MotoGP Blog

Over at the the excellent fastest lap blog, Nicebloke posts about dirty bikes regarding how motorcycles are not as “green” as many presume and calls on the FIM to force green technology into MotoGP, so that the technology will trickle down to road bikes.

I can’t dispute that road bikes could be improved to lessen their impact on the environment. However this will come about as a result of two forces which determine the form and function of bikes on the street: marketing and law. Nicebloke puts forward a case that MotoGP is a great platform for development of such technology - I strongly disagree. MotoGP is not about making road bikes better. It is all about making the most technologically advanced bikes on the planet with one focus: making them fast to the exclusion of all else.
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Interesting times for the AMA Supersport rider - he is to step up for Pramac d’Antin for the final three races of the season, plus he has the offer of Ducati/Bridgestone test rider for next year.
The ride for d’Antin is a no-brainer. Opportunities like these come rarely, and to not grab it with both hands and squeeze the most out of it would be a massive mistake.

The test rider role for Ducati is a different call though. Davies is a racer, he feeds on competition. Doing endless laps around an empty circuit through the winter and all next season may not appeal. The benefit is that the toil will lead him to rub shoulders with the right people in the Ducati camp.

The measured language he uses in the reports of this offer perhaps suggest he is hungry for more:

“The role of Ducati/Bridgestone official test rider is a definite opportunity that needs serious consideration”

If he takes the role, it scuppers his chances of a full ride in a satellite team next year, and maybe he would even prefer to go back to AMA Superbike. I’d hang on a moment Chaz before you make that decision, see what your form is like in the next couple of races and perhaps there will be more offers on the table for you come the end of October.

Three manufacturer teams stayed on at Motegi, working on next year’s machinery. No surprise, Ducati were not one of them, but were straight on their flight back to Italy to celebrate before making the long trip to Australia.
Yamaha
Chassis and tyres. Colin Edwards spent the day faithfully testing Michelin compounds and constructions, the French manufacturer working with the Texan with some success. Also the mystery of Rossi’s front end problems in the race were solved, apparently due to a complete lack of temperature in the front tyre caused by the still-wet pit lane. Meanwhile, Rossi concentrated on two new chassis: a stiffer one and a really stiff one from the 2007 bike. Rossi favoured the less stiff one of the two, the really stiff one passing too much vibration on to the rider.
Suzuki
2008 bike and tyres. A run out for the new 2008 bike with engine and chassis revisions in the hands of test rider Aoki. Absent from the test was Hopkins, who was given some gardening leave due to his impending departure to Kawasaki next year. Vermeulen spent his day testing Bridgestone tyres.
Repsol Honda
Fairing, clutch and tyres. More overtime for the Michelin technicians, working closely to improve their rubber’s performance on the Honda bikes. A revised, slightly wider fairing for Hayden to offer him more aerodynamic efficiency, and some new clutch parts for the 2008 bikes, although we’ll probably see these again before the season is out.

Back in January 2002, Kawasaki took the decision to enter MotoGP with a 990cc bike. A return to the top class after an absence of more than 20 years. Just a few short months later, Kawasaki entered the bike as a wildcard to the last four races of the season. It had a very angular, futuristic look to it and gave the impression it contained new and fresh thinking.

The first of the four races was Motegi. A rider by the name of Akira Yanagawa was chosen by Kawasaki for the honour of riding the bike, recently retired from WSB. He qualified it in 18th place on a 1′51.234. A certain Loris Capirossi took pole that day on a 1′49.169.

Under race conditions the bike looked alive, and not in a good way. Bucking and dancing on the brakes, Yanagawa fought it tooth and nail until finally crashing out after 6 laps when the engine siezed. Yanagawa broke his pelvis in the crash and did not ride the bike in competition again. This sad tale was given a happy ending today at Motegi when Yanagawa, again entered as a wild card for Kawasaki, brought his 800cc machine home in 17th place, pulling a huge wheelie over the line.

This topped off a great day for Kawasaki, with their first podium, West leading the race for a while and Yanagawa finally completing a race in the top class.

Casey Stoner did it. Watching his parents and his wife watching the race from the pits was a portrait of tension, tension the lad seemed to share on the bike in the wet, and who cam blame him. At just 21 years old, he is the second youngest MotoGP champion ever, and a year younger than Rossi was when he took the crown the first time. A fantastic achievement - well done Casey!

It was a pleasure to see the outgoing champion, Nicky Hayden, be valiant in defeat and stop on the cooling down lap in Motegi specially to congratulate him. Casey deserves this championship, of that there is no doubt, and the combination of him, the Ducati and the Bridgestone tyres was simply unbeatable this season. This was not a championship won by tyres, this was won by his phenomenal performance throughout all of the races so far this season. As I said at the top - Casey did it.

This is also Bridgestone’s first MotoGP title, something they have been working for for six years now. Six long, hard years being crushed by Michelin season after season, finally rewarded with the title.

This is Casey’s moment though - congratulations to him and the Stoner and Ducati families. Won’t Phillip Island be fun now eh Casey?

What a race. So full of incident, books could be written about it.

Right from the start, the tension was palpable. West on his Kwak jumped the start, but before he served his drive-through penalty fought his way right to the front with confidence in his bike just about everyone else was lacking. Everyone but Dani Pedrosa who, in continuation of his form all weekend took to the front and did not look like giving anyone a break. Rossi had a slow start, as he often does in wet conditions, falling to seventh.
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Casey Stoner lashed out at Carlos Checa at the start of free practice yesterday. Checa was riding slowly and dawdling in the middle of the track and Stoner had to adjust his line considerably to avoid a collision. Stoner then kicked out at Checa as he passed him, and provided Checa with the benefit of several “hand gestures” to show his displeasure.

There is form in this area - Hopkins was fined US$2000 at Laguna Seca for a very similar altercation with Checa. Just last week, Lorenzo was fined US$5000 for having several spats through the weekend, utilising several “hand gestures” directed as his fellow racers.

This looks very inconsistent on the part of the governing body - they have to apply the same rules to all and I will be looking out for an explanation of why Stoner has escaped a fine.

From the off at Honda Mobility Land, Pedrosa was top of the charts, the Michelin and Honda looking good, although moving a lot under braking - and there is a lot of braking at Motegi.

Kawasaki grabbed a bit of TV time by putting in an early qually tyre and de Puniet made the most of it, holding pole for a good 25 minutes of the session.

Then the serious business started. With 8 minutes to go, Pedrosa used the first of his quallys and took pole with a 1:46. This was followed a couple of minutes later by Rossi bettering his lap with a 1:46.3 while Pedrosa put a new tyre on his Honda.

Rossi then went for another lap on the same tyre - something unthinkable a couple of races ago as the Michelins were simply not up to it. Pedrosa managed a blazing 1:45.8, and while Rossi bettered his previous lap, he could not match the Spaniard, who took a worthy pole.

Stoner had a miserable time, languishing in 18th for much of the session, and managing only 9th at the end of the session. He did not look happy all, shaking his head at the bike and acting as though the bike was doing things he did not expect. Perhaps the pressure is getting to him and he is tensing up?

The Kwaks did magnificently, 4th (Pedrosa) and 6th (West), unlike the Suzukis that seem not to suit the track - Vermeulen having a bad hair day back in 17th!

An important aspect of the final result was three Michelin riders occupying the top three slots; Pedrosa, Rossi and Hayden. Significantly Mr Hamane, President of HRC publicly shook the hands of all of the Michelin technicians in the Repsol garage at the end of the session, recognising the progress Michelin have made.

Other notable results: Capirossi out-qualified Stoner for the first time this season, Tony Elias did well on the Gresini in 5th but was a second off the pole pace. Edwards maintained his middling season with a 7th place. Nobody could touch Pedrosa in this session, or indeed any session so far this weekend, almost a full 4/10ths faster than Rossi.

Now, what was all that talk about Michelins being rubbish?

I know the world has moved on from Estoril. I’m having trouble doing so - I can’t find a decent picture of a Honda which shows the minimal bodywork they were running. This is on all of the Hondas, not just Repsols. This picture - indulge me, I normally try and keep image sizes down - shows Hayden on a slip of a bike. It is tiny, and so is the fairing. I am harping on about this as Yamaha and Ducati are going the other way - bigger fairings to eek out more top speed from less power. The technology war rages on. It was ever thus.

Dani Pedrosa and Repsol Honda have finally announced that they have reached agreement on Dani’s contract. The delay seems to have been about how long the contract was to be for - Big H pushing for three years, Dani not wanting to commit for more than one. Hours of long negotiation, lawyers locked in smoky rooms, Mexican standoffs and generally getting the huff have resulted in an excellent compromise - a two year contract.

In reality Dani could not have, and is not interested in, going anywhere else. Repsol (Spanish sponsor of a Spanish rider) were not about to move and Big H has looked after him since he was a prodigy in 125cc, and maybe even before that. There will be talk of focus on the next two years with their partners Michelin and Repsol. I wonder where this leaves Nicky Hayden, that most loyal of riders who has not muttered a peep of complaint in public about his plight. Will he re-sign at the end of next year? That is in doubt - and there might be a space in the Fiat Yamaha garage by then…