MotoGP Blog

MotoGPBlog is taking a short summer break over the next couple of weeks. As a result, updates will be slower than normal and will depend entirely on internet availability in the Canadian outback. Scratch that - will there even be TV?! In other words, don’t hold your breath for a race report for either Mugello or Catalunya.

Coverage of the British GP in June will also be affected, but hopefully in a positive way because MotoGPBlog will be there in person. Expect in-depth coverage and exclusive pictures in the third week of June. And if you see us in the crowd sporting MotoGPBlog t-shirts, come and say hello.

Rossi; this place is special to him like no other. Six-times consecutive winner, he displayed his passion for the place on his helmet last year: a large red heart on a white background. Such was his exuberance at winning in what was the worst of his seasons in MotoGP, he flung his helmet far into the crowd from the podium: a very rare event indeed. It is where Rossi-mania is at its peak, the only break in the yellow of the crowd is likely to be the red of the Ducati grandstand.

Such is his crushing dominance of the event, nobody else has won here on a four stroke. It has not even been close.

The circuit is a set in a valley and enjoys some not insignificant elevation changes. In real terms this means a few tricky corner entrances, hard on the brakes with a downhill adverse-camber entry. In the dry, difficult to execute with speed, the tendency being to brake early with the bike as upright as possible. In the wet, a very short, easy to take path to a low-side.

We may see another Italian running up at the sharp end: Capirossi has a good record here (2nd in 2006) and has been looking strong on the Suzuki of late, finding decent set-ups on the blue machine. It will take something of a miracle for another Italian to feature, with both Elias and Melandri struggling.

At last, a competitive outing for the Honda pneumatic engine seems likely with Honda wildcard Tadi Okada coming out of race retirement to run the engine. Big H must be confident in it’s reliability, as they would not risk the public humiliation of an engine failure.

The race is Rossi’s. While others may dare to challenge him, it would be a brave punter who put money on anyone else but Valentino taking the chequered flag.

I stumbled on this MotoGP statistical visualisation tool recently. Gorgeously presented, it provides a different take on the often dry stats around MotoGP. With several different visualisations to choose from, one can slice and dice the data in almost any way imaginable.

Check out the race view of Laguna Seca - switch the view to “Gap” at the bottom left of the page and look at how Stoner obliterated the opposition. Also revealed in this view is just how well Chris Vermeulen did - a race-winning performance at any other event.

Switch now to the Dutch TT, and keeping the same view , check out how Rossi only escaped Stoner in the last couple of laps, and how Stoner, despite his aerodynamic problems dominated the first half of the race before Rossi passed him to win.

There are lots more nuggets to be discovered in here, give yourself half an hour to explore and I guarantee you’ll find an insight into the races.

UPDATE: Now the stats viewer includes up-to-date 2008 statistics too. Thanks Ming!

The first laps of this race at historic Le Mans looked like a reversion to type for Ducati. Stoner, powering through the first right-hander and taking the holeshot into the Dunlop Chicane. Rather than a reversion to type, it was a reversal of fortune by the time the chequered flag dropped.

In the first few kilometres, Stoner and Pedrosa battled for the lead, Pedrosa’s Honda occasionally bucking and fighting like an ‘08 Ducati, the Ducati conversely retaining it’s poise, with Edwards maintaining a watching brief. As the remainder of the field sorted themselves out into a running order, the top four gapped the rest: Stoner, Pedrosa, Edwards, Rossi making the pace. The second group is headed by Chris Vermeulen with his best showing of the year so far, closely followed by Hayden, Capirossi, Hopkins, a tentative Lorenzo and Tony Elias. Poor Marco Melandri’s luck failed to change as his bike was cutting out on the warm-up lap and stalled as he let in the clutch to start, putting him dead last.

Pedrosa makes a move on lap 3, hard on the brakes into a left-hander he hits a bump and Stoner calmly swings beneath him on the racing line, and Rossi follows him past at the next corner - Pedrosa was not about to give up and fights back past Rossi, only to be taken again just a couple of corners later. Proper racing, this.

The Spaniard gets a run on Rossi out of Raccordement, and shows him a wheel through Coubre Dunlop. This action seems to be a turning point for Rossi as he immediately turns up the wick and gaps him.

Pedrosa finally dealt with, Rossi sets about Stoner. The Ducati still has the power/gearing advantage along the straight, but the Ducati is no match for the corner speed of the Yamahas and Hondas. Stoner is noticeably struggling in the final sector, as he has all weekend. Another fascinating series of overtakes sees the lead change. Hard but fair racing from Stoner pushes Rossi back to the very edge of the kerbing as he regains the lead. It was to be a temporary measure though, Rossi passing Stoner at Musée with 21 laps left, just seven laps in. Around now Lorenzo also starts to come alive, presumably as his pain medication kicks in, and his lap times drop as he closes in on Hopkins in 8th. Vermeulen still leads the second pack, some way ahead of the Hayden/Capirossi/Hopkins fight.

Rosii pulls out a 1.1 second lead immediately, and seemingly connected to Rossi, Lorenzo carves his way through to sixth place in a matter of a lap or two. Meanwhile, Stoner starts to lose feeling on the right side of his front tyre, and begins to fall back from Rossi towards Pedrosa. Scenting blood, Dani lined up Stoner for the pass by riding around the outside of the long hairpin at Musée to have the inside line for the right-hander that follows.

Rossi has the hammer down, in a class of his own and looking like the Rossi of old. A couple of laps at white-hot 1:34.2 pace sees the gap grow to first 2 then 2.6 seconds. At the half way stage, the rest of the field already seem defeated.

Then the rain came. White flags were waived although it hardly seemed to make a difference to the leaders, the rain evaporating on the hot track as quickly as it was landing. Hopkins’ chance of points went the same way as the drizzle when his chain broke, and suddenly there is a four-way battle for second place, as Lorenzo catches the Pedrosa/Stoner/Edwards battle. In a desperate bid to slavage something from his nightmare race, Melandri dives to the pits for a change of bike under the white-flag rule but the rain stopped almost immediately. Barely 30 seconds later, Stoner is pulling over off the racing line with an engine failure. He limps back to the pits for a change of bike but ends the race in 16 place, two laps down.

Up ahead of Stoner, Lorenzo cuts his way through Edwards and Pedrosa, whose challenge is starting to fade. Rossi’s lead has grown to a massive seven seconds, and nobody, not even the mighty Lorenzo could touch him today. Rossi brings it home for his most convincing win for two years, followed by his fellow Yamahas of Lorenzo and Edwards. A great day for Yamaha, a bad, bad day for Ducati. In a strange mirror image of the latter part of the 2007 season which saw Yamaha suffer technical problems while Ducati steamrollered on, today it was Yamaha with all the cards while Ducati looked to be in disarray.

Rossi was joined on his victory lap by Angel Nieto wearing special leathers and a Robert Dunlop helmet, Dunlop having died in a racing accident earlier in the week at the North West 200. Both Rossi and Nieto have amassed 90 Grands Prix victories each, so it was a nice touch to have them both ride together.

Team by team
Marlboro Ducati
It was all going so well until the race. Stoner appeared to be in good spirits following qualifying and confidence had returned to the Ducati pit, only for reliability to suddenly exit. After 22 points-scoring finishes, Stoner’s luck finally ran out. This season is turning into a hard grind fro Ducati, not used to seeing their bikes finish in 15th and 16th place.

Fiat Yamaha
Rossi back to domination, Lorenzo with another superhuman effort. The perfect end to the weekend for the Fiat boys.

Repsol Honda
Hayden did better in the race than in any other session this weekend, but he seems to be lacking in the edge he has had previously, and got whooped by Dovizioso. Pedrosa challenged for a while, but either his tyres went off or the high revs he was using to keep with Stoner and then Rossi cost him dear in terms of petrol consumption. His start faded in the last few laps, but he surely can’t wait for the revised engine.

Rizla Suzuki
Showing improvement, Suzuki and Vermeulen in particular looked to have gained some ground in Le Mans. 5th and 7th is not where the blue team wish to be, but it is a whole lot better than where they have been this season.

Kawasaki
Just horrible for Team Green. Hopkins never really challenged the front runners before his chain broke, and West had a set-up issue which meant he could not exit corners without a lot of rear wheel spin. A weekend they will want to forget. You can bet someone from EK Chain will be getting a rocket right now.

Tech-3 Yamaha
Despite Toseland’s early bath, a cracking weekend for the French team with a podium from Edwards who is threatening Stoner in the Rider Standings and is rapidly reversing from his MotoGP retirement at the end of the season. Just one more year Colin. One more.

Honda Satellites
Dovizioso beat Hayden again, surely it is worth a punt on him replacing Hayden before the end of the season. de Puniet, de Angelis and Nakano kept it right side up for the entire race, possibly helped by the new clutch assembly dispensed by Honda prior to the race.

Alice Ducati
Another depressing race for the Alice team, the only real victory a hollow one, as they managed to out-place both factory bikes. This is more a measure of the grim result for Ducati than any inspiration by the Alice team though.

Round five and Yamaha are holding the better hand with a pair of jokers, Ducati a busted flush and Honda a pair of twos.

Weather conditions dictated that the teams spend the first half of qualifying practice searching for a set-up to cope with the higher track temperature experienced on Saturday, peaking at around 37C (98F) compared to Thursday and Friday when temperatures were some 10 degrees lower.

This fiddling meant that Rossi and Stoner were largely absent from the top of the timing sheets in the early stages. In particular Rossi went through a couple of repetitions of putting in either one or two laps before returning to the pits to change bike, and immediately going out on the second bike - either scrubbing in tyres or trying different set-ups for the heat. Pedrosa was the one setting the pace early on, did the higher temperature suit his Michelins better than the Bridgestones?

Stoner’s efforts were concentrated on finding the right set-up for the final, fourth sector consisting of Garage Bleu and the double-apex Raccordement. In particular the Stoner Ducati looked to be upset by the bumps on and off of the kerbing at Raccordement. At the start of the session he was losing two or three tenths through this sinuous series of corners to Pedrosa, by the end, this would be different.

Lorenzo continued to scare and worry his crew while riding fast. He is obviously riding around his injuries, but the speed he is maintaining comes with risks, as evidenced by two off-track excursions during qualifying and a tumble on Friday from which he emerged unscathed. One trip off track at the fast right-hander of Coubre Dunlop (turn 1) saw him skating across the gravel trap, injured feet dangling, only to be launched into the air, bike and all, before landing in the middle of the Dunlop Chicane, barely in control.

Colin Edwards and Tech-3 again showed well throughout the session, and Edwards looking comfortable is really able to make the Yamaha sing around here, he maintained his position at the sharp end from early on and his smooth riding style is suiting both the bike and the track. Chris Vermeulen looked to be enjoying his riding again and has been consistently fast through the weekend.

After 30 minutes the order was Pedrosa (M); Edwards (M), Rossi (B), de Puniet (suspected M qualifier used), Vermeulen (B) and Stoner (B). Advantage Michelin.

In the second half of the session, qualifiers became prevalent, and times began to tumble. Mid-to high 1:33’s for Rossi, Lorenzo, Vermeulen and Pedrosa upped the pace. These times were destroyed by Colin Edwards, sticking in a 1:33.0 on his first qualifier, a full 0.6 secs faster than anyone else at that point.

In final fifteen minutes, things became hectic as always. Rossi, Vermeulen and Toseland all trying for the Edwards time before the man himself came back with a 1:32.7. Stoner at this point was still trying to find his race set-up and the Ducati, still on race tyres, was noticeably calmer and less frantic than earlier in the session. Ten minutes to go and Stoner with his new set-up a set of qualifiers hit a 1:33.1. Pedrosa puts in a 1:33.0, still three tenths off of Edwards.

Lorenzo now had his second off-track excursion onto a section of the 24Hr circuit, and was looking tired by this stage. He had to execute a U-turn by getting off the bike and hauling it backwards, causing everyone watching to wince at the obvious pain this was causing him.

With just a couple of minutes to go Stoner on his second set of qualifiers went through the third sector just 0.009 secs behind the stunning Edwards time. He subsequently lost a further two tenths in the final sector, a testament to the agility of the Yamaha/Edwards combination.

Edwards was again on a hot lap with just seconds to spare when he was baulked by riders cruising around to practice starts. Pedrosa had no such trouble, managing a 1:32.647 for pole.

In the post-session press conference, Stoner sounded upbeat and confident in the bike, explaining the final sector issues which they think they have now found a solution for. Colin Edwards’ big grin said it all for him, and Pedrosa was as business-like and unemotional as always, proclaiming a need to continue to work on the settings.

Those in trouble include the satellite Ducatis of Elias and Guintoli, 2 and 4 seconds off the pace respectively. The hope from China that Melandri had of turning around his season has evaporated here, with the Italian struggling with braking while turning in, a very necessary part of negotiating this track.

Most worried has to be Ant West. A further three tenths down on Melandri and struggling to find rear grip, his greatest concern this weekend must be his team manager Michael Bartholemy expressing his full support for the Aussie, a possible pre-cursor to the withdrawal of that support.

Front row:
Pedrosa, Edwards, Stoner.

Second row:
Rossi, Lorenzo, Hayden.

Third row:
Toseland, Vermeulen, Hopkins.

Fourth row:
Dovizioso, Capirossi, de Puniet.

Fifth row:
Nakano, Elias, de Angelis.

Sixth row:
Guintoli, Melandri, West.

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?

Still late spring/early summer in Northern Europe, the weather for the French MotoGP round can be changeable; read: it’s probably going to rain at some point over the three days. The stop-start nature of the Le Mans - Bugatti track, featuring three hairpins separated by short straights favours agility over outright power; yet another tight and twisting European circuit.

The circuit has been the site of some epic rides in recent years. Rossi riding away from a battling Gibernau in his final full season in 2005; Guintoli, class rookie and riding the Tech-3-Yamaha-Dunlop package leading the race in 2006 for a few, all-too-brief moments followed by a Melandri win in 2006; and finally, that rare event, a Suzuki win in 2007 with Vermeulen’s steady, composed ride in the wet.

Last year’s 250cc race was dominated by this year’s MotoGP rookies - the trio of Lorenzo, Dovizioso and de Angelis arriving at the chequered flag in that order. What of Lorenzo? His injuries worse than expected, he will still ride and if his performance in China is any measure, it will barely slow him down. A podium is possible.

Of other predictions: Ducati/Stoner may well struggle again to compete with the agility of the Hondas and Yamahas. Honda will certainly not miss the pneumatic valved engine this weekend, and fuelling will be less of an issue than in China. Top of the shop has to be the Fiat and Tech-3 Yamahas, and MotoGPBlog is expecting another 4-from-top-6 performance in qualifying from the teams, the Repsol Hondas interspersed between the Yamahas.

Tyre-wise it is difficult to call, last year having been dominated by the Bridgestone-shod Suzuki of Vermeulen. Let’s call it a neutral track, the most recent evidence, if it can be called that, pointing to Bridgestone wets performing better than Michelin last year. Michelin have moved on a lot since then, so in reality it is all to fight for. What will be interesting is the relative performance of Stoner and Rossi. Outwitted in tyre selection by Rossi in China, Stoner will be desperate to get it right and resume his challenge for the title in earnest.

Whether it rains or not, this will be a cracker. Could we have our fifth winner in five races? Step forward Nicky Hayden…

The race was forecast to be wet, and the overnight rains did materialise, but by the time the 250cc race was finishing up the track was mostly dry. The exception being a large wet patch in front of Casey Stoner’s grid position. A wet race was called regardless, but only one rider chose to leave the pits on wets - Lorenzo - probably to scrub them in although would he have been allowed to fit them to his second bike?

Race analysis
Lorenzo was again the focus of attention when he stalled his bike as he tried to leave for the warm-up lap. All watching were wincing as he attempted to push the bike on his damaged ankles, before getting some assistance to bump start the bike. He was able to rejoin his allotted grid position for the race start.

Edwards, enjoying the first Tech-3 pole since 2002, made a confident start and held the lead around lap 1 while all took their measure of the tricky conditions. By lap 2, Pedrosa was past and gapping him, and an urgent Rossi was shaping up to make a pass on his friend. Stoner, meanwhile, held 4th spot but was already marginally slower than the three bikes in front. Behind Stoner a chasing group was forming of Hayden, Lorenzo, Capirossi, Melandri and Dovizioso that would last the entire race, but never in the same order for any two laps in succession.

By lap 3, Rossi is past the Texan and chasing Pedrosa, who also has the hammer down. Already these two are 0.3 seconds a lap quicker than anyone else. Lap 5 and Rossi passes Pedrosa for the lead. Colin Edwards outbrakes himself and allows Stoner, Melandri, Hayden and Dovizioso through. Stoner begins to gap those behing him, establishing a clear 3rd place, while the battle for 4th will rage throughout the race, the figure of Lorenzo beginning to close on the 5-bike melee.

Now to lap 10 and Rossi decides to test Pedrosa. Consistently putting in 1:59 laps, he tries to break the slipstream tow of the Spaniard down the straight. He fails, and Pedrosa stays with him through lap after fastest lap in a fascinating display of rider skill from them both. Stoner has no answer to these speeds but maintains a consistent 2:00 lap time.

Lap 12 and Lorenzo has caught the 4th-place pack currently led by Melandri and finds his rhythm, lapping a couple of tenths quicker than those around him and matching Stoner for pace. He begins to despatch each one until he lies 4th three laps later.

Into the final stages now and Rossi pushes again with an amazing series of lap times. 1:59.7, 1:59.3, 1:59.2, 1:59.3, 1:59.5. His aim again is to break Pedrosa. This time he succeeds, finally gapping the determined Spaniard. Stoner meanwhile maintains a steady pace but never cracks the 2:00 lap.

In the last couple of laps, Pedrosa backs off settling for second and the retention of the championship lead. He would later say he was concerned about the engine over-revving down the straight in Rossi’s slipstream, but MotoGPBlog believe the electronics on his conventionally-sprung machine changed the fuel map to lean the engine mixture to ensure he reached the flag rather than ran out of fuel. Dani could also have been having a go at Honda for the continued delay to his higher-revving pneumatic valve engine. Rossi finished the race by cruising to victory, and lapping up the result. He took a full 8 minutes on his cool-down lap to make it back to the pits, clearly emotional at the victory.

Team by team
Marlboro Ducati
Ducati have to be pleased with the improved results from both machines in China. Melandri finally looked like he was able to master the bike, and the result showed this. Running 4th for most of the race, his final 5th spot must feel like a podium to him. Stoner was consistently fast, but not in the same league as Rossi and Pedrosa. Even though all four Ducatis topped the speed charts, more work remains to be done.

Fiat Yamaha
Rossi looked to be back to his best now he feels he has the equipment he needs to compete. Nobody could live with him today. Lorenzo did an outstanding, committed job, getting a solid 4th place on his 21st birthday. He reported his arms were fine after the race following his recent surgery, although that might be down to some Dr Costa magic for his other damaged limbs.

Repsol Honda
Pedrosa deserves to be happy with his finish, giving his the undisputed lead in the championship. He certainly did not seem to miss the new engine too much - except perhaps when slipstreaming Rossi. Hayden had a fairly anonymous race, perhaps his thoughts were more with his brother and his recent injury, rather than on the MotoGP at hand?

Rizla Suzuki
A Vermeulen nightmare: he seemed to lose his clutch ot suffer a transmission failure on lap 6. Capirossi meanwhile was up at the sharp end for much of the race, before dropping back to 9th with a similar, although less serious, problem as Vermeulen. Not the best of races for Suzuki but Capirossi again made his case for staying next year.

Kawasaki
MotoGPBlog seems to have cursed Hopper this weekend. As our pick for success, he never displayed his potential, apart from at the very first corner. From a fifth-row start, he passed most of the grid on the outside of turn 1, only to later collide with de Angelis and somehow manage to stab his own leg with his footpeg. Luck is just not with the Anglo-American. Any West remained steadfastly at the back, complaining about a lack of grip from both ends and never bettering his 2:02 sec lap on lap 6. As the head of Kawasaki was watching this weekend, his days may well be numbered on Team Green.

Tech-3 Yamaha
Edwards did the job on Saturday, but a single mistake cost him 4th or 5th place in the race. A solid performance from the Renaissance Man, who looks set to stay in MotoGP in 2009. Toseland came in a disappointing 12th, never finding his form in the race, and never troubling the TV cameras.

Honda Satellites
Dovizioso was the stand-out Honda satellite rider, scrapping away for 4th place for the majority of the race. Set up for the wet weather that never came, he suffered in the latter stages, dropping down to 11th place as his tyres gave up the ghost. Nakano, de Puniet and de Angelis were seldom doing anything of interest in the race.

Alice Ducati
Hope at last for Team Alice, with Elias’ 8th place. This is what Alice were hoping for at the start of the season, and like Melandri, Elias seemed to at last be gelling with the bike. The same cannot be said for Guintoli, but he at least managed to put a Honda and a Kawasaki behind him before the chequered flag came out.

The season is four races old, and we have had four different winners. With Yamaha resurgent, Honda strong and Ducati improving, we’re set for a cracking title battle.