MotoGP Blog

The Fiat Yamaha team have been surrounded by hype this past few weeks. Not, as an outsider might expect, caused by a battle to re-sign the reigning champion: Rossi’s contract ends at the end of the 2010 championship, and he looks settled, happy, and at one with the bike he helped shape and tune into the best bike in the paddock. The hubbub has been around Rossi’s team mate, The Janitor. He would probably fume at such a moniker but, whether he admits it or not, that is what Jorge Lorenzo’s role is in the Yamaha master plan for now. To learn from Rossi and, eventually, take over his mantle when the GOAT finally retires.

It is not a role which Jorge relishes. It is a necessary part of any racer’s psyche to believe they are the best and can win on any given Sunday. For most of the pack though, there is one truth that is inescapable. That is that Rossi is better than them. For any of the pack to beat him, as Rick Broadbent says in his interview with MGPB, requires his form to dip and the other to be at the peak of their performance.

Lorenzo is unique in the paddock in that he believes he is better than Rossi. It is an unshakable belief, and one which has led us to witness some of the best racing for some time in MotoGP as Lorenzo, along with Pedrosa and Stoner, has pushed Rossi further and faster than he has been pushed before.

This has caused Jorge to head down a couple of paths in the recent weeks. Firstly, he has stood up to Yamaha over his contract negotiations and secondly he has pushed his riding to and over the limit.

The Contract

He has not just rolled over and taken what was first offered by his current employers. He feels Yamaha are not paying him what he is worth and no doubt points to his successes in 2008 even with the injuries sustained early on, and this year his ability to compete with Rossi on the track.

What he has forgotten is that he has not actually become MotoGP champion as yet, and demanding parity with Rossi, who put him in his place by pointing out the stark differences between their roles in the Yamaha garage, is simply daft. He, or more likely his agent, have also made some rather transparent attempts to up his salary. First the threat of a Repsol ride was hanging over the negotiations as Honda appeared to be considering their rider options for 2010. Never a company to make knee-jerk decisions, Honda chose to retain both riders and took the wind out of the Lorenzo argument. Not a week later and leaked salary offers from Ducati for Lorenzo were swirling about the paddock and the Internet. One could almost hear Lorenzo shouting “See! I have options!”

In fact, he is already on the best bike in the paddock (thanks to his team mate) and were he on the Ducati or the Honda, he knows he would be on inferior machinery to Rossi. That would be enough to start the doubt that he could win, and the first cracks in his until-now unshakable belief in himself and his talent. He does not want that.

The Riding

The second path his convictions have led him down relates to his riding. Frequently topping the timing charts in free practice qualifying, he has proven himself fast. He can ride a bike, he believes, better than anyone. “Look,” he might say, “I had half a second on Rossi in FP1 in Brno. I can beat him.”

What he does not allow himself to see is that riding fast is only one part of winning a motorcycle race. A rider also needs race craft. Rossi gave him a lesson in race craft in Barcelona at the final turn. It is a lesson Lorenzo has tried to give back to Rossi on two occasions since. Donington saw him take the lead, only to make a silly error on a wet white line, and crash out. In the lottery that was that race, Rossi himself fell but somehow his luck held out to allow him to remount and score points. In Brno, Jorge passed Rossi again for the lead, at the very limit of the adhesion of his front tyre. Just a few laps later, trying to out-think and out-brake Rossi while still in the lead, he would run wide on the same corner to low side out of the race. Rossi continued on his line, to the line.

Jorge is great for the sport, great entertainment, and is pushing Rossi harder than ever. Make no mistake, he is brilliant. So far he has proven immune to Rossi’s mind-games, and if anything has become stronger more determined though his struggles against him. Whether he likes it or not though, he is still the Champion’s Apprentice and given Rossi’s form at the moment and wiles on the track, he is likely to remain so until Rossi chooses to retire.

Jorge unveils a new livery for Catalunya, celebrating his club’s Champion’s League victory.

Ducati have so much right about their MotoGP efforts. They have a championship-winning bike, they are at the front of the technology wars in terms of electronics, fuel management, traction control, and have made a success of the desmodronic valve actuation system. This year even the frame of the GP9 is revolutionary - a tiny carbon-fibre airbox doubling as the frame to which the headstock is bolted, and a new carbon-fibre swing-arm providing just the right amount of flexibility and strength.

How is it then, that only Casey Stoner can ride it? In 2008, Stoner was routinely on the front row and podium, fighting the Yamahas and Hondas for the win. Melandri had a very different experience. Trailing most of the field and occasionally the satellite Ducatis, Marco had the season from hell, well documented in the press and on this blog, he was unable to gel with the bike on any level. Now in 2009, with Hayden in the saddle of the factory Ducati, a similar story is playing out. Hayden and the satellites are in the bottom half of the results table each race weekend, while Stoner fights it out with Lorenzo, Rossi and Pedrosa for the championship lead.

A number of factors contribute to Stoner’s success on the Ducati above and beyond his prodigious talent. These same factors make it difficult for other riders to emulate his success. The factors are: Stoner’s style of riding, the Bridgestone rubber on the Ducati, and the clever on-board electronics.

Stoner’s Style
Casey is used to a bike moving about underneath him. His very early races were dirt-tracking in Western Australia in a similar manner to other notable Aussie racers. Coming through the UK and Spanish national 125cc race scene, he was picked up by Puig and joing the MotoGP circus in the 125cc class. His small, wiry frame suited the small bikes and his determination and focus saw him advance through the classes, despite a reputation for being unable to handle worn tyres and for crashing, often from podium positions in the race. A raw and untempered talent, his crashes were almost always as a result of pushing the front when in a battle with other riders. Casey leans a lot on the front tyre, braking later and harder then most. Often his corner entry will involve him approaching the apex, still braking and leaning the bike in. Crucially, on the exit to corners, he’s happy to open the throttle early and let the back end sort itself out. His style suits the Bridgestone front, and the properties of this tyre has helped to quell his reputation of being a crasher and allowed him to develop awesome consistency.

The Bridgestone Front
Bridgestone brought a different approach to tyre manufacture to the MotoGP party, tacking the problem of providing grip and durability from an entirely different perspective than the incumbent Michelin. The French company’s focus was very much on compound and the adaptation of this compound to the particular bike, rider, tarmac and conditions the tyre was being made for. Construction was a secondary concern, and after all, Michelin had the luxury of being able to fly-in tyres to European races, after making them the day before. Bridgestone, out of Japan, did not have the luxury of this, and so needed a different solution. This was to work with the construction as well as the compound to find the best compromise that would work well over a wide range of conditions. Whereas Michelin we focused on tuning the tyre to each rider, bike and track, Bridgestone worked on making the best tyre with the widest range possible. Compound was important, yes, but also how to get as much of that compound in touch with the tarmac in corners. The development of the deforming Bridgestone front was key in the Ducati success, and suited Stoner perfectly. He could now lean on the tyre when braking as hard as he liked, and it would keep him upright. Note, in 2006 on the LCR Honda “Crasher” Stoner was running Michelins.

Ducati Electronics
The MotoGP teams are engaged in an all-out electronics war, developing systems to manage the power and fuel efficiency of their engines, so that not a horsepower or drop of fuel is wasted. One of the most advanced is the system on the Ducati which uses a complex array of gyroscopes and sensors to judge lean angle, gear, throttle position and velocity to control how much power and wheelspin to allow. These aids allow Casey to be opening the throttle before he reaches the apex of the corner. The bike will sort itself out and allow him to open the throttle further, sooner than riders on other manufacturer’s machines. While still in corner exit, cranked over, he can open up the throttle and be sure the rear end will sort itself out, with just enough spin and slip. This is the phase of the corner where we see the Ducati buck and kick like a thoroughbred. Stoner alone is comfortable with the bike behaving like this.

Melandri? Hayden?
So why could Melandri not make it work, and why is Hayden still struggling to get to grips with the machine? Melandri is a pure 125 - 250 - MotoGP racer from the European school. He rides smoothly, maintains high corner speed, generally keeping the wheels in line. He’s pretty traditional in his cornering approach, and does not push the front. The idea of braking deep into the corner before immediately getting back on the throttle prior to the apex would simply be wrong for him - his instinct would suggest he needs to get around the corner and be standing the bike upright before he can increase the throttle in a dramatic way. Also, he gave up early in 2008, talking himself into failure. On the Kawasaki, he is back in familiar territory, with his smooth, in-line style paying dividends again.

Hayden might at first look to be better suited to the Ducati. Also a dirt-tracker, Hayden excelled in the 990-era, power-sliding and smoking his way around the circuits. Loose on the exit is how Nicky likes it. His issue is more with trusting the front end and the Bridgestone tyre to the extent Stoner does. Also, the early throttle action will be alien to him, and again he needs to develop trust in the electronics and in the bike that it will not highside him. This trust will be hard for him to gain given his start to the 2009 season.

What can Ducati do? It looks like not much other than wait for their riders to get their heads around the revolutionary machine they have buit. It takes time for a rider to trust a motorcycle, and even longer to change a riding style to suit, always with the threat of a highside and broken bones an instant later. The best thing that Ducati can do is offer help and support to their riders, and give them time. Meanwhile, keep Casey happy and fighting for the win.

In discussions of 140 characters or less on Twitter with Rumblestrip, DaveMinella and BridgetNewGirl the topic came around to the durability of Sete Gibernau this season. I can’t see the Spaniard lasting the season on inferior hardware.

Let’s look back to 2005, when he was riding for Gresini. Pre-season he was a genuine title contender on a strong motorbike. Barged out of the way by Rossi in the last corner of the last lap of the first race, he never recovered all season long. Rossi owned him from then on. The latter half of his ‘05 races were littered with DNFs and mid-pack placings. Why? Well, after he entered talks with Ducati, he lost interest in making the Gresini Honda ride work, and besides, he was already beaten.

He joins Capirossi on the Ducati for 2006, but never settled. Losing out to an electrical fault in Jerez, his next chance for a podium was five races later at Mugello. He was leading when overtaken by three bikes in one lap and appeared to lose heart and give up. Again.

Then came the horrible crash in Catalunya. The whole field piling into turn 1, Gibernau drifts to the inside near to Capirossi, his team mate. Capirossi brakes and Gibernau makes contact with his brake lever hard enough to jam it on. His bike loops and chaos ensues. A horrible crash, enough to take him out for a couple of races. When he returned, he raced for another four or five races that season until, while in contract negotiations with Ducati he was brought down by a rookie, aggravating his still healing bones and effectively ending his 2006 season. The rookie would also seemingly end his career by taking “his” place at Ducati, that rookie being Casey Stoner.

Two seasons of bad luck, being out-psyched, injured and displaced had taken their toll on Gibernau, and he chose not to seek another ride. He could not go back to a satellite ride after being a factory rider, his pride would see to that, and all the factory rides were sewn up.

Three years later and he is back on a Ducati. The problem is, there are younger, faster, lighter riders on the same machinery as him, including that damned rookie. Will he stick it out? Will he allow his pride to take a hammering? My guess is that unless gathers a podium in the first half of the season, he’ll discover his shoulder injury is just too painful to continue. He’ll retire, for good this time. On the other hand, if he is fighting to be the second Ducati, this may just give him the motivation he so badly needs. And to beat Stoner - that would be too sweet to contemplate.

So, Rumblestrip, I predict the length of time Sete lasts is directly proportional to the performance of the second-best Ducati, which in my book will be Kallio. If Kallio is kicking his ass, he won’t stick about. Over 5 under 9 races and he will be gone.

What has changed since last year and who is likely to dominate in Qatar? Sometimes in MotoGP, the more things change, the more they stay the same.

Casey Stoner has a radical new bike, different tyres (in other words, the same as everyone else) and something of a sore wrist after off-season operations and physiotherapy. Yet, in the test at Jerez and just about everywhere he has been seen on the Ducati, he has topped the timing sheets. New team mate Hayden has had trouble adjusting to the Ducati and its wicked, bucking ways, but he is the only rider of the current crop we can see even potentially mastering the red machine to the level of the boss, Stoner. It is a long way in philosophy and style from the fantastically engineered, ice cold Honda approach, and we predict the laid-back Italian style will begin to suit the Kentucky Kid, eventually - if only he can start to tame it. He won’t have appreciated being shown the way home by three other Ducatis in Jerez: Stoner, of course, but also war-horse Gibernau and, worst of all, rookie Kallio.

Rossi and Lorenzo have managed to keep pace with the Stoner Ducati over winter. In other words, the gap to Stoner has not appreciably widened. The Yamahas remain the biggest competitor to the Ducati team, and the depth of talent from engineering staff to riders is impressive. It is far from clear whether it will be enough this year, as it was last.

The surprise of the Jerez shoot-out was the performance of the Suzukis. Have they finally made the leap from division 2 challengers and mixing it with Kawasaki (as was) and the better satellite outfits to being serious title contenders? It looks like being a watershed year for Capirossi and Vermeulen - this could be where they hit the front and steal points from the Yams and Ducs.

Elsewhere, Melandri has been making a decent fist of the Hayate Kawasaki. Mid-table through testing is better than West managed consistently, and would have been better than Hopkins in the latter stages of Hopper’s Green career. Marco probably counts himself lucky to be on the grid, and will be using this year to show that he is better than the Ducati allowed him to appear to be.

The stand-out among the rookies is Mike Kallio, appearing to adapt to the mighty Ducati monster better than anyone since Stoner, and showing up Gibernau here and there. Gibernau has made great noise about not being totally fit, recovering from a shoulder injury, but if you can lap a Ducati around Jerez in 1:40, there is not much wrong with you. We predict a season of moans and excuses, but would relish being wrong about Sete, and relish even more seeing him back at the front displaying his prodigious talent. The other rookie showing promise: Takehashi on the Honda. Whether he can keep his Scot Honda up with the San Carlo of Elias (with “special” parts?) remains to be seen. de Angelis is certainly struggling to right now.

Missing from all of this, and the photo at the top of the article, is Dani Pedrosa. As with the 2008 season, he had a nasty accident and has compromised his pre-season practice and the development of the Honda over the winter. His performance, should he make the start line Qatar, will be the largest unknown. Mid-pack struggler with injury, or bolt-from-the-blue front runner?

Friday practice under the lights is but a few days away. We’ll have more and more questions until the lights go up on Sunday. Then we will have answers.

The dark days of winter are now lifting here in the Northern Hemisphere and, as the sap rises so does the expectation of the MotoGP season to come.

This is a roundup of MotoGPBlogs highlights of the news and PR spin that has begun to fly.

Kawasaki
Yawn. We’re all tired of the Kawasaki will they/won’t they story. In reality it would be very bad press for Dorna to fine Kawasaki for failing to show, and it is far from clear whether Dorna’s claim would stand up in court. Like most business contracts there is likely to be a force majure clause which
Team Green could use as a get out. Will Bartolomey manage to pull off a privateer Kawasaki team? In these troublesome times, it would be a super-human feat and although MotoGPBlog hopes he does manage it, MGPB thinks it unlikely. We’ll finally discover after the Phillip Island testing coming up.

Sepang Test
Stoner, still in pain following his off-season wrist injury, is very, very fast on his new Ducati GP9, the Itialian boffins having cooked up (literally) a carbon-fibre frame for the bike. A big risk for the red team, it appears to have paid off. The final (small, but significant) hurdle to overcome is whether it will withstand a race with the same performance. Hayden, meanwhile is complaining of the bike bucking like a bronco, unsurprising as he is trying to adapt to the new frame and to Bridgestone tyres. If anyone apart from Stoner can tame the Ducati beast, it’s Nicky Hayden. He’s set to improve steadily through the season.

Rossi has had his pre-season thrown into disarray by closing some curtains at home and managing to fall through a glass coffee table, the resulting injuries leading to him having stitches in his left hand and foot. He’s still out there, but with some discomfort. Lorenzo is also performing well, but perhaps with a bit less of an edge and much reduced cockiness from this time last year. He paid for his attitude with broken bones, so he’s a wise chap to ease up a little.

Elsewhere Elias appears to have the Honda technology edge over team mate de Angelis - part of the reason he agreed to ride for San Carlo at all. de Angelis is the only one talking about the differences, but the most obvious is the rev limit on his bike, no doubt there are other electronic differences too.

So, the early sparring has begun. The GP9 works, the Bridgestone tyres work, the Yamaha looks very competetive, and Suzuki are showing up everywhere they should.

The scene is set for a great season.

The US version of Men’s Fitness is carrying an article on their website regarding the fitness regime Hayden has to equip him with the physical stamina and endurance to ride a MotoGP bike for a race duration. In the programme, amid the expected cardio and strength training, is the really interting bit - Hayden uses yoga (although the article refers to it as “Power Yoga”, presumably to make it seem more manly) to increase his flexibility given the cramped position the bike forces on the rider, and to control his breathing to make sure he stays relaxed during a race.

I’m rolling out my yoga mat right now to see if there is anything in it…

Alberto Puig launched an unprecedented attack on Nicky Hayden this week, accusing him of being a hypocrite, unable to set up a motorcycle and of suffering sour grapes as Honda chose to back Pedrosa rather than Hayden.

It started with Hayden giving an interview on the 6th October with Spanish newspaper El Pais (automatically translated to English) in which Hayden, obviously feeling a weight lifted from his shoulders with the official announcement of his move from Honda to Ducati, spoke his mind about the Honda team set-up.

In the interview, he says he does not like the fact that the team was split in two without the sharing of information between riders, that Puig runs the Honda team and that the decision not to share data was Puig’s not Honda’s. Hayden also makes it clear that he does not have a personal problem with Dani, and although it is not overtly stated, Hayden implies that the problem is with Puig and the extent of his control of the Honda team.

Puig responds on the 8th October in an interview with MotoGP.com “to put the record straight”. Puig claims Hayden had access to all of Pedrosa’s data before the ‘tyre wall’ went up in the garage and used this to improve his riding. He claims Hayden is put out by the ‘wall’ as he can’t set up a bike and cannot now copy Pedrosa.

Puig goes on to say that Hayden has had a problem with Pedrosa since Portugal (2006) when Pedrosa wiped out Hayden when he led the Championship, putting his eventual winning of the title at great risk. Puig claims Hayden has been acting in a passive-aggressive manner towards Pedrosa since the Portugal incident and has ‘brought people around Dani’ into his problem with Pedrosa. He also claims there is no rivalry in the garage as Pedrosa is far better than Hayden, and finally, he refutes Hayden’s claim that he is in charge at Honda, and all that counts is getting results.

It is an extraordinary interview, and one which brings into question the integrity of Puig. Aside from the obvious bad feeling towards Hayden, is it appropriate that an employee of Dorna uses Dorna MotoGP website (motogp.com) to bad-mouth a rider, even if the allegations the rider has made are untrue. MotoGPBlog believes Alerberto Puig’s multiple roles in the paddock are in essence a conflict of interest - reference his previous attempt to marshal a Michelin-rider walk-out at the Czech race.

Puig’s attitude to the media and requests for access to his prodigy (he will only allow Spanish press access to him or Pedrosa) have effectively meant that he and Dani are isolated within the MotoGP paddock. While this suits Puig, it does not appear to be doing Dani any favours, and Puig day by day appears to be more Machiavellian, or to use Rumblestrip’s characterisation, more and more like Rasputin. As much as Puig indicated that there can only be one winner, can he really be as arrogant as he appears and believe that Pedrosa could learn nothing from Hayden’s data, and that Hayden was copying Pedrosa’s set-up?

Since Pedrosa has switched to Bridgestone, Hayden has beaten him on the track (Indy and Phillip Island), and has run at the front of the race, for the duration of the race. This is something Pedrosa has not done since before Germany (when he crashed out while leading by a mile).

Puig intended his riposte to make Hayden appear childish and upset that he never got fair treatment at Honda. He has failed. When I read the Puig interview, what I hear is a paranoid, isolated, almost desperate control freak lashing out at a rider. The mid-season forced switch to Bridgestones (stage managed by Puig) reinforces this opinion. Make no mistake, Puig is right about one thing in his interview when he states “…they eventually got rid of [Hayden], and it could also happen to Dani Pedrosa at some point if he doesn´t get the results”.

Puig/Pedrosa have to win the title in 2009, or Honda will drop them like a stone for the latest favourite, Dovizioso. Unless Dani also then drops Puig, he may find it hard to locate a friendly garage in MotoGP for 2010.

MotoGPBlog does not regurgitate press releases and PR from the teams - this has been a policy from the start for the blog. However, this is something special from Yamaha and Rossi - a real insight into the mindset of the new World Champion and the process he has been through over the last three seasons. It has been a journey, one in which Rossi himself says he has come of age. All the issues, the broken hand, the below par bike, the tax problem, have served to make him stronger, make him a more complete rider and what he is today: eight times World Champion. Over to Valentino.

“I think it’s difficult to say, but maybe this is even better than the first championship with Yamaha in 2004. In 2004 I arrived after three championships in a row; the change was very big and no one expected me to win then, not even us to be honest! But this year is great too because I didn’t start as the number one favourite after losing for two years. The taste of this is something special.

“In 2006 I lost because of bad luck; I still won the most races and was the fastest on track for most of the time, but in 2007 Stoner was a lot faster than us and so we got to the end with a big of disadvantage. Winning this championship was very difficult but also very, very important.

“The decision to change to Bridgestone tyres, which I took together with Jeremy, my team and all the Yamaha crew, was very important, as were the changes to the bike because the first 800cc M1 last year was not competitive enough. We spoke a lot during last season and I remember a strange meeting in Valencia last year, me with a broken hand, speaking with Furusawa about 2008. From then we started to work on the improvements for this season. It’s also been important to have the right people in the right place and this year everything has been correct. It’s been step-by-step.

“I think I have made a lot of good decisions this year and we have been competitive from the start. Qatar was the worst race of the season but I knew our potential was good so, although we were a bit worried at that point, we weren’t desperate because we knew if we fixed a few problems we could try to win.

“I grew up a lot in the last two years, because at the end of 2005 I had a great career and I had won all the important targets so far. 125, 250 and then five titles in a row in MotoGP with two different bikes – I felt unbeatable. But in 2006 and 2007 I learnt to lose and this has been very important. I came out much stronger and my level of concentration and effort to win this championship has been higher than ever before.

“This season has had some different periods. At the beginning of the year we had some important results when Bridgestone wasn’t the strongest: Jerez, Portugal and others, and in that period we took a big advantage from Stoner. After Barcelona Casey started to ride like a demon and dominated three races in a row, and then we went to Laguna which was the turning point of the season. Laguna was a real battle and from then on we have flown.

“The show after the race was one of my friends pretending to be a ‘notary’, signing and certificating the eighth championship ‘deed’. It was very exciting to be planning the championship t-shirt and celebration once again with my friends and fan club and the one we came up with is funny I think, it says ‘I’m sorry for the delay!’

“I am very content at Yamaha and this is why I signed for two more years. I had some good offers at other factories, but I already changed bike once and proved everything I wanted to and so there is no need to do that again. Also I am no longer 20 years old and I need a good atmosphere in my team in order to keep me focused and happy, and I have this at Yamaha. The atmosphere in our team, from the Japanese all the way down to the garage is fantastic and this is what makes me want to stay.

“I think 2009 will be even more difficult than this year. Now I am the world champion again and I have demonstrated that I am still very fast; I think I rode the best of my career this year apart from the mistake in Assen, but next year is another story, it depends on how the winter is and how Stoner, Pedrosa and also Lorenzo are next year, as well as the other riders because there are many fast people in this championship. I think it will be a great championship and I’m looking forward to it, but first I want to finish this year and try to win the final three races!

“As I said, there are many strong riders but of course I hope that in the future nobody will win like Valentino Rossi! Maybe my brother Luca will be as strong as me…I wanted to take him on my bike on the celebration lap, but they did not allow it. Maybe I will wait for him to be a MotoGP rider before quitting, then I will beat him in the first year, and then I will stop riding!

“When you are 20 or 22 yrs old, you live everything in a different way. It’s different… In 2000, maybe, I could have won on my debut, but I underestimated myself! In 2001 it was the last chance for me to win in 500, so I gave it my best and did that. In 2001 it was the year of the battle with Biaggi, in 2002 it was the year when everybody said that I won because of my bike, then 2003 was the year of Gibernau, it was hard until the end. They were fantastic years but with Yamaha it is different. I enjoy it more.

“During 2003 I started thinking about Yamaha. Of course I was scared about the new challenge, it was a big question mark. This year, when I tested the new bike and the new tyres, I understood that I could win. In 2004, however, when I tested the new bike I understood we had to work a lot. Sincerely, the feeling of winning in Welkom in 2004 was the strongest emotion of my career; more so than in Laguna Seca this year. The 2005 the M1 was very fast and that one and the 2008 one are the best Yamaha bikes ever.

“I think Stoner next year will be back stronger again, so maybe he is the hardest rival I have ever had, more than Gibernau and all the others I fought against in the past. Last year I was sorry that after so many successful years, some people thought Valentino was finished and Casey was the new Valentino. As I said, until I stop riding a bike, my objective will always be to win. I like this life and I always try to do my best in it.”

This weekend promises to be a big one in many ways, mostly for the 2009 season. Let’s start with 2008:

- Rossi may wrap up the title at Motegi. Remember 2007? Motegi is where Stoner managed to put the title beyond anyone’s reach after his super-dominant season. This is an indication of what dominance Rossi has had since Laguna.

- The split of JiR and Scott should be further clarified. Has JiR allowed Dovi to go to HRC? Have they swapped him for satellite Hondas? Have Scott got the cash and connections to run a bike and team of their own?

- We may get clarification of the Aspar Kawasaki rider. One thing is certain, Aspar needs to get this sorted out soon, if not this weekend.

- The Grand Prix commission meets for the first time since they called the meeting in July around proposals to slow down the bikes so the circuits do not have to spend so much on safety improvements year on year. Proposals include a common ECU (very difficult technically to achieve), a single-make of tyre available to the teams, motorcycle weight increases, and a return to 990cc engines. Of all of these, the single tyre rule is the most likely to come to fruition, sadly. We’ll find out this weekend what the decision is.

All of this without a motorcycle turning a wheel. It promises to be an important weekend in more ways than one.