It also shows that Honda has no problem telling a major backer to go stuff themselves if the sponsor disagrees with corporate policy. Interesting.

Next up, is the state of affairs just down pit row in the factory Yamaha pits. There is a huge lawsuit brewing between Yamaha and Altadis who was their primary sponsor for the past year. Altadis signed a contract with Yamaha to sponsor the factory team under the Gauloises banner for the upcoming season. At the time the contract was signed there was not commitment from Rossi to ride the factory bikes and once that contract was signed it was with the understanding that Rossi would not run branding from a cigarette company on his bike, presumably to clear the way for future work with Ferrari and their primary sponsor Marlboro. (Why, exactly, Rossi didn’t sign with the Ducati team for 2006 since they already have Marlboro sponsorship is unknown).

When Yamaha told Altadis that Rossi would not be on the factory team Altadis deemed this a breech of the sponsorship agreement. As a warning shot Altadis pulled their Fortuna sponsorship from the Tech 3 satellite team for next season which has put them in a serious money crunch. However, Yamaha hasn’t backed down and now look likely to run without Altadis sponsorship in ‘06. What is surprising is that Yamaha approached Telefonica Movistar with an offer of having Rossi run under their colors but were turned down. In this case, Rossi laid down the law about the terms of having him ride with a tuning fork on his tank and the factory followed suit even at the risk of having to pay the full tab for both their factory and satellite team’s costs next year. In this case, the seven time world champ is the one in the cat bird seat and both the team and the sponsor have to play by his rules.

Finally, there is another conflict which also involves Honda but in this case it is with the Gresini satellite team. Gresini’s primary sponsor for 2005 was the Spanish telecom giant Telefonica Movistar. In addition to putting huge amounts of money into the Honda team they also had 250GP star Dani Pedrosa under personal contract and had brought up the Spanish youngster through the GP ranks. In fact, the company spends huge amounts of money in GP sponsoring not only individual teams but also paying for title sponsorship of some rounds of the series and also to sponsor some European feeder classes which development future talent. Telefonica is the dream partner for both the MotoGP series and the Honda teams.

At the end of this last season Dani Pedrosa’s contract with Telefonica expired and before it could be renewed Honda offered the 250 World Champion a direct contract and a chance to ride on the factory Repsol team as replacement for the departing Max Biaggi. Telefonica was furious that their star rider had been scooped out from under them and that he was put on the Repsol sponsored team rather than the Telefonica sponsored Gresini team. As reprisal, the telecom giant pulled their money from MotoGP altogether (even refusing the Yamaha/Rossi offer…something any other company would have begged to get) and brought their big fat check book to the Formula One cage racing series instead. Fortunately for Honda, they were able to sign Spanish star Toni Elias to Team Gresini and Altadis decided to spend their Fortuna backed support to the Honda team after pulling it away from the Tech 3 Yamaha squad. Honda set the tune and both Gresini, Pedrosa and Telefonica had to dance to it.

So what does all this mean? Well, I think it means that ultimately the entire GP paddock is following the lead of Valentino Rossi. Yamaha needs Rossi and had very little say in the terms. Honda has gone into desperation mode and will do whatever is necessary to build a rider line-up capable of challenging Rossi even if it means losing long time sponsors or pissing off faithful team owners. It seems clear that the factories have become tired of sponsors, particularly cigarette companies, being the ones that call the shots and have completely reshuffled the power pyramid in MotoGP. Whether the riders or the factories are in contol depends on the rider’s last name but there is no doubt that both are playing alpha dog over the sponsors right now.

[image from Moto Forum web page.]

With the echos of the thundering MotoGP bikes still echoing off the grandstands in Valencia from last weekend’s last race and the trophies still warm from the hands of the championship winners it was immediately time to roll up the shirt sleeves and start work for the 2006 season. On Monday, the day after the final race, much of the MotoGP paddock was back in action testing bike parts and new tires. The main reason for such a prompt turn around from racing to testing is because there are only three weeks before the mandatory test ban which starts in December.

As I mentioned last year, I think the test ban is particularly difficult on the smaller teams and that was true again this year as neither TeamKR nor WCM were in attendance this week. However, the big dogs of Honda, Yamaha, Kawasaki, Suzuki and Ducati were all present and accounted for as soon as the track was available.

The first order of business was giving the press a chance to sample the bikes. In the past only the top one or two bikes from a given year were handed over to the hoards of crazed journalists for a flogging but over the past three years it has become a tradition for nearly all the bikes to be ridden back-to-back in the same day by the scribes. Honda is the only standout as they prefer for their bike not to be directly compared to the other bikes so a separate press outing on the RC211V is always scheduled after the end of the season. For the other manufacturers their 2005 bikes are put through their paces by the pen pushers and then the smoking ruins which are left behind are hastily rebuilt so that proper testing for the factory teams can begin the next day.

In the past it was always the run of the mill press hacks which were set loose on the GP bikes but that has changed over the past few years as professional riders have been brought in by some magazines to test the bikes a little closer to their limits. The big names riding the bikes for the press this year were current 250GP racer Jakub Smrz and ex-500GP winner Luca Cadalora. Presumably the magazines running reports from these guys may actually contain accurate information about the bike’s performance and the feedback from these riders may actually be useful for the teams. A real win-win…

When the scribes were done it was time for the company big wigs to give out some complimentary rides as a year end bonus. For Honda, this mean handing the key to a RC211V over to 2005 125GP champion Thomas Luthi, 250GP rider Andrea Dovizioso who finished third this year and World Superbike rookie Max Neukirchner. All three were being rewarded for their hard work on Honda’s behalf this year but their test ride also shows that Honda is looking to them as possible future MotoGP racers. Meanwhile, Yamaha and Honda both looked to the past as well by offering rides on their bikes to past Grand Prix greats Giacomo Agostini and Fausto Gresini. Yamaha let 15 time World Champ Agostini out for a spin on Rossi’s M1 while Honda allowed Fortuna Honda manager Gresini take one of his teams’ bikes out for a few laps. (As an aside, a certifiable motorcycle racing geek like myself would give up a kidney to watch someone like Agostini or Gresini ride so this was really an pretty rare and amazing event. Anyone that got to watch it should consider themselves very lucky.)

Next up was the task of testing prospective riders for near season. This year a few of the second string teams were in a position to scope out new talent so a few racers suited up in an effort to earn a job. First up were ex-WCM rider James Ellison and ex-GP and current WSBK rider Jose Luis Cardoso who both went out on the D’Antin Ducati. It looks as if the D’Antin team will have access to near factory spec 2006 Desmosedici bikes and may also have the funding to run a two rider team next year. While it seems likely that Roby Rolfo will be one of the riders there may still be an open seat alongside him. Ellison would seem the more obvious choice of the two new testers, given is age and recent GP experience. However, Cardoso has a long history of racing with D’Antin and, like nearly any rider with a Spanish passport, probably brings wads of sponsorship bucks with him.

A less obvious try out was Kurtis Roberts who stuck around after racing his father’s bike last weekend to turn a few laps on the Suzuki GSV-R that was recently vacated by his older brother. It would seem that Suzuki is already full up for next season with Hopkins and Vermeulen on their bikes but appeared to be checking out Kurtis nonetheless. It seems unlikely that this test would progress to anything further with Suzuki but the experience on the V4 will probably be helpful if Kurtis races his father’s Honda powered Proton in ‘06.

Speaking of which, Kenny Roberts Jr was scheduled to test a Honda this week but his wrist injury from the Phillip Island crash prevented this. Like his bro’s test ride on the Suzi, having KRJr test a Honda probably wouldn’t have been for a ride (though there my still be a Pons seat available) but would likely have been arranged to give TeamKR’s prospective lead rider some time to get acquainted with the Honda motor. Too bad that KRJr was unable to make the ride and given Kurtis’ rocky relationship with Honda of late it wasn’t bloody likely that Big Red was going to let him try out the bike…

Finally, it was time to get down to the business of testing bikes. The most exciting part of this was getting a first glance at the riders who are new to the series or at least on a new team for next season. Unfortunately, the weather didn’t cooperate so relatively little testing was actually done over the three days available but each of the riders did get a little time aboard their new bikes.

Honda had a few fresh faces in the garage with two time 250GP title holder Dani Pedrosa making his debut on the Repsol Honda and ex-Yamaha rider Toni Elias throwing his leg over the Gresini Fortuna Honda. In the next garage over, ex-Ducati pilot Carlos Checa (unofficially the second Pons rider) and his new teamate 250GP runner up Casey Stoner were giving their now unsponsored Honda a run down. Checa went a little further by also testing the crash-worthiness of the bike on lap three of his inagural ride. Ouch! Just down the paddock row ex-Honda racer Sete Gibernau was able to get his first laps aboard the Marlboro Ducati. Finally, two MotoGP rookies were becoming acquainted with their slower bikes as WSBK runner-up Chris Vermeulen checked to see if the Suzuki is faster than his old Ten Kate Honda World Superbike and 250GP front runner Randy De Puniet stretched the Kawasaki’s throttle cables trying to keep his old rivals Stoner and Pedrosa in sight.

In addition to the newcomers, most of the old guard were back in action starting their serious testing for next year. MotoGP runner ups Marco Melandri and Nicky Hayden were both testing suspension, frame and tire improvements for Honda. Ducati brought out their test rider Vittoriano Guareschi to help sift through new parts for the Duc. Kawasaki test rider Olivier Jacque was doing the same testing of evolutionary changes to the ZX-RR. Under the Suzuki tent, both John Hopkins and test rider Nobuatsu Aoki were punching the clock to start their winter test program with the hopes of finding some more power for their bikes.

There were a few notable absentees, in addition to TeamKR and WCM. First and most interesting was World Champion Valentino Rossi who skipped out on the week of testing to go off and drive a Ferrari F1 car for a few days. Likewise, his teammate Colin Edwards was a no-show leaving Yamaha with no testing during this first window of opportunity. Kawasaki’s Shinya Nakano was scheduled to test but instead flew back to Japan to have the hand that was injured in his pre-race Valencia highside looked at by a doctor. Another Japanese disappearance was Monitron Konica Minolta’s Makoto Tamada who had apparently flown back to Japan after last weekend’s race.

In the end cold weather and rain washed out most of the three days of testing though a few determined riders like Nicky Hayden did venture out to test rain tires today. Many of the teams will be back in action over the next three weeks, most of them at Sepang this coming weekend, as they try to put new parts through their final paces before being integrated into the 2006 bikes. Laps times this early in the year are generally meaningless but as would be expected it was the two young Honda riders who topped the time sheets this week at Valencia. Of the class rookies, Casey Stoner was the fastest just a second or so off Hayden’s fastest times during the test. Of those testing or getting guest rides it looks like James Ellison was the fastest, just 1.5 seconds down on Hayden’s high water mark. In fact, of the times that were reported, the young racers were all clustered in a 10 second window with elders Agostini and Gresini another 10 or so seconds off the slowest times of the other riders. (Still for a 44 year old team owner like Gresini to turn in laps just 20 seconds off the fastest time of the test after having not ridden a bike in 10 years is pretty impressive stuff!).

This was just our first glimpse of the new teams, the new sponsors and the new riders. Expect their potential to shake out at the tests this month and then to really start to shine when they start testing the 2006 bikes early next year.

[image from the Official MotoGP web site.]

With the ‘05 MotoGP season finally over I have a lot of thoughts about the season that I’ll be posting over the next week. Here is one of them…

Nature is a fascinating thing. Millions of years of evolution have created an amazing amount of biological diversity. Plants, in particular, illuminate this spectacular variation. There is a ruthless war happening in the taxonomical landscape that is your back yard: insects, bacteria, UV rays and even other plants are making a constant assault on the flora and fauna. For its own defense the vegetation has adapted to these attacks with the full spectrum of biological weaponry. Some plants have thorns or spines, others secrete toxic chemicals, others hide or mimic other varieties and some others grow armour. Every species reacts differently but they all react. But this blog is about motorcycles not botany so what’s the point you might ask?

Well, there has been a ruthless assault taking place in the MotoGP paddock this year and the aggressor has been one Valentino Rossi. What has been intriguing to watch is how the other riders have developed their own unique defense mechanisms to protect their egos. Here is my take on a few of the racers and their strategies for protecting their self image.

First up is the most obvious example of a Rossi target: Honda’s Sete Gibernau. The history of the champs’ psychological barrage on the Spaniard has been well documented in the motorcycle press since it started at the 2004 Qatar GP. What hasn’t really been highlighted as been the public response from Sete. Reading back through the post race interviews with Gibernau this season I regularly hear the Honda rider talking about his races in the first person plural grammatical form. For example, he might say “We had some bad luck.". As my co-worker Jeff once said “We? What, does he race with a mouse in his pocket?” It seems to me like this is a pretty straight forward attempt to avoid taking personal responsibility for bad results. By talking about “we” rather than “I” there is an implication that the team was also to blame. In some cases this may be true but in others, like Gibernau’s tour of so many of the gravel traps at this season’s circuits, it is just case of outright rider mistakes.

The second rider to view the MotoGP Rorschach ink blot and see a menacing Vale is Honda’s Max Biaggi. The veteran Italian has been squarely in the sights of Rossi since 2000 when Valentino joined the premier class. Max has always struggled to develop an effective shield but his most common method of defense is to blame the bike. In fact, he was so adamant about problems with his RC211V this year that he has talked himself right out of a coveted Honda ride in 2006. One of the first rules of a motorcycle racer is to promote the company and that means when you win, it is because of the bike and when you lose, it is because of a mistake by the rider. Thus racers have to possess a particularly thick skin so they can take the blame for problems while still promoting the bike. Clearly Biaggi has fallen down in this regard. What’s more, he is complaining about what is probably the best bike in the world while he is the star rider for the best organized team in MotoGP and while he has one of the most experienced GP tuners as his adviser. Everyone else on the grid would love to have those kinds of bike issues. Nope, I think the truth is that Max failed to lead development of the 2005 RC211V in a positive direction and that is why he has struggled. The finger needs to point back at the rider. Sometimes the truth hurts…

Less clear is the case of Honda mounted youngster Marco Melandri. After a weak 2004 season on the Yamaha M1, the Italian moved to the Gresini Honda team this year. He quickly came of age as a MotoGP rider in 2005 and was a serious threat to Rossi as early in the season as Assen. The two Italians had been friends at the beginning of the season but that didn’t stop Rossi from leveling some strong criticism at Melandri as soon as he accomplished a confidence sapping defeat of the younger rider at the Dutch circuit. Melandri then went into a mid-season slump that was characterized by successive crashes at Laguna Seca and Donnington then two results outside the top five at Sachsenring and Brno. It was only after the accident and resulting injury in Japan that he regained his mojo and finished the season strong. What’s more, Melandri’s response to the mind games was to basically quit talking. His comments in Honda press releases were short and somewhat robotic. It is as if he was just trying to disappear off Rossi’s radar rather than submit himself to the whithering glare of his friend. Clearly Melandri has shaken off those concerns the last five races of the year and is now the strongest contender for the champ going into 2006. What’s more, he has also found a way to maintain his friendship with his rival, something Gibernau was unable to do in 2004.

Another rider with an interesting reaction to suddenly being considered a championship contender is Honda’s Nicky Hayden. The Kentucky Kid said early in his MotoGP career that he wasn’t intimidated by the GP regulars because he had grown up being schooled by AMA dirt track riders like Scotty Parker, Jay Springsteen and Chris Carr (not to mention in roadracing by the master Matt Mladin). Nonetheless, it seems that Hayden’s advancement as a MotoGP front runner took a definite side track in the middle of the 2004 season and then started out slow in 2005. Being beaten by Rossi can really rock a rider’s self-image and while Hayden rarely talks trash he does sometimes appear to defer to his ex-teammate in press releases. I think that for awhile Nicky honestly doubted whether he could beat the Italian superstar and it was only his competitive ride at Assen, followed by his break through win at Laguna, that finally erased those doubts. Perhaps Nicky has shrugged the doubt demon off his back and will start next year with his head eld high and his eye on the prize.

Finally, lets look at Rossi’s current teammate at Yamaha, Colin Edwards. It is bad enough to be racing during the reign of a dominant rider like Rossi without having the additional pressure of sharing a garage with the guy. If anyone can pull it off the laid back Texan could be the one. Nonetheless, I think even Edwards has wrestled with the psychological effects of being soundly beaten by Valentino while riding what is basically the same bike. The biggest outward sign of this is that Edwards basically abandoned his previous Superbike inspired form of riding that relies on squaring off corners for strong acceleration and has tried to re-develop a riding style more like that used by 250GP riders who rely on high mid-corner speed for a good lap time. I think that Colin, no matter how talented he may be, is groping for an answer as to why Rossi is winning while Edwards is fighting at the tail end of the top ten. This is especially baffling since the pre-season talk centered around how similar Edwards’ setup is to that used by Rossi. Same bike, same setup but different lap times. Ouch. To his credit at least the American has reacted by knuckling down to the hard task of becoming a better rider rather than just shrugging it off as a bike or team problem.

Alright, so I’m hardly an arm chair psychologist. Outside of a few classes in college (a *long* time ago) I have no training whatsoever in the study of the mind. What I am is a racing enthusiast and someone that listens when riders talk. Rossi is phenomenal and I think every rider has to find a way to protect their self-image when racing against the master. I don’t blame the riders, in fact I think it is a necessary form of mental self-preservation. However, I also think their are productive ways to respond and non-productive. What’s more, I think the results of these non-productive defense mechanisms can be plainly seen in the results turned in by Gibernau and Biaggi during the 2005 season while the more productive methods are reflected by the other rider’s clustering in the second through fourth places in the championship standings.

Perhaps in 2006 we’ll get a chance to see what Rossi’s defense mechanism will be if he finds himself being pressured for a change.

[image from the Max Biaggi web site.]

We would all like to think that MotoGP is all about the best riders on the best bikes and that those two factors alone would guide the sport.. Well, not so…

One of the big surprises for the ‘06 season is that with Sete Gibernau leaving Team Gresini Honda for Ducati and with rising Spanish superstar Dani Pedrosa being moved to the official factory Repsol Honda team Spanish company Telefonica Movistar is pulling their money out of MotoGP and heading to Formula One. Altadis, who is mad at Yamaha, is then moving their Fortuna brand (and the associated sponsorship bucks) to follow Spaniard Toni Elias in his move to the Gresini team as Marco Melandri’s teammate. This leads to the chicken and egg question of whether Fortuna is following Elias or whether Fortuna moved to Gresini and bringing Elias with them. In other words, who is calling the shots out there? The factory? The team owner? The sponsor? The rider?

The answer to those questions becomes even more clouded when you look further down the paddock. First, there is the whole Honda-Camel-Biaggi deal going on where Honda is upset with Biaggi because of some comments he made in the press and are refusing him a ride in 2006. Camel, a major personal sponsor of Mad Max, got involved and in a huff pulled their sponsorship of Sito Pons’ team. It is likely that if someone can find a seat for Max next year they will also get a big fat check from Camel in return. Who knows who will step up to stick their logo on the side of the Pons bike.

Then there is the Yamaha-Rossi-Altadis legal battle which really clouds the issue of exactly how important sponsorship is in the high dollar (or perhaps high Euro or high Yen) world of motorcycle racing. One would assume that Yamaha would want all the financial help they can get in order to offset the monsterous cost of Rossi’s salary (rumored to be somewhere north of $15 million for one year!). However, Rossi doesn’t want to run in Gauloises colors next year since that could complicate his hopes of testing Ferrari’s F1 car in 2006 (since Ferrari is sponsored by Marlboro). As a result, Yamaha plans to run Rossi with his own private sponsors and that has really pissed off Altadis, the owner of the Gauloises brand. A lot of lawyers have been seen walking in and out of the Yamaha HQ of late. Apparently money isn’t the only thing guiding policy in the Yamaha garages.

But back to the original issue which is Telefonica leaving MotoGP and being replaced by Fortuna as main sponsor of the Gresini Honda squad. This change up could end up being very important to Marco Melandri. Honda’s contract with major sponsor Repsol has for years stated that only the official factory Repsol bikes could get the latest development parts from HRC. This has always meant that the “best” Hondas were the Repsol Hondas and parts only trickled down to the other Honda teams after the mid-point of the season. Well, last year Movistar (a telecommunications giant) and Respol (a multi-national oil empire) started doing business together. As a result of that corporate intermingling it appears that Repsol was willing to loosen the contractual leash on HRC which allowed Sete Gibernau to have a “third” factory bike starting at the beginning of the year.

The assumption for ‘06 was that the good stuff would be given to Melandri who, along with Repsol rider Nicky Hayden, would develop the RC211V in ‘06. But now Movistar is no longer in the picture. While none of us, outside of a few Japanese lawyers, will ever really know what is or isn’t in the Repsol contract, it is possible that Gresini will not be eligiable for the fancy parts since Respol may not be obligated to share their HRC access with Fortuna. This could mean could shake up both Melandri and HRC’s plans.

However, sponsorship isn’t the be all, end all of the MotoGP story. Some teams, most notably Suzuki, have been running without any outside money for a few years. Then again, it seems like Suzuki could have a few extra pennies in their bank account to fund engine development so maybe they aren’t the best example. Two other teams, WCM and Kawasaki, have gotten by with relatively little additional funding. Then again, I suspect their rider salaries aren’t anywhere near the dosh being spilled out by Honda and Yamaha so again this may not tell us much.

It will be facinating to watch all these stories lines shake themselves out over the next few months. For now the only answer to any of these questions is that money is always going to be a major issue as the costs of competing in MotoGP continue to spiral.

[image from the Roadracing World & Motorcycle Technology web site.]

It is a well known saying that you shouldn’t wait till the last minute to do something. Well, that was the theme for this weekend’s MotoGP finale at the Valencia Circuit in Spain.

The first person to wait a little too long to take care of business was the 2006 MotoGP champ, Valentino Rossi. When qualifying got underway Rossi was one of the first to show he had the pace to win at Valencia. He was consistently running laps at the anticipated race pace and was turning in laps early in the session that indicated he had what it would take to start from the front row. This being particularly important at Valencia because passing is so difficult. Unfortunately, he waited until late in the session to put on his first Q tire and then had an uncharacteristic crash which destroyed his number one bike. Vale was uninjured but wasn’t able to get things together in time to improve his qualifying time. The result was an atrocious 15th place starting position which meant he would be lining up on the fifth row.

While Rossi waited too long, the Movistar Honda riders did everything right to end up with Gibernau on pole with a new lap record followed by his young teammate Melandri. Hayden finished out the session in third to create the second successive all Honda front row of this year. While Gibernau hasn’t done any winning this season he has put in exceptional qualifying performances at each round. This consistency was good enough to win him a new BMW M5 car because of a contest the German company was sponsoring to reward the best qualifier of the year. The second row of the grid was a mix of brands with Checa on the Duc, Biaggi on the Honda and Edwards on the Yamaha. Capirossi headed up row three with Barros separating him from Nakano…this being important because the two came together in practice which resulted in both crashing. Shinya was okay but then had a nasty highside later in the day which beat up his left hand pretty well. Loris is riding with tender lungs after his crash at Phillip Island but fortunately wasn’t further hurt in his crash.

Biaggi, perhaps not wanting Nakano, Capirossi and Hoffmann (who is still recovering from a broken foot) to feel bad, crashed his bike in the morning practice before the race and banged up his side. Clearly the Honda rider was waiting until the last minute to throw his RC211V into the kitty litter so he would have a better excuse for a poor ride than a mysterious front end chatter. However, his team put in a super human effort to get the A bike put back together before the race erasing that possible defense. Still, Mad Max’s accident meant three guys out the top 10 were riding with help from Dr. Costa.

Some 124,000 fans packed into the Valencia circuit to watch the last race of the 2005 season. Stop and let that sink in for a second as that is over twice the crowd that showed up on Sunday this year at Laguna Seca. Clearly, all eyes would be on Rossi to see what he would do with his fifteenth place starting position. Perhaps the crowd should have watched that all Honda front row instead, because all three riders got off to a great start. Then again, had the fan’s focus been slightly further back they would have seen Rolfo bump with Nakano in the first turn which resulted in the Ducati rider getting punted into the gravel.

Melandri decided not to delay punching the clock and instantly started throwing down lap record laps back-to-back. This opened up a small gap over his teammate Gibernau and Hayden who were holding down 2nd and 3rd. On lap four ominous smoke started pouring from the Spaniard’s motor and he pulled off with a frag’ed motor giving Hayden an open invitation to run down Melandri. While the intra-Honda scrap was going on Rossi was busy making the rest of the grid look like chumps by charging from 15th to 3rd in just four laps. Vale could basically pass anyone, anywhere.

Next came the laps of shame for some of the back markers as first Aoki pulled out with a mysterious electrical failure on the Suzuki. Then Kurtis Roberts wheeled the TeamKR V5 into the garage on lap 17. Finally, Ellison dropped out on the WCM. Lessee, if one considers WCM, TeamKR, D’Antin Ducati and Suzuki are all racing to not finish a race in last place then it seems clear that their 50% failure rate ruined their competition this weekend. (Battaini eventually earned the highly coveted “back of the pack” award when the racing was done for the day.)

Back at the sharp end of the pack, Hayden shadowed Melandri for the entire race. Rossi worked his way up to third pretty easily but by lap four he was six seconds down on the leading pair and was unable to close the gap once he had clear track ahead of him. At various times during the race both Melandri and Hayden turned in laps faster than Rossi’s best time for the day though on average Rossi was slightly quicker which meant he slowly whittled down the gap. Ultimately, the champ just didn’t have time to overcome the advantage he gifted to the two youngsters during those first four laps and crossed the line around two seconds behind the leaders.

With two laps to go and with the Kentucky Kid parked on his rear wheel Melandri uped the pace. Hayden was able to match the Italian’s speed and closed up again for a last lap pass. Unfortunately, Nicky left it too late to make his move. Melandri got the rear tire spinning on the entrance to the last left hand turn but that threw Hayden off as he was bearing down for a pass at the exit of the turn. Hayden hesitated for a moment to see whether he should go inside or outside and that was all it took for Marco to close the door. The American couldn’t go around the outside and didn’t get a good enough drive for a draft pass. Melandri won with Hayden second and Rossi third. Next came the Geritol brigade with Checa, Barros, Biaggi and Capirossi all in a parade across the stripe. Further back Edwards lead Tamada with Elias, Nakano, Kiyonari, Hopkins, Hofmann, Xaus and Battaini rounding out the finishers.

Clearly Melandri and Hayden both showed they have stepped up to become the new challengers for Rossi’s crown. It was too little, too late, in terms of stopping the juggernaut that was Rossi in 2005 but their performance at Valencia is bound to leave every MotoGP team chomping at the bit for the ‘06 season to get underway. Having the season end in such an exciting way is perhaps the best thing Dorna and the FIM could have hoped for in terms of keeping interest in the series going over the winter. Now the governing body just has to figure out how to manage costs so that they can keep the smaller players in the game for another year.

When the bean counters finished with the math Melandri earned second in the championship by 14 points over Hayden in third. Proving consistency beats race wins, fourth went to Edwards and fifth to Biaggi despite neither winning a race. Two time winner Capirossi held on to sixth despite missing races with his lung injury. Gibernau somehow got seventh despite spending a much time in the gravel traps as on the track. Barros may have won in Portugal but he could only manage eighth in the overall championship followed by Checa and Nakano to close out the top ten.

Elias got the rookie of the year award due to his 12th place overall but really there were no other rookies for competition except some wild card rides and the guys on the back-o-tha-pack gang.

Finally, there was a whole slew of of silly season news most of which centered around Honda. Gibernau confirmed his plans with Ducati which freed up a spot at Gresini Honda which was then taken by Toni Elias. Next Honda implied that they would not be resigning Biaggi for ‘06 because of some negative comments he made about Big Red in an interview. This suddenly opened the door for Casey Stoner to get a surprise offer to ride for Sito Pons. Biaggi’s dismissal ticked off Camel, Pons’ sponsor, who promptly yanked their considerable dollars away from the Honda team. (I suspect WCM, D’Antin, TeamKR, Suzuki and Kawasaki all burned up the speed dial on their cell phones calling Camel once that news leaked out!) Without someone holding the corporate money bags for next year, Pons then stalled on his offer to Carlos Checa who, coming full circle, was let go from Ducati to make room for Gibernau. Who will get the Pons seat? Biaggi? Checa? Barros? Either way, you can be sure the rider will be closer to an AARP membership than any of the other racers currently signed with Honda for next year.

Finally, TeamKR confirmed their plans to run a Honda motor in 2006 and hope to have a modified version of their frame available for winter testing by early December. They may find it cold when they do go testing because, as I mentioned in an earlier posting, Hell has undoubtedly frozen over if Roberts and Honda are working together.

The off season officially starts now with just four and a half months until the first green flag of the ‘06 season…but don’t wait till the last minute to start following the season as the first testing starts his week at Valencia.

[image from the Honda Racing web site.]

It is last act, last scene and the curtain fallin’ down on the 2005 MotoGP season. This weekend marks the final race of the year and it takes place in the fireworks capital of Spain. Its the Comunitat Valenciana Moto GP at the now traditional season finale at the historic Ricardo Tormo Circuit of Comunitat Valenciana. Expect the racing to be explosive as every rider tries to close out the season with a strong result. This is particularly true for Nicky Hayden and Marco Melandri who are both still trying to settle the issue of who will be runner up in the championship this year. The Italian holds an 8 point advantage but the door is still narrowly open for the Yank to pull this one out of the bag. Additionally, Gibernau and Rossi still have some things to resolve, particularly with Gibernau leaving Honda for Ducati next year. Given that the season started with the last lap, last turn bang-up at Jerez I wouldn’t be surprised to see the year book-ended with some more sparks flying between the two riders in Valencia. Rumor also has it that Biaggi may not be with Honda next year after he voiced strong questions about the quality bike he is getting. (This is particularly ironic since Honda dragged their feet earlier about offering Vermeulen a MotoGP ride under the assumption Biaggi and Checa would be riding for Sito Pons next year). This may have once again breathed life into the twitching corpse that has been Barros’ MotoGP career over the past three seasons…the guy is like a mummy always coming back from the brink. Likewise, Colin Edwards really needs to show Yamaha he deserves to be Rossi’s teammate next year so he better find that elusive “fast” gear on the M1. Nakano, Elias, Tamada are all locked up for next year and will probably resume their regular battle at the back half of the top ten. Nakano is held back by the bike but what about the other two?

Other riders hoping to impress this weekend are Kawasaki’s Alex Hoffman who is back after breaking his ankle at Motegi. He is without a ride in 2006 and will want to convince team bosses that he is worth a look. Checa seems to have locked up a Honda ride so he may return to his lackluster results until silly season of ‘06 cranks up. Capirossi is back from his Phillip Island injury but will probably be struggling with his health this weekend. Since he has a Duc contract signed and delivered for next season he can be forgiven if he turns in an usually bad performance. Hopkins is also signed for ‘06 but with riding the Suzuki he will always have lackluster results even if he turns in extraordinary displays of riding.

Yamaha hasn’t announced its’ plans for the satellite team next year so Xaus needs to show a flash of brilliance in front of the home crowd. Rolfo should be a shoe-in for D’Antin’s rumored two rider Ducati squad next seasaon but can’t afford to slack off less Ducati’s favored son Xaus steal his seat. Naturally the WCM guys are always hoping for a faster ride and Ellison may actually deserve one. If Dorna is still pressuring the MotoGP squads to hire an English rider then Ellison, along with ex-KTM rider Byrne, may actually be a hot commodity for ‘06.

The final group of riders hoping to impress this weekend are the wild card and replacement riders. Suzuki’s Nobuatsu Aoki is standing in for the injured Kenny Roberts, Jr. He has spent the past year as a test rider and would love to be back in the big show. Likewise, Kawasaki’s test rider Olivier Jacque will be a wild card this weekend and will hope for another China result (as opposed to another Sepang-like DNF) if he is going to raise any eyebrows. British Superbike superstar Ryuichi Kiyonari is standing in for the still-injured Bayliss (following the path blazed this season by Ukawa, Byrne and Vermeulen as Camel Honda stand-ins). He needs a top 10 finish to better Vermeulen’s results for Camel Honda and seems to be adapting well to the big MotoGP bikes. Finally, TeamKR are back in the paddock with their old V5 motor and their old 2003 rider Kurtis Roberts. The youngest Roberts is looking for a ride and the oldest Roberts is looking for sponsorship for next year. Both will be fighting an uphill battle for the weekend…

The racing circuit offers its own challenges. In some respects it is a mini-Motegi as it is primarily defined by a stop-and-start flow. The track is relatively short at 2.49 miles in length and is very tight since it crams 14 turns into that small space. The track is reasonably wide and has a very abrasive surface so stable, hard braking may be the trait most needed by the bikes with strong acceleration a close second. This is especially true in the first and final corners. Turn 1 is a 90 degree left taken in the mid-80 mph range but with eye-popping breaking after the riders have hit 180+ on the preceeding straight. Expect lots of late braking here which means bikes the bikes will be set up with super stiff front forks. The final turn is equally tricky since it is a relatively slow, off-camber hairpin left taken after flying through a sweeping left hand kink at 125+. Expect some riders to wash out the front end here and take a tour of the Valencia gravel traps on the outside of the turn. The final turn worth mentioning is the “where men are men” left hand kink at turn seven taken over a buck fifty. Lets see, fast left hand bends in turns 3, 7 and 13…who is it that likes fast left hand turns? Oh yeah, Nicky Hayden. Nicky has been fast in the past at the Spanish circuit but always seems to find the limit of front tire adhesion the bad way. Lets hope he can keep it on two wheels this time.

Alright, lots of hard braking. Lots of hard acceleration. A few fast left hand sweepers. An abrasive track surface. Sounds like tires may again be a factor. The Michelins have traditionally ruled at Valencia but Bridgestone made up some serious ground this season as evidenced by Capirossi and Checa’s podiums over the last five races. Keep a close eye on the tire war, especially because a strong Bridgestone performance could move perennial mid-pack guys like the Suzukis and Kawasakis up into the top five while a strong Michelin showing will increase the excitement of the Hayden-Melandri and Rossi-Gibernau issues.

The fuse gets lit this Sunday and should make for a grand finale for the MotoGP series.

[image from the Ricardo Tormo Circuit web site.]

It must be getting a tad chilly down under these days, and I don’t mean in Australia. Honda just did a press release confirming they they are in discussions about supplying engines to Kenny Roberts’ MotoGP team for the 2006 season, assuming that Team KR can find the sponsorship necessary to lease the motors from Big Red. This is surprising for a few reasons…

First and foremost, is the fact that Honda and Kenny Roberts have never been on particularly friendly turns. Roberts made his reputation as a motorcycle racing demi-god by campaigning Yamahas. First against the might of Harley and Honda in American dirt track, then road racing against Honda, Kawasaki and Suzuki in the AMA Formula One and finally winning three consecutive 500 GP titles against Honda and Suzuki. Did you notice the name that was consistent across all those years of racing rivals? Additionally, Roberts has stated publicly for the past eight years that his aim for creating his TeamKR GP bikes was to best the major manufacturers in general and Honda in particular.

On the other side of the coin, Honda is a very traditional Japanese company where loyalty is the highest virtue. When a rider, a manager or a vendor breaks that bond then they are rarely ever invited back into the hallowed halls of Honda. Given Honda’s long history of working against Roberts, not to mention his long history of bad mouthing the Japanese firm, it seems strange from both sides that the two would come to an agreement to partner up in MotoGP.

From Robert’s perspective he may not have a choice. With KTM dissolving their partnership midway through the ‘05 season and with sponsorship money become harder and harder to find, I’m sure Team KR knows they can’t rejuvenate on their old V5 development program in order to build a competitive motor. As I said in a blog write-up this past February, building motors is the downfall of most small motorcycle producers and I’m sure many of the same roadblocks lie before a small race shop as well. The current Honda motor is among the best in the class and I’m sure they have a head start over everyone else in developing their 800cc engine. Having a competitive motor would allow the Roberts gang to cut costs and focus on handling which is where the TeamKR bikes have always excelled.

From Honda’s perspective I think that working with TeamKR, like their partnership with Moriwaki, would accomplish a few things. First, it would keep another team in the MotoGP championship which I’m sure is vitally important to both Honda and the FIM since a world series with only two or three manufacturers involved loses all of its legitimacy. Second, Honda has always promoted the idea of having strong involvement in the GP series by factory supported satellite teams. In the 90s, Honda created a lower cost (but only marginally competitive) 500cc V-twin specifically to provide to satellite teams that couldn’t afford the astronomical leasing costs of the four cylinder bikes. They have done the same in the 250cc class by retiring their NSR GP racer and instead using a more mundane RSW250 which is available to other teams (but using factory kit parts to bump up its performance for star riders like Dani Pedrosa). To that end, having another bike on the grid powered by a Honda motor would help fulfill their dream of moving MotoGP more in the direction of Formula One where companies build engines and teams build chassis.

Okay, so all that makes sense. What’s the rub? Well, if there was ever someone that is not a company mouthpiece it has gotta be King Kenny. That Honda would align themselves with someone that has been so blatantly critical of them for the past three decades is amazing. Additionally, look at the risks involved. If the Honda powered Roberts bike could actually be competitive it would be taking prestige away from Honda. After all, if the TeamKR bike wins then it implies the Honda chassis is flawed. If the bike, like the current Moriwaki project, can’t hang with the big boys then KR is probably the first person who will be critical of the partnership and/or the engine’s capabilities which isn’t going to do Honda’s marketing department any favors. Either way, there is definitely a lose-lose situation brewing.

Another person that will likely be hurt by his is Yamaha. While the relationship between Roberts and his former employer has been tenuous at best over the past few decades there has nevertheless been a continual effort by Yamaha to use Roberts’ successes in their marketing. Lets face it, Yamaha built their entire 50th Anniversary celebration at this year’s USGP around Robert’s GP victories in the early 80s. If Honda starts supplying motors to Kenny’s race team the facade of him bleeding yellow will certainly be broken. I’m not sure who will faint first at the sight of a Honda ad with Roberts in it, the marketing department at Yamaha or the fans who grew up watching bumblebee bikes dominating the AMA series in the 70s.

Don’t get me wrong, as I said when KTM stepped in with motors earlier this year I think it is fantastic to have Kenny Roberts involved in the sport. Not only does his involvement represent the best of the David versus Goliath situation, his personality harks back to a time before riders were hired as mouthpieces for sponsors rather than to win championships. The very issues that make a potential partnership with Honda so unlikely are the same reasons I want to see him in the paddock in ‘06. Still, no matter what the personalities and corporate cultures that are involved, the real trick will be for TeamKR to find the cash required to go racing with *any* motor, Honda or otherwise. Once they’ve overcome that hurdle then we can see if a V5 Honda appears in their chassis.

Once before on this blog I mentioned that Hell must be freezing over and that was when Mick Doohan was let go by Honda. With this latest rumor of a partnership between Roberts and HRC I’m sure the demons are buying ski gear in hades tonight!

[image from the Saro di Bartolo web site.]

The Internet rumor mill was churning for the past week with a series of reports about what HRC’s General Manager Tsutomu Ishii may or may not have said concerning Honda’s lead riders for 2006. The first report claimed that Ishii-san declared development of the final version of the RC211V would be put squarely upon the shoulders of Nicky Hayden and Marco Melandri. Then, a few days later, a story was released denying any such thing and saying development may yet fall to more experienced riders.

Well, after watching this weekend’s innaugural MotoGP race at the Istanbul Park Circuit in Turkey, I’d have to say Honda should have stuck to the initial story. Both Melandri and Hayden have looked spectacular at the past few races and both put on strong performances at Turkey to prove they have Valentino Rossi in their sights for next year. Besides, who else could Honda depend on for bike development next year? The Repsol team, which has always carried the standard for HRC, will be Hayden teamed with 250 star Dani Pedrosa. HRC will be looking to Pedrosa for leadership on the smaller 800cc bike in 2007 but surely they wouldn’t make him their lead rider in his first season in MotoGP. Likewise, Melandri will be joined by Toni Elias on the Gresini team. Elias has improved steadily in 2005 but won’t be ready to upstage his new teammate, especially if Melandri ends the season runner-up to Rossi this year. The Sito Pons team will be Max Biaggi and Carlos Checa. Both riders bring a lot of experience (and sponsorship cash) but based on their results this year it would be suicide to bank on them next year. Finally, Makoto Tamada will likely be back and while Honda always likes to back Japanese riders it would be a political nightmare to give him the development role while passing over faithful Honda teams like Pons or Gresini. I think the first release was correct but probably leaked out too soon (IE: before the contracts with Tamada, Checa and Elias have been inked). Whatever the official line may be right now, expect the eyes and ears of HRC’s engineers to be focused on Hayden and Melandri next year.

But at the start of this weekend all eyes were again on Sete Gibernau. Both Gresini Movistar Honda riders were fast from the first time bikes turned a wheel on the Turkish track and both set the pace in qualifying as well. However, it was the Spaniard who threw down the fastest lap once the sticky tires came out and thus would be starting from the pole position. With Gibernau’s string of crashes and mistakes over the course season the entire motorcycle racing world had to be wondering if Istanbul would finally be where Sete would turn things around.

Come race day though it was Melandri who was feeling his oats. From the time the lights went green he was on a mission. Melandri lead early but Gibernau made the pass for the lead within a few laps. However, on lap six Sete’s brain fade once again struck as the Spaniard took a tour of a Turkish gravel trap. This gifted the lead to Melandri with Hayden suddenly finding himself fighting for the lead after the Rossi curse struck Gibernau. Rossi, meanwhile, had a horrible start and was working his way past fellow Yamaha riders Colin Edwards and Toni Elias.

As few interesting things happened as the race progressed. First Shinichi Itoh, subbing for the injured Capirossi on the Ducati, was given the meatball flag for a jumped start but then failed to pull in for his penalty. He was eventually black flagged out of the race. Equally interesting, but for a more positive reason, was Chris Vermeulen who ran in the top 10 for most of the race ahead of both Makoto Tamada and Max Biaggi. He made a mistake late in the race which allowed the Japanese rider past but still stayed ahead of Biaggi till the end.

After Gibernau’s mistake on lap six the race turned into a bit of a procession. Rossi got around Hayden but seemed unable, or at least unwilling, to press the issue of the race win against his buddy Melandri. At one point Rossi turned in a record lap (later bested by Melandri on lap 17) and he repeatedly up’ed his pace whenever Hayden turned in a flier so it seemed the Italian was capable of running with Melandri. Nonetheless, all three riders ran for the final eight laps separated by a little over a second each with little change in the gap from lap to lap. Further back, Gibernau recovered from his side trip off the circuit to work back up through the field to a lonely fourth. Carlos Checa was equally alone in fifth, having gapped the chasing Yamahas but not really able to close the distance on the Honda ahead. Toni Elias turned in another impressive ride for a MotoGP rookie in this case nipping Colin Edwards at the line for sixth. Chris Vermeulen brought the Honda home in a credible 11th place.

Going into the last race of the season it looks like the battle for second place in the points has boiled down to Hayden chasing Melandri. The Kentucky Kid will have to pull 10 points on the Italian at the Valencia race in two weeks to claim the runner-up spot and that seems like a tall order given how well Marco is riding. Edwards still has a mathematical shot at second but in order for him to make up 25 points he would have to win the final race and have something bad happen to both Melandri and Hayden. Edwards could be overtaken for fouth by Biaggi since only eight points separate the two but given the Roman’s form of late that ’s not likely to happen. Gibernau needs to make up thirteen points on Mad Max to take fifth which is a distinct possibility if Biaggi has another round plagued by mysterious suspension problems and if Sete can stay out of the Spanish gravel traps.

Based on the races at Qater, Phillip Island and now at Istanbul, it seems clear that Honda does need to throw its development weight behind the youngsters. If anyone is going to beat Rossi in ‘06 it is most likely to be Melandri or Hayden. If not, and with Rossi looking likely to leave the sport in ‘07, then Melandri and Hayden will surely be the stars of the future. I have a lot of respect for the results that Biaggi has brought teams over the years (as well as respect for the sponsorship money Checa has brought those same teams) but these elder statesmen of the paddock should no longer be the leads for HRC’s R&D. Let them race for financial, political or even marketing reasons but its time for Honda to look to the future.

[image from the GPone web site.]

Yes, its true. I’m going to avoid the obvious Thanksgiving pun when describing this weekend’s inaugural MotoGP Istanbul event in Turkey. Since this is the first motorcycle event at the track it will be a new experience for crews, riders and fans. Other than some ideas about that track which riders may have gleaned while watching the F1 car races back in August all the racers will be starting with a clean slate.

The Istanbul Park Circuit is an interesting one having been designed by the same architect that sculpted the F1 tracks in Sepang and China. Best of all, he placed little odes to famous tracks around the world in his layout so riders will immediately have a little familiarity at certain places on the track. The builders weren’t stingy with the asphalt either as the track is 3.31 miles in length and 40 to 50 feet wide in places. It shows it’s non-European roots by bucking the continental trend and being run in the counter-clockwise direction. This means that left hand curves predominate (of the 14 turns 8 are left-handers). Since no one has yet ridden the track it is hard to predict how the track is going to work out but looking at the map and specs a few things seem to be likely.

First, like Sepang, the track should allow for plenty of passing. There are a wide variety of corners including some slow, tight turns that are proceeded by relatively straight fast sections. This is the norm for F1 tracks, since it is pretty much the only place the cars can make passes, but it makes for good bike racing as well. This is particularly true in three places: The 90 degree left hander after the start/finish straight, the tight left at teh bottom of a hill that is around the halfway point of the lap and, finally, the last corner on the track is a chicane with a downhill entrance and an exit leading onto the front straight. Like Phillip Island, these downhill braking zones will probably be a natural place for a rider to go for the inside line and pick up positions.

These corner descriptions bring up another interesting aspect of the track which is the elevation. The long track length, which includes four different “straights", and the constant elevation changes mean that the teams better bring their horsepower this weekend. That usually means the Ducatis and Hondas need to be watched since they always show up with extra ponies. Finally, the track width means that multiple lines can be used going into corners and that should help encourage more passing. Since passing is what makes watching a race so exciting that is definitely a good thing.

As I mentioned above, the circuit has a little of everything. Most of the corners flow together but there is a mix of rhythm sections, slow turns, fast bends and straights. Bike setup will be tricky since the front forks have to be stiff to deal with the two hard downhill breaking areas but will then be too hard for the two ultra fast right hand kinks (one exiting the first turn and the second in the middle of the back straight). The bikes need to be stable for the long straights and to deal with the acceleration/deceleration areas but that then means they will be a handful when transitioning side to side in the “s” sections. Riders will have to decide where they want to make their compromises and that means certain people will be fast in some sections and others fast in different parts of the track.

The tire situation will again be one to watch. Since this is a new track neither Michelin nor Bridgestone have any bike set-up information. Both tire companies supply F1 teams so it will be interesting to see which company has the best transfer of information between their cage and bike divisions. It will also be interesting to see just how conservative the two companies are with their selection of tires for the weekend. Since the track has a very fast layout, expect tire wear to be a concern all weekend long. We’ll have to see if either company gambles wrong when it comes to tire life.

Naturally, there is still a lot of interesting news in the paddock. Silly season is coming to a close but there are injuries, replacement riders and job hunters still to be mentioned. After last weekend’s Australian GP, Capirossi and Roberts Jr are nursing wounds and neither will make the show in Turkey. Likewise, Bayliss and Hoffman are still out and neither will likely re-appear on a MotoGP bike this season. Ducati is replacing Capirex with Bridgestone test rider and GP veteran Shinichi Itoh. Jacque is again filling in for Hoffman at Kawasaki and Honda superstar Vermeulen is still subbing for Bayliss. All three of these riders are hoping for GP rides next year though it sounds like their current rides will not be available. Itoh is rumored to be a possibility on the D’Antin Ducati squad, Vermeulen may or may not be heavily in talks with Suzuki and Jacque is begging for something better than another year as Kawasaki’s test rider.

The first question, as always, is whether anyone can beat Rossi. The only time he has really been bested all season was when he had to learn a new circuit at Laguna Seca. The Americans had ridden there before and their 1-2 finishes over Rossi were thus explained away as home field advantage. It will be interesting to see if anyone can win against The Doctor when the track is equally new to everyone. The layout should favor Hayden because of the left hand turns so expect him to be fast. Likewise, Melandri is mostly healed from his foot injury and has returned to his early season form with strong finishes at the past few races. Since he is fighting with Nicky for second overall in the championship Marco will be up front. Checa has also woken up here at the end of the year and will want to close out his career on the Ducati with strong finishes. Expect the Duc’s power to be very helpful when accelerating out of the slow corners in Turkey. Gibernau, who has gone backwards at the last few races, will want to close to his season with Honda with an upswing before trading bikes with Checa for next year.

Then there is Rossi. Ever time a track looks to suit the faster bikes the Italian wonder boy shows that his incredible talent trumps everything. I expect to see Rossi pull some amazing passes at the Istanbul circuit especially into the downhill tight turns. Rossi was given some push back at Phillip Island by the youngsters Hayden and Melandri. I doubt he’ll be able to break away from the faster Hondas in Turkey but expect him to rule the turns.

It should be an exciting race. Fortunately, SpeedTV is showing both the MotoGP and 250GP race this Sunday so I’ll be able to settle in for an afternoon of race watching. I hope you can do the same.

[image from the Istanbul MotoGP web site.]

“No man is an Island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the Continent, a part of the main.”
– John Donne, Meditation XVII

That quote may be true in it’s context but there is one man that certain stands alone in the world of MotoGP and he’s quickly becoming permanently associated with an island. In this case the man is Valentino Rossi and that island is Phillip Island.

The weekend started off interestingly enough. As I mentioned in my preview on Friday both Loris Capirossi and Kenny Roberts Jr crashed their way out of the event in practice on Thursday. These wouldn’t be the only riders bitten by the high speed corners before the weekend was over.

Qualifying was typically thrilling. Carlos Checa, always a rider that seems to find his pace when contract time rolls around, was consistently fast. Max Biaggi and Sete Gibernau were also near the front for most of the session. However, when the clock started winding down it was Valentino Rossi and Nicky Hayden that set the pace. Both put in fast laps once the Q-tires came out but it was Hayden who ultimately did the business to win his third pole position of the season by setting a new lap records for the Phillip Island circuit. Rossi and Gibernau completed the front row with all three riders seperated by just 1/3 of a second.

At the other end of the grid, Franco Battaini on the WCM failed to make the 107% cut-off and thus wouldn’t normally line up for the race. For whatever reason the FIM waived the rule thus allowing him to race. I have two theories for this: First, Battaini is Italian and, coincidentally, so is most of the FIM board. I’ve bitched already this season about how Rossi wasn’t penalized after his Motegi accident when Spaniard Lorenzo was suspended for a similar accident in the 250GP class that same day. Naturally, I’m not surprised that an Italian rider is given a reprieve from the rules when it might otherwise mean he wouldn’t be riding. My second theory has to do with the depleted field caused by the absence Team Proton and then compounded by Capirossi and Roberts accidents. Surely the FIM knows that a grid of 18 bikes is bad for marketing and that losing one of those because of qualifying rules hurts even more. The FIM needs bikes on the grid to have a viable product to sell to the fans, especially with the World Superbike Series showing such strong growth this year. At this point the FIM needs everyone on a bike that they can get and thus can’t afford to disqualifying someone even if they can to compromise safety to do it. Bad juju either way.

Okay, I’ll move beyond the qualifying controversy… Once the race got under way it was Hayden who led the way off the line. The young rider from Kentucky looked confident perhaps because the track contains so many ultra fast left turns which may play to his past as a dirt tracker in America. One rider who didn’t have such a great start was Max Biaggi as the Italian crashed out about halfway through the first lap. Since Biaggi had been leading the battle for second in the points his early exit, along with Capirossi’s absence, threw the door wide open for Hayden, Melandri and Edwards to capitalize.

Almost immediately the race soon broke into small groups. The lead battle was Hayden, followed by Rossi and Melandri. Behind them, Gibernau, Edwards and Checa were locked in their own battle. Behind them came Barros, Tamada and Nakano. Rossi soon made his way to the front and brought Melandri with him. Despite showing speed in his pass on Hayden, Melandri was unable to go once Rossi had clear track in front of him and could cut fast laps. The American Repsol Honda rider, on the other hand, re-passed the Italian aboard Gresini Honda and re-closed the gap to the World Champ out front. The Yamaha rider tried his best to out pace the Honda but couldn’t shake the Kentucky Kid.

Further back, Olivier Jacque had another tough race on the Kawasaki this time pitting early with tire problems. It was announced this weekend that Jacque’s countryman Randy De Puniet will be riding the Kawasaki next year so it looks like Jacque may again be out of a job in the GP paddock. He needed some strong rides in these last wild card appearances to convince team bosses he’s got what it takes and it doesn’t look like that is going to happen. Another rider that needed a good result this weekend was Alex Barros. Unfortunately, the Brazilian threw his Honda down the track at the ultra fast Haystack corner and was lucky to survive the crash with only severe bruising. Still, a DNF wasn’t what he needed this weekend especially with rumors floating around the Carlos Checa was in talks with Sito Pons about a ride on the Camel Honda in ‘06.

Around half race distance Vale realized he couldn’t break the field and so he shifted tactics and slowed the pace. Nicky initially didn’t take the bait but with lap times two seconds a lap slower than those run by the trailing pair he eventually re-passed for the lead. However, the damage was already done. Melandri and Carlos had closed the gap and what had been a mano-a-mano struggle was now a four rider scrap. Once the gap was closed Rossi again went to the front and again dropped his lap times in an effort to break away. Meanwhile Hayden was fighting for position with Melandri and couldn’t immediately respond. It took two laps for Hayden to shrug of the pursuing riders but by then Rossi had built up a one second gap. Nicky took back a few tenths but there wasn’t enough time left to catch back up. Valentino managed the gap and won the race. Carlos used the power of the Ducati to pip Marco’s Honda at the line for third. Sete was a lonely fifth, followed by an equally lonely Colin in sixth.

Valentino Rossi’s win accomplished two things. First, it marks the Italian’s 11th win of the season. This ties his previous best record for single season victories. It also puts him just one race away from equalling Doohan’s all-time record of twelve race wins in one year of GP racing. With two races left this season, Rossi still has a chance to break that record if he can sweep both of them. The second thing accomplished by his victory was locking up Manufacturer’s Title for Yamaha. This gives Rossi a perfect trifecta for the year having won the Rider’s Championship, the Team Championship and the Manufacturer’s Championship for ‘05.

Hayden’s second place moves him into a tie with Marco Melandri for second in the championship. Edward’s sixth place finish moves him to fourth overall eight points behind the two Honda riders. Biaggi falls to sixth a further three points behind Edwards and Capirossi slips to sixth eleven points behind Biaggi. With 50 points still available in the final two races, the season runner-up is still a long way from being decided but it is quickly narrowing down to a Hayden, Melandri and Edwards contest.

…but out front Rossi is still an island unto himself.

[image from the Motocourse web site.]

Australia is a place with a reputation. It is a place where the rugged individual shines, a place with a harsh landscape that doesn’t coddle the weak and a place where men are men. Down under you entertain yourself by spending weeks on a walkabout in the desert, wrestling with a crocodile and ordering beers the size of buckets. Macho behavior is the norm and bravery is a prized virtue. Its not surprising then that when it comes to road race circuits Australia boasts a track which is not for the weak of stomach.

This weekend the MotoGP crowd shows up at the incredible Phillip Island circuit. The first sign that this isn’t your average race track is the fact that it’s located on a small island off the southern coast of Australia. The nearest major city is Melbourne but the track itself, as the name would suggest, is on Phillip Island. By being on an island, the weather can be downright tropical one minute and then blasted with gale force winds or drenched with torrential rain the next. If the riders aren’t busy fighting the conditions they are probably dodging the sea gulls. Did I mention already that riders who like the comfortable life aren’t welcome here? However, those challenges are offset by the circuit itself. Most tracks built for MotoGP are amazing venues but this track tops them all. Not only is the 2.763 mile long track one of the best designs of any track in the world it also offers a stunning back drop with the Bass Strait just a few hundred yards from the race track. On TV, the views of bikes cresting the hill at Lukey Heights is enough to make any roadrace fan want to buy a plane ticket on the spot.

The track is simply amazing. Technically, it is listed as 12 turns (8 lefts and 4 rights) but in reality is more like a roller coaster. There are two slow right turns (Honda and MG corners) but everything else is just one high speed lean after the other. Three of the turns are taken in third gear at around ninety miles an hour but it is the turns of Doohan Corner, The Hayshed and Turn 12 that really make this an Aussie style track. All three are taken in fourth gear with the bikes going around 120 mph. Then, as if that wasn’t fast enough, the long Gardner Straight has the bikes nearing 200 mph. Since Doohan corner comes immediately after this top speed run it means the bikes are scrubbing off around 80 mph and then sliding the bike through the right hander at a buck twenty. While the bike is still scrubbing off speed the riders have to transition from one side to the next for the Southern Loop left hander which is taken in third gear at around 80mph. The faint of heart need not apply at this track.

Because of the incredibly high average speed and because the slowest spots on the track are still above 50mph the bikes have to be set up soft. No need to stiffen up the front forks for hard breaking instead keep the bike a little loose so the riders have the feel they need while banked over in the Hayshed. With ultra fast left turns dominating the track the tires are crucial. Bridgestone and Michelin have been going at each other in the past few races so it will be interesting to see which tire brand has the advantage on the Island. Keep a close eye on the bikes as they accelerate through Turn 12 and onto the front straight as that will be the first place shagged tires start to show themselves.

When it comes to the riders a few things have already sorted themselves out. During the first practice session on Thursday two riders had sickening violent accidents. First, Kenny Roberts Jr was high-sided off his Suzuki at 180mph at the end of the Gardiner Straight. The resulting rag doll routine through the gravel trap resulted in a broken left wrist. Since Roberts is still unsigned for ‘06 and since this injury will probably take him out for the rest of the season this is particularly tragic for the ex-world champion. It will be doubly so if it rains on Sunday. The second accident was nearly identical as Loris Capirossi was ejected from his Ducati at the same spot and at the same speed. At first the Italian seemed uninjured but Thursday night started feeling some chest pain and was brought to the hospital for tests. It was found that he had badly bruised his lungs and was bleeding internally. He’s been in the med shack ever since. He is out for the Aussie race and probably for Turkey as well. Capirossi was in the amazing battle that has been raging for second place in the championship and given the momentum he has had after his Motegi and Sepang victories he looked good to win that runner-up spot. His crash not only hurts Ducatim but also hurts Bridgestone since he was probably their best hope for a win as well.

Bayliss is out for the rest of the season with his broken wrists and with the recent announcement that he’ll be racing for Ducati in World Superbike in ‘06 he won’t be seen anywhere near the Camel Honda garages for the remainder of the season. One Australian’s loss is another’s gain as Chris Vermeulen makes his MotoGP debut while subbing for Bayliss. All the young WSBK star has to do is stay upright, run mid-pack and show he can cope with 250hp. If he can pull that off, he’s pretty much assured a Honda MotoGP ride next year. Hoffman is still of the Kawasaki due to injury but is again being replaced by Olivier Jacque. After the Frenchmen’s visit to the hospital in Doha from his practice crash I think he probably has the same goals as Vermeulen…stay upright and finish the race. Melandri is still recovering from his foot injury but given his fifth and second place finishes since Japan it doesn’t seem to be an issue. Expect him to run up front.

Of those not on the injured list Rossi again tops the list of riders to mention. He pulled a seemingly impossible move last year to win the race. Phillip Island is perfect for the agile Yamaha as the transition from side to side at high speed is where the bike really shines. Like Mugello, the M1 may get beaten down the straight by the Hondas and Ducatis but expect Rossi to own the first and second turns. Perhaps the second rider to watch is Nicky Hayden. He’s always done well at the Island, including a third in ‘03, and is coming off a podium at the previous race. As has been said before, the Honda rider needs momentum and he started that in Qater. Biaggi needs a good race to bounce back from his disastrous weekend at the Losail circuit. He’s also still looking for a job so needs to put in that little bit extra. Capirossi being out takes some pressure off the Roman but the gap he has over Melandri, Edwards and Hayden for second overall is still only seven points. Speaking of which, all three of those riders were faster than Biaggi in the opening practice so keep an eye on them… As much as I hesitate to say it, another rider with a history of strong finishes in Australia is Sete Gibernau. The only momentum the Spaniard has had recently is with making mistakes so he could desperately use a little Phillip Island magic to rejuvenate his confidence. Finally, there are the guys that always seem to pull something out of the hat at the end of each season in an effort to get a ride. GP veterans Barros and Checa were both fast in the early practice and both are desperate to get offers for ‘06. They may show a little extra Aussie-like manliness on Sunday if it will help impress the team bosses.

SpeedTV is showing the MotoGP race at 9am (MDT) on Sunday but sadly are delaying coverage of the 250s until Tuesday. Its bad enough that they have been delaying World Superbike and AMA but now MotoGP? Speed, I thought you were our friend? Et tu, Brute? What do you guys expect me to go on Sunday afternoon, go on walkabout?

[image from the Australian Motorcycle GP web site.]

Word leaked out of the Team Kenny Roberts Proton camp this week that they are going to be testing their old 2004 V5 in a couple of weeks to see if it can be made race ready for the season ending MotoGP race at Valencia on November 6th. This isn’t really a surprise because Team KR said just before the Japanese GP that they would be skipping the fly away races and were hoping to come back for the last race of the year. What is surprising is that the rider tipped to be sitting on the bike at this test is Kurtis Roberts.

Alright, so why am I surprised at that you must be thinking. Now I’m plainly aware that Kurtis is the son of Team KR owner Kenny Roberts and I’m also aware that Kurtis is currently without a ride for ‘06. What strikes me as at least a little bit odd about this situation is that despite Robert, Sr calling the shots over in the Proton garage the MotoGP world is still a viciously political place. Take the following into consideration:

In 2004 Kurtis raced the Proton V5 for dear old pops. That season, by everyone’s account, was a disaster. The bike lacked power, the engine was unreliable, the Dunlop tires were crap and Kurtis spent nearly as much time crashing as racing. At the end of the year Kurtis was pretty liberal with the press with his view of the state of the bike and opined on a few occasions that he felt he’d been mislead by the team at the beginning of the season as to the competitiveness of the bike. This sort of verbal spewage is the norm for Kurtis, and for that matter for his father, so no surprise there. The youngest son of King Kenny split not only with the Team KR crew but also with his management company and returned to the US to race Superbikes for Erion Honda in ‘05.

While I’m sure the paternal bond between KennyR and KurtisR was strong enough to smooth over that bump in the familial road it probably still stuck in the craw of some of the management and crew back at the offices in Banbury. I suspect that when Kenny casually walked into the place and mentioned that he was inviting his son to test the bike in a couple of weeks more than a few people were gritting their teeth and mumbling behind their hands. (If the bike grenades in the first test session and sends Kurtis flying into a gravel trap I’m guessing it won’t be from an actual mechanical failure). Basically, it shows both how thick the blood in the Roberts clan is and how much control Robert Senior wields over his shop that a rider who was blatantly critical of their bike can get invited back into the team after less than a year.

The second reason I’m surprised by this is what Kurtis himself could be risking. When Kurtis returned to the US for ‘05 aboard a Honda Superbike it seemed he was returning to his destiny after a short international vacation in MotoGP. While I’ve never been happy about his attitude I’ve also never questioned his talent and at least from that perspective was glad to see him back in this country. Kurtis left the AMA series immediately after winning two Superbike races and looked for a short time there like he could be the one to challenge the dominance of Mat Mladin. In ‘04, the Honda CBR Superbike was a potent weapon and it was Superbike rookie Jake Zemke that took the fight to the Yoshimura Suzuki rider that year. By the time Kurtis returned to a place aboard a Honda Superbike the landscape had shifted significantly. American Honda brought their superbike development effort in house and the three riders (Zemke, Duhamel and Roberts) were given the task of turning the CBR into a contender. That never really happened throughout the season and the Erion squad suffered the worst in this new role since they lacked the resources of American Honda. Rather than fighting for the wins Kurtis was usually struggling to break the top ten.

Giving a remarkable rider uncompetitive hardware is bad enough but giving the vocal Roberts a pile is just asking for trouble. Roberts did what he does best…he bitched and moaned about the bike to the press at every opportunity. While Team KR may be forgiving of harsh criticism, Honda has never been known to have that particular trait. Someone probably pointed this out to Roberts because he toned down the negative comments considerably after the mid-point of the season. I don’t know if Kurtis has already been shown the door at Big Red since it doesn’t appear there is a ride available there next year but I’m sure that riding for one of their rivals (no matter how uncompetitive the bike may be) at the last race of the MotoGP season isn’t going to do him any favors in the land of sushi. Maybe the Proton test is just a sign that he has not other options left open to him for next season.

Alright, so I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. The youngest Roberts kid is a great rider. He should be on a competitive bike at least in the AMA series if not in an international one. However, he also needs to prove he deserves it. That isn’t just by being fast or winning a few races but by putting away his truck load of pride and getting down to the task of riding whatever he’s given. If he can get a gig in ‘06 riding his Pappy’s Proton, he should take it. Developing the original two-smoke Proton is how his older brother earned the Suzuki ride that eventually took him to a championship. If Kurtis gets invited back under a Honda tent in ‘07 he better show up with a smile and ask what he can do to help build the bike into something that can run at the front even if that means testing forks springs for weeks on end or riding around in 12th place for every race. And primarily, no matter where he ends up, he better learn to zip it. This just means he’ll have to work doubly hard because, as we all know, *that* skill doesn’t run in the bloodline.

[image from the Team KR web site.]

“No Arab loves the desert. We love water and green trees. There is nothing in the desert and no man needs nothing.”
– Prince Feisal, _Lawrence of Arabia_

There was so much racing this weekend that I’ll have to split up my coverage in blog entries over the next week or so. First up, the MotoGP race at Losail circuit in Qatar…

Like Sufi mystics, a handful of riders headed out into the burning confines of the Qatar desert with the hope of finding something inside themselves. For Loris Capirossi, it was finding the strength to win a third straight race. For Sete Gibernau, it was breaking his one year old dry spell of victories in the premier class. For Max Biaggi it was to get beyond having his championship chances dashed at Sepang and to now focus on consolidating his second place in the championship. For Colin Edwards it was another chance to build confidence by matching his teammates’ spectacular results. For everyone else it was a chance to prove to themselves and the world that they deserve a ride for next year. …and for all of them the dry sands of Arabia were a harsh place indeed.

Things started out strong for Capirossi who earned his third straight pole position. Unfortunately, other than his one lap wonder on the impressive Bridgestone qualifying tires his lap times weren’t very impressive which meant he would be fighting an uphill battle if he hoped to win the race. Gibernau also came out swinging while the stop watches were ticking to take second on the grid. Also, his practice lap times indicated he had could run the presumed race pace and thus had a chance at breaking “The Curse” and taking a win. Rossi qualified in third position at the track where he crashed last year after the grid cleaning fiasco to make it three different brands on the front row. That kind of machine diversity is good for a series that has been primarily dominated by a single brand all season long. Also, on paper the circuit looks like it would favor the Hondas, as Gibernau’s second and fifth place Melandri proved, so it was nice to see both of the Yamahas and both of the Ducatis in the front two rows showing that overall the bikes may be on a more even footing that the season’s results might initially indicate. While Capirossi was shining at the front his countryman Max Biaggi was sulking near the back of the grid. Biaggi qualified a miserable 12th and his only consolation was that he still out did fellow Honda rider Alex Barros who was one position further back. Things weren’t looking for for the two veteran riders.

When the race got started on Saturday the wind was horrible. Not only does the wind play hell with the bikes stability it also blows a fine dust onto the track surface which makes a slick track even slicker. Capirossi took advantage of the Ducati’s killer horsepower to launch off the line while Hayden and Gibernau resumed their turn one game of bumper cars just as they had done in Sepang. Gibernau again came out the better in the shoving match to join Capirossi, Melandri, Rossi, Hayden and Edwards at the front. Slightly further back, Robert Rolfo was running in an astounding seventh which is about ten places higher than the Dunlop shod, one year old Ducati can normally be found. Biaggi and Barros followed up their awful grid positions with equally poor starts and both were well outside the top ten in the first first few laps.

Two of the men who came to the Losail Circuit with such high hopes had their bubbles burst relatively early in the race. First, Biaggi pulled into the pits with yet another mysterious bike problem. As has been the case a few times earlier in the season the Roman made some vague comments which described some kind of handling problem and retired rather than ride around the problem. Whatever the real problem, there is definitely an attitude problem and his leaving the race is bad for Honda, bad for his sponsors and bad for his image. It is also bad for his chances of strengthening his second place in the championship. The second rider to have a problem was Capirossi who ran wide in one of the many sweeping turns and ran through the gravel trap. Given how dusty the outside edges of the track are, combined with the lack of traction on the plastic astro-turf used around the track instead of grass, the Italian was lucky to keep the bike upright. He rejoined the race but the off track excursion put him out of touch with the lead pack and fighting just to stay in the top ten.

Up front, Gibernau took control and tried to break the following pack of Rossi, Melandri, Hayden and Edwards. He pulled a slight gap but then a few laps later Rossi and Melandri had closed right back up again. During this battle , Nicky Hayden turned in an screaming 1.57.903 lap to break the old track record and cut the gap to third place in half. Edwards, meanwhile, was starting to lose the pace and started the slow drift back from the lead pack. Further back, Suzuki mounted Hopkins had to pull in for a new rear Bridgestone.

At half race distance Melandri passes Rossi for second and immediately starts to pressure his Spanish teammate for the lead. With five laps to go Melandri makes a couple of pass attempts but runs wide in both to immediately hand the position back to Gibernau. However, the pressure is apparently too much and Sete runs off the track and into a gravel trap. He manages to keep the bike upright and returns to the track but like Capirossi earlier he has lost the lead pack. He probably also left a big chunk of his self-confidence sitting in that Losail gravel trap. I don’t know how many more times the talented Spaniard can return to the well to replinish his soul before he comes up dry. Riders like Rossi can suck the spirit right out of competitors and every mistake Sete makes while leading races is just handing his rival the siphoning tube.

With Melandri and Rossi out front the pace continues to be fast and Hayden slowly starts to fall back leaving the lead battle to be a mano-a-mano scrap between the two friends: Melandri and Rossi. As we have seen so many times this season Valentino waits until the penultimate lap to make his move passing Marco for the lead. On the last lap Melandri tries a gutsy pass in turn eight but runs a little wide gifting the win to Rossi. The Honda rider recovers before running too far off track and holds onto second place ahead of Hayden.

With Rossi’s 10th win of the season and Edward’s fourth place the Gauloises Yamaha team score enough points to wrap up the Team title. This bucket load of points also helped them to close in even more on the Manufacturer title. Pretty much a perfect weekend for Rossi and the boys but a pretty bleak time for everyone else.

When the points were tallied Max Biaggi still holds onto 2nd but only by two points over Marco Melandri who jumps up to third in the title race. Edwards rises to fourth overall and trails Melandri by five points. Hayden continues to climb up the points table and is now in fifth just two points behind Edwards. Capirossi’s eventual tenth place finish drops him from third to sixth but the race for second overall is still close with only 11 points covering the group from Biaggi to Capirossi.

Other notables finishers were Toni Elias who managed an eighth place finish. The Spanish MotoGP rookie has earned finishes inside the top ten on four different occasions this year all while riding the second string Yamaha. He has also consistently bested his teammate Ruben Xaus (who was 14th at Qater) which is perhaps a better measuring stick for his success. Shinya Nakano brought his Kawasaki home in seventh which isn’t that notable except that it is a finish which is something that has eluded the Japanese rider at the last two races. Alex Barros charged up through the field to eventually finish in ninth. After looking so strong in the middle part of the season Barros needs to finish strong to have any chance of riding in MotoGP next season. Lackluster results now may finally close the book on his long GP career. Suzuki’s continued their trend of frustrating results with Roberts getting 11th and Hopkins the last of the finishers in 17th after his tire change. Rolfo eventually brought the ancient D’Antin Duc across the line in 12th, one spot ahead of Camel Honda replacement rider Shane Byrne. Oddly enough, Byrne ended his final stand-in race on the RC211V in roughly the same ranking as he was earning earlier in the season aboard the Team KR/Proton bike. Food for thought, huh?

Was anyone other than Rossi really a winner in Qatar? Well, Hayden and Melandri both re-closed the gap in the battle for second but neither earned enough points to solidify anything. Biaggi, Capirossi and Gibernau would rather forget about the race all together as none of them accomplished their goals. No one really put in the kind of performance that will help them get a ride next year so it appears everyone will have to hope for better in the greener pastures that are Phillip Island. In the meantime, all the riders came back out of the desert with only Rossi having found any answers.

[image from the MotoGP web site.]

This weekend will be another one that is jammed packed with racing. Since there are a lot of racing I’ll just say a little about each one.

First up, the MotoGP guys return for their second ever race at the Losail circuit in Doha, Qatar. The race is being held on Saturday, in deference to the local Muslim population, which means the bikes, teams and riders have had to get from Malaysia to Qater in just four days to be ready for first practice on Thursday. The 3.36 mile, 16 corner track has a right hand bias with 10 of the turns heading in that direction. Like most of the new tracks built primarily for F1 the track surface is billiard table flat and the asphalt is almost perfectly smooth. In the the only negative thing that can be said about the track, because after all it is in the middle of a freakin’ desert, is that it is hot and sandy. This means that it will again be a race where tires may be the deciding factor. Because the track is so smooth and the circuit is so flowing the bikes can be set up with a relatively soft suspension. This is definitely a good thing because it will help the riders with all important front tire feel which is essential due to the heat and sand. It is especially true in turn 1 were the riders are slowing down from around 200mph for one of the slowest parts of the track. Last year this race was the most dramatic of the season with the now infamous penalty against Rossi’s team for their cleaning his grid position by doing burn-outs with a pit scooter. One of the repercussions of that was the Rossi “curse” which was placed on Gibernau forecasting that the Spainard would never win again. After Sete won at Qatar last year, that prediction has held true. If Gibernau could win at Qatar it would be an amazing turn of events. The favorite going in, other than Rossi, has to be Capirossi who has won two in a row on the resurgent Ducati. Biaggi desperately needs a good race to maintain his spot as #2 in the title chase. Melandri is still riding hurt after his foot injury in Motegi. Hoffman and Bayliss are still out. Jacque is riding the Kawasaki while Byrne is again subbing at Camel Honda. Finally, there should be some more silly season info leaking out this weekend so watch for that news.

Next up is the World Superbike race at Imola. This is the penultimate race for the WSBK series so the riders hoping to claw their way back into the championship points battle better be on the ball at the Santamonica track. Obviously, all eyes will be on the championship battle between Chris Vermeulen and Troy Corser. Both of the Australians will probably be at the forefront all weekend though both have histories of having championship runs fizzle at the end of a season. The other riders to watch at Imola will be the Ducatis. With Bologna only a short hope away, the riders of the Italian equipment will be under a lot of pressure to perform for the bosses. To add to that pressure, the four year history of WSBK coming to Imola shows Ducati have won five of the eight races and that every race has been won by a v-twin. Talk about big expectations! Toseland is probably looking for a job next year and thus needs to impress. Laconi is coming back from injury and needs to settle any lingering doubts among his bosses that he should be their star rider in ‘06. Superstar Lanzi is back with the privateer team but now armed with factory bikes. He’s looking to solidify his position as Laconi’s teammate at the factory next year. The field of honor for this weekend’s event is a historic track with a fantastic layout. The 3.01 mile long track has 16 turns with over half of those being of the left hand variety. Nearly half a lap at Imola is spent at high speed making flip-flop transitions through fast, flowing turns. There are three tight left hand turns and one right hander but otherwise its a high speed circuit. Add in a rough track surface and you have an event where the suspension guys will be earning their money. The always slippery Pirelli tires will get a workout so expect some guys to have tire trouble in the later stages of the first race unless everyone decides to run the hardest thing in the tire truck.

The big finale of the AMA Supermoto series is being held this weekend in Reno and it promises to be a hoot. Both the Supermoto and Supermoto Unlimited classes are yet to crown a champion, though Jeff Ward will almost certainly tie up the former but with double points being paid in the second race there is still a chance for second place Jurgen Kunzel to win the thing. The Unlimited class champ is anyone’s guess as three riders are all bunched within six points of each other: Darryl Atkins, Micky Dymond and Troy Herfoss all have a shot at the title this weekend. Even David Baffeleuf and Robert Loire still have a long shot chance being only 23 and 24 points back respectively. Mark Burkhart has already sewn up the Supermoto Lites championship. The track is a mix of really cool stuff and some pretty boring stuff. The 12 turn, 1 mile track has a small but technical dirt section and a interesting sounding banked turn that goes up onto the side of a building. Sadly, about half of each lap is a point-n-shoot style square going around a city block with three short straights connected by 90 degree right hand turns (why not turn the track around 180 degrees so these turns become left handers and thus give the dirt track guys an advantage?!?). Not exactly the most inspired layout in that sense but with this being in the middle of downtown Reno it is example of the philosophy that Supermoto racing can be set up anywhere. I *love* Supermotos so I suspect the track will prove exciting and the racing will be good. It bad enough that I can’t be there to watch but to add insult to injury OLN isn’t broadcasting the race until mid-November.

Finally, another series is coming to a close this weekend. With fall right around the corner here in Colorado this Sunday marks the season ending race for our local MRA club. As as been the tradition the past few years the final race of the season is being held at Second Creek Raceway out by Denver International Airport. As is typical of the tracks our club races at the place is small. In fact, it is only 1.7 miles in length but with 10 turns crammed into that short space. Despite its size the the layout is actually interesting and it makes for some great racing. Shane Turpin has already tied up the premier Race of the Rockies GTO title but needs to win this weekend to complete a sweep of every race for the season. Likewise, he has already locked up the Race of the Rockies GTU championship as well but a uncharacteristic fourth at Pikes Peak ruined any chance of him sweeping every Race of the Rockies event this year. I’m heading down on Sunday to watch the racing and to catch up with my buddies ‘05 SuperTwins GTO champ Jim Brewer and Modern Vintage GTU points leader Tony Baker.

[image from the Losail Circuit web site.]

Well, another page of my MotoGP calendar needs to be turned over and that means it is time for another of my monthly Odds and Ends “catch up” postings. September has been really busy, especially with both silly season and new bike announcements trickling out, so I’ll have to skip a few things just to keep this post from being too long.

First up, is a news item about newly crowned ‘05 MotoGP champion Valentino Rossi. No matter how talented the guy is on the track his real talent is his ability to constantly keep his name in the news. He has monopolized the headlines for most of September as people focused on what he was already doing in 2005, questioned his 2006 plans and speculated about what he would be doing in 2007. For 2005, he has been winning races but has also now had two controversial accidents. The season opener at Jerez with Sete Gibernau and now one with Marco Melandri at Motegi. I’ve covered all this in my MotoGP blog entries but the overriding message is that Rossi continues to keep people guessing. As for 2006, I covered Rossi’s re-signing with Yamaha in my August Odds and Ends posting so that isn’t new news but who will be sponsoring the Italian superstar’s Yamaha has been the topic of endless speculation. Rossi is currently sponsored at Yamaha by Altadis’ Gauloisis cigarette brand but has apparently asked to be run without tobacco sponsorship on this bike in ‘06. The most likely reason for this, other than a possible dislike of tobacco companies, is that he is still flirting with racing a Ferrari F1 car in the near future. The best way to avoid problems with Philip Morris, the long time sponsor of Ferrari, is to make sure he has no contractual obligations to a competing tobacco company. What colors Rossi will be running next year is yet to be decided but the rumors continue to pop up on motorcycle racing news sites. Finally, there is the constant speculation about Vale becoming a F1 driver in ‘07. Again, the flurry of rumors continued all through September. First, Ferrari sent out a press releases claiming Rossi was basically signed as a test rider in 2006 then Rossi responded with a harsh public statement saying no such thing had been signed and finally Ferrari sent out another message which back pedalled considerably from their earlier claims. Presumably Valentino’s manager has been frantically fielding phone calls from Yamaha, Ferrari, Altadis and Philip Morris all month long and I suspect the actual situation probably isn’t clear to any one of these people yet. All the while, Rossi’s popularity is growing ever stronger and his name is showing up in news reports the world over. We’ll see if October brings any answers…

The rest of silly season has been so completely dwarfed by the Rossi story that very little has made the news. It seems that most of the 2005 championship winners (or likely championship winners when you look at the two international series) are already tied up for 2006. In the AMA series, Mladin (Suzuki), Yates (Suzuki), Duhamel (Honda) and Hayden (Kawasaki) are all staying put for at least another year. The biggest news in the AMA paddock has been Eric Bostrom’s move from Ducati to a Supersport/Superstock ride with Yamaha which, in my opinion, seems like a waste of his talent. The MotoGP silly season has been excruciatingly slow to play out this year and many of the top riders are still unsigned for next year. Leading that list is Sete Gibernau who may be back with Movistar Honda or may be riding for Ducati. Max Biaggi will almost certainly stay with Honda but probably won’t be in Repsol colors. Whether he ends up with the Movistar or Camel team is probably dependent on where Sete ends up. Bayliss and Barros, both teammates at Camel Honda, are unsigned for next year as is Suzuki’s Kenny Roberts Jr. It also appears that Yamaha’s Ruben Xaus, Ducati’s Carlos Checa, Kawasaki’s Alex Hoffman, and all the smaller teams riders like Shane Byrne, James Ellison, Franco Battaini and Roberto Rolfo are without contracts for next season. It seems pretty late in the year for this many teams to be without a signed rider but that may be because the current season still has four races to go. I expect all of these riders to have clarification within the next month. As far as World Superbike goes, it seems certain that Corser will be back with Suzuki next year. However, both Ducati riders, Regis Laconi and James Toseland, appear to be up in the air. Likewise, most of the Yamaha riders (Haga, Pitt, Abe, Gimbert) are still looking for jobs. Honda is rumored to be moving Chris Vermeulen to MotoGP so that opens up a seat at Ten Kate, though presumably his teammate Karl Muggeridge will stay on another year. Who knows what is happening with Kawasaki. Again, I suspect a lot of the WSBK riders will be confirmed in the next month but in the meantime you can always follow who is going where on my silly season web page.

Speaking of the AMA series, a tentative 2006 race schedule has already been announced. Combine this early release of dates for next year with the long term commitment that the AMA Pro Racing board announced earlier this summer for the superbike class rules and you’d almost get the idea that they have been listening to the criticism that has been leveled at them for the past decade. These efforts to get things nailed down early and with more solidity mean that teams can better plan and prepare for the upcoming year. Even better than the AMA’s promptness in this regard is the content of the proposed ‘06 series: As late as February of last year there were only nine circuits listed on the ‘05 schedule while the tentative ‘06 schedule already shows 11. Only three ovals are on the list (Daytona, Fontana and PPIR) while the remaining eight rounds will be at true road race tracks. This year the AMA raced at the same three ovals (and eventually at VIR to make ten rounds) so I’m glad to see that the new addition to the schedule is a venue with a true road race track. Racing at more places that don’t just cram a flat infield into a NASCAR oval will help make the sport safer and will keep the racing more interesting. It is only a baby step but adding one new track is definitely a step in the right direction. Now if only they can find a series sponsor!

Speaking of the new road race track the AMA announcement shows a mid-June date for the inaugural Superbike race at the Miller Motorsports Park near Salt Lake City, Utah in 2006. Even better, this is currently slated to be a doubleheader round so it increases the races on next year’s calendar by *two*. I’m excited about this news for two reasons, the first of which is simply that its close enough that I can actually attend which means I should hit three AMA Superbike races in ‘06: Miller Motorsports Park, PPIR and Laguna. Second, the AMA adding another event in the Rocky Mountain region means that they can now seriously consider dropping PPIR event off the schedule in the future. Its a crappy track for road racing and losing it from the ‘07 AMA schedule wouldn’t be much of a loss. Lets hope the clock has started ticking on how much longer the AMA guys will have to suffer through going round and round the PPIR merry-go-round.

Another bit of exciting AMA Superbike news as the announcement at the Kawasaki dealer show that Team Green would be racing the ZX-10R in Superbike next season with Tommy and Roger Lee Hayden as their riders. This again is great news for the sport because it gets the premier superbike class that much closer to having full participation by all the major manufacturers. Additionally, it puts two of the most talented riders in the series into the top class in the series which again increases the excitement of the racing. Both riders deserve a shot at the top prize in AMA road racing and I’m thrilled to see they are getting their shot. Kudos to Kawasaki for taking up the challenge. Now if only Yamaha was so brave.

Also on the domestic front the AMA Pro Racing board made news this month when they handed down fines to motocross riders Mike Alessi and Matt Walker after the Tedesco/Alessi/Walker incident earlier this month at Glen Helen. At issue was an accident in which Alessi appeared to intentionally take out 125cc championship rival Ivan Tedesco but ended up taking himself down as well. Alessi then stood on Tedesco’s still running bike to prevent him from being able to continue the race. Meanwhile Tedesco’s teammate Walker doubled back on the track to knock Alessi of the Kawasaki so Ivan could get back underway. The AMA decided that because of his actions Alessi needed to take a $5,000 hit to his wallet, as well as a disqualification from the entire Glen Helen round and a 12 month probation. Finally, and perhaps the most painful, is that Alessi is also taken out of the running for the AMA Pro Racing Rookie of the Year award. Walker was deemed to have also acted in a way that negatively affects the sport and was given a $2,500 fine, a disqualification from the second moto at Glen Helen and a was put on probation for next year’s Supercross and Motocross seasons. I have mixed feelings about the reprimand for Walker but I’m thrilled to see Alessi get such a heavy penalty after acting so immature. Bravo to the AMA for taking action on this.

Shifting gears completely, let me mention two completely unrelated things to close out this month’s Odds and Ends.

First, Yamaha did an initial announcement of their new bikes earlier this month and included in that a quick photo of the ‘06 FJR1300 sport touring bike. Then all the info associated with the FJR was removed from their web site which caused all sorts of rumors to start flying around the net. Well, at the Paris Motorcycle Show today the European model FJR was officially announced and the mystery was finally revealed: the 2006 FJR will be released with a semi-automatic transmission. This means it will have a conventional gearbox but will use electronics to handle the shifts without the rider having to use a shift lever. It remains to be announced if this auto tranny will be available on US models or not. This will be the first production street bike since the old Hondamatic and Moto Guzzi Convert to have an automatic transmission so this is pretty big news from a technology stand point. However, as a rider I have zero interest in such a thing as shifting gears is a fundamental part of the motorcycle experience for me.

Finally, I wanted to mention that a new motorcycle movie about New Zealander HJ “Bert” Munro has been released Down Under called The World’s Fastest Indian. I doubt this movie will make it to US theaters but it should eventually be available on DVD some time next year. If you haven’t heard of HJ Munro he build Indian motorcycles in the pre-WWII era as land speed racers. Like John Britten, who came along much later, Munru hand build most of his bike’s parts in a little shed in on the south island of New Zealand and was a real innovator at a time when the application of technology to motorcycles was still at a relatively early stage. His story is a fascinating one to anyone interested in the people who pushed the limits of motorcycles during the infancy of the sport. I think it will make a nice addition to my library of motorcycle movies so I hope the DVD does make it to the US so I can buy a copy. Maybe it will inspire me to finally buy that welder for the garage I’ve been dreaming out…

That’s it for this month. Thanks for reading.

[image from the Drive.com.au web site.]

The weather in Malaysia this time of the year is always a challenge for the MotoGP teams and riders. When its raining, its dumping water like only a monsoon can. When its not raining its so hot and humid it still feels like a steam room. Temperatures over 100 aren’t unusual and track temperatures can easily reach 125 degrees. Racing in this kind of sauna means that the riders have an even greater reliance on the tires than normal. As a result, my coverage of the Sepang race has as much to do with the rubber as the riders.

The first sign of this came in the first practice sessions. Despite never having visited the podium at Sepang before, the Bridgestone tires seemed to have a big advantage from the first time wheels turned on the track. As if the hot temperatures and a rain shower on Friday weren’t making life hard enough for the tire technicians there was the added problem of a dirty track. Unlike past years, it seemed that dirt had somehow embedded itself in the track surface and significantly reduced tire traction. The lap times in practice were slower than expected and it was the Bridgestone bikes that rose to the top. In fact, qualifying showed just how big the tire technology gap was in terms of dealing with the unique situation found in Malaysia. Four of the top five bikes were wearing ’stones including pole sitter Capirossi. Gibernau managed to snag second on his Michelins but Hopkins in third and Nakano in fourth were close behind to make it four different bike brands in the top four positions. Anytime the Kawasakis and Suzukis are on the front two rows you know that either hell has frozen over or the tires are dictating the results.

When the boiling hot sun rose on Sunday there were rumors that Michelin had brought in a special container of tires on Saturday night to address the problems found during practice on Friday. These new tires gave a new lease on life to many of the riders as Gibernau topped morning practice with Hayden in third and Rossi in sixth. As long as these new tires could go the distance it looked like the Michelin riders could line up for the race without bringing the proverbial knife to a gun fight.

The race was slow to get underway because the starting lights appeared to malfunction but when things finally went green it was Loris Capirossi that won the drag race to turn. Second place was a four way traffic jam as Melandri on the far inside and Hayden in the middle of the track were split by Gibernau who went in too hot pushing Hayden out into Checa’s space. Hopkins, who was out run off the line on his underpowered Suzuki and was on the outside of the track, got shoved out wide by Checa. The whole gaggle had to work hard to keep everything under control and fortunately no one went down. Melandri was gifted by the turn one chaos and came out of turn two in second place with Nakano in third and Hayden recovering to fourth. Two laps later, Gibernau was again rubbing on Hayden to make the pass into the top four but at the end of the same lap tried a banzai passing move on Nakano for second only to crash and take them both out. This makes for two DNFs in a row for both of those riders. A lap later, Nakano’s temporary teammate Jacque was out with a mechanical problem. Giving Kawasaki another disappointing weekend of having to pack up their pit space early.

As things calmed down, Melandri started to slide backwards while Rossi moved forward. Just a few laps in and it appeared the battle was going to boil down to a firefight between Capirossi, Rossi and Hayden. Those three riders pulled a gap over the following riders and all of them seemed to be running similar lap times. Just over half race distance Rossi made the pass on Hayden for second and then continued past Capirossi for the lead. Rossi was able to up the pace but both following riders were able to stay with him. As the laps wound down, Capirossi used the power of the Ducati to move back to the front, Hayden began to lose the pace and slide backwards and Carlos Checa started to charge forward on his Ducati. With just a few laps to go, the front pair spread out as Capirossi pulled a half second a lap on Rossi. The following pair closed up with Checa making two successive pass attempts on Hayden but ran wide on both allowing Hayden back through. On the penultimate lap Checa made pass stick on Hayden and then quickly closed the gap to Rossi. On the last lap, Capirossi cruised to a comfortable second consecutive victory while Checa came up on turn short on making the pass on Rossi. Rossi’s second place earned him the points necessary to win his fifth premier class title and his seventh world championship.

Hayden came on home fourth while Melandri struggled with his seriously injured foot for a fantastic fifth. Biaggi has another puzzling weekend to finish sixth. The Bridgestone’s carried Suzuki to two top ten finishes, a seventh for Roberts Jr and a ninth for Hopkins, the two riders split by Honda mounted Alex Barros. Colin Edwards rounded out the top ten.

Ultimately, it was a Bridgestone weekend. Some riders not normally seen in the top ten all had strong finishes. Had both Nakano and Jacque not been taken out early, though through no fault of their own, they were on course to improve the Bridgestone record even further. Having two Ducatis on the podium is fabulous for the series but only time will tell if this is an improvement in the bikes, the riders or just a tire advantage in the unique Malaysian conditions. As much as I’d like to believe otherwise I’m fairly certain the later explains the top ten finishes for the two Suzukis.

As for the Michelin riders their tires just couldn’t handle the heat. Both Rossi and Hayden faded in the final third of the race while the two Ducatis were still turning consistent lap times. Nicky’s retreat from second to fourth is disappointing but I’m willing to cut him a lot of slack since he was the top Honda and the second Michelin rider behind Rossi. Sure, he still has some room for improvement but I don’t think he’s to blame for missing the podium in Sepang. Besides, I still think the real battle for him is to continue to beat Biaggi so he can keep his Repsol ride next year. He definitely managed that. Finally, I want to reiterate how amazing it is for Melandri to bring his Honda home in fifth considering he has thirty stitches hold his foot together. MotoGP racing in general requires amazing endurance but doing so in the Malaysian heat with a big hole in your foot is extra-ordinary. Melandri showed back his 250 days that he has an amazing capacity to race through injury and he has proved that one again.

With the Asian sun setting over Kuala Lumpur, its obvious that Capirossi is hot but Rossi is positively radiating. Seven championships and most of them with dominant performances is astounding, including his sewing up this year’s championship with four races left to run. I think Rossi will make it an even eight next year so the other riders better hope the rumors are true that Rossi will go to F1 in ‘07…

[image from the MCN web page.]

Things are big in Malaysia. The buildings are big, the temperatures are big, the distances are big and even the economy is big. With the world’s largest building, the Petronas Tower, Kuala Lumpur has bested the world when it comes to being big. The country has big religion, with 52% of the population being Muslim as well as a large Buddhist and Hindu segments of the populace. The place also has big weather with September forecast varying between huge monsoon rain storms and sweltering high temperatures with stifling humidity. Yup, just about everything is big.

More importantly, for the topic at hand, the Sepang circuit that is hosting this weekend’s Malaysian Grand Prix is a big facility. Not content to have a world class race track it also contains a fancy hotel, a big shopping mall and even a golf course. Even the track itself is big running 3.447 miles in length and containing 15 of the widest variety of corners on nearly any track in the world. The surface is wide and smooth with a mix of slow turns, fast turns, straights and even elevation changes. There are two long straights that start and end a lop and both mean that acceleration and braking power are needed but that is overshadowed by the requirement for great suspension action in the sweeping turns. Turn three, for example, is taken in 4th gear while rocketing the bike from 65 to 155mph, As if the sweeping turn wasn’t hard enough on the front tire, the wideness of the track means that riders can take a long sweeping entrance into the turn meaning the bikes are pushing that front for that much longer. Oh, and turn three isn’t the only fast curve. Turns five and twelve are both taken in third at around 100. Both of these turns, particularly turn twelve, spice things up even more by cresting hills. The riders will need a sweet suspension setup to deal with having the front go light while charging over a hill banked over at a hundred per. The track is big in right side tire wear too as ten of the fifteen turns on the track are right-handers.

The riders are in for a big weekend as well. First and foremost, this is the next big chance for Valentino Rossi to take the title. A top four finish, assuming Biaggi wins the race, is all that is needed for Vale to take home the championship. Since he’s won here two years in a row he is once again the favorite. The excellent handling characteristics of the Yamaha should really shine in Malaysia so expect Rossi to use this in the sweeping turns to make passes.

Speaking of Rossi, this weekend is going to be a big test for Marco Melandri’s courage. Despite 30 odd stitches in his right foot after being taken out at Motegi by Rossi the Honda rider showed up at Sepang to race. Given the degree to which the weather can sap the strength of even perfectly fit riders, it will be amazing if Melandri can even race. If he does run the main event it will be in an effort to get whatever points he can since he is still in the seven rider battle for second place overall in the series.

There is some big motivation over in the Ducati camp as Loris Capirossi is fresh off the team’s maiden win of the season. What’s more, Ducati has never done particularly well here in Sepang so Capirossi is looking to break the drought this weekend. If the Ducati can do well in Malaysia it will also mean that Capirossi can win at a non-Bridgestone track which will be a big statement indeed.

Finally, this weekend is also represents a big break for a few riders. First, Shane Byrne is been asked to ride the Camel Honda to fill in for the injured Bayliss. A week ago, it looked like Byrne was locked up in a contract with KTM who would no longer be racing this season, effectively ending the Brit’s chance continue racing. Now he is not only back in the paddock but has a multi-race deal to ride a semi-factory Honda which is perhaps the most coveted ride in the pits. Clearly this is a big chance for him. Second is Olivier Jacque who is getting another opportunity to ride the factory Kawasaki. However, rather than bring a wild card he is instead substituting for Alex Hoffmann who injured his foot in his recent accident in Japan. Since there is a big chance that it may rain, Jacque may be another chance to show off his rain riding skills after his big finish in China earlier this year.

Not everything is big, though. There are some little things too…

The first little bit of information is that James Ellison is back from injury and will be again riding the WCM Blata bike this weekend. Since the team still doesn’t have their new Blata engineered V6 Ellison will again be riding last years bike which is little more than a fancy Yamaha R1. As a result, he has little chance of a good finish.

There is also little hope for Max Biaggi keeping his title hopes alive. Even if the Honda rider could pull out a win over Rossi this weekend, it is very likely that his countryman will still finish close enough to the front to tie up the title. Biaggi is now racing to secure his fourth championship runner-up finish (and his seventh top three). If ever the FIM decides to retire someone’s number, it should be to hang up the #2 in honor of Max.

Finally, there is little rest of the weary. The Sepang race comes one week after the race in Japan and the Losail race is less that one week away after this one finishes up. Expect this run of three straight fly-away races to test the endurance of the riders and the organization of the teams.

All in all, it should be a big weekend of racing…

[image from the Sepang Circuit web site.]

As I mentioned in my post-race review on Tuesday this past weekend’s race at Motegi was overshadowed by the crash between Rossi and Melandri. I think everyone that saw the race will agree that the accident was Rossi’s fault as he ran into the back of Melandri’s Honda while braking into the corner which then took them both out. Even Rossi has admitted the crash was his fault, as least to the degree that any interview or press release will ever directly state such a thing. Even though Melandri was one of the two people with a mathematical chance of challenging Rossi for the 2005 MotoGP championship, I also think that most people will also agree that there wasn’t anything inherently malicious in the accident. Rossi made a mistake and ran into his countryman but he did not seem to be deliberately aiming to take him out. As a result, the accident has been declared a “racing incident". In most cases, this would end the matter…

…but in this case, it doesn’t just stop there. First, there is the fact that Melandri was in the title hunt and thus had the most to lose in the event of a DNF. Since Rossi could basically sit out the rest of the season and probably still win the championship a catastrophic accident wouldn’t necessarily end his championship hopes but the Motegi DNF for Melandri did close the door on his ‘05 title aspirations. That means the issue deserves a deeper look to make sure it is addressed fairly.

Then there is the fact that Melandri was injured when the footpeg of his bike dug into his right foot. Any time a rider is seriously injured in an accident, especially when that accident was caused by another rider, the issue should be examined. Rossi wasn’t injured and will be racing this coming weekend in Malaysia but Melandri’s taking part is still up in the air.

Third, there is the issue of the opening race of the season at Jerez when Rossi hit Sete Gibernau in the last corner and punted the Spaniard into the gravel trap. Rossi went on to win the race and to celebrate wildly while Gibernau fought to get his bike back on track and to finish second. That crash was determined a “race incident” by the governing body. As the saying goes “Fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me.” One racing incident is an accident but making a habit of it means dangerous riding. Time to look closer yet at what happened at Motegi.

So the FIM, the mostly Italian ruling body of MotoGP has their Race Direction committee take a look at the footage and then puts out a press release saying that a protest of the incident by Honda charging Rossi with dangerous riding was unfounded. Okay, incident reviewed and ruled on. End of story, right?

Well, I don’t think so. There aren’t any provisions in the FIM’s rule book for protesting the FIM itself but I think it is about time it happens. Want some data to back up that accusation? Look at this timeline of a select few events from the last decade:

On Oct 25th, 1998 - Italian Loris Capirossi on the Italian Aprilia 250GP bike crashes into his teammate Japanese rider Tetsuya Harada on the last turn of the last lap at the last race of the year in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The accident puts both riders into the gravel but Capirossi is able to get back on the asphalt and finish in second place. Harada can’t get back underway and ends the race in the gravel trap. Coming into the race, Capirossi held a three point advantage over Harada but a win from the Japanese rider would have earned him the 1998 250GP championship. After the accident, Capirossi was initially disqualified but then his second place finish was re-instated after review by the FIM. In the end, Capirossi won the 250 title that year and was not penalized for causing the accident.

Now jump forward five years to Oct 5th of 2003 at Motegi, Japan. American John Hopkins gets into the first corner on the first lap way to hot and rams his Suzuki into the Japanese made Yamaha of Carlos Checa and the Italian made Ducati of Troy Bayliss. All three riders go down. Race Direction determines that Hopkins was riding in an irresponsible manner and he is given a one race suspension.

That same day at the same track, Japanese rider Makoto Tamada on a Honda is racing for a podium finish in front of his home crowd. In the closing laps, he makes a close pass on fellow Honda mounted Spaniard Sete Gibernau to take third place. Gibernau is bumped off track, doesn’t fall down and returns to finish forth. Race Direction looks at the evidence available and decrees that Tamada’s pass was an example of irresponsible riding. He is disqualified from the race and his third place finish nullified.

Then jump forward to the same track one year later. On Oct 19th, 2004 Italian Loris Capirossi charges up the inside of the first corner and then can’t get his Ducati slowed down. He slams into John Hopkins (Suzuki) which starts a crash that eventually collects Americans Kenny Roberts (Suzuki), Colin Edwards (Honda) and Nicky Hayden (Honda). Honda’s Max Biaggi, also on a Honda, also goes down. Biaggi is in the points battle for the championship and the crash effectively ends his chance of going for the title in ‘04. Both Hopkins and Roberts are injured in the crash. Race Direction reviews the film and announces it is just a racing incident and no penalty is warranted.

Earlier this year, at the first race of the season on April 10th there was the now famous incident at Jerez. Valentino Rossi in his second year on the Yamaha is racing with his old nemesis Honda mounted Sete Gibernau for the race win. In the last corner of the last lap Rossi goes up the inside hard on the brakes and runs into Gibernau which pushes the Spaniard off track and into the gravel. Rossi goes on to win and proceeds to celebrate quite wildly. Gibernau gets back on track and finishes an angry second. The FIM overrules a protest from the Movistar Honda team and assesses no penalty against the Italian.

Now this past weekend, Sept 18th there were two incidents. First, in the 250GP race, Spaniard Jorge Lorenzo on a Honda is trying to come back from forth place to get on the podium. On the last lap he tries to pass both Honda mounted Dani Pedrosa and Aprilia mounted Alex de Angelis for second. While hard on the brakes, Lorenzo gets past Pedrosa but then runs into the back of de Angelis, taking them both out. Both riders are okay and de Angelis remounts to earn a seventh place finish. Race Direction determines this was a case of “irresponsible riding” and issues a one race ban to Lorenzo.

Finally, there is the incident that inspired this blog entry where during the MotoGP race at Motegi Valentino Rossi crashes his Yamaha into the back of championship contender Marco Melandri ’s Honda on lap thirteen. Both riders are out of the race but Melandri also suffers a foot injury. Movistar Honda again issues a protest to the FIM and again Race Direction deems the protest without merit.

Alright, I think the message is clear: Don’t mess with the Italians! Capirossi has gotten away with torpedoing riders twice including doing so once to help win a championship. Now Rossi has done the same. If a Japanese or American rider is involved in a less severe accident, a one race suspension or a disqualification is handed out faster than you can say “unfair application of the rules". Do I think Rossi deserves a penalty for Sunday’s crash? No. It was clearly a racing accident. However, if the FIM is going to penalize Jorge Lorenzo for a similar accident at the same track on the same day then I think they have to be fair in their rulings and penalize Rossi as well. Otherwise, they need to apologize to Lorenzo for chastising his accident while letting Rossi get away with the same thing. Either that or Lorenzo needs to quickly apply for Italian citizenship.

[image from the Yahoo Italy Sports web site.]

I don’t know how you say “crashfest” in Japanese but for the third year in a row the Japanese GP has been defined by the crashes as much as by a victory…unlike the past two years, the big crash this year didn’t occur in the first turn.

I’m getting ahead of myself. From the time the MotoGP teams arrived in Japan one name was consistently at the top of the time sheets: Ducati’s Loris Capirossi. As we saw last year the Bridgestone tires are perfectly dialed in for the Motegi track and the massive horsepower of the big Italian V-4 matches up nicely with the stop/start quality of the the circuit. In practice and qualifying, Capirossi was able to power the Duc to top times and was the only rider to consistently turn laps in the 1.47 range. This continued in qualifying where the diminutive Italian turned in a pole time nearly a half second faster than anyone else. The next surprise, as well as the next point of pride for Bridgestone, is that the second place position on the grid was taken by Suzuki’s John Hopkins. The front row was filled out by Marco Melandri who kept Honda from being shut out of the top three at their home track. The other notable story from qualifying was Rossi who never seems to do wrong…well, he did wrong with bad setup and a poorly timed tire change, both of which conspired to leave the championship leader down in 11th for the start of the race.

When the bikes lined up for the race on Sunday all eyes were on Capirossi. This went double for watching him go into turn one after the green flag fell since it was Loris that caused the huge pile-up there in 2004. Fortunately, he and everyone else made it through safely but it didn’t take long before the track started to inflict its damage on the field. On the first lap, Naoki Matsudo ran off the course on the Moriwaki bike. The high speed trip through the gravel trap apparently damaged the bike and he retired soon thereafter. Motegi 1, riders 0. A couple of laps later, Alex Hoffman hit Roberto Rolfo and sent them both into the kitty litter. Hoffman ended up with a broken ankle and Rolfo missed the chance to get more track time, something he needs if he’s going to impress anyone enough to earn him a better ride next year. Motegi 3, riders 0. Next up was a mechanical problem for Tohru Ukawa, sub’ing for the injured Troy Bayliss on the Camel Honda. Not only did this bring the DNF tally up to 4, it also took out another Japanese rider. The bad news for the local riders continued when Shinya Nakano’s Kawasaki blew its motor. Nakano threw the bike down in disgust. The spirit of Motegi laughed its evil snicker and chalked up the DNF tally to five and sent the Kawasaki team packing. Honda was the next to feel some more pain as first Sete Gibernau and then Alex Barros both crashed out. Since this is Honda’s home track, having two of their star riders visit the kitty litter undoubtedly furrowed the brows in the corporate boardroom. It also meant Camel Honda left with a big goose egg for their effort. The final crash, and the most shocking of the year, was on unlucky lap 13 when a hard charging Valentino Rossi spaced on his late braking in an attempt to pass Marco Melandri which resulted in the Yamaha ramming into the back of the Honda. Both riders went down and Marco took a footpeg through the foot sending him to the hospital. Final tally: nine riders out of the race by half distance. Camel Honda, Movistar Honda, Kawasaki, D’Antin Ducati and Moriwaki all having a complete wash out with their riders exiting the race prematurely. With James Ellison already out (and no replacement used in Japan) and with Team KR not showing up, that meant only eleven riders finished the race.

Having a race with only 11 finishers may be the norm for a rain race but not a dry one. From a PR perspective this has to be considered a disastrous round. Seven crashes, two with injuries serious enough to take the riders out of the next race, are never good for business. A race where people pay $50 or more per ticket and yet only has a handful of bikes still running at the end is a great way to piss off fans. Having the championship battle clouded by an accident is just the icing on the dog crap cake. I suspect the tremors, as well as the legal complaints, from this weekend will be felt for the rest of the season.

But crashes aside, it was actually a pretty interesting race up front. After the Rossi/Melandri crash, Max Biaggi took over the lead. Biaggi is very motivated to do well at these last few races because the current rumor is that Dani Pedrosa will be taking his seat on the factory Honda Respol team next year. Strong results from Max, like adding yet another second place championship finish to his resume, could shift the attention of the Honda bosses to the performance of his teammate Nicky Hayden. Unfortunately for Max, Loris Capirossi really wasn’t going to be denied at Motegi. Having made it through the first turn, avoided the riders crashing left, right and center around him and then parking his Ducati on the back tire of Biaggi’s Honda, he was able to execute the plan he had been building all weekend…namely, being able to consistently turn laps faster on the Bridgestone tires than anyone else could possibly run regardless of their tire brand. Biaggi ran wide in a turn, Capirossi shot through the opening and then just steadily ground out fast lap after fast lap to pull a gap over his fellow Italian. Third place, meanwhile, was nailed down by Makoto Tamada on his Honda.

With a Japanese tire manufacturer winning the race, Honda coming in 2-3 at their home track and Konica-Minolta getting the bike they sponsor onto the podium, it was a good day to be Japanese. (Unless, of course, your name ends in Nakano, Ukawa or Matsudo). Biaggi’s second place earned him enough points relative to Rossi’s DNF that the title chase will stay alive for another race. Capirossi’s win helps rejuvenate both Ducati and Bridgestone with the idea that just a little more work may yet put them on par with Honda and Yamaha and their Michelin tires. Tamada’s podium shows that he has finally recovered from the wrist he broke earlier in the year and may be a serious threat for the rest of the season.

As for Rossi, he may or may not be penalized for his crash. The FIM, a predominantly Italian group, rarely penalize Italian riders and are particularly loathe to do so when a penalty may affect the championship battle. I may talk about my take on the crash and possible penalty in a seperate blog entry later this week. It also remains to be seen whether Rossi and Melandri maintain their friendship after this or whether this drives a wedge between the two of them similar to the break that occurred between Rossi/Gibernau last year. Finally, the chance of Rossi wrapping up the title this coming weekend in Malaysia is a bit less likely since his DNF means that Biaggi gained a few points so the gap between first place Rossi and second place Biaggi is now 112 points.

Expect the air to be thick in Malaysia and the heat to be oppressive…and I’m not talking about the weather.

[image from the Motosport web site.]

This weekend is the first of five consecutive “fly away” races which help close out the ‘05 MotoGP season, this one at Japan’s Motegi Twin Ring Circuit near Tokyo. From there they visit Malaysia, Qatar, Australia and Turkey before returning to Spain for the final race on November, 6th. These fly away races mean the teams are operating out of shipping containers and hotels, rather than their normal garages and RVs, so stress levels will be high. Add in that all four of the Japanese factories consider this “home turf” and figure the pressure on the riders and teams is getting turned up another notch. Then spice the whole thing up by putting the race firmly in the middle of silly season when the riders will most want to impress those very same factory bosses. Ditto that for the two Japanese wildcard riders, Ukawa and Matsudo, who want to do well at their home GP. Finish off the entire thing with the Japanese made Bridgestone tires who expect the best from their technicians and teams…this may be the most intense race of the season.

The track itself, like the Lausitzring in Germany where the World Superbike guys raced last weekend, is not the best track for motorcycle racing. The oval was built in 1997 by Honda so they would have a place to test their Indy cars. They incorporated an infield road course into the design and started hosting GP races in 1999. The bad news: the 2,983 mile circuit crams 14 turns inside the banks of the oval meaning it is primarily a series of short straights linked by second gear corners. The good news: it has a perfectly smooth surface so suspension can be set up for acceleration and braking without worrying much about bump absorption. The other good news is that Honda has their museum at the track which is nearly as good a reason to visit the place as the actual racing. Pretty much everything else fails somewhere between those extremes…the track lacks character other than just being a lot of short drag races and the most memorable thing about it is the “tunnel” made where the track crosses under the Indy oval. Things made of hard walls aren’t usually appreciated on race tracks no matter how novel it may seem. While the tunnel isn’t particularly dangerous, the riders go through it in a straight line at around 90mph, it doesn’t add much either.

I suspect that the track will favor the Ducatis since they have, if nothing else, monster acceleration. The Ducs are often near the front at the start of a race when their horsepower can give them a definite advantage. Well, each of these little straights is a test of a bike’s power so the men in red should be looking good. This is was also Bridgestone’s test track for MotoGP racing for about three years so they have a huge amount of data about the place. Expect the Bridgestone teams (Ducati, Suzuki and Kawasaki) to have the perfect tires for the weekend. Finally, the track is owned by Honda and the company has an impressive string of wins at the track having won the last four back-to-back. There should be no excuse for the Honda teams not to have the perfect setup at Motegi.

As for the riders, its a mixed bag. There are a few people missing most notably Honda’s Troy Bayliss who recently broke his wrist while training on his motocross bike. Also MIA will again be Shane Byrne who is caught in the middle of the Team KR/KTM ugliness. Bayliss will be replaced by ex-Honda GP rider Tohru Ukawa who was previously scheduled to race as a wildcard on the Moriwaki bike. Ukawa is being replaced by ex-Yamaha 250GP racer Naoki Matsudo on the Honda powered Moriwaki framed bike. Japanese wild card riders have a long history of upsetting the apple cart when world motorcycle racing series visit their home. While I doubt either rider is capable of winning this weekend both may well give the mid-pack guys some trouble.

Speaking of Japanese riders, Honda’s Makoto Tamada and Kawasaki’s Shinya Nakano where both on the podium here last year and both riders are a threat to do so again. Tamada is been clawing himself out of an injury caused mid-season slump and Nakano has been waiting for more horsepower to show off his considerable talent. Tamada is healthy again and there should be a revised motor in the green team’s bike this weekend so keep an eye on both.

Rossi is always a threat, though his Yamaha will likely be down on power relative to the Hondas and Ducatis. Still, let me repeat, Rossi is always a threat. If he gets a top two finish, he will tie up GP championship number seven so expect him to race hard enough to be up front but perhaps not be as cut throat as usual when it comes to winning. Edwards needs to do something but no matter how much I want to support him I don’t think he’ll find it in Japan. He’ll be chasing faster bikes and won’t be able to exploit the excellent mid-corner handling of the M1. Likewise, no matter how bad the Texan struggles it won’t be anything compared to the second string Yamaha team of Elias and Xaus…they’ll be fighting with Ukawa and Matsudo.

Capirossi, if he can keep from causing another turn one pile-up, should be strong. He’s resigned with Ducati for ‘06, he’s on the rocket from Bologna and he’s wearing ’stones. Checa has struggled all year and since it is looking unlikely that he’ll be racing in MotoGP next year he will probably continue to struggle. Roberto Rolfo on the D’Antin Ducati just hopes that a decent ride will keep him in the minds of team bosses for a move up the team ladder in the future.

Next up is the army of Honda riders. The thing to watch there is the intra-team Repsol battle. One of the two factory riders will almost certainly get the boot at the end of this season so both Biaggi and Hayden desperately need to prove themselves in front of the Honda big wigs. Hayden is the only one of the two to have won a race this year but Biaggi has been more consistent. Both riders are locked in the six rider battle royale for second place overall in the championship along with Melandri, Barros, Gibernau, and Edwards. With only 17 points separating the first and last in this group Biaggi and Hayden both need a strong finish at Motegi and both should be getting some “special” parts from Honda to help their RC211Vs with the task.

Meanwhile, golden child Gibernau has been in the news lately because of a possible change to Ducati for 2006. Honda may well keep the “good stuff” away from the Spainard’s bike which may end up hurting both parties. Gibernau is probably the only rider really capable of pressuring Rossi over these last races and if he’s denied upgraded parts then Honda has no chance of slowing the Yamaha juggernaut. One person who may benefit is Gibernau’s teammate Marco Melandri as he may suddenly become the recipient of the third “factory” bike that was originally Sete’s. However, I don’t know if this will help because Marco’s problems lately seem to be mental rather than mechanical. His confidence needs to bounce back from his post-Assen tail spin before a faster bike will help. The final Honda rider who definitely needs to be mentioned is Alex Barros. The Brazilian was supposed to be washed up after last season but has been consistent enough this year to be involved in the scrap for second place as well as being the only rider other than Hayden to have been Rossi in ‘05. He is looking to prove that he deserves to be back again next year and he’s done well at Motegi in the past. Given that he is the hardest braking rider in the GP paddock and is riding a Honda he should be well positioned for a good result with the stop/start layout of the Twin Ring.

Over in the Suzuki garage, things couldn’t be a greater contrast. John Hopkins has resigned with Suzuki and has been riding really well over the last few races. His confidence is up and that will be boosted further because of the Bridgestone tire advantage. Meanwhile Kenny Roberts Jr is still without a 2006 contract and is fighting to impressive someone so he will have a ride next year. Both of the American riders were taken out in Capirossi’s first turn accident last year so both are hoping for better this year but their records for this season include a lot of finishes outside the top 10 so anything above that probably counts as success. The only chance they have of running up front is to do daily rain dances.

Like KRJr, Kawasaki’s Alex Hoffman is also fighting for a job near year as it is unlikely that he will be greeted with a contract to ride the Ninja again next year. He hasn’t performed well this season and I don’t expect his breakthrough to come at Motegi. Expect the talented German to be mired in the mid-pack battle with the second string Yamahas, the Suzukis and the Japanese wild cards.

Lessee, that just leaves WCM. Well, they’re showing up which makes them one step better than Team KR who aren’t even making the trip.

Should be an interesting race weekend and by Monday there should be more news about what is happening with silly season. Oh and before I forget, I’m keeping a simple web page to track next year’s riders and will try to get it updated early next week.

[image from the Honda web site.]

Time to do another catch-up, this time a few updates about what has been happening in August that hasn’t warranted a full length write-up.

I think the biggest bombshell for August was the news that Valentino Rossi has signed a one year contract to continue racing in MotoGP with Yamaha in 2006. After a summer of rumors and press leaks claiming that Rossi was going to make the jump to Formula One car racing with Ferrari, suddenly Rossi is solidified in MotoGP for another year. This is great news for Dorna and the FIM both of whom will have the greatest living motor sports personality in their series for another season. It is also great news for Yamaha who will have motorcycle racing world’s greatest rider with their brand name smeared across the side of his bike in 2006. In contrast, this is devastating news for the other riders who were either hoping to sneak in one more shot at a GP title in 2006 before retiring (Biaggi, Gibernau, Barros, Bayliss, Checa) or the youngsters who are hoping to get their big break (Melandri, Hayden, Hopkins, Elias, Pedrosa). Expect the news for the 12 months to again center around Vale.

Speaking of Formula One, immediately after announcing his MotoGP extension Rossi then spent two days testing the Ferrari F1 car. It appears that this is still a pretty serious interest for the Italian though obviously not for next year. Rumors have now shifted to a possible link between Rossi and Ferrari in 2007. Perhaps Rossi is hoping to get a gig with the Italian powerhouse in ‘07 either as a full time driver or a tester. If that happens it will be a birthday, Easter, and Christmas present for the prototype cage racing crowd as they have struggled with boring racing carried out by boring personalities for years. Rossi would make a splash in the F1 world like tossing a elephant into a kiddie pool. Whether he can be competitive a whole different story…he has only been a few seconds off the pace in testing but finding those last few ticks of the stop watch is the difference between a good driver and a race winner. Still, just imagine an Italian driver in an Italian car racing in Italy where F1 racing is tremendously popular…the only thing better would be having him race a Ducati in MotoGP…

Speaking of Italians, it seems as if yet another Italian motorcycle company is struggling. Over the past half decade we’ve had Ducati’s woes (before being bought by American company TPG), Moto Guzzi’s woes (before being bought by Aprilia), Laverda’s woes (before also being bought by Aprilia), Aprilia’s woes (after running out of money and then being bought by Piaggio), MV Agusta’s woes (after being rejected by Piaggio and bought by Proton) and Bimoto’s multiple woes (the latest being resolved after being purchased by a group including members of the Ducati family). Well, the latest Italian motorcycle company to take a dive is Benelli which has apparently shut down production of all their models. Benelli, one of the oldest of the Italian manufacturers, was out of business for a long time after going under in the ’60s but revived in the 1990s. Now it looks like they are again having money problems and unless they can pull out of their nose dive the awesome looking TNT naked bike and innovative Tornado Tre sport bike seem doomed. It is also unfortunate since Benelli is one of the few companies in the past couple of decades that has been willing to go head-to-head with the Japanese in World Superbike racing. Lets hope they somehow manage to resolve their financial crisis and that Benelli continue to make their interesting motorcycles.

One rescue that has already taken place is that of the AMA Supercross series which has found a new home with SpeedTV after being cut loose from ESPN2. This appears to be a move for the better since it seems that Speed is going to make Supercross their flagship motorcycle program as opposed to jamming it in between semi-pro volleyball matches and bass fishing. Supposedly this is a multi-year contract so hopefully this will keep Supercross’s TV status assured for the foreseeable future. It remains to be seen what will happen with AMA Motocross TV coverage which is currently being shown on OLN.

To continue with the TV thread, how about the three Hayden brothers (Tom, Nicky and Roger Lee) who have been making regular appearances on the boob tube. First, Nicky was on the Today show back in June. Then in August all three brothers were on Leno and this past weekend all three were showcased on NBC’s Jeep World of Adventure Sports TV show. With MotoGP growing in popularity world wide all of this TV exposure will hopefully help give the sport a shot in the arm here in the US. I think this is quite possible not only because the sport is incredibly exicting but also because I can’t imagine better spokes persons for the sport than the three Hayden brothers. All three are talented, all three are very professional and all three are just plain nice guys. Keep those cameras rollin’.

One sport that could use some more press is the AMA ‘05 Endurocross race which is scheduled for November 19th at the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas. This sport is the bastard child of an unholy union between Enduro racing and Supercross. Its a fiendishly difficult track that includes many of the challenges commonly found in an Enduro race but built into a tight track that can be assembled inside a sports arena. In the same way that Supercross has shrunk the size and quadrupled the popularity of motocross the AMA is hoping the same will happen with Endurocross which brings the excitement of technical trail riding into a more physically concentrated location. Seems very cool to me and I’d love to see it get more press.

Rossi’s 2006 plans isn’t the only MotoGP news this month. Another bomb that was dropped was KTM suddenly deciding to drop their support of the Team Roberts KTM/Proton project. KTM had been supplying engines to Team KR, as well as footing the bill for the top spec Michelin tires and covering the salary for rider Shane Byrne. Their abandonment of the project has left Kenny Roberts and this Team KR squad up the creek. For Brno last weekend they rolled out last year’s hand built V5 and brought in hired gun Jeremy McWilliams but teething problems with the motor ended their weekend early. It will be a miracle if they can scrap together the parts and funding to run the rest of the season. I had been forecasting that they would certainly be out of MotoGP by 2007 since KTM would be unlikely to build the 800cc motor necessary to meet the ‘07 rules but it looks like things are fizzling out even sooner. If anyone has $20 million or so to invest I think keeping Team KR in the MotoGP game would be a great investment…

With the 800cc rule solidified in MotoGP all the manufacturers are starting frantic development on motors to match the new format. Hot on heels of the press release of the displacement change came rumors that Honda is planning to built a V3 for the 2007 series. As with most bike rumors, only time will tell if that is true. If it is true expect Honda to go all out with a V-5 engined, RC211V based production superbike bike so that they can get some real sales benefit out of their investment in their MotoGP program. If a Hayden replica will be made just point me where to put down my deposit right now.

In lieu of buying a MotoGP based V5 sport bike then I wouldn’t mind picking up something from an auction of 130 classic bikes previously owned by Gilbert Tiger which will take place in Colorado Springs, CO on September 16th. I’ve always had a soft spot in my heart for 1960s era single cylinder bikes so the BSA and Ducati bikes in the collection look particularly nice. Still, I don’t think any of these will end up in my garage since I’m still struggling with the choices available for when I finally buy a new sport bike much less trying to get rid of something else to make room for a vintage bike…

My final August Odds and Ends item is the great news that money for a new motorcycle fatalities study has been tucked away in the 2005 transportation bill that was recently approved by the US Congress. Given that motorcyclists have been forced to use the ancient Hurt report which was done twenty five years ago as the basis for all discussions resolving around bike safety, a more modern examination of motorcycle accident statistics is long overdue. It will undoubtedly take many years to gather all the necessary data to get meaningful results but once this study is complete it promises to have far reaching impacts which will hopefully help with rider training, design of safety gear and a better focus of legislative action as it relates to motorcycles.

[image from the Team KR KTM/Proton web site.]

As I mentioned in my weekend race preview blog entry the big news for the MotoGP race weekend would probably center on Valentino Rossi. Well, I’m some what disappointed to say that I was correct…not because I dislike Rossi but because I always want to see a race series offer up exciting and competitive racing. Rossi’s four year MotoGP romp has become predictable…

The break over the past four weeks have given the racers and teams an opportunity to regroup after a a summer in which Rossi has crushed his opposition winning eight of the ten races coming into Brno. The R&D departments at the various teams and tire companies have been working overtime trying to match the Yamaha/Michelin pairing but the lack of new equipment at Brno was someone surprising. Honda has some tests scheduled immediately after the Czech Grand Prix to try out some new parts on their V5 but didn’t race with any major new parts in the race. Bridgestone did bring some new tires and it was obvious during qualifying that the Ducati, Kawasaki and Suzuki teams found definite improvement in the new rubber. Otherwise, the bikes were mainly unchanged from what was wheeled into the garages at the end of the previous race at Sachsenring, Germany.

After a frantic qualifying session, Sete Gibernau put his Honda on pole ahead of Nicky Hayden and a resurgent Loris Capirossi. Rossi was next, joined on row two by Melandri and Checa. In addition to the two Ducatis, the Bridgestones also carried Hopkins to the middle of the third row with Barros ahead and Edwards behind. Gibernau looked strong all through qualifying, meaning this may actually have been his best chance of winning a race, something he desperately needs after being repeatedly beaten earlier in the season by Rossi at Jerez, Le Mans, Catalunya and Sachsenring.

With everyone hoping that Gibernau would have what it took to run with Rossi, the racers gridded up for the race. At the start, both riders charged to the front and immediately started to pull a gap over the following pack of Melandri, Hayden, Capirossi and Barros. By lap two, it was clear that the race would be another titanic struggle between the two bitter rivals. With each lap, the two riders exchanged the lead and steadily pulled away from the battle for third. There Hayden, Melandri, Capirossi and Barros all fought in a tight pack. These intra-rider struggles slowed the pace which bunched up the group a little but it also allowed a hard charging Biaggi to join the fray.

Just like in the first races of the season as the race progressed Hayden started to drop back while Biaggi surged forward. Unlike early in the season, Melandri also started to fade and Capirossi charged forward. A the laps wound down the battle appeared to boil down to a Rossi/Gibernau duel with a rapidly closing Capirossi tantilizing close to his second podium of the year. At the beginning of the last lap, Rossi made his move on Gibernau and again went into the lead. The Italian was able to pull a small gap but not the kind of unassailable lead that he was able to open in the rain in Britain. Gibernau seemed to hold the gap at around one second and clearly had the intention of making a lunge for the win at the final chicane. Unfortunately, he ran out of gas on the final 1/3 of the last lap denying him an opportunity to challenge Rossi. The post-race story is that there was a failure with the fuel injection system on Sete’s RC211V. From a psychological point of view this bike failure is sure to have confused things inside the Spainard’s helmet. One one hand, he was yet again denied a win and a win is the only thing that can restore Gibernau’s confidence. On the other hand, the mechanical DNF gives his battered ego an excuse after again being smacked by Rossi so his confidence may not have gotten any lower. Gibernau’s misfortune gifted Capirossi with a second place resulting in Ducati’s best finish of the season. It also rescued Biaggi’s race taking him from a 10th place qualifying effort to the final spot on the rostrum. With Biaggi’s future role at Honda still in doubt his third place finish goes a long way towards keeping him on the company payroll.

Another rider whose performance at Brno probably helped his chances for 2006 was Brazilian Alex Barros, who fought with Capirossi for the second half of the race, whose eventual fourth place finish was his fifth top five of the year. Hayden held on for fifth but his drift backward after running third in the early stages probably didn’t impress him or the Honda bosses. Likewise, Melandri’s inability to return after the summer vacation to the form he showed over the first few races of the season means he continues to slip down the championship order - falling to third behind Biaggi in the title fight. At the end of the weekend Rossi has expanded his lead to 132 points. Biaggi is three points up on Melandri who has a three point gap over Edwards. Gibernau is in fifth, with Barros in sixth and Hayden in seventh, these three riders separated by only three points.

The Czech GP was the last race on European soil until the final race at Valencia in November. This marks the beginning of the “fly away” races with the first being three weeks from now in Japan, followed one week later by Sepang, Qatar a week after that, Phillip Island in mid-October and finally Turkey a week after that. These non-European races test the riders, the teams and the tire manufacturers as they have to ship everything they need to these remote locations. There are six more races spread over the next 10 weeks. That means a total of 150 points are left on the board given that a win pays 25. Rossi only needs to win one more race this season to tie up his 4th MotoGP championship and his 7th GP title.

Whether it is returning from the break between seasons, between teams or just a month off between races Valentino Rossi always seems to pick right back up where he left off…by winning!

[image from the Gizmag web site.]

Normally, I would do my weekend race preview on Friday but with the Iron Butt Rally riders returning to Denver at the end of this week I thought I’ll pull the preview in one day so I can give another IBR update after watching some of the IBR riders return from the first leg.

There are two races this weekend and both have something in common. Both venues are defined by their terrain as both are built in rolling hills. Second, both are classic courses making them among the best visited by their respective series. Finally, in both cases the main news for the weekend focuses on the two championship leaders. In fact, if the headlines on Monday aren’t focused on the two title favorites, then you can bet the biggest news will in fact have something to do with them anyway! In this case, the two events are the MotoGP Grand Prix of the Czech Republic at the Autodromo Brno and the AMA Superbike Suzuki Big Kahuna Nationals at Virginia International Raceway.

The Grand Prix weekend at Brno should be the most interesting of the two as the MotoGP riders are returning to the final third of their season after a four week break. This means that injuries will have healed, which is especially important for John Hopkins, Makoto Tamada and Tony Elias, and the tired bodies are rested. The riders that have been struggling have had some time to find motivation, those that have been under the pressure of Rossi’s mind games have had a month off to rebuild their shattered confidence and the engineers back in the R&D labs will finally have a chance to try out their latest miracle fixes for whatever ails their non-winning machines. Going into the break, it was obvious that Rossi was in the cat bird seat as he currently holds a 120 point lead over Melandri after winning all but two of the races so far this season. With 25 points awarded per win Rossi only needs two more race wins from the remaining six in order to clinch his 5th premier championship title.

The battle for second place in the championship race couldn’t offer more of a contrast compared to the battle for the lead. While Rossi is running away out front there are six riders all within 15 points of each other in the fight for the runner up spot. Currently Melandri is at the front of the scrap but only by one point over his teammate Gibernau. Another spot and another point behind them is Edwards who is then trailed by a single point by Biaggi. When four riders are spread only a single point apart you know there will be some fireworks over the next few races. With Barros and Hayden tied for sixth a further 12 points behind Biaggi it really is anyone’s guess on how the final title points tally will look.

The last three races (Laguna, Donington and Sachsenring) have shown that Rossi is the only rider with any consistency what-so-ever. The riders that have tried to build some momentum, like Hayden, Edwards and Biaggi, have all struggled during at least one round. Hayden was the golden child at Laguna with his amazing win and was equally impressive taking the third step on the Sachsenring podium but then fell off in the rain at Donington in between those results. Edwards was 2nd and 4th in the US and UK but then slipped to 8th in Germany. Biaggi has a pair of fourth place finishes but also got bitten by the rain in Britain. The only other consistency has been with DNFs. Melandri fell twice in a row before bringing it home in seventh at the Sachsenring. Likewise, Checa and Bayliss have two falls each, though the Spaniard was fifth in the wet and Bayliss was 6th in the California sunshine. Gibernau is the only rider to show improvement, going from a Laguna 5th to a DNF to second. None of these guys have put together the kind of mid-season charge needed to beat Rossi on track and none have had the consistency to stay close in the points. The final rider news is the big fat question mark that will be hanging over Shane Byrne’s head given the recent melt down between KTM and Team Roberts. I think it will be a miracle if the TeamKR bike can even take to the track since the engine, rider and tires are all in doubt.

What is certain is that the 3.36 mile Brno circuit should, as it has done for nearly 20 years, provide some great racing. As I mentioned back in my Brno World Superbike race preview back in July the track is what all motorcycle race tracks should be: fast, challenging, safe and scenic. It is laid out on the hills outside Prague and the resulting elevation changes give the track a distinct character. Imagine Assen with its high speed turns and off-camber turns but laid out in the Czech hills rather than the plains of Holland. The track is filled with bumpy high speed sweeping down-hill turns which means that riders need to have near telepathic communication from their front tire. With the track being unusually wide this also means that those with confidence in their bike setup and with a bucket load of courage will have plenty of passing opportunities. Roughly half the track is taken in third gear or faster which means a bike will average over 100mph over the course of a lap and will top out over 180mph on at least two different sections of the track. This is a seriously cool track!

The AMA boys double header at VIR, in contrast to the MotoGP race, marks the penultimate round of their series with only a double header at Rd Atlanta in one week remaining. Also unlike the MotoGP series, the points battle in the superbike championship is far from decided. Thanks to two DNFs (one a mechanical failure and the second being taken out in someelse’s crash) Mat Mladin has a narrow nine point lead over his Yoshimura teammate Ben Spies despite having put on a commanding performance so far this season with eight wins. Also unlike MotoGP, the contest for the second place is more spread out with the recently resurgent Eric Bostrom trailing Spies by 54 points and Aaron Yates a further 18 points behind Bostrom. This means that Spies has enough of a cushion that he can afford to go for the broke at VIR in an effort to beat Mladin.

It is consistency that has kept Spies in the fight, especially over the last three races where he’s had a 4th, a 2nd and a 3rd, but he needs some wins in these final races to really have a shot at the #1 plate. Mladin had a second at Laguna and a first at Mid-Ohio before being torpedoed by Yates in the second Mid-Ohio race and so is still the favorite coming into this weekend…only a fool would bet against him. The fight for third doesn’t look good for Yates as it is Eboz that has earned the most points over the last three races with two wins and one third. Yates was on the podium at Laguna but then he threw his Suzuki into the dirt in both Mid-Ohio rounds which allowed his Ducati mounted rival to jump ahead of him in the title hunt. The stats would indicate that Eboz is on a roll and has the upper hand in the fight for third.

The stage upon which this end of season drama will take place is a beautiful 17 turn, 2.25 mile laid out on the the hills near Danville, VA. The venue is a classic road race circuit, unlike the NASCAR oval infields which fill out a third of the schedule, and thus one of the better events on the calendar. It is made even better because, like the Suzuki Cycle Fest that I attended last weekend, it is being promoted by RPM. They understand how to make an event successful by providing a variety of things to do above and beyond the racing. In this case, those attending the VIR event will not only have the opportunity to watch the AMA races but we also see a go kart event comprising teams made up of AMA racers, moto-journalists and fans. If the racing doesn’t do it for you SpeedTV will have a huge display area, there will be screening of the movie Faster, a motorcycle stunt demonstration team will be performing, there will be live music in the evenings and a vendor area for those interested in shopping for motorcycle gear. This is a seriously cool event!

Not a bad weekend of entertainment, whether you’re watching a great GP race at Brno on TV or if you’re lucky enough to be attending the AMA superbike weekend in Virginia.

[image from the Autodromo Brno web page.]

There isn’t any racing among the major series this weekend, though our local MRA club is racing at Pueblo Motorsports Park. With the MotoGP squad going on their traditional mid-summer break, this seems like a good time to reflect on one of the riders that I haven’t mentioned much this year. The person most deserving of some press despite what the raw statistics would indicate is Suzuki rider John Hopkins.

From what I can tell, John is the hardest working guy in MotoGP racing. Since he entered the MotoGP paddock in 2002 he has been saddled with an underachieving bike. In 2002, Hopkins dove right into the Grand Prix world turning fast laps and turning heads despite being on a two-stroke Yamaha at the dawn of the four stroke era. Over the course of the season he had four top ten finishes, including a best place finish of seventh at Assen, which was a very respectable showing for a GP rookie. Unfortunately, his enthusiasm for riding the bike despite being outclassed by the new 990cc four strokes also lead to crashes. Despite some top ten finishes at the end of the season he was only ranked 15th in the championship.

That display of hard riding then earned him a two year contract with the Suzuki factory to ride their GSV-R MotoGP bike. While getting a factory ride was a step forward the bike was, like Hopkin’s old 500cc two stroke Yamaha, not up to the task of running with the super fast Hondas, Yamahas and Ducatis. Hopper responding by over riding that bike for two straight seasons. He again had some outstanding rides including a 2003 season best of seventh at Jerez and sixth at Estoril in 2004 but also had a rather long list of DNFs thanks to both the bike crapping out and him throwing Suzuki down the track. When his Suzuki contract came to an end his standings in the title chase were a lowly 17th in ‘03 and 16th in ‘04. For 2005, he resigned with Suzuki and has another season of ups and downs…his best result this year has been another seventh, this time in China but he has also had three DNFs. He currently sits 15th in the 2005 championship.

Based on results alone, it may be hard for someone to understand why I’m so impressed with the 22 year old. By way of illustration of why, I’d like to recount his last two races of this season. First, the Donington Park from back in July. At this race, the sky opened up and flooded the track. Of the 21 riders to start the race only 11 finished and of those John was the final rider across the line. The reason for his last place result was that like 10 others, he crashed during the race. But after his crash, he was the only rider to drag his dirty bike out of the gravel trap, ride it back to the pits for repairs and then rejoin the race. In a race series that is often filled with prima donnas the fact that Hopkins was willing to got back out and keep riding means he deserves every one of the five points that eleventh place finish earned him. Having the work ethic to get back on a crashed bike and race, even when its cold, rainy and miserable is good for the rider, good for the team and is good for the sponsors. If you aren’t standing on the top of the podium then every lap you turn on a race track is a valuable lap in the hopes it makes you a little bit faster the next time out.

My second example of Hopkins’ dedication is that he followed up his Donington Park performance by riding at the Sachsenring after a qualifying crash that was so vicious he had to be helped on and off the bike. The crash dealt out a broken foot, sprained ligaments in his hand, bruised ribs and just a general beating all over his body. Despite having an excellent excuse to call it a day and prep for this chance to drive a Formula One car at Silverstone he instead got on the bike and was actually riding hard in the race before a second trip to low earth orbit sent him back to the medical center. Now I’m not saying it was necessarily smart for him to race after that first accident but it says a lot about his character that he tried.

Now I know that character alone doesn’t win championships. However, I think that Hopkins has always tried to make up for what the bike lacked by riding over the limit. This has often cost him race results but he deserves a lot of credit for his drive and enthusiasm. Its that sort of effort that allows us race fans to ponder what things would be like if he were on a bike capable of running at the front rather than sticking his neck out lap after lap for a 10th place result.

One final observation to back up this view of John Hopkins…I’ve been watching a lot of my old video tapes lately and have thus had a chance to watch races from late 90s through the present. One thing that has been painfully clear is that everyone that has ridden for Suzuki for the last decade has faced the same issues. Even going back to the glory days of Kevin Schwantz in the late eighties and early nineties, the Suzuki GP bikes have never been as good as the Hondas and Yamahas. What Schwantz did to win against Lawson, Rainey, Doohan, et al was to ride over the limit lap after lap. As a result, his wins were memorable and his crashes spectacular. His 1993 world championship was perhaps the most deserved of any rider, if only because of the physical abuse he took to earn it…just two years later he retired from GP racing. The same story is true of Kenny Roberts Juniors 2000 500cc championship, though unlike Schwantz most of KRJr’s amazing get-offs happened after his title rather than before. Roberts rode convincingly en route to his 500GP crown but his title defense the next year was a disaster, highlight mainly by brutal crashes. In the years since that crash filled 2001 season he has steadily reduced the number of crashes but his race results have suffered as well.

I think everyone that rides for Suzuki’s GP team becomes a familiar face in the gravel traps of the worlds’ race tracks. As a rider you can either dial it back to save your skin (like Roberts Junior seems to have done this season) or you can try to over compensate for the machine’s failings in the hopes that your efforts are eventually rewarded with either a championship or a ride on a better bike. Lets hope that Hopkins gets a better ride in 2006 so we can see what he can really do…I’m not sure he can survive another year on the Suzuki.

[image from the John Hopkins web site.]

KTM has, perhaps, been the motorcycle success story of this decade. Like Triumph in the 90s, the little Austrian company has grown from a small niche market company to one of the major players in the European bike market. Their product line has exploded from a purely competition dirt focus to a line-up that includes motorcycles for dual sport, adventure touring, supermoto, MX/SX, trail riding, and may soon add a sport bike. With last month’s announcement of a 25% stock purchase by Polaris, KTM may now have the capital to grow even more. This may mean they finally get their awesome 990 SuperDuke homologated in the US and may also guarantee production of their RC8 Venom sport bike. Expect the 990cc version of their engine to show up in their other bikes like the Adventure and Supermoto, should they get it cleared through the US DOT with the SuperDuke. But I generally talk about road racing, to let me take a moment to focus on their recent accomplishments in that arena:

KTM entered the 125GP road racing class in 2003 using a bike designed by noted two stroke expert Harald Bartol. (Bartol’s involvement was key as he had previous success with Grand Prix engine design at both Yamaha and Derbi.) At the time, the plan was clear: To built a 125 bike and get a few years of experience in the Grand Prix world before unleashing a big four stroke GP bike on the MotoGP class. The rationale apparently being that this would break them out of their reputation as a two-stroke dirt bike company and pave the way for competing for street bike sales against established companies like Ducati, BMW, Triumph and the “Big Four” Japanese manufacturers….sort of like win on Sunday, sell on Monday but instead being compete successfully in a new field of racing and gain immediate street cred in that arena.

By their second year in the 125 GP Championship, KTM had scored their first victories with Casey Stoner and scored a top-10 finish. This year they announced an increased effort with a three rider team and so far they have been challenging for the title since the first races. For this year KTM also announced that its plans had changed: they would no longer be running a team in the MotoGP series (cost being sighted as the factor in that decision) but that they would instead be building a 250cc two stroke for the 250GP class. Additionally, just before the start of the 2005 season, it was announced that Kenny Roberts would be running the KTM V-four engine had been building for MotoGP in his Proton chassis and would be running KTM’s traditional orange colors. Clearly, KTM was still going to make a splash in the Grand Prix world.

The introduction of KTM’s new 250cc Grand Prix bike was delayed until the soggy Donington round of the MotoGP championship this past July. Given that the bike had only been tested once prior to the race and the fact that this would be a learning season for KTM in this class (just as the 2003 season had been in the 125 class) it would be fair to have expected a less then stellar debut. Unfortunately no one told that to rider Ant West, once pegged by none other than the legendary Michael Doohan as a future GP champ, who proceeded to run an astounding race to earn an eventual second place finish. The rain is always an equalizer and it not only took out a bunch of front runners due to crashes but also played to the strengths of wet weather specialist West. Still, a second place finish on the bike’s first outing was fantastic not matter what the contributing factors might have been. Perhaps even more encouraging is that West followed that up with a 10th place finish in the dry at the next round at the Sachsenring in Germany. It seems that the 250, like the company’s 125s, has made the leap from drawing board to competitive racer in a very short time.

In the premier class the KR Proton/KTM collaboration has been less successful. Going up against Honda, et al, has always been a David versus Goliath story for Kenny Roberts but the switch to four stroke bikes has caused the costs of development to sky rocket. While KTM’s motor appears to be good, both parties lack the funds necessary to further develop it. It remains to be seen what this means for 2006 or, worse yet, for 2007 when all the engines are restricted to 800cc. I would love to see KTM in MotoGP but given the struggles of much bigger companies like Suzuki and Kawasaki, I don’t think they’ll really take the plunge. Likewise, Team KR doesn’t have the funding to build an entirely new engine on their own. I’m afraid the MotoGP partnership has a pretty bleak future.

Outside of their newfound roadracing success, KTM has continued to find victory in their traditional avenues of off-road racing. This past winter they earned their fifth straight Dakar victory, capping off a year in which they won 17 world titles including World MX2, World Euduro2, World Euduro1 and World Supermoto S1. KTM even had a strong showing in the US Motocross and Supercross events which are more prestigious than the World MX and SX series.

It seems Team Orange is really on the move. BMW, Triumph, Ducati, Aprilia and all the other European manufacturers better keep a close eye over their shoulders. KTM is coming for them and is coming strong.

[image from the webBikeWorld web site.]

The way to make a diamond is to take the proper material, basically raw carbon, and then put it under tremendous pressure for a long time. In the end, the black carbon is transformed into a naturally clear, incredibly hard diamond. Well, perhaps the best sign that Hayden has finally come of age is that he is now being subjected to the famous Rossi pressure.

After qualifying it was birthday boy Hayden’s Honda that would be lining up on pole position for the German GP. During the post-qualifying press conference Vale fired his first shot at Nicky by publicly stating that Gibernau and Biaggi are the threats at the Sachsenring circuit, not Hayden. In the past, Rossi has focused his psychological death ray on Biaggi, Gibernau and Melandri…to devastating effects in all three cases. That he is now spending some time bad mouthing Hayden is perhaps the strongest sign yet that he considers the Kentucky Kid a threat.

When the bikes lined up in front of an amazing 95,000 fans it was time to see how Hayden would respond to this first attack. He did so by launching off the line and immediately pulling an eight tenths of a second gap over chasing Rossi. So far, so good. Then John Hopkins got sent into low earth orbit after getting high sided off his Suzuki which resulted in a vicious landing. As Hopkins lay writhing on the track, the race was red flagged. On the re-start, it was again Hayden with the hole shot but Rossi was much closer and quickly took the lead. Gibernau, also under pressure to beat both Rossi and Melandri in order to reclaim his position as a viable MotoGP champ, then charged forward passing both riders to take the lead. Unlike past races where Hayden seemed tapped out just to hang with the leaders this time he was able to take the fight forward to his fellow competitors. He passed Rossi and took off after Gibernau. As the laps wound down Rossi again put the squeeze on Hayden, eventually forcing the pass, and started to apply his patented pressure to Gibernau. On the last lap, Sete again cracked under the strain and ran wide in the first corner. Valentino took his eighth win of the season, Sete recovered to save the runner up spot and Nicky returned to the rostrum for his second time in three races.

I know I’ve focused on Nicky Hayden a few times lately but I’m still thrilled to see him growing so much this season after stalling out most of last season. I think that one thing he still has to learn (in addition to learning how to race in the rain!) is dealing with pressure, both in the press and on the track. Being a great racer isn’t good enough.,,Biaggi, Gibernau and Melandri all fit that mold. To beat Rossi, it takes more than just talent, work ethic and an amazing bike. It also takes a mental toughness that seems generally lacking in the MotoGP paddock these days. The real test of whether Hayden will ever be a MotoGP champion is how well he parries to the Rossi attack. He got a little taste of the battle before the race but also spent quite a few laps with the Italian breathing down this neck on Sunday. While Rossi ultimately won the race, Hayden was able to get some important schooling…lessons from which he was able to learn. As long as the 24 year old can keep growing as a rider, his hopes for a world title aren’t misplaced.

As for Gibernau, he needs the upcoming three week break more than anyone. He’s been crushed season after season and needs to regroup after being badly pummelled over the last couple of months. Its been over a year since his last win and its been his own mistakes that have plagued him since the first race of the 2005 season…he is still feeling the tremors from that last corner bump back at Jerez.

Biaggi is also continuing a trend, mainly that he qualifies and starts poorly but comes on strong to rescue a reasonable finishing position, a forth in this case. Honda is rumored to have a new frame and Biaggi is rumored to have run it at the Sachsenring. I think Max needs more than new bike parts to fix his problems, after all Melandri, Gibernau, Hayden and Barros have all run at the front this season. Like Gibernau, Max is being played by Rossi like a puppet and desperately needs to get back to racing on his own terms rather than on Vale’s terms. He’s had his best shot at getting his head together over the past few months because he was off Rossi’s radar. His Repsol seat probably has Pedrosa’s name on it already so now all he can hope for is to salvage a Honda satellite ride for next year. That’s a lot to think about for three long days…

Melandri seems to have come apart like a cheap tissue since his incredible performance at Assen. It was at the Dutch track that The Doctor dropped his psychological bomb on Marco and the stats at ground zero don’t look good: a crash at Laguna, a crash at Donington and now a seventh in Germany. He is just barely maintaining his second place in the standings and has probably lost all hope of taking the MotoGP title this year. Melandri has to regroup and come back strong at the Brno circuit in order to salvage any confidence for 2006. At least he’ll be fighting for runner-up against fellow Rossi victims Gibernau and Biaggi…

Ducati and Suzuki both desperately need the three week break, perhaps worse than anyone else. Both teams have been mired mid-pack for most of the season despite their riders putting forth heroic efforts. Roberts’ second place in the rain not withstanding, all the Bridgestone teams have been struggling just to see the tail end of the Honda/Yamaha bullet train. Whether this is a tire problem or a bike problem is hard to tell but Kawasaki’s brief flashes of improvement haven’t been mirrored in the other two team’s results. Suzuki needs the break doubly bad since John Hopkins’ two crashes this weekend mean he needs to cram a six week recovery time for his broken foot into the MotoGP mid-summer 21 day vacation. Given how many times Ducati’s Carlos Checa has crashed this season, its amazing he isn’t nursing broken bones as well. Still, he’ll probably need the break to turn down the volume of that bell ringing noise in his ears.

And finally, Rossi needs to take a little break as well. Why? Well, he’s been doing quadruple duty this season by racing for Yamaha, educating the young guys, crushing the old guys and sticking it to Honda all at the same. He’s gotta be tired! Besides, he needs to build up his energy for 2006 when he’ll be doing it all over again.

[image from the Nicky Hayden web site.]

Rossi, Rossi, Rossi…yeah, I know that all I do is talk about Rossi. Well, really now, what other choice is there? The guy is an animal. Besides, Rossi keeps finding new ways to make utter domination stay exciting. At Donington, Vale spent 22 laps looking like he was on the ragged edge. He was getting kicked out of the seat about once a lap, sliding the bike in every corner and even ran off the track once. He duped the entire viewing audience into thinking he was at his limit. Then, with seven laps to go, he ups the pace *two seconds per lap* and then holds that pace for three consecutive laps. Even if we’re tired of him always win it remains pure magic to see what he can actually do on a motorcycle regardless of the track conditions.

So why all this talk about Rossi when previewing the German round of the MotoGP series? Because he will again be the person to watch. Rossi has won every race but two this season: He was beaten in the rain in Portugal and by two of the yanks at Laguna Seca. Now he goes to one of the few tracks he doesn’t like and at which he hasn’t won a race in the past two years: The Sachsenring It would have been three years had a crash in 2002 not taken out the two front runners and gifted the Italian with win. Rossi doesn’t like the track and credits his distaste for the track in its preponderance of left hand turns. Unlike Laguna, which Valention also didn’t like, he has a lot of experience in Germany and has regularly been on the premier class podium. Still, any chink in the Rossi armour is something worth talking about. This may be his opponents best chance for the remainder of the season to take the battle to the Yamaha rider. In Rossi’s corner is that this is his 150th Grand Prix start, that he has won twice here in two support classes and that he holds a 104 point lead in the ‘05 championship. As always, don’t count out Rossi.

The old computer geeks in the audience will remember that the Colossal Cave Adventure, game, circa 1980, had a section with various rooms described with titles like “a maze of twisty little passages". Well, that is pretty apt description of the Sachsenring circuit. Directly off the front straight there is a tight series of first and second gear corners that is unlike anything else on the GP calendar and that compromises about one third of the track’s 2.28 mile length. Then, like Alice going through the looking glass, the remaining two thirds of the circuit is a completely different world and one that is seen mainly with a distinct left hand slant. After emerging from the go-kart track, there is a series of five left hand turns all taken in third gear at over 100 mph. Then, after a quick right hand kink, there is another string of two second/third gear left-handers before being shot back onto the 180+ mph front straight and back into the maze to do it all over again. Getting a bike to handle the slow transitions while also being stable on the fast left-handers is the secret to having a winning bike. Having some serious stones is the secret to having a winning rider here, as all those left hand turns really burn up the side of the tire.

For the other guys, well, both Biaggi and Gibernau have had wins at the ex-East German track
over the past two years. Both badly need good results to salvage anything from the 2005 MotoGP season. Hayden and Melandri were both expected to do well at Donington but the rain threw them a curve ball. They have to get great results at the Sachsenring or lose the small amount of momentum they have been able to generate this season…especially since silly season decisions are at this very moment being made by pissed off Honda managers at boardrooms back in Japan. Speaking of momentum, Yamaha has more to look forward to than just Rossi. Colin has finished in the top four at the last three races and those results have propelled him into third in the championship, only one point away from being tied with Melandri for second. Yamaha’s goal in adding the Texan to their factory MotoGP team was not just to win the riders’ championship but also to win the manufacturers’ title as well. Their investment in Colin is really beginning to pay off and, given the two Yamaha teammates’ attitude towards Honda, I’m sure they both find their chance to go one-two for the season to be especially sweet. Doubly so if the points from that help Yamaha carry home the manufacturer’s trophy.

There are still seven rounds left in the season but it may already be too late for anyone to stop Rossi from carrying the #1 plate in 2006 but there are still six riders fighting for the runner-up position. The one that can keep the throttle screwed open with the left hand side of the tire smoking hot is the one that will earn much needed points towards that championship fight.

[image from the web site.]

The month of July is almost over so here is this month’s list of items that aren’t gonna get longer write-ups. This is the third of my “Odds and Ends” postings so it looks like this is going to be a monthly occurrence during these crazy summer months.

The Long Way Round web site has news that an extended version of the Long Way Round TV series is being shown in England. This new edit of the series is ten episodes long and includes some new footage not shown in the original. Lets hope that Bravo will opt to air this enhanced version of the series. On the down side, there still isn’t any news about a US release for the DVD.

As long as I’m talking about Long Way Round, I read on a few different web sites that Charlie Boorman is entered to compete in the 2006 Paris Dakar rally. Better yet, it is supposed to be filmed for British Sky TV. Since SpeedTV dropped their Dakar cover and OLN did a poor job with their coverage last year, perhaps Bravo will pick up this new series in 2006 and give us Dakar fans another way to get our fix.

Also in Paris Dakar news came a press release that this is the first time in the events 26 year history that the rally registrations for all classes have been filled as early as July. With more applications received than spots for participants and with those applications showing up earlier in the year than in the past, the 2006 Paris Dakar is proving more popular than ever before. What is surprising about this is that the event run this past January featured two fatal accidents, including Italian superstar Fabrizio Meoni. Many, including myself, felt that these deaths might dampen enthusiasm for rally racing. It is great to see that interest in the sport is still booming despite this year’s tragedy.

The news that shocked me the most this month was the press release from Polaris Industries that it is purchasing a 24% stake in Austrian motorcycle manufacturer KTM for $80 million. This agreement means that Polaris and KTM will cooperate on R&D (hmmmm…KTM motors in Polaris ATVs?, Victory assembly line technology helping KTM ramp up their manufacturing) and that KTM bikes can be sold through the Polaris/Victory dealer network. Even more intriguing is the news that in two years, either KTM will buy back the 24% stake purchased by Polaris or Polaris will buy the remaining 76% of KTM. The combination of Victory and the new line of KTM street bikes could put some serious hurt on Buell. Victory gaining a sport bike line-up and KTM engineers gaining much needed knowledge with ATV, watercraft and cruiser products. My hope is that it speeds up the importing of the 990 SuperDuke which I’m seriously lusting over as Victory’s involvement may help KTM speed up US DOT approval for their 990cc motor.

In another case of me waiting for something cool to make it to the US, it looks like a second volume of the Joe Bar Team comic has been translated into English and should be available in Britain some time this year. Aerostich carries the first volume, so hopefully they will carry this one as well. Less exciting is the knowledge that they are up to volume seven in the author’s native French language and it has taken something like 10 years to get the first one translated. Volume seven may not be available in a language I can read until 2015…I can probably learn French faster than that!

Another import, English born John Hopkins, is set to test Red Bull driver Antonio Liuzzi’s F1 car at the Silverstone track. Even more fascinating, Liuzzi is supposed to ride Hopper’s Suzuki MotoGP bike. Putting a non-racer, even if they are an experienced motorcycle rider, on a 250hp Grand Prix bike seems fairly dangerous. Then again, maybe this is part of the plan since it seems like the Red Bull F1 team is hoping to get rid of Liuzzi anyway.

In other MotoGP news, a French court finally resolved a lawsuit filed against Alex Barros by Altadis after Barros broke his two year contract with the Gauloises Yamaha team early to accept a ride with the Camel Honda team this season. The court ruled against Barros which resulted in fines, penalities and court costs which will total over two million Euros. Ouch! I don’t know what Barros’ salary has been for the past few years but surely two mil takes a bite out of the old retirement fund.

The final news is my favorite: The date for the 2006 USGP race at Laguna Seca has already been set for July 23. Tickets go on sale September 1st. You can be sure I’ll be on the phone first thing that morning!

[image from the Yahoo Italy Sports web page.]

Britain is know known for many things but perhaps its most famous feature is it’s weather. Think of Jolly Olde England and you probably think cold and wet. Last weekend’s race at the historic Donington circuit in Derbyshire was unusual, even when judged by the normal English weather standards. It rained…it poured…it dumped…it was so bad that only 75,000 fans showed up to watch the race. (Wait! 75,000 shivering fans showed up in chilly torrential rains to watch a MotoGP race?!?! Damn, add England to the list of countries I should be living in!). A drenched track combined with 250hp motorcycles is a recipe for disaster but more on that later.

When the green flag flew and the field sloshed its way into turn one it was Sete Gibernau that came out the other side with the lead. Just like in Portugal earlier this year, Gibernau pulled a significant gap on the first lap despite the harsh conditions. In my pre-race blog entry I commented on how Honda riders Melandri, Hayden and Biaggi were the ones to watch this weekend. Well, if you took my advice you could have turned your TV off at half race distance. It only took that long for all three, along with Gibernau, Bayliss, Xaus, Bryne, Ellison, Battaini and Nakano to park their bikes in the Donington gravel traps. In fact, only eleven bikes finished the race and one of those was two laps down after a crash. When only ten bikes out of a field of twenty one finish a race without crashing, you know it was a brutal day at the races. Perhaps even a disasterous day.

As the Hondas threw themselves down the track (five of the seven Hondas were out within the first six laps) it was Alex Barros who emerged as the best hope for a V5 victory. He was joined up at the front by the two factory Yamahas of Rossi and Edwards and the two factory Suzukis of Roberts and Hopkins. Yes, you read that right, the two Suzukis were running at the front. I told you it was a bizarre day.

As is to be expected, “home boy” Rossi, now living in London, was the favorite no matter what the weather conditions. While Gibernau was watching his chances of this year’s championship evaporate like the steam off his mud covered Honda, Rossi inherited the lead despite a frantic battle with Edwards, Roberts, Hopkins and Barros. Hopkins took a turn at the front, surely shocking even the die hard Suzuki faithful with the idea that there was a chance a Suzuki could win this thing. That hope was somewhat diminished when Hopkins ran off the track eventually returning to the race two laps down after some hasty repairs in the pits. Rossi seemed able to comfortably retake the front position whenever he wanted. He also seemed comfortably able to recover from near-crashes and displayed that comfort nearly every lap. His luck nearly ran out in the middle of the race when he ran wide at the Esses but a miracle save allowed him to pull it back onto the track after only losing a couple of seconds. Barros and Roberts traded the lead, while Rossi put in some fast laps to catch back up and retake the point. Edwards eventually faded back from the lead trip after a few exciting moments of his own and with seven laps to go Rossi put the hammer down to record three consecutive fastest laps. Everyone, including Barros and Roberts, had to be impressed by that. Those laps, with seven still to go, sealed the fate of anyone beating the Italian maestro on this day. Rossi cruised to the win while Roberts snuck under Barros in the last few corners for second. Barros closed out the podium and Edwards trailed them home in forth.

The final damage? Rossi now holds a 104 point lead over Melandri in the championship. Edwards vaults from fifth to third, only one point down on second. Roberts’ second place finish should have all of Hamamatsu going crazy as it was the first time a Suzuki as been on the rostrum since 2002. Barros’ podium shows there are still tricks left in the old dog, especially when the track is damp, which should be helpful now that silly season is in full swing. It was also another harsh bath of salt water for the wounded Repsol factory Honda team. Expect more heads to be rolling in that garage if things aren’t dramatically different at the Sachsenring this coming weekend.

[image from the Tiscali Europe web site.]

Two weeks ago, the international MotoGP and the domestic AMA series were racing on the same track. Now, two weeks later, things could hardly be more different.

The MotoGP series is visiting Donington Park in England. The track is a great layout and is blessed with fresh pavement thanks to a repaving job last year. The 2.5 mile long circuit is highlighted by four fantastic right hand turns, all taken at 70+ miles per hour and two different straights with speeds topping out over 150. Unfortunately, this high speed ballet is interrupted by a “S” shaped section which has the riders bogging in first gear. The bikes have to be set up for the high speed stability and fast transitions required in the sweeping stuff while also being able to handle the hard braking and acceleration that come with the stop-n-go section. Achieving a setup compromise will be crucial but, as with Assen, expect the Yamahas to be strong any time handling is more key than outright power. This is made even more likely since Rossi has historically dominated at the English track, having won here four times (five if you count his 2003 win which was later nullified because he passed under a waving yellow during the race). If Rossi isn’t in front this weekend, it will probably be because Melandri, Gibernau and Biaggi aren’t either. Rossi is close enough to a fifth championship that he doesn’t need to risk a crash while fighting with those out of title contention. The riders I’ll be watching the most closely are Marco Melandri, Nicky Hayden and Max Biaggi. Melandri is probably the only rider with any chance of catching Rossi for the #1 plate and he needs to quickly rebound from a lousy round at Laguna Seca. Hayden, just the opposite, needs to continue the momentum from his USGP victory if he wants to prove that wasn’t a Yankee version of the Rising Sun Syndrome (in which Japanese riders can dominate in their homeland but then struggle when it comes to putting together a championship run). Finally, Honda officially announced this weekend that Dani Pedrosa will be graduating from the 250s to MotoGP next year with a full factory contract. That probably means Repsol and that probably means either Biaggi or Hayden are getting the boot at the end of this season. With Hayden both young and still improving, that puts a tremendous amount of pressure on the Roman Emperor…and history tends to show that Max never does well under pressure.

Meanwhile, the AMA racers are at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. Like Donington, serious effort was put forth last year to improve the track. Unfortunately, the bulk of that work was grinding down the sharp edges from the concrete patches used in the turns to prevent cars from breaking the asphalt. While the grinding helped with the transitions to and from the concrete it created an amazingly slippery surface in some of the turns which resulted in a record number of crashes last year. The 2.4 mile long road race course is perhaps the twistiest track on the AMA calendar and thus the worst (except perhaps the high speed stuff at Rd. America and the NASCAR ovals) in which to have questionable traction. However, there are some similarities between the MotoGP and AMA weekends. First, rain is threatening both which could play a huge role, especially at Mid-Ohio which doesn’t normally race in wet conditions. Both races also have championship leaders who hold a significant points advantage over their competitors. Mladin, like Rossi, can afford to play it conservative in Ohio. Moreso because Mladin has perhaps a more strategic view of racing than his Italian GP counterpart who may well get the red mist just to have the satisfaction of beating everyone else at any given track. Expect Mladin to hang it out, if the conditions allow it, for one more victory to consolidate his championship lead, if not this weekend then the next, then play the points game until he wraps up title #6. The riders to watch in Superbike are Ben Spies, Eric Bostrom and Neil Hodgson. Spies still needs to beat Mladin straight up in order to cover one of his goals for this year and the chances for doing that are rapidly dwindling. He also still has a long shot at the title and has to gain points in a big way this weekend if he’s to win his first superbike title this year. Eric Bostrom seems to have returned to his ways of old but has to continue running at the front (finishing 3rd while 20 seconds down doesn’t count as running at the front) to prove it. Finally, Neil Hodgson’s fortunes have changed dramatically since he showed up at Pikes Peak with crashes and DNFs seeming to be the norm. He needs to create a reversal of his luck this weekend since race wins (and a renewal of his contract) are all he has left to shoot for this year.

Finally, silly season is upon us. Expect every racer to put in a little extra effort for the next few months to prove their value and to justify their ride. I’ll try to put together a silly season web page over the next month to track who ends up where.

[image from the MIVEC web page.]

Since I can’t actually read the web, less I find out the results of the tape delayed World Superbike races from Brno, Czech Republic, I’ll take some time this evening to talk some more about last week’s USGP.

First, I think there are two different groups that demand, or at least expect, some changes to be made before the 2006 USGP. First, the riders want additional efforts made to improve security around the track, specifically by moving the wall along side Turn 1 further back into the hillside and also expanding the run-off in Turn 6 further into that hillside. Yamaha ponied up the big bucks for the track improvements this year as part of their 50th year anniversary marketing/PR campaign but I doubt they’ll be quite so free with their cash next year. Unless someone else opens up a real fat checkbook, making these safety changes will be difficult. (Needless to say, I’m sure more that one person is trying to drum up some serious intra-corporate rivalry between Yamaha and Honda right now!)

Second, the spectators seem to be pretty clear in condemning Laguna Seca for being unable to cope with the sheer volume of people that showed up this year. Parking, and thus traffic in general, was very poorly organized. I waited two hours on Saturday to get into the track and ended up parked about a mile from turn 2 where I eventually watched the races. Even when we took the free bus on Sunday, we ended up walking in from the main entrance because the bus was stuck in a traffic jam. I probably did as much hiking at the MotoGP races than I do hiking in Colorado! Traffic wasn’t the only thing backing up…the bathroom facilities, the food vendors and the souvenir booths were all insufficient to deal with 60,000 fans. I spent an hour in line for an event T-shirt on Friday and that was when lines were relatively short and all the merchandise was in stock. By Sunday the lines were hours long and many items were sold out. Food was another frustrating issue. As a vegetarian, I’m used to limited choices but the lengthy lines combined with price gouging meant my wife and I just packed snacks on Sunday saving both time and money. I’d originally read that the track improvements would include terracing the turn 2 hillside but instead it was just a steep, hot and dusty incline. The viewing was great but it wasn’t an ideal location to sit or to slide down. I think that Laguna needs to address at least some of these issues in order to keep up attendance. Otherwise, like in the early 90s, a great event will continually decline until it is no longer financially viable.

If, as rumored, Laguna got a break on the normal Dorna fees for the first two years of the five year contract then the SCRAMP officials need to spend some of that extra profit on improvements. If they can get a corporate donor to help then perhaps they can address the issues from both the riders *and* the fans. If not, they’ll need to carefully balance their future improvements so that both groups continue to come back year after year. I’ve read many suggestions on various web sites with suggestions on making next year’s event go more smoothly. I don’t pretend to know all the constraints that SCRAMP and Laguna Seca are up against but I do know they’ve been burned once before (’88 - ‘94) and hope they are smart enough to work hard to prevent it happening again.

[image from my photo collection.]

I’m not a particularly patriotic type. Over the past few years I’ve come to associate a lot of flag waving and proclamations of American pride with bullheaded moralizing and blind support of an power mad government. But this past weekend I was genuinely happy to see Nicky Hayden riding a victory lap of Laguna Seca while flying the Stars-n-Stripes.

I had the good fortune of going to California this past weekend to watch the first running of a Grand Prix race in the US in eleven years. The event was huge, drawing over 40,000 on Friday for practice and selling out with nearly 60,000 showing up on both Saturday and Sunday. Cramming in practice, qualifying and races for the MotoGP stars, the AMA series and the SuperKarts made for a busy weekend. Adding in demo laps for the fans, a few laps of honor for the Motoczysz C1, Randy Mamola’s two-up rides and some stunt shows by Christian Pfeiffer meant every minute had something for the fans to enjoy.

Getting to see and hear the MotoGP bikes live was definitely the highlight of the weekend. The races could have been more closely fought but were interesting nonetheless. Likewise, the track experience could have been more enjoyable as the Laguna Seca staff seemed completely overwhelmed by the turn-out: hours long traffic delays, hours long lines for the souvenir booths, insufficient seating, insufficient food and overloaded bathroom facilities. To that add in $4 sodas, limited access to the MotoGP paddock with pit passes and embarrassing goofs during the national anthem to really challenge the fans. Having laid out all those complaints, it might seem I didn’t enjoy the MotoGP weekend. Fortunately, the thrill of experiencing the MotoGP race in person more than made up for the negatives and hopefully the Laguna staff will be working to improve these issues for future races.

As it turned out the race was Nicky Hayden’s to lose. From the first time he turned a wheel on the track on Friday he was fastest. In the first practice sessions, his closest rivals were the other riders with prior experience at Laguna Seca: Troy Bayliss, Colin Edwards, John Hopkins, Alex Barros and Max Biaggi. Seven different riders broke the Laguna Seca motorcycle track record in the first practice session giving some further evidence to explain why Suzuki isn’t just running their GSXR in MotoGP. This trend continued in Saturday’s qualifying session where Nicky was the only rider to break into the 1:22 lap times turning not just one but three different twenty twos with a best of 1:22.670 earning him his first pole position.

The race was the final opportunity for Hayden to strut his stuff and strut he did, leading from flag to flag. Nicky pulled a two second gap in the first three laps then maintained it for the next 29 for the win. Each time Rossi or Edwards tried to close the distance Nicky would crank up his lap times in response. It seemed the entire audience of 60,000 fans were urging the #69 Honda on and the final lap was one continuous explosion of noise. Needless to say, it was a popular win and was made all the more emotional when Nicky came around on the victory lap with his father on the back. We fans had all that much more to cheer about during the podium presentation because Edwards held on for second place with Rossi filling out the roster.

Equally interesting was to see how the various riders responded to the Laguna Seca track. Rossi was vocal about lack of safety at various points around the track particularly in turns one and six. Marco Melandri was even more vocal but less specific. Considering he had never been to the track, Rossi qualified second and finished third. Not bad. Melandri, on the other hand, had very different weekend by qualifying eleventh and then crashing out of the race resulting in his first result outside the top four this season. Another promising young rider who struggled at the Monterey circuit was Yamaha’s Tony Elias who started outside the top 15 and finished 13th while still healing from a broken wrist. Most disappointing was Alex Barros who started on the first row but was then taken out in Melandri’s crash. Likewise, wildly popular Troy Bayliss looked like he was going to return to front running form but then ran sixth for the entire race. John Hopkins rode much harder than his eighth place finish would indicate, regularly harassing the faster Hondas and eventually finishing as the top Bridgestone rider. His Suzuki teammate Roberts, Jr had an opposite experience fading lap after lap until he took the checkers a sad 14th.

All these stories are just sidelines though. The day was all about the young American Nicky Hayden and his maiden GP win…hopefully the first of many to come.

[image from my photo collection.]

There won’t be any new postings on the blog for the next few days as I’m doing the motorcycle geek equivalent of running away to join the circus. However, in my case I’m jumping on a plane and heading for Laguna Seca for the upcoming MotoGP races. While I’d love to have ridden out, I don’t have the vacation time at work necessary to turn a four hour flight into a two day ride. I chewed up most of my leave on our two week motorcycle trip to Spain earlier this spring. As a result, I’ll be arriving at the track each day in a car rather than on a bike.

Usually I post a race preview on the blog at the end of each week. Well, I wrote one up for the USGP and was thrilled when Roadracer X magazine agreed to post it on their website. Just follow the link and read my preview there. This is the second time they’ve printed one of my articles so I’d love it if you’d support them. Chris and his crew print an awesome publication and I’m honored to be associated with them, even if its only in their electronic format. If you like roadracing and enjoy what you read on the web site then you should subscribe…you’ll love it.

I’m really looking forward to being at Laguna Seca for the return of GP racing to this country. I’ll be there Friday collecting swag, checking out the track and watching practice. I’ll be back again on Saturday to watch qualifying and the support races. Then my wife and I will both be there on Sunday for the main event. I’ll probably be walking around in a moto-gasm induced stupor but will hopefully remember enough to do some write-ups next week about my experiences.

I’ll probably be wearing a floppy green hat, a yellow “Rossi” T-shirt and babbling incoherently. If you see me, feel free to say “hi’. If you have any suggestions on best places for spectating, I’d love to hear ‘em too. Thanks for reading and I hope you too will have the opportunity to be at Laguna Seca this coming weekend.

[image from Laguna Seca Raceway web site.]

Once again, I find that I have a backlog of things I wanted to post on the blog but not enough time to do long postings on each one. Presented here is my second installment of “Odds and Ends".

A month ago, I did a blog posting about some Dunlop posters that were being offered for sale with the proceeds going to a good cause. Well, if you have more money to spend and want an even cooler thing to show for it, there is an auction of signed motorcycle gear being hosted by RPM with all the money earned from the sale going to help injured motorcycle racer Vincent Haskovec. The list of stuff up for sale is amazing and its guilt free since you’re helping someone in need. Bid soon and bid often.

Another news item which raised my eyebrows was an announcement from the AMA that the Daytona 200 would again be a Formula Xtreme race in 2006 but that the Superbike race would again be promoted as the premier race. My first problem with this is that it implies that the AMA has the luxury of determining what is or isn’t the premier class. I’d say that the fans determine that. If the fans feel let down by the Superbikes being removed from the 200 then Superbikes aren’t the premier class. My second issue with this is that it doesn’t really clarify anything. The AMA seems unable to make up their minds about the how to continue their recent commitment to Superbikes through 2008 while at the same time promoting their vision of Formula Xtreme as the direction the series should be going. Looks to me like they are tabling this whole issue for another year by sticking with a confusing class structure and confusing priorities at Daytona for another year.

I did a blog posting back in April about TV viewership of MotoGP races in Europe. Well, another report came out showing 50% viewership of the Catalunya MotoGP race in Italy and 33% viewership in Spain. 50 - freaking- percent!?!? Is that amazing or what? Obviously I’ve got Italian blood somewhere in my past. Maybe I should move to Italy and see if it feels like home?

Rossi makes bank according to the Forbes annual survey. No real surprise there but this is probably the first time a motorcycle racer has shown up near the top of a salary survey since the days of Barry Sheene. Just another sign of both how professional the MotoGP series has become and just how valued as a rider Rossi really is. We’ll have to see if Yamaha can afford to keep Valentino on the payroll when his two year contract comes to an end this year.

During the MotoGP weekend at Assen a press release hit the air waves saying that HRC and Repsol have agreed to terms that will continue to see Honda’s MotoGP team sponsored by the Argentinean oil giant through 2007. What is interesting about this is that earlier this year, it appeared that Honda was in a tight spot with Spaniard Sete Gibernau being the Honda rider that earned full factory support but having a Repsol contract that prevented a full factory bike from being handed out to any team except the one in the Respol HRC factory garage. Some agreement was apparently reached which allowed Sete to get a full factory bike and now the Honda/Repsol contract has been renewed. There isn’t any indication of whether the new contract contains the same restrictions as the previous one. Could Marco Melandri now be the next rider to get full factory support without being on a Respol bike?

I saw somewhere, and unfortunately I’ve forgotten exactly where, that the Australian postal service issued a set of five postage stamps last year to honor Australia’s Grand Prix motorcycle racers. I couldn’t google up any good links but the stamps were printed for Mick Doohan, Wayne Gardner, Daryl Beattie, Garry McCoy and Troy Bayliss. Damn, now I can’t decide if I should move to Italy or Australia!

My favorite news item, though, were the details about the British Superbike “R6 Cup” series. At first, it looks just like any other spec bike race class. Lots of riders racing on identically prepared bikes. However, there are two things that make this one particularly interesting. First, all the bikes are prepared by the same crew (sort of like the International Suzuki Cup series bikes). Riders are randomly assigned a bike at the beginning of the race and the bikes are returned immediately after the checkered flag. No monkeying around with the bikes allowed. The riders pay a flat rate to lease the bike for the race season. The second, and biggest difference, is the prize. At the end of the season the rider that wins the series gets a full factory Superbike ride the following year with the Virgin Yamaha team. Sweet! What a dream deal for a young rider. Last year’s winner, Tommy Hill, has performed well this year in his factory debut and is rumored to have the same ride next year along side the winner of the 2005 R6 Cup championship. Bravo to Virgin Mobile for helping bootstrap the British Superbike series.

[image from the Fast Dates Calendar web site.]

Since I’m avoiding reading the web today (so that I don’t learn the results of the Misano World Superbike races before they are televised Tuesday afternoon) I thought I’d do a follow-up to my blog entry from a couple of weeks ago which touched on the 250GP class.

The 250 race this past weekend at Assen was fantastic. Unlike many of the early races of the season during which championship points leader Dani Pedrosa ran away from everyone, this was a tight battle which wasn’t decided until the last lap. In fact it wasn’t won by Pedrosa at all which gives us the hope that there may yet be some challengers to keep Pedrosa honest in his quest for a second straight 250GP title. Finally, it held that extra bit of excitement which comes from watching a rider fight through injury to card a good finish. Throw all those ingredients together in the incredible Assen TT circuit and you have an exciting race indeed.

The winner of this mighty battle was the Aprilia mounted Argentinean Sebastian Porto. In my preview for the first race of the season, I picked Porto as one of my favorites for the season. Two DNFs in Catalunya and France have basically taken him out of the championship fight. All he can hope for now is to earn some wins and show he is still a force in 250GP. His strategically run race in Assen was a good way to send this message. His double pass for the lead was the best move of the race and perhaps the bets of the season. With silly season underway, he needs more of these moves to justify his ride.

For second place Dani Pedrosa, Assen was all about maintaining his points lead. With Porto basically out of the points chase, Pedrosa only needed to worry about Stoner and Dovisioso. With them coming in 6th and 7th in Holland Pedrosa continued to build on his points lead which is now up to 37 points over Stoner. I think Pedrosa had a brief thought of pushing for the win but when Porto pushed under him and upped the pace Dani was satisfied to bring his Honda home in second. Champions know when to go for the win and when to get the points that are available.

I think that third place finisher Jorge Lorenzo was the best story of the Dutch weekend. The 18 year old Spaniard was involved in a crash with Alex de Angelis at Catalunya which resulted in a broken collarbone. He immediately went to a hospital in Barcelona and had the broken clavicle pinned and plated. A mere 12 days later he showed up in Assen to race. Most presumed he was there just to collect some points but he thrilled everyone by taking pole position. He then leap off the line at the green light and lead the race. He didn’t just lead the race for one or two laps but instead the entire thing until both Porto and Pedrosa passed him with on lap to go. Despite the injured shoulder, Lorenzo appeared to be the most physical rider in the 250 class. When transitioning the bike through the chicane at Assen, Lorenzo was throwing his body off the side of the bike with such violence I thought surely he would wash out the front tire. This dramatic style, combined with his recent surgery, made him the center of attention. While its unfortunate he couldn’t hold on for the win, his podium finish is a Cinderella story not unlike those that Marco Melandri put on during his 2002 season in the 250 class. Keep your eye on this kid!

Disappointing at Assen were both Aprila mounted Casey Stoner and Honda mounted Andrea Dovizioso. Both have emerged this season as Pedrosa’s primary challengers but neither was able to hold the pace of the front runners at the TT circuit. They need to keep pressure on the young Spaniard if either one have any hope of winning the 250 championship this year and 6th/7th place finishes aren’t going to accomplish that. Since the 250s aren’t racing at Laguna Seca, their next race will be July 24th at Donington Park in England. Lets hope the one month break helps them return to their competitive ways. Then again, if Lorenzo is healthy by then he may become the primary threat to Pedrosa. If he gets third with a broken collarbone, what will he do when he’s healthy?

[image from Jorge Lorenzo web site.]

This weekend MotoGP championship leader Valentino Rossi put on yet another masterful display of racing around the 3.75 mile long Assen circuit. As I guessed in my race preview on Friday the Assen circuit definitely suited the Yamaha. Not only did Valentino win convincingly, his teammate Colin Edwards made his second podium appearance of the year with a strong third place. While the Yamaha may not be the most powerful bike on the grid is definitely handles the best. The Yamaha engineers should be proud of their accomplishments on that front.

But its Marco Melandri who should be standing tall this weekend. The 22 year old Italian has been the revelation of the year having scored top four finishes at ever race. He has proven to be the main title contender to Rossi and the top Honda rider…a position which was assumed to be held by Max Biaggi or Sete Gibernau at the start of the season. This weekend in particular was a performance for which Melandri can be proud. First, he lead the race for nine laps and was hounded by Rossi for two long laps without making a mistake before the inevitable pass for the lead. After the pass, Marco was able to step up his pace and hang with Rossi for the remaining ten laps of the race. The result was a 1.5 second gap at the stripe, easily on par with the gap to Rossi that more experience MotoGP racers like Gibernau and Biaggi have had in their races with the dominant Yamaha rider. Additionally, his second place finish was the best of the year for Melandri so he continues to improve with each race.

Another improving rider is Honda’s Nicky Hayden. Over the past four races, Hayden has had two sixth place finishes, then a fifth and now a fourth in Assen. The 10 second gap from winner Rossi looks discouraging but he continues to show that he is learning. In the early laps, he was the most aggressive rider on the track pushing his way through to second place on the first lap. Hayden seems to have improved with both his qualifying and bike setup at the beginning of this year and aggressiveness was the one skill he seemed to lack, even as recently as Mugello. At Catalunya the rider from Owensboro, Kentucky seemed to pick that up with some tough riding in the early laps against Melandri, Gibernau, Rossi and Barros. He then picked that up even more at Assen, showing he is improving at each race. If he can just find that extra tenth of a second per lap, Nicky will be fighting it out with Valentino and Marco. Easier said that I done, I know.

For Rossi, it was another crushing victory, his sixth of the seven races run so far this year. Rossi can win no matter what: Fast tracks, slow tracks, wet, dry, running away or fighting till the last lap. This race used a different approach with Vale getting a poor start and having to charge through over the first few laps to join the front runners. He made it look easy has he carved his way to the front, then stalked Melandri before taking the lead. I think he wanted to pull a bait and switch on his Honda riding countryman by running Marco’s pace for a few laps after going to the front, then picking up the pace to crush Melandri’s confidence. Fortunately, Marco upped his pace as well which gives us hope that Rossi’s reign may yet be challenged. There are still two issues that need to be resolved. First, given Rossi and Melandri’s friendship, did Valentino really push Marco has hard has he was capable? Second, if Melandri does start to pressure Rossi for the championship will their friendship dissolve just as the Gibernau-Rossi relationship went sour after Qatar in 2004?

Edwards took advantage of the sweet handling Yamaha to run the pace of his teammate. In the middle stages of the race, the Texan was actually the fastest rider on the track. With open track ahead of him, it was clear that Edwards was comfortable. However, it took him a couple of laps to get past both Gibernau and Hayden showing he still has to develop the aggressiveness that the younger Honda mounted American is just now learning. Had Edwards been able to cut through slower riders sooner he appeared capable of running the same pace as the two Italians in front of him. His fine podium finish, along with the fourth by Hayden, bodes well for us American fans getting a great show at Laguna Seca in a couple of weeks.

Another big news item was Max Biaggi. He celebrated his 34th birthday at Assen but also earned a $6,000 fine due to careless riding. He ran into both Battaini and Melandri during the weekend. This was amplified when Biaggi’s uncle, a visitor in the Honda pits, physically assaulted Melandri in the paddock. The final insult for the Roman was the race itself. As with other recent races Biaggi sucked in the early laps before charging through to an eventual sixth place. With 250GP championship leader Pedrosa supposedly guaranteed a Repsol Honda seat in 2006, Biaggi better step it up if he wants to keep his factory position.

One thing that definitely isn’t looking up are the Bridgestone tires. Just like at Catalunya, the Ducati, Kawasaki and Suzuki riders all suffered miserable results at Assen. Over the first few laps, the Kawasaki of Nakano and the Ducati of Capirossi both ran in the top five. Both slid backwards as the race progressed to eventually get eighth and tenth place finishes. The Suzukis had a double whammy with both their crappy motor and the crappy tires conspiring to put them nearly a minute behind the leader, finishing in 13th and 16th respectively.

Finally, next year will be an interesting watershed for the Assen track. This year a chicane was added to the track but this winter a drastic modification to the circuit will cut nearly a mile out of the current layout. All the riders have expressed disappointment with the proposed changes as it will ruin the flowing character that has defined this course for the past 75 years. Assen also has a decade long history of drawing crowds of 90,000+ fans. Lets hope that the rider’s lack of enthusiasm for the changes doesn’t affect the ticket buying public or the world stands to loose a great race track based on both layout and attendance…

[image from the Team Gresini web site.]

The racing this weekend promises to be one of the best weekends of the year with racing in both Holland and Italy.

First is the MotoGP race at Circuit Van Drenthe in the Netherlands. This race takes place on Saturday but is being televised on SpeedTV on Sunday. Assen is truly one of the great road racing tracks in the world and it is the one with the longest running tradition of Grand Prix racing. This year marks the 75th Anniversary of the Assen circuit and the 59th Grand Prix race held at the track. In fact, there have been GP races at the Circuit Van Drenthe continuously since 1949! It has been around so long and has such a honored place among the race circuits of the world that it is referred to as the “Cathedral of Motorcycle Racing". With a title like that, you can imagine how popular the Assen circuit is both with riders and fans. The track regularly boasts attendance figures of 100,000 and in 1990 actually had double that number show up. The experience of watching a race at Assen is supposedly right up there with the Italian and Spanish race tracks which means the atmosphere for the riders is electric. As if the crowds aren’t enough, the track itself really allows riders to shine. The original Assen track was laid out on public roads and thus has severe camber changes over the course of a lap. Additionally, it isn’t a track with a lot of tight turns or long straight aways. Its lack of elevation changes and its gentle bends (with the exception of a new chicane added this year) mean that throttle control and ease of direction changes are the key to a fast lap. This isn’t a track where high horsepower equates to fast laps. Even as the track has been converted to a dedicated track over the years the two defining characteristics remain the crowned track surface and the flowing nature of the track. Expect the Yamaha’s light handling traits to really shine around the 3.7-mile circuit. As a result, Rossi has to be the favorite coming into this weekend. Since he won at Assen last year, he is shooting for two in a row. Gibernau won the 2003 MotoGP race at Assen and is again likely to be the biggest challenger to Rossi. (Assuming he has bounced back from the psychological beatings he has taken over the past few weeks at Mugello and Catalunya). Another factor that was highlighted at Catalunya was the tire issue, with Bridgestone riders suffering in the hot Spanish sun. If the temperatures are high in Holland, expect the Michelin riders to again set the pace and the Bridgestone riders to struggle. Finally, it seemed like Ducati found something between Mugello and Catalunya. This weekend will show whether their showing outside Barcelona was a fluke or if they are really back to being contenders. Then again, since they are on Bridgestones it may tell us nothing new at all…only time will tell.

The second race of the weekend will be the World Superbike races at Misano. As with all racing in Italy, thousands make the pilgrimage to the coast to watch the races. In addition, perhaps as many as a million Italians will tune in via TV. Sadly, SpeedTV decided that a bunch of car races are more important that World Superbike, delaying the broadcast of the Misano races until Tuesday and denying us Americans that same privilege. Argh! Misano, like Assen, is a very challenging circuit. In fact, with its own multitude of camber changes, Misano is a bit like a twistier, tighter version of the Dutch circuit but with one section straightened out. The most spectacular feature at Misano is the Curvone which is a long multi-apex left-hander which leads onto the straight. Not unlike Monza, this curve allows the riders to really spin up the tires and slide the bike making for spectacular racing. If this weekend provides a typically hot Italian day, expect the Pirelli tires to help that sliding whether the riders want it or not. Like the situation with the MotoGP race at Assen, the series front runner in WSBK is also the biggest threat at Misano. Troy Corser has a spectacular record at the Adriatic coast track, including double wins in 2000 and nine other podium finishes over the six years the World Superbike series has raced there. Given his performance so far this season and his trend at Misano, it would be foolish to beat against him. If anyone is going to step up and challenge the Suzuki mounted Aussie it will probably be the factory Ducatis who have scored podium finishes in both the previous doubleheaders at Monza and Silverstone. Both Laconi and Toseland have a lot of work cut out for themselves if they are going to challenge Corser for the championship but either can pressure Suzuki mounted series rookie Kagayama who has been struggling lately. All the Honda and Yamaha riders need to make a huge leap forward as they have been inconsistent so far this season. Finally, I expect Chili to do well as racing in front of the Italian crowds always seems to energize this elder statesman of racing. Hopefully he can contain his enthusiasm enough to keep his Honda on two wheels.

So the dilemma for me is whether to check the web on Monday and Tuesday, knowing I’ll end up reading the results from the WSBK race, or to avoid computers until I can watch the race on TV so I will be surprised by the winner. If I don’t have a new blog posting on Monday and/or Tuesday, you’ll know why…

[image from the Assen TT web site.]

This past weekend the high profile Formula 1 car racing series made its only stop on US soil at the famed Indianapolis Speedway for the United States Grand Prix. Unfortunately, before the race even began it was mired in controversy and when the racing was over on Sunday the disgruntled fans actually boo’ed the winner. Not what is expected from a world caliber race and downright shocking when you realize that F1 racing is the most popular sport in most of Europe…this is not a rinky-dink operation in which this kind of problem might be normal.

The first rumblings of the eventual melt-down started during practice on Friday. Of the 10 teams racing in this premier cage racing series, seven of them run Michelin tires (the remainder run Bridgestones). Two of the Michelin drivers, Ralf Schumacher and Richardo Zonta, both crashed in practice due to tire failure. The problem is that the FIA has a rule that teams must race using the same tire that is used for qualifying. Michelin didn’t have any harder compound tires, capable of dealing with the brutal down force generated by an F1 car at full honk on the Indy banking, available for the qualifying session. They requested an exception be made for the qualifying tire rule or that a chicane be added to slow top speeds but the FIA deemed either option unfair to Bridgestone that had tires which appeared capable of racing at Indy. As a result, Michelin withdrew their tire and 7 teams (14 drivers) thus withdrew from the race. When only six cars lined up for the final race on Sunday, the crowd went bananas and the end result was that Michael Schumacher was boo’ed as he took to the podium after his win. The FIA then responding by fining the Michelin teams for actions “negative to the sport”

Talk about a public relations nightmare! Michelin look like they can’t make a good tire. The FIA looks like they don’t care about driver safety. The track looks dangerous. The fans look like idiots. The teams running Bridgestones look greedy for stone walling on the compromise asked by Michelin then going ahead with the race to gain maximum points. Only Bridgestone comes out of the deal looking good, since they brought a tire that could go the distance at the Brickyard road course. Now it has become a nasty finger pointing war.

So given that I’m a motorcycle race fan and don’t give a flip about cars why am I bringing all this up? Well, its because this could well be in our future. The FIM, the governing body behind MotoGP, would sell whatever remains of it’s soul if it thought it could become as popular as F-1 racing. Many of the current rules being put in place, specifically the flag-to-flag rain race rule, were built specifically to increase MotoGP’s appeal to a TV audience. This rule was adopted despite some serious questions being raised about the safety aspects of such a ruling. This is just the latest in a long history of questionable decision making by the FIM in regards to rider safety.

Given that the tire war in MotoGP boils down to the same two tire manufacturers as in F1 (Dunlop also provides tires for MotoGP but they aren’t particularly competitive) it is ironic that the situation seems reversed on the bikes. Michelin virtually owns the MotoGP series while Bridgestone has struggled at really fast tracks over the past two seasons. Bridgestone’s most spectacular problem was Shinya Nakano’s 180 mph rear tire blowout at Mugello last year but even this year the Bridgestone riders seemed to struggle at Catalunya. I’m sure that Bridgestone wasn’t too sorry to see Michelin lose face at Indy given how bad they looked after Mugello last summer!

It isn’t that big a stretch to think that rules could be put in place in Grand Prix to limit tire costs in an effort to stem the hemorrhaging of financial resources by the smaller teams. Teams like Team KTM/Roberts, WCM and D’Antin Ducati need to find a way to increase sponsorship, reduce costs, become competitive with what they have or get out of the sport. The FIM can’t afford to lose more teams, so they may have to introduce rules changes that help. Since tire costs are exploding and since the difference between having first tier tire support and second is at least a second per lap the smaller outfits will never stand a chance against the better funded teams. Also, as the tire wars escalate, the tire companies will take more and more risks by providing softer and softer tires. Not only are these tires less likely to last in the harshest of race conditions, they also cost more which again widens the gap. Finally, the tire manufacturers can’t afford to make special tires for each model of bike so they design their tires around maybe two of the team’s bikes. Michelin, for example, builds their tires for Honda and Yamaha. Team KTM/Roberts, which also races on Michelin, have to make do with tires designed for a different bike. If it matches their geometry great. If not, they will struggle. As the World Superbike series shows, tires may be the first place the FIM looks when it comes time to make changes to improve the competition by reducing costs.

Given the pressure on the two groups…the FIM’s need to both reduce tire cost and increase popularity on one hand and the tire manufacturers struggle to make tires capable of handling the 250+ horsepower dealt out by the MotoGP bikes on the other. It seems that it doesn’t take a gypsy fortune teller to foresee the potential for future MotoGP rules which may ultimately sacrifice rider safety for a more level and affordable series.

Perhaps this is one of the “gotchas” which await the FIM in its quest to match the popularity of F1. As is often the case, the grass isn’t always greener and the complexities of balancing cost, safety and participation may yet create the same PR controversy for MotoGP that has just exploded in the Formula One world.

[image from the Motoplus Germany web site.]

The classic Roman arch is one of the great marvels of engineering. The weight of the entire wall is held in place by one single thing…the keystone. When this critical stone is removed, the entire thing collapses. So it is with the MotoGP silly season and that keystone is, of course, Valentino Rossi.

Rossi is at the end of a two year contract with Yamaha. Unless things change drastically, he will win a second title for the Japanese manufacturer this year taking them from bust to boom as they went over ten years without a premier class title and now have two in a row thanks to the young Italian. He is the most talented rider in MotoGP and probably the most talented ever. No factory will dare fill up their factory seats until it is clear who will have Rossi’s services next year. Thus the entirety of silly season (and the lucrative factory contracts involved) are on hold with all eyes firmly fixed on the #46.

The front runner to collect the signature on their contract has to be Yamha. Rossi, along with his crew, have turned the lackluster M1 into an excellent machine. It is still down on power compared to the Honda and Ducati but its handling is probably the best in the paddock. Throw in Rossi’s magic on the bike and its an unbeatable combination. When you look at the rest of the Yamaha riders, including teammate Colin Edwards, it becomes clear that the bike isn’t yet perfect. Clearly, both Rossi and Burgess enjoy thumbing their nose at ex-employer Honda and Yamaha gives them the budget and technical expertise to continue doing so. Switching to any other brand makes their job that much more difficult. If Yamaha does retain the services of Rossi for another year or two, they don’t need to make many changes. If, as claimed, Rossi and Edwards run similar setups then they need to keep the Texan on the payroll. Not because Colin can win but because he is the ultimate development rider which will be particularly valuable if he’s developing for Rossi. However, it is finally time to pull the plug on the Xaus experience. Just be aware that Sharkskinz stock is going to crash when that happens…

A distant second is the scenario of a return to Honda. This is definitely a case of Big Red needing Rossi more than Rossi needs them. But if there is one thing that Honda has, its money. Lots and lots of money. In an ideal world that wouldn’t play a part but I’m sure even Rossi would have a hard time turning down a disgustingly large offer, should it be made. But Honda has something else and its something no one else in the paddock can offer…a Formula One ride. Rossi is constantly flirting with the cage racing crowd. He has raced (and crashed) in World Rally and has tested both Honda and Ferrari Formula One cars. If there is one place that needs Rossi’s flamboyant personality more than the MotoGP series, its Formula One. (The organizers of both series desperately want him so don’t be surprised to see some political pressure and perhaps even extra money from folks like Dorna to enter into negotiations). If Honda could offer a MotoGP ride with a transition into Formula One, it would be difficult for any other motorcycle factory to match that. Then again, Honda could put him straight into F-1 next year and open the door for a Biaggi, Gibernau, Melandri, Hayden battle in 2006… If Honda does put Rossi back on a RC211V next year, they should immediately fire every rider that is over the age of 25. Keep Melandri and Hayden, bring in Pedrosa and Dovisioso, and have them all learn from the master. Send Barros, Bayliss, Biaggi, Gibernau and Tamada packing. Win now with Rossi and plan for the future with the young whipper-snappers.

The dream situation for most fans would be for Rossi to again do the unexpected and jump ship completely from the Japanese to join Ducati. The idea of an Italian winning the MotoGP championship on an Italian bike would harken back to the hallowed days of Giacomo Agostini winning aboard the MV Agusta. This pairing would add so much excitement to the series that I’m not sure the country of Italy could handle the pressure. The whole damned place might erupt into a combination delirious party and full fledged riot. Another side effect of this would be the breaking of the current “dream team” of Loris Capirossi and Ducati. If Rossi comes into the pit, you can be sure that the current “A” rider would leave. Given the way Rossi has shown up both Checa and Edwards, its possible even the “B” rider (currently Checa) would leave. If there is a hot seat anywhere in the pits, its being teammate to Vale! If the #46 was put on a Duck, the first thing the Bologna engineers need to learn from Burgess is that horsepower alone doesn’t win races. Let ‘em learn from Rossi how to make the Desmosedici handle. Either promote Toseland or Lanzi from WSBK to team with him while they are still young enough to learn how to handle the big power of the MotoGP bikes.

A persistent rumor is that Ferrari wants Rossi to come race for them in Formula One. This is basically the same as the Ducati rumor but on four wheels instead of two. While Rossi’s flamboyant personality would certainly give a boost to the somber atmosphere in the car paddock this does seem like a bit of a stretch. Rossi’s test times in the Ferrari were good but the difference between first and last in any world championship is often measured in mere seconds. The skill required to go from three seconds off the pace to winning races is huge. Rossi seemed good in his F-1 tests but is he great? Is Ferrari willing to put an unproven driver in the seat of one of their cars, even the costs of running the series for a year?

Let me throw out two unlikely but really fascinating possibilities for you to ponder:

First, the ultimate underdog situation. This would be Rossi leaving Yamaha to go to a team that is really struggling like Suzuki, or better yet, Team Roberts. This is unlikely for many different reasons: First, those companies could never afford the price tag of the Rossi Wrecking Crew. Second, it would be such a huge gamble for Rossi that he would have much more to loose than gain. Finally, its unlikely that Team Roberts team will even be around next year and its not hard to imagine MotoGP getting so expensive that Suzuki scraps its program as well. Still, wouldn’t it be amazing to see if Rossi could turn a complete pile into a competitive bike? If nothing else, it would be great for the series to have yet another brand running up front. If either company could get the Doctor on board they first should go immediately to their nearest temple, shrine or mosque and give thanks. In fact, they should probably go to all three! Then they should just do whatever he says, even if its to trash their current bike and lease a Honda or Yamaha.

The second test of your imagination would be to imagine Rossi going after another seemingly unassailable record: That of winning two championships in the same year like Freddie Spencer did in 1985. Honda currently has competitive bikes in both MotoGP and 250GP. With Dani Pedrosa rumored to be moving up to MotoGP next year, the factory 250 has an open seat. Rossi could probably win the ‘06 MotoGP series aboard a RC211V and at the same time mop up the 250GP class aboard a RSW250. Of course, Honda wouldn’t really get anything extra out of this since having Rossi just on their MotoGP would be all the marketing really needed. What’s more, Spencer basically ended his career by wrecking his body running both classes in ‘85 so again Rossi has more to lose than gain. Still, it would be my personal dream scenario since I’d love to see someone racing and winning both classes simultaneously.

No matter what Rossi ends up doing next year, you can be sure that all the other cards in the MotoGP deck won’t be shuffled until its decided. Silly season won’t start until the private negotiations for Rossi come to an end.

[image from the Yahoo UK Sports web site.]

I’ve been doing my best to cover the two major world championships so far this season. Both MotoGP and World Superbike have had dominating race winners, compelling challengers and some exciting racing. However, that focus means that I haven’t talked much about how some of the other world series are shaping up. For this entry I’ll focus on the two “quarter” classes. First, the quarter liter class…the 250GP bikes. Second the 125GP class which was traditionally considered the “quarter” class since they were 1/4 the size of the old 500cc GP bikes. Both series have provided some exciting racing and both give a glimpse into the GP stars of the future.

First, the larger 250GP class which started out looking like it would be a run-away but has now become much, much more closely fought. In the first races of the season it appeared Honda mounted Dani Pedrosa would continue his trend of running away with 250 races. The diminutive Spaniard has shown amazing speed for the past two years and his 125 and 250 titles show he is basically unstoppable if he can get out front early. His only possible Achilles’ heal is if he has to scrap with other riders. In the first races of this season he did exactly what he needed to do to escape early but as the series has progressed so have his rivals which has meant he’s had to fight more and dominate less. The last two races have been excellent with four or five riders all fighting for the win, though Pedrosa was able to check out in the second half of the race at Catalunya. I think the big news items are: 1) Dani Pedrosa has led the championship battle since the first race and looks strong to win his second 250GP title. Expect him to be on a Honda in MotoGP next year. 2) Casey Stoner has quickly matured after numerous seasons highlighted by crashes. After he threw away third place in the first race of the year he seems to have gotten his head on straight and is now a legitimate title contender moving into second in the points battle last weekend. 3) Andrea Dovizioso has shown amazing flexibility in so quickly adapting to the 250cc after winning the 125cc series last season. I really thought he would need a year to get used to the bigger bike but he has been competitive from the very beginning. As long as he doesn’t pull a Poggiali and flame out he may well be the next 250GP star. 4) Randy DePuniet and Sebastian Porto both seemed like the riders most likely to run with Pedrosa and both have had horribly inconsistent seasons either finishing in the top three or outside the top 10. Certainly not what was expected from experienced riders with their level of support. 5) the final rider I’ll mention is Jorge Lorenzo who has basically come out of no where to be a front runner. Were it not for Dovizioso’s stellar freshman 250 season, Lorenzo would be the greatest revelation of the year. Expect him to fight for race wins for the remainder of the season.

Unlike the other two classes, the 125cc racing has been close, exciting and unpredictable. There have been five different winners in six races split among three different manufacturers (from three different countries as well!). Aprilia’s Mattia Pasini is the only repeat winner and as a result he leads the championship chase. But Honda’s Thomas Luthi is only one point behind with KTM’s Mika Kallio a single point further behind. As if that isn’t tight enough, the gap from first to fifth in the title chase is only 12 points. With 25 points per win this one is still anyone’s championship. Not only is the points battle close but the racing is as well. Unlike MotoGP and 250GP there are maybe six or eight guys that can win a race and most of those guys are at the front coming to into the last turn on the way to the checkered flag. It could easily be argued that 125 Grand Prix racing is the closest motorcycle road racing on the planet. The fact that KTM (Austrian), Honda (Japanese) and Aprilia (Italian) are all in the running for the title with Gilera, Derbi and Malaguti not too far off the pace means it has twice the brand diversity of the larger 250s and a three-way manufacturer battle that is more diverse than the Honda-Yamaha dual in MotoGP. What is there not to like? Its just a shame that SpeedTV has such an irregular broadcast schedule for the little bikes. Everyone is a noteworthy surprise in this class but the one person I will call out by name is Manuel Poggiali. I expected him to dominate after returning to 125s from the 250 class but instead he has continued to ride inconsistently and generally well below the level expected of a multi-time world champ (He was the 125 champion in 2001 and 2002, then 250 champ in 2003). Someone needs to figure out what has gone wrong in the kid’s head because he looked incredible in his 125 and 250 title runs. He is only 22 years old and is way to young to hang up his helmet. I hope someone can help him get back on course because he was on the path to being another Melandri, Rossi or Biaggi but is now sucking two-stroke fumes mid-pack (his best finish so far this season is a 5th in Portugal).

So there is plenty to watch for in these support classes, not the least of which is that the stars of tomorrow’s MotoGP series are probably racing in these classes today. I think Pedrosa will be moving into MotoGP next year but I wouldn’t be surprised to see Stoner or Dovizioso there by 2007…perhaps even Lorenzo as well. Its harder to separate the seed from the chaff in 125s right now but you can bet that any front runner with an Italian or Spanish passport will be racing in 250s soon with an watchful eye from the factories to see who they can groom to be the MotoGP champs of the next quarter century… With that in mind, the incredible racing is just icing on the cake.

[image from the Yahoo Italy Sports web site.]

“Johnny said, Devil just come on back
If you ever wanna try again
I done told you once you son of a bitch
I’m the best there’s ever been.”
– Charlie Daniels Band, “The Devil Went Down To Georgia”

This past weekend was a flash back to my first viewing of the film Alien back in 1980. When I first watched the movie, I remember the combination of suspense and anticipation being unbearable. I was nervous, anxious and my whole body was twitching just because I knew that the certainty of the ending was being stretched out again and again. Well, in Catalunya the monster that is Valentino Rossi put on a show worth of that classic horror sci-fi flick.

The race started out with a frantic scramble for the lead that lasted three laps. Gibernau, Melandri, Rossi, Barros, Hayden, Biaggi and Tamada were all climbing one on top of the other in these earliest laps. There were close passes, elbows rubbed and bike contact. …Everything that makes motorcycle racing so exciting and the skills of these aggressive riders so amazing. As the riders sorted themselves out, the guys that had consistently been fast moved to the front and started to break into smaller groups. Tamada threw his Honda into the gravel trap in a shower of sparks and dust. Out front, Gibernau and Rossi started to pull away. Hayden couldn’t run the pace of the front two but his soft front tire allowed him to gap the Honda battle betweeen Melandri and Barros. Biaggi lacked the speed to catch any of the top five but ran a pace similar to the dice going on in front of him. Questions were already starting early: Could Hayden pick up the pace and join the Gibernau-Rossi battle? Would Melandri and Barros overtake Hayden? Could Biaggi come good in the second half of the race and join the front runners?

The next bit of suspense was added when first Hopkins and then Hoffman pitted for new tires. It appeared that the Bridgestone tires weren’t the equal of the Michelins on the hot abrasive Catalunya track service. Would the Ducatis, running in the top ten, fade as well with tire problems? Would Nakano and Roberts also suffer problems like their teammates?

The one thing that seemed certain from the beginning was that Rossi was once again stalking the race leader and was actually capable of going faster that Sete, as he repeatedly ran up on the back tire of the Honda mounted Spaniard at the entrance to the faster corners. All this despite the fact that Sete was turning laps nearly two seconds faster than the fastest laps from last year’s race. Gibernau set a new lap record a few different times and appeared to be riding confidently and smoothly. Had it not been for Rossi matching him lap for lap, it may have appeared that Gibernau was capable of winning in front of his home crowd. But we have watched Rossi play out this same routine so many different times that experienced MotoGP fans knew that every lap before the final two or three were just wasted. No matter what happened, the real race wouldn’t start until the final three laps as that was when Rossi would finally show his hand.

The two riders ran nose to tail and then with three laps to go Rossi smoothly sliced up the inside of Gibernau. The question of whether Sete could challenge Vale was quickly answered. On the penultimate lap, Rossi threw down a lap *1.5 seconds* faster than Gibernau’s fastest lap. This despite visibly sliding on the well worn Michelin tires and leaving black marks in every corner. This fast lap allowed the Yamaha rider to pull enough of a gap over the Honda that even on the long front straight Gibernau couldn’t close the gap. In the end, Rossi won by a second. Had he made his move earlier it is possible that Rossi could have consistently turned faster laps and won by a larger gap. It is a sign of his maturity that he did exactly what was needed to win but nothing more.

Behind the predictable finish among the front pair things were more interesting. Hayden started to slow as his front tire lost traction which allowed Melandri and Barros to catch and then pass the young American. While a fifth place finish would seem disappointing after Hayden held third for so long, I think this was actually a great race for Nicky. First, he showed consistent speed from first practice until the race. Second, he ended up on a scrap with other riders which is something which at which he desperately needs more experience. Hayden has speed and has shown excellent progress in qualifying this year but he definitely lacks the aggressive riding nature that seems to come standard among the Italian, Spanish and Japanese riders. In order for Hayden to learn how to dice at this level, he needs more time racing in close quarters with the other top riders. Finally, despite the Honda rider slipping backwards out of podium contention he did a great job riding on a shagged front tire and that also shows he is still learning. A great educational weekend for Hayden and some valuable championship points.

Hayden’s moving backwards allowed the Italian superstar Melandri to move forward. He held off a determined Barros to earn the final podium position, his third podium finish of the season, continuing his string of top four finishes. Another fantastic finish for the Honda rider.

Barros’ forth place finish was good but he is too experienced to be commended for finishing off the podium, especially after his win in Portugal made it appear he may have been a contender this season.

Biaggi brought the Honda home sixth which definitely isn’t a satisfactory finish for the Roman. His second at Mugello was excellent but he needs an off weekend to mean a second or third, not a sixth. Honda too the ultimate gamble in making him their star rider this season and placing him on the #1 bike at Repsol Honda. His putting in another inconsistent season and blaming this last mediocre finish on a “bad bike” may well have already written off his dream season as a factory Honda rider.

Finally, the suspense of the Bridgestone tire situation played out with both Checa and Capirossi fading to outside the top 10 with 11th and 12th place finishes respectively. The top Bridgestone finisher was Nakano in 9th. Roberts Jr. brought the Suzuki home 15th, the last of the points paying positions.

But ultimately, all this other news was just noise compared to Rossi’s masterful performance. What he continues to do on the race track just expands his legendary status more and more. Mike the Bike Hailwood, Giacomo Agostini, Geoff Duke, John Surtees, Phil Read, Kenny Roberts, Freddie Spencer, Eddie Lawson, Wayne Rainey and even Mick Doohan each have their claim to being the greatest rider ever but Valentino Rossi is quickly surpassing all of their records. As the Charlie Daniels lyrics says, he is truely the best there has ever been.

[image from the Yahoo UK Sports web site.]

There have been many famous national rivalries in history. Both Spain and England raced to make the world their empire. France and Germany spent a fair amount of time fighting over the Rhine River. The US and Japan played tug-of-war with the electronics industry in the 70s. Well, in this decade of MotoGP, there is a rivalry between Spain and Italy that is as strong and as brutal as any of them.

There are currently 6 Italians in MotoGP (Rossi, Melandri, Biaggi, Capirossi, Battaini, Rolfo) and 4 Spainards (Gibernau, Checa, Xaus, Elias). If you look at the support classes, those numbers really skyrocket. Nearly all the front runners in 250GP are either Italian or Spanish (this year’s 250GP title seems to be boiling down to a struggle between two of them…Pedrosa and Dovisioso). Events in either country draw huge crowds and television viewership statistics show that around 50% of the TV viewers are tuned into MotoGP when a race is being broadcast. Any time you mix the two throngs of rabid fans, you can bet things will get interesting.

After the first race of the season in Jerez, where Rossi and Gibernau collided in the last corner and the Spainiard was sent into the gravel trap while the Italian went on to win, the animosity between the two legions of fans has been growing. At the end of the Jerez race, the crowd chanted insults at Rossi and it appeared that his next visit to Spain had better be done stealthfully and humbly. Well, this weekend is that time.

The MotoGP series is at Catalunya, just outside Barcelona this weekend and the Spanish fans will deluge the place this weekend. In addition to being some of the most vocal of the MotoGP race attendees they also come armed with loads of noise makers and fireworks. The Spanish riders always feed off this, so expect them to either perform exceptionally or crash spectacularly. Either way, you can be sure the place will be deafening whenever either event happens.

Rossi has to again be the favor, having one nearly every race this year. At Mugello is seemed he was just playing with his opponents and that level of confidence will be needed since he will be the target of over a hundred thousand angry Spanish fans. The track itself is very interesting and has both a long straight as well as 13 turns. Numerous camber changes, elevation changes and passing opportunities mean that handling is probably more important that outright power. Again, expect this to play into Rossi’s hands.

Valentino Rossi isn’t the only Italian making news though. Max Biaggi seems to have figured something out because he downright sucked early in the season and is now running up front, where everyone (especially Honda) expected. He is up to third in the points…might this be yet another year he finishes the year in second place? Marco Melandri is another amazing story. After a year struggling with the Yamaha, he has clicked with the Honda and has finished in the top four at every race this season. Who would have predicted the young ex-250GP champ would be the main challenger to Rossi this year? Even Loris Capirossi is grabbing headlines after his third place finish at Mugello. Perhaps Ducati finally have a grasp of the handling woes which have plagued them since the beginning of last season. Having Ducati back up fighting with Honda and Yamaha would be a huge shot of excitement for the series.

The news on the Spanish side of the equation isn’t nearly so rosy. Gibernau, the perpetual thorn in Rossi’s side has crashed out of two races so far this season and currently lies forth in the championship (53 points to Rossi’s 120…ouch!) More than anyone Sete needs to get it together now to have any hope of pushing Rossi for the second half of the season. Carlos Checa has also suffered. His fifth place finish in Mugello may show that he, like Capirossi, has finally gotten the Ducati to handle. Like Sete, his two crashes so far this season have probably ruled him out of the championship battle. Tony Elias looked solid in the early races as a MotoGP rookie with a best finish of 9th in France. This surely gave hope to the Spanish fans that he would be the next big thing but a huge crash during testing at LeMans has temporarily dampened that enthusiasm. He is being temporarily replaced by another Spaniard, David Checa, brother of Carlos Checa. Ruben Xaus has continued to impress…not because of his race results but because no one thought he could crash more this season than last but the determined Ruben has proven us all wrong. I quit keeping track but its something like 20 crashes so far this year. His best finish so far as been a 10th in China.

With all this turmoil, it will certainly be interesting to see if the Spaniards can step up to give a classic David versus Goliath event or if the Italian steamroller will keep on rolling…

[image from the Australian MCNEWS web site.]

This past weekend the FIM announced some rule changes for the MotoGP class which will take affect for the 2007 season. While none of the changes were shocking one of them does have me a bit puzzled. Specifically, they have announced that the engine displacement limitation for the MotoGP class will be changed from 990cc to 800cc.

This isn’t really something new though it does have a different face now than it originally wore. Back in the 1970s the FIM actually had a separate world championship race series from the then 500cc two-stroke GP class which ran 750cc machines. Not exactly 800cc but pretty damn close. The class was known as the Formula 750 World Championship and it ran for six years from 1973 to 1979. It was dominated by the Yamaha TZ750, though Suzuki and Kawasaki also raced in the series.

What does a 750cc two-stroke class have in common with the newly proposed 800cc four-stroke class you might ask? Good question and an excellent segue… The comparison isn’t so much between the two classes as it is an example of why the FIM may not be achieving what they think they are achieving. Specifically, they are hoping that reducing the engine displacement of the MotoGP bikes will reduce their speed (at Mugello this past weekend they were topping out around 220 mph on the straight) and thus increase safety. This is not unlike the AMA continually trying to change their premier class to be a 600cc Superbike series (Formula Xtreme) rather than the current 1000cc Superbike class. What I think that the old Formula 750 series indicates is that engine displacement alone doesn’t dictate horsepower.

At the same time that the big TZ750s were tearing up European tracks with their 130hp, the premier GP series was the 500 GP. Yamaha, Honda, Suzuki and Kawasaki were all going head-to-head in that Grand Prix series which ran simultaneously with the F750 series and involved many of the same riders. What is surprising is that the high-tech 500cc Grand Prix bikes like Yamaha’s TZ500s were making…around 120hp. It was in fact a limitation of the tires, frames and tracks of the time that limited the power, not the engine displacement.

I believe that the FIM is overlooking this simple fact…In two years, if not already, Honda and Yamaha will have 800cc engines that produce the same power as the current MotoGP bikes. In fact, the power increases over the past two years have been attributed to three things: 1) the continual one-ups-manship between Honda, Yamaha and Ducati steadily driving each other to unleash more and more power 2) enhanced electronics that help the riders get that power to the ground and finally, 3) Michelin, Bridgestone and Dunlop’s ability to make tires that can handle that power. Those same issues will be what determines the power of the MotoGP bikes in 2007, not some seemingly arbitrary decrease in engine displacement. What’s more, I think continually changing the rules is going to hurt the smaller manufacturers like KTM/Proton and WCM/Blata. They can’t change their engineering plans that quickly and each re-design costs them dearly in capital expenditure and time. It may also prevent new competitors like BMW or FPR from joining the fray if they think they will have to continually redesign their motor. The FIM can’t afford to make rules that continue to decrease the number of competitors in the MotoGP series.

Besides, I believe that the best approach to limiting power is already in place. Rules which restrict engines to normal aspiration, minimum weight rules and a limit on how much fuel a bike can carry during the race. Not only does the 21 liter fuel limitation impose a limit on horsepower it still leaves plenty of room for innovation among the manufacturers on how to achieve the necessary fuel economy. Honda and Yamaha have slowed their horsepower increases while Ducati has instead opted to build new electronics that try to conserve fuel at key moments like when braking or downshifting while continuing to increase peak power. Both approaches get to the same destination but get there two different ways. That is the very core of a prototype race series’ philosophy.

Then again, this rule could suddenly bring Suzuki from floundering to flourishing. They are the only manufacturer making a 750cc sport bike now, so they can just quit producing it, g ive it a cylinder bore and declare it a prototype race bike. If its as good as the GSXR1000, it may be a better starting point for a GP bike than the current GSV-R… Watching a Superbike spec GSXR750 race again really would be going back to the future!

[image from the Motorcycle Hall of Fame Museum web site.]

It was a great weekend to be Italian. I suspect plenty of pasta and vino were consumed and the parties in the boot shaped country were kicking well into the night on Sunday.

MotoGP action was all about Italy, with the racing taking place at the famous Mugello circuit and the race itself was all about Italians since for the second time in the three years the story of the Tuscan track’s weekend in the GP sun was an all Italian victory circle. The race was spectacular, as is to be expected at Mugello with its long straight and fast corners. (In fact, with the World Superbike races at Imola historically being great, its easy to believe that all races in Italy are just intrinsically fantastic!) From the very beginning, it seemed that Rossi was again going to put on a command performance for his home audience as he launched the Yamaha into second and then quickly dispatched with leader Capirossi on the second lap to lead the race. From there, it was pure excitement. In fact, I wonder if Rossi is now so confident of his abilities that he was able to script a race that would drive the Italian fans into a mad frenzy. Over the first third of the race it appeared that Rossi would run away but then slowly Max Biaggi and Marco Melandri reeled him in and suddenly there was an all-Italian scrap for the lead. As the race neared two thirds distance Loris Capirossi on the bright red Ducati joined the fray which just pushed the Italian crowd’s insanity dial to 11. If Rossi did create the script for this dramatic race it was a performance worthy of a Tony award as he again cranked up the speed and with two laps to go rocketed away to victory leaving his three countrymen to fight for the remaining two podium spots. Just as he has done so many times over the past two years Rossi has given his competitors a sniff of glory and then crushed them with unbelievable efficiency. Just as in 2003, the podium was all Italian with Rossi, Biaggi and Capirossi but this time Biaggi finished second with Capirossi having just beaten Melandri for the third place finish. As if having four Italians lead the race wasn’t enough, Ducati managed its first rostrum appearance of the year “at home” and Carlos Checa brought the second Ducati over the line in fifth. I can only imagine how wild the village of Mugello was on Sunday night, not to mention the city of Bolgona!

Speaking of which, in the AMA the boys from Bologna have also been experiencing a welcome resurgence of late. Eric Bostrom’s win at Pikes Peak was the first for Ducati in a year and was desperately needed to buoy the sagging hope of the Ducatisti. Thanks to a Wisconsin deluge on Saturday the Ducati Austin snagged its second win in as many races. It would be easy to assume that that large number of crashers (Yates, Duhamel, Bostrom, Zemke, Spies) helped Hodgson win his first AMA Superbike race but watching the Brit power his bike around the soggy Road America track proved it was actually pure riding talent. Both Mladin and Spies, running with Hodgson at the front, had to pit for fresh rear tires because the first laps where run on a damp track with allowed the tires to overheat and shred before the downpour soaked the track and brought the tires back to their normal operating temperature. After the race, Hodgson admitted that his rear tire was also shot and he wouldn’t have finished the race had it not been red flagged at the beginning of lap nine. But despite all the confusion and chaos caused by the rain it was still an exciting win for Hodgson and for Ducati. Likewise, it was another stunning case of damage control for Yoshimura’s star rider as Mladin earned second when scoring revered back to lap eight…before he pitted for the new rear tire. Even on his bad days he is incredible. The final news worthy of some bubbly was Josh Hayes who earned a fabulous third place for the underdog Attack Kawasaki team. What a terrific turnaround after their miserable results early in the season and a new personal high water mark for Hayes as this is his best Superbike finish to date.

Sunday dawned overcast but unlike Saturday the Superbike race was run in dry conditions. As if to prove that two Ducati wins a row hadn’t really changed the status quo in AMA Superbike, Mat Mladin turned in another of his dominate performances. Leading from start to finish, Mat was never challenged for the win. The surprise was that a Honda (anyone remember them?) ran 90% of the race in second place. In this particular case, it was Jake Zemke who did his best to put pressure on the Suzuki rider early in the race. Sadly, the honor of earning a second place finish for Honda wasn’t to be, as Suzuki mounted Ben Spies snatched that position late in the race but Zemke does get the pleasure of getting Big Red’s first Superbike podium finish in 2005 as he held onto third. EBoz, rebounding from his DNF on Saturday after being taken out by a crashing Duhamel, came home in forth on Sunday. Ducati’s fortunes weren’t completely restored, though, as Hodgson was out with his second mechanical failure of the year.

With this weekend’s success of the Italian riders in general and the Ducatis in particular this weekend was all about Italy. All it all, it was “bella!".

[image from the Motoring South Africa web site.]

This weekend brings racing to two tracks which may well be the heart and soul of their respective series: MotoGP comes to Mugello in Italy and the AMA Superbike series travels to Rd. America in Wisconsin.

The headliner has to be the MotoGP race. Mugello is perhaps the heart of MotoGP. The organizing body (the FIM) is based in Italy, the top rider is Italian, the largest fan base is arguably in Italy and the Italian track has provided some of the most exciting races of the series going back to the glorious days of Doohan domination. The Mugello race was the best race of the 2004 MotoGP season and may have been the best race of 2003 as well. In addition to incredible racing, Mugello keeps things interesting by having the second longest straight of the entire series (second to the new Shanghai track in China). This long straight puts stresses on tires and engines that mean the teams have to be on their A game. Last year Bridgestone found the limits of their new MotoGP tire thanks to a horrific tire failure which slammed Kawasaki’s Shinya Nakano to the tarmac at 190 mph+. That long straight also means that everyone better bring horsepower and plenty of it. Honda seemed to have Yamaha covered in that respect last year but this fact just allowed Rossi’s amazing skill as a rider to shine through. The RC211V’s of Tamada, Biaggi and Gibernau could pull four or five bike lengths on the M1 of Rossi down the straight but impossibly late braking and crazy corner speed allowed Rossi to pass them back in turns one or two. It was extraordinary riding and that accomplishment was made that much better when rain late in the race meant the event was finished as a six lap wet sprint race. Rossi showed he was a master of the wet as well as the dry by slicing through the pack for the ultimate win. If this year’s race at Mugello is only half as exciting it will still be the best race of the season. Another aspect of the Tuscan track and its fanatical crowd of spectators is that it always seems to make the Italian racers ride just a little bit harder. As a result, the red-blooded natives seem to switch into “win it or bin it” mode. This reached its peak in 2003 when Rossi, Capirossi and Biaggi all fought from start to finish in a ferocious battle to win in front of their countrymen. All came close to crashing and in the end it was an all Italian podium, including an Italian Ducati, so the crowd really got its money’s worth. If Melandri, Biaggi or Capirossi are going to challenge Rossi this season, this race may be their best shot. Expect all of them to ride with 100% of their heart.

The AMA trip to Road America brings them to the heartland of America and one of the best tracks in the country. The four mile long circuit includes a very, very fast straight away and some 14 turns meaning it is a challenging place to race. In the past, the Wisconsin track has been dominated by Ducati and Honda. The two brands have won 18 of the 30 races at the track and it is no coincidence that both brands have been known for making race bikes with lots of power. Last year the event was dominated by one man: Miguel Duhamel. In fact, the Canadian has won both legs of double-headers there twice, also winning in 2002. The Honda doesn’t appear to be the bike it was in 2004 but the track is the closest thing to a home race for Duhamel and he always seems to set it up there. Naturally, another favorite has to be Mat Mladin. The Suzukis have plenty of horsepower this year and Mladin is riding his best ever. Finally, the Ducati of Neil Hodgson should do well. Road America is similar to the traditional European race tracks on which the Brit has raced for the past three or four years and its high speed corners should play to his strengths. The track always makes for exciting racing and this year should be no different.

Sunday will bring five hours of road racing on SpeedTV including both legs of the AMA Superbike races and the AMA Supersport race from Road America as well as the MotoGP and 250GP races from Mugello. Should be a great weekend of racing!

[image from the waepoint web site.]

I think all sports fans probably feel that their favorite athletes deserves more pay (though I’m baffled by how fans of the “Big 4″ of football, hockey, baseball and basketball can possibly think anyone involved is *underpaid*). I’m also aware of the economics of the whole thing where the money available is directly related to the popularity of the sport. Despite all that I’m still appalled by how little motorcycle racers make relative to the risks they take. I just did some quick googling and found that most professional golf tournaments have purses *per event* in the range of $1 million. The 2005 Asia Golf Tour has a total prize over 14 rounds of $20 million. By comparison, last year the combined purse for all finishers in the AMA Superbike class at just one round was around $40,000. Now, its not that I have anything in particular against golf. I find it boring but then again I find a lot of things boring so that’s really not a big deal. But I can’t believe that someone can earn a $1 million bucks in one day for swinging little clubs at little balls while most professional roadracers are literally putting their lives on the line for a fraction of that per race.

Over the past few weeks I’ve done a couple of blog postings giving the health updates for the riders in the various roadrace series. Unfortunately, this past weekend has added new names to the list:

Topping the list is the popular Czech Team M4 Emgo Suzuki rider Vincent Haskovec. Vincent was seriously injured in an accident at Infineon Raceway when he crashed his Formula Xtreme bike. He was slammed into trackside tire wall and was then hit by his Suzuki as it cartwheeled into the barrier behind him. Initial reports show a broken collarbone, broken ribs, punctured lungs and an ominously vague “back injury". There hasn’t been any updates on the Team Hammer web site despite surgery being performed on Monday. I’m trying not to be too grim but my fingers are certainly crossed for Vincent. Whatever the extent of the injuries my thoughts are with his team, friends and family.

Also on the injured list is Jason Pridmore who suffered a huge crash at Barber which very nearly killed him. He was highsided off his GSXR and came down flat on his stomach. The impact split open his spleen and started lots of internal bleeding. Thankfully, the injury was found but not before Jason lost a lot of blood. It was a welcome site to see Jason hobbling around the pits at Infineon and it would appear he is well on his way to full recovery. He will miss this weekend’s race at PPIR but should be back for Rd America in early June.

The French doctors got a chance to chat with MotoGP star Max Biaggi on Saturday after he got thrown off his RC211V. His hard landing resulted in bruising on his back and a knee injury. Max went on to race on Sunday and even netted an impressive fifth place finish but apparently the knee injury was bad enough that he skipped Monday’s test. Max started the year with a broken ankle and now has a bum knee. Not exactly how his dream year as a factory Honda GP star was supposed to work out.

Also visiting the hospital this past weekend, though thankfully for less severe injuries, were MotoGP riders Alex Barros and Shane Byrne. Barros had a painful visit to the LeMans gravel traps after loosing the back end of his Honda and getting slammed down on his back. He checked out of the doc shack with just a lot of bruising but the scene on TV of Barros lying in the gravel trap was a worrisome sight.

The other big name getting press for the wrong reason was KTM-Proton’s Shane Byrne who had a huge highside on the first lap of the MotoGP race at LeMans. The accident resulted in some cuts and bruises on Byrne’s back which, when combined with the scars on his hands after a scooter crash in Jerez, make him the Dr. Costa poster child of the ‘05 MotoGP paddock.

So its this grim news, week after week, that have me feeling that these guys just don’t make the money they should. Sure, there are big names that make decent salaries but other than the top few names in both the international MotoGP and national AMA series the bulk of motorcycle racers are getting a pittance for their effort. This is amplified when you take into account the relatively short time span of a professional roadracer’s career and the likelihood of injury during that time period. I just hope that AMA roadracing will eventually gain the popular following that it deserves and that if/when that happens, some of the money that will be generated makes it into the pockets of these gritty riders.

[image from the Team Hammer web site.]

Yet another week with more of the same when it came to the big race series…Rossi and Mladin showing why they are multi-time champions in their respective series. They are making it excruciatingly difficult for me to keep my blog interesting. I mean, how many times can I type the word “dominating” before people start wondering if they are reading a new post or an old one? Anyway, on to my re-caps:

First, the AMA series. Mat Mladin put on another commanding performance and won both rounds of the doubleheader at Infineon Raceway in California. In fact, his biggest challenge appeared to be trying to win a race with at least a 15 second margin of victory. Talk about confidence! In both races, Mladin started out fast, pulling a comfortable lead as soon as the green light was lit. The first race was started twice because an accident in the opening two laps resulted in a complete re-start so we got to watch him take off two different times. At the first attempt to run the race Mat took of with such amazing…dare I say?…dominance that he pulled a five second gap on the first lap. Wow. No one came close in either the second start of race one or in race two. In fact no one could even see Mladin on the track in front of them in either race. Behind the #1 Suzuki, the race was a little more interesting, especially in race two. The front runners in the first race were all strung out with Yates and Hodgson filling out the podium but never really dicing. In the second race, the two Suzuki teammates of Yates and Spies duked out it out to the finish with Yates getting the nod for second over the young Texan. Behind the all-Suzuki podium finishers, the real surprise was Jake Zemke storming through for fourth ahead of Hodsgon. What made this particularly exciting was that both factory Hondas had to pit in race one with tire problems so neither were expected to make such a huge improvement in 24 hours. Maybe the Hondas are starting to see some measurable results from their development work. It may yet be possible that we could see Zemke and Duhamel fighting for podiums during the rest of the Superbike season. With Mladin firmly back in control of the championship, we’ll have to find excitement whereever we can.

Perhaps the best televised race all weekend was the AMA Supersport race. It shows why Supersport racing should be more popular than the Superbikes. While Mladin was squashing his opponents like play things, the three front runners in Supersport were crawling all over one another and riding like they were the premier class. In fact, the top Supersport bikes would have qualified in the top 10 on the “premier” Superbike grid! Maybe Kawasaki should consider running their 600 in other classes like they did in the old 750 Superstock? In the Infineon Supersport fight Tommy Hayden, Jason Disalvo and Jamie Hacking couldn’t have been any closer for the entire race and all three put their bikes through the wringer. Head shakes, tank slappers, rear tire slides, stoppies and wheelies were the norm from start to finish. In the end, Tommy barely held ‘em off for the win with Disalvo taking second. This gives Tommy the points lead again over Hacking.

In MotoGP, it was Rossi again putting on a spirit crushing defeat to his main Honda rivals. This was particularly harsh for Gibernau who actually looked like he could win the thing. Despite the predictable result, the race started out interestingly enough. Rossi, Gibernau and Biaggi all got lousy starts and it was actually Colin Edwards, Nicky Hayden and Loris Capirossi who led in the early stages. Eventually the usual suspects made their way forward with Edwards leading Rossi for much of the race. As the laps wound down, Sete started charging forward on the Honda and actually gained time to the tune of half a second a lap on the two Yamaha riders. Meanwhile, Honda mounted Hayden found a reverse gear on the RC211V and went backwards. With the Spainard charging forward, Rossi made a move on his American teammate and started to pull away. Gibernau also got passed the Yamaha of Edwards and closed up to the back tire of the Italian. Despite consistent pressure, including fastest laps by both Rossi and Gibernau on the final lap, the highly anticipated pass never came. Rossi won again, adding more points to his championship lead, with Gibernau and Edwards finishing out the podium.

My cheers and jeers for the weekend:

Once again, a hearty thumbs up to Neil Hodgson for learning a very difficult, very technical circuit fast enough to get a podium in one of the two races. There are AMA series regulars that have been to Infineon for many years and are still struggling to learn the place.

The Ironman award goes to Ben Spies for racing another weekend with a fractured tailbone and carding forth and third place finishes in the two races. While he lost the series point lead at Infineon, he did what he could to keep his championship hopes alive.

My perennial favorite Tommy Hayden gets a “If only there were justice in the world” shout-out by again showed his maturity in stepping up to win a tough race and re-take the championship lead. Once again, Kawasaki should be bitch slapped for not having this guy on a Superbike.

A “Raise your hand if you’re surprised” prize goes out to Kurtis Roberts who didn’t make the second race at Infineon after a horrible finish on Saturday. The reason was because of a crash but given his attitude about riding and developing the Erion CBR it shouldn’t have shocked anyone to see the #80 missing from the grid.

The Oh-my-f’ing-god award goes to Rossi for again showing how amazing he really is. He got a lousy start, passed everyone like they were putzing around in practice and won despite huge pressure from Gibernau…Wow.

Consolation prize goes to Edwards for finally netting the kind of result at LeMans everyone was expecting in the first three races this season. If the Texas Tornado really wants to send the “up yours” message to his detractors, as he said in the press conference, then he needs to do this every weekend.

A reluctant jeer goes out to Nicky Hayden for turning what looked like a turn around ride into another let down. I don’t doubt the guys ability but this may be his last year to break through. The difference between MotoGP stardom and being an also-ran is getting the bike setup quickly, consistently running fast laps and then having the skill to ride around problems if/when they occur. He is tantalizingly close but its hard for a fan to keep the faith.

Another sigh of disappointment to the KTM-Proton team. Their first race on the new KTM motor didn’t last more than one lap before Byrne crashed his way to the hospital. They’ve gotta get some track time if they are ever going to move forward with their program and with only one rider, especially one who is regularly visiting Dr. Costa, it isn’t going to happen.

The final raspberry goes out to the MotoGP experts who predicted that LeMans would be a Honda track. Two Yamahas on the podium and a third win for Rossi shows that every track may now be a Yamaha track, or at the very least, a Rossi track.

[image from the SpeedTV web site.]

This weekend is another busy one as three different series offer up some viewing entertainment: MotoGP, AMA and MRA.

First off, the local MRA will be racing down at Pikes Peak International Raceway. While I’m not a fan of the track this weekend it does have two things going for it: 1) It is a chance for our local roadracers to get some track time at PPIR which can help them be more competitive next weekend with the AMA show comes to town and 2) since its does offer pre-AMA track time, some of the fast privateers who regularly race the national series may show up so they can get a leg up as well. As a result, this weekend’s MRA race should offer up some good racing and maybe give a sneak preview about what will happen among the non-factory boys on May 22nd.

The second event of the weekend will be the AMA double header at Infineon Raceway in California. All the press releases will be asking the question “Can anyone stop Mat Mladin?” but I’m a bit more cynical. I’m asking “How badly will Mat Mladin beat the rest of the field at this race?". Mat has won three of the last four races at the Sonoma track. The other race was won by Miguel Duhamel. Given the problems the Hondas are having with their in-house development, I doubt Duhamel will be able to to repeat his victory from last season. The best chance for a challenge to Mladin will likely again be from his teammates. Yates as always run well at Infineon and Spies, the current Superbike points leader, has been a contender at most of the races this season. Infineon is a very technical track which means Hodgson will have to learn it quickly to have any chance of stepping up against the Suzukis. If its gonna happen for Neil, expect it to be in race two. EBoz seems to be coming around but I don’t think he’ll make a big enough leap to win this weekend on the Duc. The support classes are gonna be interesting as well. Supersport is a neck-n-neck battle between Jamie Hacking and Tommy Hayden. Can either stamp their authority on the series? Superstock has been a great battle manufacturers, a welcome change give the classes Suzuki dominance in the past. The top ten are separated by only ten points and includes two Yamahas, two Suzukis and a Kawasaki. Yamaha are coming on strong as the season develops can the others follow? Finally, only one point separates Zemke and Duhamel in the Honda Xtreme…oh, sorry…Formula Xtreme class. Can the factory supported teams keep up? Does anyone care? Should make for five exciting races over the course of the weekend.

The weekend’s menage a trois will be capped off when the MotoGP bikes take to the track at Le Mans for the French GP. This race is guaranteed to be interesting because the Honda versus Yamaha duel is heating up. Rossi has won two of the three GPs but the Hondas of Gibernau, Melandri and Barros have consistently run with him. Le Mans, at least on paper, is a Honda track. Lots of slow turns and lots of acceleration between corners. Then again, China looked like a Honda track but with torrential rain it became a Yamaha track. With the forecast calling for rain in France, the same may be true at Le Mans. If it does rain, expect a lot of unexpected riders to move to the front: Both Roberts and Hopkins are rain riders. Jacque nearly won China in the wet and being French would love to do the same this weekend. Barros seems to run well in the wet. Tamada’s replacement van der Goorbergh finished a fantastic sixth in the Shanghai rain and has nothing to loose in his last ride on the Minolta bike. Also worth watching: the KTM/Proton is back this weekend with a new motor, so lets see if they can finally move forward with their program. Nakano was running well at China before being sidelined with a mechanical. Can he bounce back to another top five finish like at Jerez? Melandri has been the second most consistent rider this season (3rd, 4th and 2nd) behind Rossi. He leads both Gibernau, Biaggi and Barros in the points and has become an unexpected challenger to Rossi. Can he step up and beat his friend Vale? Both Gibernau and Biaggi see themselves as Honda’s lead riders so better put in a good showing if they want to keep the R&D focus from shifting to Melandri.

There are a lot of questions for both AMA and MotoGP fans after just a few races in each series. Lets see if this weekend’s races offers any answers or just more question marks.

[image from the Gresini Racing web site.]

This past weekend brought about two big firsts, one for a series rookie and another for a series wildcard. Bravo to both for their successes. The other news was the exact opposite by being more of what followers of the series have come to expect.

First, the inaugural MotoGP race at the new Shanghai Circuit in China. The weather made things interesting by raining most of the weekend meaning that riders got their first shot at comparing the rain tires from Michelin and Bridgestone. In practice and qualifying, Valentino Rossi seemed to show and unexpected weakness in his armor, generally being mid-pack. The Hondas and Ducatis, presumably taking advantage of their power down the long straight, rose to the top. But some race time, things were different. The first surprise was the two Suzukis which both took turns leading the sodden race. After a few laps, however, things returned to normal as Rossi worked his way to the front and steadily pulled out a seven second gap. Behind him, the Honda teammates of Gibernau and Melandri seemed to settle into the final rostrum spots. But two riders soon started to charge forward…Kawasaki wild card Olivier Jacque (replacing Hoffman) and Honda wild card Jurgen van den Goorbergh (replacing Tamada). Since neither rider is racing the entire series, both were able to take risks that the other riders may not have been willing to take. Olivier Jacque ended up turning the fastest laps of the race and actually passed the Gresini Honda riders and close down the gap to Rossi. In the end, Rossi could undoubtedly have turned up his pace if he’d really felt threatened by Jacque but the fact that the Frenchmen closed the gap down to almost 1 second by the checkers was amazing. Sete appeared to have bike problems and slipped behind Melandri. Other riders to have bike problems were Nakano and Roberts. Hopkins ran off the wet track but stayed up right. Checa threw the Ducati away and Bayliss followed suit with his Honda. van den Goorbergh came home a credible sixth for the Minolta team. The final order was Rossi, Jacque and Melandri. The second podium finish for Melandri was great but Jacque getting his first MotoGP podium ever was even more spectacular. Jacque raced the big four strokes for two years without getting on the podium so it was an emotional moment. With Jacque also filling in for Hoffman at the French GP in a week, this had to be a fantastic boost to his confidence and a nice way for Kawasaki to offset the disappointment of Hoffman’s injury and Nakano’s mechanical.

The AMA doubleheader at Fontana California was similar but the thing which shook things up there wasn’t the weather but a series of red flags. Mladin and this all conquering Suzuki again led all the practice and qualifying sessions, usually nearly a second clear of the rest of the field. The two Ducatis both seemed to “come good” with Bostrom and Hodgson qualifying well. The Hondas were all still mired back in the pack, showing they still have a lot of work to do. And so it was the three Suzukis leading the way again. In race one, Mladin checked out, leaving his two teammates and Hodgson to battle it out for the podium. Then the race was stopped with a red flag. On the restart there was another crash and thus another red flag. With the clutches on the Superbikes not ready to take a third round of 200hp abuse, the mechanics had to do some hasty clutch replacements before the next restart. On the third waving of the green flag, it was again Mladin who pulled away and again the Ducati/Suzuki battle resumed for the rest of the podium spots. But with a few laps to go, both Spies and Mladin appeared to have bike problems. Spies momentarily slowed but then picked up again. Mladin, on the other hand, appeared to have a severe clutch problem and eventually rolled to a stop. That DNF left Spies and Hodgson unexpectedly fighting for the win. Hodgson made a mistake in turn one on the last lap and gifted the lead to Spies. Yates also passed Hodgson, making for a Suzuki 1-2 finish. The Brit got things back under control to fill out the podium. This first Superbike win for Spies was a fantastic result. For anyone to win at this level, against the dominant Mladin, in only his forth Superbike race is simply excellant. I’m sure this is just one of the many which are still to come for the talented Texan. In addition to the win, Spies also moved into the series points lead, so it was a double whammy.

In the second race, Mladin went about setting things straight. He pulled out a commanding performance, taking off from the flag to win by a substantial margin. As I predicted, there was a Suzuki sweep in one of the races and it was race two as Spies and Yates came home two-three. The two Ducatis came home in forth and fifth but with Bostrom leading a flu stricken Hodgson home in race two. Duhamel crashed in the race and finished outside the points, dropping him down in the points chase. At the end of the weekend, Spies still leads the Superbike series by three points. Yates is nine points back from Spies with Hodgson three behind Yates. Mladin’s DNF has really closed up the points battle, mainly because of the consistency of the other three riders.

My big winners for the weekend? Jacque and Spies, both breaking into the big time with a podium for the Frenchman and a win for the Texan. Both rode hard races and are plenty deserving of getting to spray some champagne.

The 250GP, Superstock, Supersport and Formula Xtreme races weren’t televised on Sunday to I’ll try to report on those later.

[image from the Superbikeplanet web site.]

This weekend will be a great weekend of racing. For the first time this year, there will be three different race series I can watch in one weekend:

First, the MotoGP season holds its third round at the new Shanghai Circuit in China. This track promises to make for some exciting racing for a few different reasons. For one thing it has the longest straight of all the tracks on the MotoGP calendar at nearly 3/4 of a mile in length. The long length of tarmac will mean everyone better bring their horsepower to the 3.3 mile circuit. Honda probably has an advantage in this arena. However, the teams can’t just focus on going fast because the designers threw in four 180+ degree tight turns including one that is nearly a full 360 degrees. Some of these turns are long enough that the bikes stay leaned over on the right side of the tire for a long time. The fourteen turns on the track mean that a good handling bike, like the Yamaha, may have an advantage. Finally, this is a new track so the teams will have to figure out tires (Michelin is basically bringing one of everything since they don’t yet know what the tire wear will be like), suspension settings, fuel usage, gearing, computer settings and lines around the track. The team that can get all these myriad details sorted out the fastest will have an advantage. This may be a place where teams like Suzuki, Kawasaki and Ducati can shine. I doubt they’ll close the gap to the top Honda and Yamaha teams but they can show their stuff within their own competition to be the best of the rest. It will be very interesting to see which riders are the fastest after the first practice and whether those same riders are still among the fastest in the last practice session, as it will show whether riders are slowly and methodically building their speed or if they get up to their max speed relatively quickly and then just fine tune. Any rider that can get up to speed quickly will then be making tire, gearing, suspension and computer changes that match the speed they are likely to run in the race. Everyone else will tune as they go and may well find new problems showing up if their race time is faster than their final practice time.

A more predictable situation will present itself this weekend when the AMA series returns to California Speedway in Fontana, CA. Unfortunately for the rest of the field, Fontana has been the sole domain of Mat Mladin for the past two years. With Mladin coming off two devastating victories at Daytona and Barber, things don’t look good for anyone hoping to break Mladin’s streak at California Speedway. Despite being built in the middle of a NASCAR oval, California Speedway is a reasonably interesting track…at least as interesting as a flat, concrete wall lined bull ring can be. The track designers managed to squeeze 21 turns into the two mile NASCAR track, including some high speed left hand sweepers that give the gutsy riders a chance to show their stuff. From what we saw at Daytona, this is going to favor the Suzukis, so I predict another Suzuki sweep in at least one of the two races. Those fast sweepers put a premiun on a rider’s ability to trust his front tire and that is a weakness for both the long wheelbase Ducati and the still developing Honda.

The final race of the weekend is the series opener for our local MRA roadrace series at Pueblo Motorsports Park in Pueblo, Colorado. Of the tracks in Colorado, Pueblo may be the most interesting. It is among the longest of our tracks and has the longest straight. The track is actually part of a motorsports complex which means that in addition to watching roadracing, you can ride dirt bikes, camp and even watch drag racing in the evenings after the racing. As for the races themselves, the usual suspects should dominate: Shane Turpin, Ricky Orlando, Dan Turner, Mike Applegate, Jon Glaefke, Jim Brewer, Dennie Burke, Mark Nudelman, Marty Sims and Rich Deeming. While there have been some impressive new riders joining the series in the past couple of years, no one has yet been able to step up in the premier Race of the Rockies class to challenge the veterans like Shane Turpin, Ricky Orlando and Dan Turner. In addition to the weekend’s MRA road races, the MRA also has a Supermoto class which runs on Saturday afternoons once the morning practice is over, which makes for an even more interesting race weekend. ‘Course all this assumes that our unseasonably late snow fall doesn’t force the cancellation of the event.

Because of the weather I won’t be driving down to Pueblo for the MRA races. Instead, I’ll be spending Sunday curled up on the couch with two foot of snow outside and the TV tuned to Speed….

[image from the Shanghai Circuit web site.]

With Kawasaki’s Alex Hoffman out with a wrist injury for the next five weeks, Team Green has found itself in need of a quality rider for the next two races. The upcoming race is at the new track in China in a little over a week with the following race at Le Mans in France two weeks later. Since every rider will be equally challenged at the new Shanghai facility, team owner Harald Eckl needed to find a rider that knows Le Mans. He has decided to turn to part-time Moriwaki test rider Olivier Jacque.

Jacque’s resume is mainly anchored by his 250GP World Championship in 2000. That season he raced his Yamaha teammate and title challenger Shinya Nakano all season long and narrowly won the last race at Phillip Island to earn the championship. Before the 2000 season, Jacque had been a talented 250 racer but had only occasional notable finishes. Following his 250 title, he and teammate Nakano where brought into the 500cc Gran Prix class on second tier Yamahas with the Herve Poncharal Gauloises team but both failed to make much of an impression. With the change to four strokes in 2002, both riders struggled with the finicky M1 for a few seasons before being let go from Yamaha at the end of 2003. For 2004 Nakano moved on to Kawasaki and is in the middle of an amazing resurgence. For 2004 Jacque moved to being a French motorcycle magazine reporter and filling in on one-off MotoGP rides for Moriwaki and WCM. Now, for the next two races, the pair will again be teammates. The sense of deja vu is amplified because ex-Yamaha GP project leader Ichiro Yoda is now the technical director for the Kawasaki team.

While the Frenchman never seemed to find his stride with the four stroke MotoGP bikes, he now seems to have found his calling as the person teams call when they need a solid rider who already knows the tracks, teams and the politics of the Grand Prix circus. In this regard, he joins the ranks of other riders who have become better known as pinch hitters than Grand Prix race winners like Jean-Michel Bayle, David De Gea, Gregorio Lavilla and even Anthony Gobert. However, it would seem that being a stand-in for injured Kawasaki riders pays off more than with other teams. Alex Hoffman got his start with Kawasaki as a substitute rider for an injured Hitoyasu Izutsu. Izutsu, in turn, did some testing work for Kawasaki when then MotoGP test rider Akira Yanagawa was injured in 2002. Andrew Pitt, a Kawasaki factory MotoGP rider in 2003, also sub’ed for the injured Yanagawa. Clearly Eckl has a history of later hiring his substitute riders…

Personally, I don’t expect great results from Jacque. Any GP bike requires a lot of testing to really master so its unrealistic to expect him to jump on the bike and immediately be up at the front. However, having a second rider, particularly one with as much experience as Jacque, is bound to help the Kawasaki team continue to improve the ZX-RR. It is always possible that Olivier’s home field advantage at Le Mans, when teamed with a strong desire to impress team owners and hopefully get back into MotoGP full time, will lead to an inspired ride in three weeks. If nothing else, the Kawasaki ride should keep his skills honed so that when he gets his Moriwaki wild card rides later in the season he’ll be ready to race.

Being the guy that gets called in as a substitute rider isn’t all bad. It certainly wouldn’t suck to be the guy that periodically gets called to fly to some exotic location and ride a 250hp MotoGP bike around for a weekend.

[image from the Olivier Jacque web site.]

Brazilian Alex Barros almost won his home race today. The fact is, he did win the MotoGP race it just wasn’t in his home country. The Brazilian Grand Prix, originally scheduled for this weekend, was dropped off the calendar this past winter due to contract negotiation problems and the Portugese Grand Prix at the Estoril circuit was added as a last minute substitution. I guess having a common language was close enough for Barros because he put on a riding lesson all weekend long by leading every practice session, taking pole position, turning the fastest lap and then winning the race.

The real story of the race wasn’t the racing it was things like the weather and rider injuries. Spitting rain all day long meant that the race was run under cloudy skies and early in the race the new “wet weather” rules kicked in allowing riders to pit for a backup bike (with different tires) if they chose. Despite some parts of the track becoming very slippery, all riders opted to stay out. The combination of slick tires, tricky track layout and misting rain meant lots of riders visited the gravel trap. The most dramatic instance being race leader and championship contender Sete Gibernau who threw his bike into the turn 1 kitty liter on the 17th lap. Also taking spills were Hopkins, Bayliss and Edwards. At the finish line it was Barros ahead of Rossi and Biaggi. This puts Rossi into the series points lead, followed by Barros, Melandri and Biaggi.

Added to the injured list this weekend were Honda’s Makoto Tamada, Troy Bayliss also on a Honda and Yamaha’s Tony Elias. Tamada crashed during qualifying and is thought to have broken his wrist. As a result, he missed the race altogether. The scaphoid, the same bone broken by Kawasaki’s Alex Hoffman earlier in the week, is a very slow bone to heal since there is very little blood flow in that part of the wrist. The normal treatment is six weeks in a cast or inserting a metal pin but I doubt a top star like Tamada will wait that long. An improperly healed scaphoid can basically end a rider’s career…just look at the wrist injuries that plagued Freddie Spencer during his career, so I hope the talented Konica Minolta rider doesn’t rush back too quickly. Bayliss’ injury wasn’t as severe but that is only because the Australian rider apparently rubbed his lucky rabbit’s foot the morning of qualifying. Troy had a *huge* highside that slammed him down on his head and shoulder. Aside from a sore neck, he is reported to be uninjured from the accident. He also crashed, apparently uninjured, in the race meaning it may be time to buy a new luck token because his current one is surely empty now. The final injury news was GP rookie Tony Elias who also crashed twice during qualifying. The second crash resulted in an injured knee. Elias rode in the race and finished a respectable 14th.

At this point, its easier to talk about who isn’t injured that to talk about who is. Barros, Rossi, Biaggi and Melandri are all healthy…hmmm…they are also the top four finishers. Edwards (sixth today), Nakano (eighth), Xaus (tenth), Roberts Jr (twelfth) and Hopkins (DNF) round out the list of healthy factory riders. WCM’s Battaini and Ellison and D’antin’s Rolfo are also unscathed so far this season. Some of these are a surprise, given that Melandri, Xaus, Hopkins and Roberts have all spent a decent amount of time testing gravel traps so far this season. Toby Hirst’s morning warm-up article at Superbikeplanet.com pointed out the fascinating statistic that this weekend marked the 14th crash so far this year for Ruben Xaus. Xaus may end up costing Yamaha more money than Rossi’s salary! Adding in teammate Elias’ two crashes this weekend and Edward’s race crash means there is probably a shortage of M1 bodywork back in Japan right now.

Looking beyond the MotoGP to the 250GPs makes for a huge contrast. Where the bigger bikes were fairly processional, only interrupted by the occasional crash, the 250 race was a barn burner. It looked more like a 125 race than what the past season has shown from the quarter liter two strokes. From the green flag, Porto took off and built an impressive lead in just a few laps. The following gaggle of riders was incredible to watch with five or six riders all mixed up in a dog fight. Pedrosa, Stoner, De Punier, De Angelis, Dovisioso, Aoyama and Takahashi were all over one another while Porto continued to pull away. Around half race distance, Porto apparently started having trouble since his lap times fell and he was gradually caught and passed by the trailing pack. The top five (Pedrosa, Dovisioso, Stoner, De Puniet and De Angelis) pulled a gap on the following two Japanese riders and then with just a couple of laps to go Stoner, Dovisioso and De Puniet pulled a slight break. In the end, Stoner won his first 250 Grand Prix, Dovisioso earned his first 250 podium with a second place finish and De Puniet bounced back from his crash at Jerez to earn some valuable points. In the championship, Pedrosa leads Porto and De Angelis.

I’d like to comment on two things. First, the new flag-to-flag rule. This new rule means that a race where it starts to rain, after starting the race in dry conditions, will not be stopped. Instead, a flag will be shown that will allow riders to pit and change to a backup bike that is in “wet weather” setup. This pit stop will take somewhere between 30 seconds to a minute (and interestingly enough will void the FIM’s own 22 liter fuel limitation rule). The idea for this rule is to keep the TV cameras rolling and to prevent “two part” races which, when scored on cumulative time, mean the first person across the finish line isn’t necessarily the winner. This weekend’s weather was dicey and made for variable track conditions. While no one was injured due to their crash today, I think this race does show that riders will not pull into the pits unless weather conditions are so bad that *everyone* is going to pit. It is today’s conditions that offer the worst case scenario where the leaders stay out on the wrong tires in sketchy conditions because pitting may compromise their result. Instead, they are compromising their safety. I think the FIM knows how much scrutiny they will be under because of this new ruling and they certainly dodged the bullet today. Still, I hope this ruling will be re-thought before something more serious occurs.

Second, I want to point out one of the traits of a champion…they know how to take what they can get. In today’s MotoGP race, both Gibernau and Barros had Rossi beaten. Rather than push and risk crashing while trying to stay with obviously faster riders/bikes, Rossi sat back and rode his own race. After Sete crashed, Vale was gifted second place and those points put him atop the championship points table. Likewise, in the 250 race, Pedrosa didn’t push on the damp track to beat the youngsters like Stoner and Dovisioso. He finished forth in the race but those points were enough to put him on top in the 250 points. Both riders rode a smart race, knowing who their championship rivals are likely to be and only doing what is necessary to stay ahead of those riders. Even when a champion has an off day, its still often enough to further their cause. This is an important lesson for more hot headed riders to learn. Last year Barros and Stoner both crashed while trying to win races, today they both won. Perhaps it is a lesson they have both taken to heart.

[image from Yahoo Sports France web site.]

Just before the official IRTA MotoGP tests, I did a blog entry commenting on how generally healthy the MotoGP riders were at the start of the season. Well, after two test sessions and one race, the injury report looks completely different.

The biggest news is the shoulder injury to Honda’s Sete Gibernau. After the impact with Rossi on the last lap of the Jerez GP, Sete immediately grabbed his left shoulder. According to a press release from Team Gresini, Gibernau has an injury to his previously damaged shoulder and is now questionable for this weekend’s race at Estoril in Portugal. The Spanish press has already picked up the story and is no doubt fanning the flames of the millions of Spanish fans that are on the war path for Rossi’s head. How much of this press release is true, and to what extent it is true, is open to debate but if there is really a chance Gibernau may not make the next race it will be a blow to the series. I doubt the all-Italian FIM would actually take any action against Rossi, even if it was obvious that he was reckless in the Jerez incident, but I do believe they should take a close look at what effect potentially having one of their three stars out of the championship race at only the second event will have and then take stricter measures to discourage contact in future races.

On a more positive note, Honda’s Nicky Hayden had his injured thumb checked out after Jerez and his x-rays came back negative for any breaks. It looks like he just has a sprain and will be cleared to race for this weekend. I’m sure he’ll still feel the pain when the next green flag starts. Whether he can repair his broken momentum after his Jerez crash is another issue.

Also questionable for Esotril