© Bruce Allen
MotoGP demands a number of difficult things from riders simultaneously. The great ones find a way, mentally, to juggle all of this sensory input, to keep it all “under consideration” and as balanced as possible at 200 mph. Very complex neural networks for most of these guys. We see, over time, the top riders emerge. The equipment is secondary; the Alien title is not bestowed on the machine but on the man who rides it. His “to do” list during a race is staggering:
- Beat teammate.
- Do not crash.
- Keep it on line.
- Keep it on revs.
- Keep positioned to overtake.
- Keep it in gear.
- Watch braking points
- Watch gas and gauges.
- Stay in lead group.
- Conserve rubber.
- Humiliate certain opponents, if possible.
- Do not get schooled by other riders.
- Watch settings.
- Watch pit board, or not.
- Win in turns.
- In rain, double all of the above.
During all this, we can only imagine what a recording of a Valentino Rossi during the 45 minutes of a race would sound like, in Italian. Imagine a grinding drone of guttural, high-pitched noise, interspersed with bits of epithets against riders and their mothers, as well as shards of prayers to The Virgin. Perhaps 180 F bombs. Each overtake accompanied by an airy “B-bye!!” Late in the race, ideally, more of the same. In a perfect world, it’s a jubilant AMF! to his Spanish rivals. Occasional despair, stronzo this, stronzo that, and plenty of self-recrimination. See blown engine in Mugello.
One of Rossi’s gifts, in addition to the ability to keep a lot of plates in the air, is his honesty, with himself, and, when convenient, with the public; he does shill for a lot of companies. Bottom line—he has retained many of the above skills from the time he was the best rider on the planet, and has seen several others diminished. He makes up for these losses by being more strategic, more of a long term thinker.
He’s seen it all before. When he has the magical “pace”, he can still win races. When he doesn’t he doesn’t over-ride to compensate. Pretty much plays the cards dealt to him, but still plays as hard as ever. And sells bazillions of hats, T shirts and leather riding jackets at what? $2500 per? It’s good to be king.
I was told by a guy I worked for years ago that the way to become successful in business is by learning to enjoy and do well things other people don’t want to do. It’s much the same in MotoGP, other than it’s something other folks CAN’T DO, to combine these skills—muscle tone, clarity of vision, balance, aggression, and courage. Along with, ahem, mechanical aptitude.
These guys do for motorcycle folks what the NHL does for hockey folks. Sure, you can wander down to the local high school and watch kids play hockey. But an NHL game is radically faster, more precise, more violent, and, ultimately, way more interesting than the HS game unless your kid was starting on the #1 scoring line.
So it is for MotoGP riders and their bikes who, compared to normal “commute during the week and ride for fun on weekends” folks, operate on a different plane. At speeds and lean angles most can only imagine. I wish more people were into it. The fact that Americans are no longer competitive at this level does not surprise us, but their absence puts makes it hard for the series to draw much interest from the U.S., despite the size of the market. It’s a huge car market and a limited motorcycle market.
For every Yamaha sold in the U.S. probably 20 are sold worldwide, especially at the smaller displacement end of the range. Asian markets are motorcycle markets—streets are congested, gas is confiscatory, speed doesn’t really matter. People walk and ride bikes. The main thoroughfares in most large Asian cities would not support their current traffic levels if everyone drove cars. So the U.S. will stay screwed re watching MotoGP on cable. You have to go to pay-per-view or subscribe to the MotoGP feed. Pricey, need to be a little nuts to do it. Or have money to burn.
It’s Silverstone race weekend 2016 and I’m thinking mostly about the riders.
Tags: Alvaro Bautista, Andrea Dovizioso, andrea iannone, Cal Crutchlow, Dani Pedrosa, Grand Prix motorcycle racing, Honda, Jorge Lorenzo, Marc Marquez, motogp, motorcycle racing, motorcycling, Motorsports, Silverstone, suzuki, valentino rossi, Yamaha
Late-Braking MotoGP 
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