MotoGP Blog

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.

After much discussion, debate and rumour, Kawasaki have withdrawn from the 2009 MotoGP season.
This is something of a serious blow to the grid, let alone the fortunes of Hopkins and Melandri. Details of the cost to Kawasaki of withdrawal will emerge over the next few weeks, but for now, here is the full text of the press release:

“Tokyo, January 9, 2009 — Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Ltd. announced today that it has decided to suspend its factory MotoGP racing activities from 2009 season.

Amid quickly changing business environment, Kawasaki has been promptly taking countermeasures to cope with the situation. As the world economy is not likely to recover in a short period due to the major impact of the financial crisis, Kawasaki decided to suspend its MotoGP racing activities from 2009 season onward and reallocate management resources more efficiently.

Kawasaki will continue racing activities using mass-produced motorcycles as well as supporting general race-oriented customers.

Kawasaki would like to thank all the fans and all those who have forwarded us great help.

Mr.Yoshio Kawamura, the Managing Director of Kawasaki Motors Racing B.V. deeply appreciates the contribution and the dedication brought by staff members of the MotoGP team.”

Come back soon Team Green.

For Michelin, the unthinkable has happened. The French company is no longer supplying Dani Pedrosa with tyres. Announced after the Misano race, such a mid-season change is unprecedented, and unlikely to bear immediate fruit, as the Rossi side of the Fiat Yamaha garage can testify, because the Honda will need to be set up to make best use of the new rubber.

The decision seems a bizarre one, almost desperate, and the agreement of the tyre companies and Honda to the change even more so. Let’s put this in perspective and try to pick apart the bones of the deal; Pedrosa was leading the championship on Michelins up until July 14th, when he fell off at turn 1 of the Sachsenring in heavy rain. That’s race 10 and well past half-way through the season. He was also 7.4 seconds ahead after just 5 laps. He broke his wrist in the fall and this has hampered his challenge ever since.

Unable to ride in Laguna Seca, he lost points. In the Czech Republic, Michelins were not the tyre to be on. Even Michelin stalwart Edwards was complaining, and Bibendum had his worst competitive moment since the 2005 US F1 race when they withdrew their tyres and only the six Bridgestone runners made the start line. However, in Misano Michelin recovered. Bridgestone won the race, but Michelin and Bridgestone alternated all the way down the top ten positions, including Pedrosa in 4th place.

Behind the scenes Albert Puig, Pedrosa’s manager, attempted to organise a boycott of the Czech race by all Michelin runners, according to the reliable Dennis Noyes. Puig also runs the MotoGP Academy for Dorna and has a role in the running of the Repsol Honda team. As Noyes points out, Dorna can not have been too happy with his meddling.

This story began back in the 2007 season. Pedrosa fought for Bridgestones for ‘08 and was looking likely to get them, supported by HRC until Mr. Fukui, the head of Honda worldwide overruled the idea of a switch away from their loyal tyre suppliers of so many seasons and victories on the basis of one bad season. This time, it appears that there may have been more at stake.

It seems likely that the move to allow Pedrosa onto Bridgestone is part of an agreement by both the tyre companies and Honda to avoid a single-tyre regulation for 2009. Michelin will have wanted to fight to keep both Repsol Honda bikes, and Bridgestone have previously stated that they are unable to supply more riders (the initial reason for resisting the supply to Rossi). However all parties, Honda included, are reluctant to see a control tyre introduced, and this capitulation to the demands of Puig/Pedrosa may very well be a credible alternative to keep Michelin and Bridgestone at the party next year. The tyre companies, brought to the brink of regulation for 2008 over the supply of Rossi have avoided such a showdown this time. Will this be enough to prevent the seemingly-inevitable slide to one make of rubber for 2009?

Kawasaki have announced that they will run a satellite bike in 2009, with the cash coming from a Spanish telecoms company: 1188. The details are laid out at Autosport, and it looks like team manager Batholemy wants to hang on to West.

The decision might be out of Batholemy’s hands, however. The new team will be run by Jorge ‘Aspar’ Martinez and, given his close ties with Bautista, this could be the vehicle by which the young Spanish rider makes the leap to MotoGP. Aspar has made the rounds looking for a bike to get his very successful outfit into MotoGP - Ducati, Suzuki and Yamaha have all been visited by Aspar, but his ability to bring the sponsorship cash of 1188 appears to have finally swung the deal with Kawasaki. Aspar’s great relationship with Bautista is well known, and the Spanish sponsor completes the all-Spanish line-up.

Best start looking elsewhere Ant.

Gresini rider Nakano gets a new Honda to ride from Brno onwards - the same bike as the factory Repsol riders have - in order to develop the 2009 satellite bike for the Gresini, JIR and LCR teams.

On the announcement that this was to happen, Dovizioso suddenly had a long line of reporters at his doorstep looking for a quote. Why? Because he has been Honda faithful through his 125cc and 250cc career, and it is no secret that he managed some truly awesome results with a less-than-competitive machine last year. He’s also been top Honda satellite rider this year, managing a couple of 4th places and beating the odd factory bike along the way, including Hayden at Laguna. So you can see why this might be less than well received by Dovi, and why the reporters have been trying to get a soundbite out of him.

In reality, these decisions to provide new machinery for development are not based on recent results. This was a deal done most likely right at the start of the season, as part of the contract between Gresini and Honda and Nakano. Honda has a desire to see a Japanese rider competing on one of it’s machines at the highest level, and struck a deal with Gresini to take Nakano as a rider. A sweetener to the deal will have been the promise of an update to the bike during the season, which is just what has happened.

Fear not, Dovi. You’ll be on better machinery next year, when you are wearing Repsol colours. Nakano will still be a satellite rider…if he’s lucky. I’m damned if he doesn’t have the coolest helmet design though.

MotoGP needs to succeed in the USA. The creation of a second US round, for all classes, shows strong intent by Dorna to make an impression on the US scene and establish the support and interest of an enlarged fan-base in America. In particular, efforts this year around promotion of the Indianapolis MotoGP have been long-running and somewhat effective, judging by the number of tickets sold already, with some grandstands sold out.. Nicky Hayden has been the poster boy for the campaign, taking part by lapping the new track on an ancient Indian (motorcycle, that is) dressed in early-20th century garb. Lest we forget, it was rammed home on many occasions, that the first race at Indianapolis was a two-wheeled affair rather than four. He will also ride a lap just prior to the Indy 500 on May 25th, at peak viewing time, hopefully exposing the sport to a wider, if redder-necked audience.

It is vital to the sport that audience numbers grow in the States. Significant diversification into this market is an important strategy for the series and the competing manufacturers on different levels:

- sales of motorcycles. Sportsbikes, the stock-in-trade of the Japanese and Italian manufacturers enjoy a comparitively small market in the States, where home-grown, low-slung Harleys dominate and are ingrained as a lifestyle choice. While few will be converted from a Hog to a litre sportsbike, TV exposure will at least open up the potential market’s eyes to the alternatives out there. The bike manufacturers see a large, available market in the States, if only they could get the sportsbike message over to them. MotoGP is one way of pushing this message and the motorcycle brands, but is somewhat less successful than Superbike for moving product, as evidenced by KTM and BMW entering World Superbike in preference to MotoGP. MotoGP is an indirect sell, but is no less important all the same.

- sponsorship. There is a money crisis in MotoGP at the moment, indicated by the loss of the Pons and Roberts teams in recent seasons, and resultant dwindling grid (18 down from 22). Sponsorship from the US could, like Mane, thicken the grid and restore it’s lustre. The USA is a massive and relatively untapped well of sponsor cash, and the first signs of a significant relationship came last year with the Team KR starting to get into bed with the F1 MAX-X and Treasure Island group, a large gaming and gambling conglomerate out of Vegas. That organisations such as Treasure Island are showing interest in the sport is encouraging, although no deal announcement has been made as yet. When it does start to flow, American money will increase the total sponsorship pot, and reduce the risk of losing another satellite team.

- globilisation of the sport. Rossi stopped winning in 2006 and continued to struggle in 2007, and Dorna felt the pain in terms of reduced TV viewer numbers in Spain and Italy. Expansion into a significant new territory would help offset the Rossi effect and ensure that Dorna and the MotoGP cash cow are better placed to ride out the effects in the European market when the Doctor does eventially decide to hang up his spurs, if there is nobody able to adequately fill the void.

It would also be no surprise if Dorna were to be “encouraging” Suzuki to find a spot for Ben Spies behind the scenes in order to boost the American interest in the sport, and no doubt Steve Bonsi will also be helped to make the most of his outstanding opportunity and drive up the interest from the USA.

Dorna are making good progress in winning over the American heart. A rising star such as Spies or Bonsi would do no harm in fanning the flames and driving US bike fans into the waiting arms of Dorna and the MotoGP circus, filling out the grid and increasing the sponsorship cash. Will America bite?

In the three-week break between Estoril and Shanghai, one team has had more then their fair share of column inches in the motorcycle rags: Suzuki.

First it was the long-rumoured entry of Ben Spies in 2009, the on-again, off-again saga continuing, the cards again thrown up in the air and well and truly mixed up by Kevin Schwantz stating he’d love to return to the MotoGP paddock for a spell of management, running a Suzuki satellite team and hey, ain’t that Ben Spies great.

All this fuss must have set Loris Capirossi feeling a little under threat and keen not to lose his factory ride. Having been looking happier this year than he did all last year, he is wise to start making moves to ensure the option Suzuki have on him for 2009 is taken up, and not by placing him in the Suzuki satellite team, although this is a fate which has seen another old-timer blossom, the Texas Tornado. Eurosport report Denning as stating Capirossi’s contract renewal is based on performance criteria, and if that is relative to Vermeulen then he is so far winning the war. Guess what - the young Australian’s contract is also due for renewal at the end of 2008.

There is one final variable to add to the equation. Paul Denning, long a faithful servant of Suzuki, reaches the end of his current team manager contract at the end of this season. Denning was present at the recent British Superbikes round at Thruxton and was speaking of the “Suzuki family” - not a man who looks concerned over his long term role in the organisation.

Where will it all end? This week, we’re going with Denning and Capirex staying. Vermeulen out, replaced by the unhappy Melandri from Ducati at the end of the season and no sign of Spies in 2009. Schwantz will get some sort of ambassadorial role, perhaps more prominent on the PR side than he is now. In other words: the same, but different.

Autosport and others are reporting Max Biaggi and Troy Bayliss may be drafted in to help out Ducati to make their MotoGP machine more rideable. Ducati are restricted in using Melandri and Stoner during the season and can only use them on championship tracks on the day after the race. The Ducati test rider, Vittoriano Guareschi, fell off the bike and hurt himself at Mugello so is out of action at the moment. Interestingly, Chaz Davies, once up for the role of Ducati tester, has not featured in the gossip perhaps because Ducati need an old head to help them out of this hole.

Whoever ends up testing the bike, I can’t help but see it as a slap in the face for Casey’s skills at developing a machine, rules or no rules restricting his in-season testing. There is a lot of head scratching in Bologna at the moment and China, early in the season though it is, could be a watershed track for the Italian team. A failure to reach the podium for Casey or a mid-table result for Marco spells serious trouble.

The 2008 season started as business as usual for Ducati, Casey Stoner leading out the rest under the artificial lights in the desert. Since the Qatar round, things have not gone to plan for the factory Ducati and the satellite Alice outfit, with performances well below what we have come to expect from them.

Should Ducati be worried? Is it just a case of the re-shuffle of the circuit order in the calendar have thrown two Ducati bogey circuits together at the start of the season? Or is there something else going on?

Let’s start to answer these questions by looking at the off-season developments of the bike. The Ducati package has not had any major changes - Stoner remained, as did Bridgestone and the technical team developing the bike. No major upheavals, good tests over winter, no injuries. Stoner did get a new team-mate in Melandri and both Elias and Guintoli were new to Ducatis. However, the development of the bike was very much focused around Stoner over winter. The word from the factory was very much about evolution not revolution in the development of the machine.

The result at Qatar, in strange conditions for all, seemed to bear out this philosophy. A clear victory for Stoner, over 5 seconds ahead of Lorenzo, was very much business-as-usual for the team. Melandri managed 11th, but this was put down to learning how to adapt his style to the bike, plus the cold. The Alice bikes ended the race down in 14th and 15th, the last finishers of race distance (barring West) just half a second apart from each other but almost a minute behind the leaders. The previous year, in the heat of the day, Stoner won, Melandri managed 5th on a Honda Gresini and the Pramac d’Antin satellite Ducatis came in 9th and 11th.

On to Spain, and the issues start to become more prominent. Stoner finishes 11th, with a total race time of 46′17.344 secs. In 2007, Stoner completed the race in 5th place with a total race time of 45′58.333. Nineteen seconds is roughly the difference, Nineteen seconds slower in 2008. “Sure,” you may say, “but Casey ran off the track a couple of times, and one of these was not his fault. And Jerez is a Michelin track.” Agreed, but compare this to the pace of Rossi, also on Bridgestone tyres. In 2008, Rossi was second, total race time of 45′38.004. In 2007, the winner, with a total time of 45′53.304. In 2008 he was fifteen seconds faster than he went on Michelins!

And what of the Melandri and the Alice boys at Jerez? Melandri 12th, six seconds slower than he managed on his Gresini Honda last year, and the Alice machines would have been 30 seconds behind Alex Barros on the 2007 Pramac d’Antin motorcycle.

Now Estoril. Another Michelin track with it’s technical, twisting nature. In 2008 Stoner is 6th, completing the race in 46′19.777. In 2007, he is 3rd with a race time of 45′51.388. A gaping hole of 28.7 seconds. The loose electronics from Dorna did not help any, but even accounting for this the result is a disaster for Casey. Melandri last year was 5th, this year 13th, a massive 55 seconds slower than he was on his Gresini Honda. Alice machines this year were 12th and 14th for once a better result than the Pramac d’Antin bikes which did not complete the distance in 2007.

And what of Rossi? Winner in 2007 with a time of 45′49.911 he was 3rd in 2008, some 16 seconds slower on his Bridgestones than on Michelins. On the face of it, not too different from Casey, but take into account the fact he led the race for half it’s distance and circulated in a relaxed 3rd place once he realised Lorenzo and Pedrosa had the speed in the second half of the race. Even the 2008 winner, Lorenz0, was 4 seconds slower than Rossi in 2007.

One final telling statistic. Stoner took 52 points from these three races last year. This year, he managed 40.

So should Ducati be worried? Without a doubt, yes. Performances across all four bikes are down on last year, recording slower times this year in some cases and consigning a talented riders like Melandri and Elias to the tail end of the field. Casey rode a near-perfect season in 2007. It seems the team have managed a less than perfect off-season, ultimately reducing the performance of the package on the evidence so far. Ducati will be working feverishly to rectify this, and they need to. A long, hard season lies between them and retaining the championship.

Tech-3 have today announced an extension to their partnership with Yamaha, through to the end of the 2010 season. This provides Yamaha with stability for their long-term strategy of developing the MotoGP machine across two teams and four competing riders with very similar standards of kit. Unlike the Honda and Ducati models (one factory team and satellite teams making do with machinery at least a couple of revisions behind) this provides Yamaha with more data and technical expertise contributing to the overall performance of the squad. It is an interesting strategy, and one which seems, two races and a qualifying session into the season, to be bearing fruit.

Further to this, Toseland has also announced he will be staying on the Tech-3 motorcycle for 2009. This is bith a recognition by Yamaha and Tech-3 (in that order) that he does indeed have what it takes to compete at this level. Some of his overtakes have been on the tough side of legal, but have served to make his mark among the riders. He is out to pass the people in front of him. As he remarked himself recently, that is what he is paid for. His energy, commitment and talent have shone through and MotoGPBlog thinks he’ll be a feature of the paddock for many seasons to come.