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2012 Laguna Seca Preview

July 25, 2012

An edited version of this story, complete with hi-rez photos, will appear on Motorcycle.com on Thursday.  Until then, enjoy.

Lorenzo and Pedrosa Ready to Rumble on Sunday

The U.S. Grand Prix, hosted by the historic Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, welcomes ”those magnificent men in their flying machines” to kick off the second half of the 2012 season.  Yamaha CEO for a Day and 2010 world champion Jorge Lorenzo has recently put a little room between himself and the Repsol Hondas of challengers Dani Pedrosa and Casey Stoner.  Over the past three seasons, no less than four riders have failed to finish this race each year, a reminder of how perilous life can be in the hills of the Monterey Peninsula; a single “MotoGP moment” could easily shake up the 2012 standings.

Recent History

The 2009 race here was fascinating, as Pedrosa disappeared at the start, while teammates Lorenzo and Valentino Rossi duked it out all day in a great battle for second place.  Rossi, that year’s ultimate champion, dispatched Lorenzo late in the day and set his formidable sights on Pedrosa, whose enormous early lead shrank steadily over the final 10 laps.  At the finish, Rossi trailed the Spaniard by only a third of a second, with Lorenzo another few seconds farther back.  Stoner was wrestling the Ducati and lactose intolerance that year and still managed a respectable fourth.  Andrea Dovizioso, Pedrosa’s Repsol Honda teammate, crashed out early, joining three other riders in the gravel that day.

2010 was Lorenzo’s year, as he cruised to victory after Pedrosa crashed out of the lead unassisted.  Stoner drove his Desmosedici to a respectable second, while Rossi, still healing after his disastrous practice crash in Italy, managed third, just in front of Dovizioso’s RC211V.  2010 marked the beginning of what has become a recent trend, namely the appearance of wild card riders.  That year, Nicky Hayden’s little brother Roger Lee took over the LCR Honda for the injured Randy de Puniet and managed 5 championship points, finishing 11th.  His somewhat misleading result was a side effect of having five other riders crash out, although Roger Lee did manage to edge Alex de Angelis fair and square.

Casey Stoner won here last year in convincing style, due in part to the fact that both Lorenzo and Pedrosa were hurting.  Pedrosa was still recovering from injuries suffered at Le Mans, and Lorenzo was a basket case, having endured a vicious highside crash after taking the pole in the QP.  While both Spaniards hobbled their way up to the podium after the race, the most exciting match of the day saw Ben Spies punk Dovizioso at the flag to steal fourth place.  Ben Bostrom was the sacrificial wildcard that day, retiring after 10 terrifying laps to join the three riders that crashed out.

What to Expect on Sunday

Based upon recent results in Germany and Italy, it is tempting to predict a Lorenzo win, with Pedrosa placing and Stoner to show.  Last time out at Mugello, Lorenzo put on a clinic reminiscent of his 2010 championship season.  Pedrosa, consistent and uninjured all year, has appeared on the podium eight times, but has won only once, at the Sachsenring.  Defending champion Stoner seems to have misplaced his mojo, having won but once, at Assen, since announcing his impending retirement at Le Mans back in May.  As was true at Mugello, each has won here in the last three years.

Unlike Mugello, however, Laguna Seca is short and relatively slow, a layout more favorable to the Hondas than the Yamahas.  When he’s healthy, Pedrosa has the ability to get out in front of the field and take advantage of his superior speed exiting the turns.  Conventional wisdom would suggest that the two Spaniards will fight for the win, with Stoner and Tech 3 Yamaha stud Dovizioso likely contesting the final podium spot.  The Ducati team of Rossi and Nicky Hayden will fight over whatever’s left, joined by Ben Spies and Cal Crutchlow.

One thing is certain.  This year’s wildcard, Steve Rapp on a CRT entry from Attack Racing powered by Kawasaki, will be nowhere near the podium at the race’s end.  Steve is a veteran AMA rider with plenty of credentials, but this is MotoGP, for God’s sake, and he can only hope to beat a few of the Frankenbikes.  His experience at Monterey may indeed help him embarrass one of the other Kawasaki-powered entries from Avintia Blusens, Ivan Silva and Yonny Hernandez.  For Rapp, that would probably count as a win.  Since the two CRT regulars have amassed a total of 11 points in nine rounds, that goal is definitely within reach.

Ben Spies “Gets Quit”

Word that Ben Spies would be leaving the factory Yamaha team at season’s end came as a surprise to many, although we have expected it here for some time.  Though the decision initially is being positioned as Ben’s, it seems likely he was asked to resign, while allowing him to maintain his dignity during the second half of the season.  The move, which must be a crushing disappointment for the American, may relieve some pressure on him, and it wouldn’t be surprising to see him have a vastly improved second half of the season, as he did last year.  Monterey seems like a good place to start.

Years ago I worked with a thoroughly lazy salesman who sat at home watching daytime TV instead of making sales calls.  Sure enough, management came in one day and asked him to join them in a conference room for a quick meeting, after which they announced he had resigned.  Later, when I asked him what happened, he replied, “I got quit.”  Such seems to be the case with Ben.  Hopefully, we will see him return to MotoGP in 2014 with a reinvigorated Suzuki team.  Until then, it appears World SuperBike is his best option.

Spies is a highly likeable guy who, unlike certain Australian world champions, rarely points the finger of blame at others when he fails to perform.  This feels more like a setback, albeit a big one, than a conclusion.  As for the identity of Jorge Lorenzo’s Italian teammate in 2013, we shall save that speculation for a later date.

Toni Elias Sighting Likely on Sunday

With “Hectic” Hector Barbera out for the foreseeable future with a badly broken leg suffered in practice this past week, Pramac Racing has hired Toni Elias to wear the ghastly green for Round Ten.  Elias, last seen floundering on the Aspar Moto2 Suter, had been given the boot there just in time to join Pramac for one (or two) of their final nine races in the premier class.  Despite his travails since having won the Moto2 title in 2010, Elias’ recent history at Laguna is pretty good, with a 7th in 2008 for Alice Ducati and a 6th in 2009 for the LCR Honda team.

Toni’s return screws up my intended weekend wordplay, as I had intended to discuss Hectic Hector’s departure in conjunction with “Kareless” Karel Abraham’s return to the grid after missing four rounds to injuries suffered at Silverstone.  As the lowest form of humor on earth, no one likes puns anyway, so we won’t bother.

Your Race Weekend Forecast

It promises to be perfect in the greater Salinas area, with temps in the low 70’s and plenty of sunshine.  The westerlies could be a bit of an issue, as they are most years.  Pretty much perfect conditions, especially if you’re an insanely fast Spanish motorcycle racing hombré in search of a world championship.

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2012 MotoGP Mugello Results

July 15, 2012

An edited version of this article will appear on Motorcycle.com later today, complete with high resolution photographs.  Until then, please enjoy this, hot off the presses.

Lorenzo Rules to Extend Championship Lead

On a picture-perfect Tuscan Sunday afternoon, Yamaha’s Jorge Lorenzo gave an object lesson to his rivals for the 2012 world championship.  The Spaniard seized the lead in the first turn of Lap One and held it, unchallenged, to the checkered flag.  Repsol Honda poster boy Dani Pedrosa spent a lonely day in second place.  What little joy there was for the 64,000 Italian fans came in the form of Andrea Dovizioso, who took his third consecutive podium on board the Monster Tech 3 Yamaha.

Lorenzo looked fast and smooth during the weekend’s practice sessions, other than a brief loss of power at the end of qualifying that may have kept him from the pole.  Pedrosa, who spent the entire weekend inhaling Lorenzo’s exhaust fumes, looked geared up to attempt a reprise of his win a week earlier in Germany, and snatched the pole late in the QP.  That Round 9 would hold a few surprises was made clear on Saturday, when Pramac Racing’s ”Hectic” Hector Barbera qualified third, thus becoming the first satellite Ducati rider ever to start a MotoGP race from the front row. In the process, Mugello 2012 became the first premier class race ever to feature an all-Spanish front row, a fact I find incomprehensible, due to the recent domination of Spanish and Italian riders, both in quantity and ability.

We may have just broken another MotoGP record, by failing to mention Repsol Honda lame duck Casey Stoner until the third paragraph of the story.  The Australian, who just two weeks ago was tied for the lead in the 2012 race, qualified a dismal 5th, blaming, in order, the Bridgestone tires, his bike’s setup, the slow WiFi in his hotel room, and the wacky arrangement of gates at the Bologna airport.  At the start, he got caught in traffic, falling to 8th place.  Furiously working his way back from those unfamiliar reaches into 5th on Lap 10, he went hot into the Correntaio corner, known to most of us as Turn 12, went walkabout, fell back to 10th place, and finished a nondescript 8th.

Fine.  What About the Race?

Once the riders had put some heat in the tires, the first group consisted of Lorenzo, Pedrosa, Dovizioso, rookie interloper Stefan Bradl on the LCR Honda, and a determined Nicky Hayden, The Other Guy on the factory Ducati team.  Dovizioso spent a few laps running second, and the surprising German Bradl a good number in third, appearing to be on headed for his first premier class podium.  Pedrosa went through on the Italian on Lap 5, and Bradl, incredibly, followed suit on Lap 10.  But Dovizioso eventually tracked the rookie down on Lap 21 to secure the final podium spot.  In the process, he again delivered for his Tech 3 team, and added to the mounting pressure on the factory Yamaha team to pull the plug on Ben Spies.  Spies qualified 9th and finished 11th, the last prototype to take the flag, some 57 seconds behind teammate Lorenzo.

Once Stoner left the building, the second group, which would end the day fighting for 4th place, included Hayden, who had given up some ground, Ducati teammate Valentino Rossi, Barbera and Tech 3 Yamaha’s Cal Crutchlow.  This group traded shots with one another for much of the afternoon.  By Lap 14, Barbera had dropped back, apparently with tire issues.  On Lap 20, Crutchlow and the Ducatis had climbed back within sight of Dovizioso and Bradl, setting up the best competition of the day.  By Lap 22, Hayden had clawed his way back to within tenths of both Dovizioso and Bradl, running flat out, trying to achieve his first podium since last year at Jerez.  Rossi and Crutchlow were hovering less than a second behind Hayden.  Five riders entered the last lap in contention for the final spot on the rostrum, with the crowd, as they say, going crazy.

With Dovizioso in third refusing to concede anything, Hayden attempted to go through on Bradl into fourth, and the two made contact, causing the American to run wide, the rookie somehow holding onto his line.  Rossi and Crutchlow went all carpe diem and sailed past the luckless Hayden into fifth and sixth, respectively.  At the flag, Rossi had his best dry race finish of the year, and Hayden could only grind his teeth, having outraced his fair-haired teammate all day, only to falter at the end.

The Big Picture

Midway through the 2012 season, Jorge Lorenzo has stretched his lead in the standings over Pedrosa to 29 points, with Stoner, his swan song in ashes, another 18 points behind.  The ascendant Dovizioso, campaigning hard for some respect and a seat alongside Lorenzo next year, sits in fourth place, 13 points on top of teammate Crutchlow, who is apparently playing hard to get with the brass at Ducati.  Rossi leads the next group comprising the top nine, just ahead of Alvaro Bautista, Bradl and Hayden.  Bradl’s 13 points today put him a single point ahead of the American for the season.

On the Lighter Side

As the riders lined up on the grid for the customary Pre-Race Sitting Around Period, the photo of the day was in the eight spot, where Bradl sat, surrounded by his team and the sycophants that clog the grid immediately before the start.  The breathtaking young woman attending his umbrella obviously works for sponsor Playboy, as she wore the tiny, trademarked company costume.  Bradl’s Bodacious Blonde Brolly Bunny will hopefully be featured in this week’s Grid Girls segment on the MotoGP website.  If you’re into that kind of thing, make sure to watch the video.  Worth the price of admission all by herself.

Not certain if this is the one, but she’ll do.

Apropos of nothing in particular, I couldn’t post this article without noting my favorite moment of the day.  It occurred on the last lap of the race, up front, where Jorge Lorenzo was sailing in clean air, footloose and fancy-free, as he passed in front of The Ducati Grandstand.  This is the section reserved for the most rabid and delusional of the Ducati/Rossi fans, where the attendees are given posters to wave in unison, creating pictures of their heroes, the Ducati logo, etc., etc.  Back in the day when Rossi was winning at Mugello every year, this section was the epicenter of MotoGP fandom.  Anyway, as Lorenzo rolled by, he lifted his left arm and gave an extended, friendly wave to the seats where he is Public Enemy #1.  Had he not been concerned about a possible post-race assault, he might have blown a few kisses their way.  Hilarious.

Valentino Rossi’s Helmet

Why we’re discussing Rossi’s headgear at this juncture is somewhat beyond me.  Regardless of what anyone says, The Doctor has lost a step.  Nonetheless, he is still a Big Deal in MotoGP, and especially so in Italy.  One of his traditions is to bust out a special helmet for the Italian Grand Prix, which he did again today.  It featured a tribute to Gianni Morandi, the Tony Bennett of Italy.  Bennett’s signature song is, “I Left My Heart in San Francisco”, and Morandi’s is called “Let’s Stay Together.”  The inference from the media-savvy Rossi is that the marriage with Ducati is not yet over, and that he will return next year.  Hope springs eternal.

It might have been more, um, suitable had Rossi saluted the band Citizen King, whose 1999 hit “Better Days” contained the following lyrics, repeated endlessly from beginning to end:

“I’ve seen better days, I’ve been the star of many plays.

I’ve seen better days, and the bottom drops out.”

Next stop, Monterey.  If you see Kevin Duke there, please tell him I said hello.

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MotoGP Mugello Preview

July 10, 2012

An edited version of this article, complete with high resolution photos, is available on Motorcycle.com.

It’s Tight at the Top Heading to Italy

The first half of the 2012 MotoGP season draws to a close this Sunday at Mugello, one of the most tradition-soaked circuits on the global tour.  After last week’s stunning finish at the Sachsenring, the Aliens—Repsol Honda pilots Casey Stoner and Dani Pedrosa, and factory Yamaha heartthrob Jorge Lorenzo—sit clumped together at the top of the standings, breathing down each other’s necks.  All three are relatively healthy, for a change.  All three have enjoyed success at the Italian Grand Prix.  And all three are hungry for another win before heading to the United States.

Nestled at the foot of the Apennine Mountains, on the only piece of relatively flat ground between Genoa and Naples, Mugello has hosted the Gran Premio d’Italia since 1994.  (Between 1991 and 1993 the race alternated between Mugello and Misano, helping to make my point that Misano is, regardless of what the locals say, in Italy.)  The circuit is long and fast, with one of the great main straights in all of racing.  It has seen several long winning streaks—Mick Doohan won five in a row between 1994 and 1998, while Valentino Rossi enjoyed seven consecutive wins here between 2002 and 2008.  Were I prone to hyperbole, I might assert that The Doctor earned his medical degree at Mugello.

Recent History

The 2009 race was unique in several ways.  Casey Stoner, riding the factory Ducati just down the road from The Factory, won the flag-to-flag event that started out wet, finished dry and was hotly contested throughout.  Lorenzo, who almost lost his #$@& on the sighting lap that day, rode his #2 bike to second place, edging Rossi by one second.  Rossi, in turn, snaked Andrea Dovizioso in the last turn to snag the last podium spot by an eyelash.  Loris Capirossi, in one of the last competitive outings of his career, drove his Rizla Suzuki to fifth place, but trailed Stoner by just three seconds.  Mugello 2009 was a red letter day for Italian race fans, with a Ducati on top and three paisans in the top five.

In 2010, Dani Pedrosa had one of those days where he took off from pole position like a scalded cat and never looked back, defeating Lorenzo by four seconds.  Dovizioso enjoyed a productive third place finish, while Stoner finished fourth, 25 seconds behind Pedrosa.  Rossi, injured in practice, would yield the world championship to his studly Spanish teammate that fall, and it marked the passing of a figurative baton.  Rossi’s absence from Mugello that year prefigured his devolution from 2009 champion to 2010 contender to 2011 pretender.

Last year, it was Lorenzo’s turn to stand atop the rostrum, flanked by Repsol Honda pilots Dovizioso and Stoner.  Stoner, on his way to the title, got worked by Dovizioso on the last lap, yielding second place by 15/1000ths of a second.  Pedrosa, in his first race since having been Simoncellied in France, managed a gutty eighth place finish.  For Dovizioso, Mugello marked his fourth podium in five races, but he would lose his factory seat anyway, as Honda decided that a three man factory team was unwieldy, spelled “I-N-C-R-E-D-I-B-L-Y  E-X-P-E-N-S-I-V-E.”  American fans took comfort in watching Ben Spies punk Simoncelli in the last turn of the race for a well-earned fifth place.

Great Expectations

So, the 2012 season leaders return to Italy having each won here in the last three years.  During the last two weeks, Pedrosa has gained ground at the expense of his two rivals, having avoided the bad luck that dogged Lorenzo in Assen and the bad karma that befell Stoner in Germany.  After Silverstone, Pedrosa lagged Lorenzo by 39 points and Stoner by 14.  Today, he trails Lorenzo by 16 and leads the defending champion by six.  (Casey, in his post-race blamefest interview at the Sachsenring, pointed his finger at the circuit—too short and slow for him to open the throttle—and essentially gave the finger to “those German marshals,” whom he claimed refused to help him get his bike righted in order to finish the race and scarf up a few points.  Click here for a marginally tasteful spoof of that conversation in the gravel.)

Though all three have reason to be optimistic about their chances this weekend, I like Lorenzo, as the 1000cc YZR-M1 has it over the Hondas on long fast circuits.  The weather forecast calls for hot, dry conditions, which will make tire management important, and Lorenzo’s Yamaha is a gentle as a baby’s breath on rear tires.  This forecast, too, is bad news for the Ducati contingent, as their sole hope in 2012 is torrential daylong downpours.  If any of the three Aliens falter, one expects Dovizioso to be ready to pounce on the third podium spot, as he has been nails at his home track since 2009.

“Silly” is a Crummy Term for the Season

The racing press needs to come up with an alternate descriptor for the high stakes game of musical chairs that envelops MotoGP around this time each year.  “Silly”, for me, is a highly feminine word, like “cute” or “pretty”, that seems more appropriate in HGTV clothing design shows than a macho sport like MotoGP.  But, as a former boss used to tell me, “I’ll alert the industry.”  Just sayin’.

If I had to bet on next year’s six factory riders, I’d be comfortable betting your house on Pedrosa and Marquez on the Repsol Honda team, Lorenzo on the Yamaha, and the doomed Cal Crutchlow wearing Ducati colors.  It’s the last two seats that have everyone talking.

If Rossi decides that discretion is the better part of valor, I don’t know why he wouldn’t hook up with Fausto Gresini and ride a “factory” Honda for San Carlo, which is dying for an Italian rider.  Bautista’s contract is in play for next season, and Honda is now limited by the rules to four bikes in 2013.  LCR must be delighted with Herr Bradl, despite the historical enmity between France and Germany, feeling he has a bright immediate future.  If Rossi stays with Ducati—stranger things have happened, I just can’t think of any off the top of my head—then it looks to be curtains for Nicky Hayden.  The 2006 world champion hasn’t actually won a race since, well, 2006, and could easily find himself in World SuperBikes, where Ducati is highly competitive, and where he could be a star again.

Right now, it appears to me that Andrea Dovizioso will join Lorenzo on the factory Yamaha.  The Italian is getting great results in his first year on the M1, and would immediately be a strong contender on the 1000cc factory bike.  This is the third season in a row that Ben Spies has gotten off to a slow start, and even if he were to podium three or four times in the second half, I can’t believe he can save himself.  I suppose he could swallow his pride and return to Tech 3 alongside Bradley Smith, but can’t recall any young factory rider who went back down to Triple A ball after a two year stay in the bigs.  WSB would be a bigger fall, and the CRTs are out of the question.

Ben Spies’ world is so upside-down at this point that a win at Mugello, as unlikely as that sounds, might actually provide some relief from the spotlight for a few weeks. For teammate Jorge Lorenzo, a second consecutive victory in Italy would provide relief of a different sort, by getting those two Repsol guys out of his face until Laguna Seca rolls around.

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Overheard: Casey Stoner and “Those German Marshals”

July 10, 2012

When Repsol Honda pilot Casey Stoner slid off the track at the next-to-final turn in the German Grand Prix, he was unhurt, and his bike, though partially buried in the gravel in the run-off area, was undamaged and still running.  During an interview after the race, Stoner complained that the German race marshals refused to help him right his machine, thus preventing his re-entering the race, possibly costing him valuable points.  Our hidden microphones captured the exchange between Casey and the Wettkampfrichter (race marshals), Hans and Franz:

Stoner:  “Hurry, guys, help me here!”

Hans:  “Nicht so schnell, Engländer.  Ihre Papiere, bitte.“  (Not so fast, Englishman.  Your papers, please.)

Stoner: “Hey, I’m not &%#$@ English, I’m Australian, and I need to get back in this #$%@& race, right now.  Verstehen Sie? (Understand?)

Franz:  “Ihr Name, Engländer?”  (Your name, Englishman?)

Stoner:  “My name is Stoner, Casey &%$#@ Stoner.  I’m the world champion, and I’m in this $#@% race.  Now move your fat arses and help me with this bike!”

Hans:  “Haben Sie schon von dem großen Stefan Bradl gehört?“  (Have you heard of the great Stefan Bradl?)

Stoner:  “The great Stefan Bradl is a rookie punk who couldn’t carry my golf clubs!  Now pick up this #$^@ bike!”

Hans (to Franz)  “Dieses Kind hat schlechte Manieren, tut er nicht?  (This child has bad manners, don’t you think?)

Franz:  “Herr Stoner, Sie sind auf der Flucht vor etwas?“  (Mr. Stoner, are you running away from something?)

Stoner: “&%$@#”

Hans:  “Wir müssen einen Ausweis sehen und natürlich zu unseren Vorgesetzten zu sprechen.“  (We will have to see your papers and of course speak with our superiors.)

Stoner:  “%$@#&   %&#@  #$@&%   %^$@#, and $#%@# yourselves!”

Franz:  “Traurigerweise scheint das Rennen vorbei zu sein. Viel Glück mit Ihrem Motorrad, Engländer.  (Sadly, the race now appears to be over.  Good luck with your motorbike, Englishman.)

Hans:  “Bis zum nächsten Mal, Herr Stoner.” (Until next time…)

Stoner:  “You haven’t heard the last of this, you BASTARDS.”

Franz (to Hans)  “Herr Stoner sollte vorsichtiger sein in Zukunft, aber sicher!  Har!“  (He should be more careful in the future, don’t you think?  Har!)

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MotoGP Sachsenring Results

July 8, 2012

An edited version of this story will appear on Motorcycle.com with stunning photos later today.  Until then, please enjoy this summary of the 2012 German Grand Prix.

Pedrosa’s Win Tightens the 2012 Championship Race

For the third consecutive year, countrymen Dani Pedrosa and Jorge Lorenzo finished one-two in the German Grand Prix.  For the diminutive Repsol Honda pilot, today’s race was a field study in skill, stamina and stones, as he tangled with teammate Casey Stoner all day, until Stoner slid off in Turn 12 of the last lap.  Yamaha ace Lorenzo, nursing an injured ankle, had appeared content to settle for third until Stoner’s mishap.  When the dust cleared, the standings at the top of the championship were scrambled, and the 2012 season had just became a lot more interesting.

The weather had been a factor all weekend, alternating between damp, dry and wet, and led to some surprising practice results.  Exhibit A was FP3, run in the wet, in which the top two finishers were CRT plodders Michele Pirro and Mattia Pasini.  Qualifying practice closely resembled last week’s shocker in Assen, as the wet track suddenly dried out late in the session, and Stoner again snatched the pole to join Pedrosa and Yamaha’s Ben Spies on the front row.  Row two included the highly ambitious Cal Crutchlow, a limping Lorenzo, and homeboy Stefan Bradl on the LCR Honda.  When the red light went out, the sun was shining, the track was hot, and the big dogs had their game faces on, along with hard compound asymmetric rear slicks.

If Losail, Silverstone and Aragon are Yamaha-oriented circuits, the Sachsenring is clearly Honda-friendly.  Tight and twisty, it favors the RC213V, with its superior corner-exit power.  (The 1000cc Yamaha M1 loves long straights, but in Germany the longest is only 700 meters.)  As expected, Stoner and Pedrosa took off early, leaving all four Yamahas to scramble for third place, led by an increasingly desperate Spies.  The American, whose fortunes are waning, gave way to Lorenzo on Lap 5, and both Andrea Dovizioso and Crutchlow on Lap 9.  Though Ben would ultimately finish 4th, his best result of the year, it was more a matter of luck than skill, as we shall see.

On Lap 19, Pedrosa went through on Stoner, but the Australian looked comfortable, apparently biding his time until opportunity arose to break his teammate’s little heart once again.  With Lorenzo by himself in third, the battle for fourth place was raging.  Normally, I don’t pay much attention to the ‘race within the race’ off the lead, but there is much at stake in the Spies-Dovizioso-Crutchlow wars, namely the second factory seat alongside Jorge Lorenzo for the next couple of years.  As of this past week, Spies is officially “disappointing” team manager Wilco Zeelenberg.

On Lap 26, Crutchlow, trying to get past Dovizioso, went too hot into one of the three right-handers and ended up in the kitty litter, falling back to 11th position and effectively ending his day.  (It may be that this lone error will result in his going to work for Ducati next year, a mistake the dimensions of which cannot be overstated.  If it does, I can serenely predict that Cal will earn fewer points on the factory Ducati in 2013 than will either of the Tech 3 Yamaha riders.  Take that to the bank.)

A Shocking, Karma-Laden Finish

Pedrosa was still managing to hold off Stoner when the two crossed the start-finish line to start the last lap.  Lorenzo was a mile back, and the Dovizioso-Spies battle continued in the distance.  The only question in my mind was when Stoner would try to go through on Pedrosa.  The racing gods, apparently offended by last week’s events, in which Lorenzo was forced to give up his 25 point championship lead to Stoner, suddenly intervened.  In the midst of Turn 12, a fast left-hander, the front end of Stoner’s bike gradually folded into a lowside, with the Australian sliding 100 yards into his first DNF in 22 races.  The domino effect was remarkable, as follows.

Pedrosa’s win elevated him from third place into second, 14 points behind Lorenzo.  Stoner’s shutout dropped him from a tie for first into third, six points behind Pedrosa.  Dovizioso, who edged Spies by 7/100ths of a second, enjoyed his second consecutive podium finish.  Behind Spies sat Bradl, who coaxed his satellite Honda into fifth place, to the delight of the tollwütigen Zuschauer, for whom he is The Great Aryan Hope.  San Carlo Honda pilot Alvaro Bautista, forced to start from the back of the grid after last week’s debacle, stormed back into 7th place, a fraction of a second in front of the hard-luck Crutchlow.  For the record, Valentino Rossi finished sixth today, and had absolutely nothing to do with anything.

Idle Speculation from the Department of Idle Speculation

The torrent of leaks from the Bologna factory show the depth of concern Ducati has about the 2013 season and beyond.  They seem to think Rossi will not be returning next year, and are giving the distinct impression they don’t want Hayden, either.  They’ve offered a contract to Crutchlow, who would be crazy to accept it.  The sense here is that the overall quality of life on a factory team is so superior to that on the satellite teams (never mind the CRTs) that Crutchlow will find the “opportunity” irresistible, despite the likelihood that it will effectively remove any chance he might have to contend for a world championship in MotoGP.

This past week we learned that both Scott Redding and Danilo Petrucci are in discussions with the Italian company regarding 2013.  I’m starting to feel that I’m the only guy involved in this sport who has NOT been approached by some well-groomed Italian guy in a red windbreaker.  Never mind that I’ve never ridden anything larger than 80cc, and that was during the Nixon administration.

The Big Picture

So, Pedrosa now has his hat trick, with three consecutive wins in Saxony.  Lorenzo has his fourth consecutive bridesmaid finish here, although this one likely feels much better than the last three.  Stoner received some payback for his lucky win last time out, and has work to do if he wants to repeat as world champion.  With only 20 points separating the three Aliens at the top of the heap, the 2012 season is suddenly fascinating.  Approaching the halfway point of the season next week, no one is running away with the title this year.

Next Stop—Mugello

Practice starts again on Friday for the Gran Premio d’Italia TIM.  Between the virulent European financial crisis, which now has Italy in its crosshairs, and the sagging fortunes of Rossi and Ducati, expect a sparse, subdued crowd.  Wait—what am I saying?  Never mind the economy, or the standings.  Next to soccer, MotoGP is the biggest thing in Italy, and the stands will be packed with delirious jabbering men and gorgeous, sultry and, hopefully, under-dressed Italian women.  The brolly girls will be a thing of joy.  And the circuit is one of the best on the planet.

It will be a three day party, a few short miles from Florence, the birthplace of the Renaissance.  For Jorge Lorenzo and Dani Pedrosa, the renaissance of the 2012 season started today in Turn 12.  Portarlo sulla!

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MotoGP Sachsenring Preview

July 3, 2012

An edited version of this article will appear on Motorcycle.com on Thursday, complete with high quality images.  Until then please enjoy this preview of the German Grand Prix.

Pedrosa, Stoner and Lorenzo Square Off in Bavaria

Repsol Honda’s #1 rider, Casey Stoner, is a lucky man.  He’s famous, young, and wealthy, has a beautiful wife and daughter, and reigns at the top of his chosen profession, doing what he loves, or at least likes.  While he may have lost his passion for racing, it still beats working for a living.  Thanks to the vastly ill-considered antics of San Carlo Honda’s Alvaro Bautista at Assen last week, Stoner is also back in contention for the world championship.  Lucky and good is a wicked combination.

The Sachsenring is one of those old world venues surrounded by tidy Teutonic villages and soaring peaks straight out of The Sound of Music.  Between 1962 and 1971 it hosted the East German Grand Prix, which sends a bit of a jangle up the spines of people old enough to remember the old Soviet Bloc.  After a bit of a political flap in ’71, the German Grand Prix bounced around a number of venues until 1998, when improvements at the Sachsenring lured the MotoGP race, and where it has been held every year since.  Organizers recently signed an extension of the contract with Dorna through 2016.  Dass ist eine gute sache, nicht wahr?

Recent History

The 2009 German Grand Prix was one for the ages.  That was the year Casey Stoner suffered from what came to be diagnosed as lactose intolerance.  By mid-season he was starting races like a house on fire, but would run out of gas, as it were, usually finishing well off the podium.  In Germany that year, he led the first 17 laps, at which point the Battle of the Factory Yamahas commenced.  Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo, teammates and bitter rivals, went hard at each other for the next 13 laps, Rossi ultimately winning by just under a tenth.  Dani Pedrosa finished 3rd that year, a relatively poor showing for him, as we shall presently see.

The fans got their money’s worth in 2010, enjoying two races in one afternoon.  LCR Honda’s Randy de Puniet’s had his leg broken in two places and his bike destroyed as Rizla Suzuki’s Alvaro Bautista and Pramac Racing’s Aleix Espargaro were able to avoid neither bike nor rider when the Frenchman went down on Lap 9.  The race was red-flagged.  After the re-start, Pedrosa took command early and eventually finished comfortably ahead of Lorenzo and Stoner, followed by Rossi, who made a very macho early return from injuries suffered at Mugello several weeks previous.

Last year, it was “déjà vu all over again” as Pedrosa, Lorenzo and Stoner finished 1-2-3, although the final standings were in doubt until the last lap.  Pedrosa ended up edging Lorenzo by 1.4 seconds, while Lorenzo punked eventual world champion Stoner and his Repsol Honda by a tenth at the flag.  This was Round 9 last year, at which point Stoner led Lorenzo for the title by a mere 15 points.  From there, Stoner went on to three consecutive wins, with Lorenzo collecting two seconds and a fourth, and that was that.

Of the three major contenders, Pedrosa has the best history in Saxony with a remarkable five wins in eight starts across both the 250cc and premier classes.  Stoner’s first and only win occurred in 2008, and Lorenzo has never won at the Sachsenring in any class, in ten tries.  Finishing second each of the last three years must stick in his throat like a bone.  Our crack research staff is busy scouring the archives to find any other current MotoGP tracks at which Lorenzo has been, um, stoned.  Check back for the results of their hard work…well, never.  You probably don’t care all that much and they don’t really exist anyway.

Final Reflections on Bautista, Lorenzo and the Big Picture

A few half-crazed conspiracy theorists out there are promoting the idea that Bautista’s unseating of Lorenzo at Assen was part of a vast and implausible plot hatched at HRC headquarters in Asaka.  Their “reasoning” is that HRC would gladly make a sacrificial pawn of satellite rider Bautista in order to advance the championship prospects of factory stud Casey Stoner.  This goofy notion does, however, recognize the cozy working relationship between HRC and Fausto Gresini, who seems to enjoy way more factory perks than do the poor French schlubs at LRC.  In any case, we will not dignify the wild speculations of a few fevered motorheads over what was, in truth, a rather ordinary crash.  The layout at Estoril is similar to that at Assen, and these kinds of first-turn crashes happen all the time in Portugal.

Let’s not forget the uproar that took place last year at Jerez when Valentino Rossi, in only his second race on the factory Ducati, clipped Stoner from behind, putting a major damper on the Australian’s early season prospects.  Stoner, you will recall, had opened the season with a mildly surprising win at Losail in his first race on the Honda RC212V.  Thinking that 2011 might be his year, his fans were OUTRAGED that Rossi would ride in such a reckless and feckless manner.  Catastrophizers immediately assumed that Vale had trashed any chance Stoner might have had of repeating as world champion.  This, clearly, was an over-reaction, and mirrors the response to Bautista’s atypical wreck.  Stoner went on to win the title last year, and Lorenzo will probably do the same this year, as his M1 is smoother and easier to handle than the RC213V.

My only comment should not be construed as an ethnic slur, but here it is.  A rider carelessly taking a championship-leading Australian out of a race gets his wrist slapped by Race Direction.  A rider taking a Spaniard out of the championship lead in similar fashion is sent to the woodshed and thence to the last slot on the grid.  I’m not suggesting that Bautista should not have been penalized for his carelessness, as lives and careers are at stake in this game.  I’m just suggesting that Rossi, too, should have paid some kind of price for his equally ill-advised move on Stoner.  Just sayin’…

What Does Dorna Know that Rossi Doesn’t?

Final thoughts this week concern the curious comments offered up by Dorna CEO Carmelo Ezpeleta last week concerning Valentino Rossi’s future MotoGP prospects.  In an interview with Omnicorse.it, Ezpeleta was quoted as saying, “I am calm. Valentino next year will be riding a competitive bike, but I [can’t] tell you what it is. It is still too early to talk about: in 2013 we will see Rossi fight for the win… again.”  When asked about the statement, Rossi’s response was to play dumb, as if to say, “I will?”

Surely Rossi has a number of irons in the fire concerning 2013 and beyond, but for now he is sticking with the story that he is 100% committed to improving the Ducati.  Ezpeleta, whose behavior reminds me of Bernie Ecclestone more each year (and that’s no compliment) may be making it harder for The Doctor to keep his intentions under wraps than it might otherwise be.  We should know sometime next month where Rossi will end up.  Until then, we’ll have to endure the pain of watching him struggle to finish in the top eight each week.  How the mighty have fallen.

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July 1, 2012

Thanks to Motorcycle.com for the link.

Bruce Allen's avatarLate-Braking MotoGP

Assen, The Netherlands, Saturday, June 30, 2012–Immediately following today’s race, Cal Crutchlow, who labors for the Tech 3 Yamaha MotoGP team, had a few choice words for fellow rider Alvaro Bautista, the #1 rider on the San Carlo Honda team.  At the start of the race, Bautista launched himself from the number eight spot on the grid, going white hot into the first turn.  The resulting, entirely predictable low-side crash removed Bautista from the contest, which is fine.  The problem was that it also removed championship leader Jorge Lorenzo, he of the factory Yamaha team, who was quietly minding his own business.  Crutchlow, too, was victimized by the reckless actions of Bautista, as he slipped from fifth position to 13th, trying to avoid the chaos in front of him.

Crutchlow was still amped on adrenaline and anger shortly after the race when someone stuck a microphone in his grille and…

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Fantasy MotoGP – The Bautista Conspiracy

July 1, 2012

This telephone conversation did not take place on Friday, June 29, 2012 at 10:20pm GMT.  If it had, it would have been conducted in Italian.  The imaginary caller is Livio Suppo, Marketing Director of Honda Racing Corporation (HRC).  The gentleman not receiving the call is Mr. Fausto Gresini, volatile owner and team manager of the San Carlo Honda Gresini racing team.

LS: “Fausto, good evening.  Livio here.”

FG (lying): “Livio, how nice to hear from you.  That was some lap your boy Casey put down this afternoon.  What did you do, shoot him full of meth during the rain break?”

LS: “Always kidding around, aren’t you Fausto?  What was Alvaro’s problem this afternoon?

FG: “Chatter, of three types.  Coming from the front tire, the rear tire, and his filthy Spanish mouth.  San Carlo is on me like a cheap suit about putting that stronzo on a podium, and all I get from him is excuses.  If only I had hired Andrea, none of this would be happening.”

LS: “I believe my superiors feel much the same way.  Bautista seems to be improving, but not very rapidly.  And although the Japanese are known for their patience, there is a limit, as we know.”

FG: “So, Livio, to what do I owe the pleasure of this late night call?  I was preparing to bring a small world of pleasure to these two rather, um, gifted blonde Dutch girls that showed up at my hotel room perhaps an hour ago.  And to myself as well.”

LS:  “Ah, yes, Fausto, and you’re welcome.  Courtesy of HRC.”

FG:  “I assume there’s a catch.”

LS: “Indeed, but a very small one, in the great scheme of things.”

FG: “Pray tell, Livio.  Tell me about this small ‘catch’.'”

LS: “You recall our agreement last year at Assen.”

FG (horrified): “Please don’t remind me.”

LS: “Perhaps you need a little reminding.”

FG: “Please, no, let’s not discuss that.  Ordering Marco to take Lorenzo out of the TT Assen was one of the worst moments of my entire career.”

LS: “I understand, Fausto.  I also understand that it was necessary, in order to ensure that Casey had an unimpeded path to the title.  You and Marco played a significant part in that.  We were and are still grateful for your help last year.”

FG: “And you promised, did you not, that our ‘arrangement’  last year at Assen was a one-time thing, never to be repeated.”

LS: “At the time, that was my understanding.”

FG (freaking out quietly): “Are you about to tell me that your understanding has, um, changed?  Because there is no way–NO WAY–I can tell Bautista to do what Marco did last year.”

LS: “Fausto, let’s not get overly dramatic.  This is, after all, just business.”

FG: “BUSINESS, MY FAT ITALIAN ASS!  You PROMISED me last year you would never ask such a thing again.”

LS: “Things are different this year, Fausto.  Casey is having trouble with the 1000cc bike, and his goddamned wife is whispering in his ear every week, begging him not to crash out and possibly leave their daughter without a father.  At this rate, Lorenzo is a shoe-in to win the title.  There is so much on the line, eh?”

FG: “I can’t believe we’re having this conversation, Livio.”

LS: “Nor can I, my friend.  But your boy Bautista is not having such a great season that a crash at Assen will make much difference.”

FG: “Jesus.  You are telling me to do this again.  I can’t believe I’m hearing these words from the Director of Marketing for HRC.  If word of this conversation ever got out, you would be ruined.”

LS: “And you, my friend, would be sleeping with the fishes.  Remember Luca Brazzi.”

FG: “But you work for the Japanese!  They don’t do business this way.”

LS: “Of course they do.  They’re just more, er, discreet in how they go about things.  I believe we understand one another, no?”

FG: “You bastard.  But consider this–Bautista starts from eighth position tomorrow.  What if he is unable to catch up to Lorenzo in time to take him out in the first turn?  He will have to be changing gears while all the other riders are braking.  It will be too obvious.”

LS: “Fausto, you give people too much credit.  Accidents like this happen all the time, and the press overlooks all but the most obvious examples.  When was the last time a rider was penalized for taking another rider out of a race?  Last year, when your boy Marco body-slammed Dani at Le Mans, no one did a thing.  Assuming Bautista can reach Lorenzo early in Lap One, there doesn’t figure to be a penalty, and Alvaro can then focus on the rest of the season.  No more late night phone calls.”

FG: “Livio, you’re a pig, and I will hate you for weeks, make that MONTHS, about this.  If I didn’t depend on you and your inscrutable Japanese bosses for my livelihood, I would come over to your apartment tonight and cut your throat.”

LS: “So, we have an agreement?”

FG: “Yes, we have an agreement.  Kindly rot in hell, and have an unpleasant evening.”

LS: “And you make sure to enjoy yourself with Heidi and Gretel, Fausto.  Good night.”

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2012 MotoGP Assen Results

June 30, 2012

An edited version of this story appears on Motorcycle.com with photos and everything!

Stoner Prevails in the Dutch Demolition Derby

Through no fault of his own, Repsol Honda ace Casey Stoner won the Iveco TT Assen today, coasting to victory in front of teammate Dani Pedrosa, and well in front of eventual third place finisher Andrea Dovizioso on the Tech 3 Yamaha.  For the second year in a row, factory Yamaha icon Jorge Lorenzo was de-pantsed in turn one of Lap One by the #1 San Carlo Honda rider.  Last year, it was Marco Simoncelli; this year, the dishonor went to Alvaro Bautista.  Those of you into conspiracy theories will be getting busy on your blogs.

In the practices leading up to today’s race, it appeared that Stoner was well off his normal game.  Though he had the third fastest lap in FP1, the best he could manage in FP2 was 10th; in FP3 he finished 6th after a huge high side in the wet.  The qualifying practice on Friday was remarkable, as Stoner was loitering in 9th position when rain interrupted things, sending everyone back to their garages.  With less than five minutes remaining in the session, the sun came back out, the bikes re-entered the track, and Stoner appeared to have been fired out of a howitzer.  He warmed up his tires on the first lap, and then jumped into third place on the second go-around.  His third and final lap was a blur, and launched him onto the pole in front of Pedrosa and Lorenzo.

Stoner’s QP had me thinking about Marco Simoncelli in 2011.  Sic had a habit of laying down one extremely fast qualifying lap and starting from the front row of the grid.  From there, he generally crashed out or destroyed his tires, typically finishing worse than he started.  The first turn incident today, with Bautista playing the part of the reckless amateur, was under investigation by Race Direction immediately, and we’ll surely hear more about it later this week.  All we know at this moment is that Lorenzo’s comfortable lead in the 2012 championship is history.

Okay, but What about the Race?

Pedrosa and Stoner were running in front of Lorenzo exiting turn one, and headed off together into the wild blue yonder.  Though the rest of the field avoided the mishap, poor Cal Crutchlow ran so slow and wide doing so that he fell back into 13th position.  (This reminded me of the day in 6th grade when, standing in the lunch line, the girl in front of me threw up on the linoleum, causing me to bail, losing roughly six places and missing out entirely on the Apple Brown Betty.)  Cal then spent the rest of the afternoon cursing his luck, finally clawing his way back into a respectable fifth place finish.  Being interviewed after the race, he used adult language to describe Bautista’s act, which you can catch below.

Yamaha pilots Ben Spies and Andrea Dovizioso settled into a daylong battle for the third podium spot.  Spies sits precariously on the second factory bike, a seat hugely coveted by the Italian on his satellite M-1.  Both riders are closers, and they battled through 25 laps.  At some point late in the race, Dovizioso went through on Spies to claim third place.  I say “some point” because those of us viewing the race from places other than the grandstand were unaccountably forced to watch Stoner drifting around by himself, blowing kisses to the crowd, rather than the two Yamaha rivals trading paint vying for a podium.

A gaggle of riders coalesced into the third group fighting for fifth position.  Comprised of the three Ducati riders that actually started the race (Karel Abraham had a note from his dad excusing him today) and Crutchlow, it had to be revolting for the suits from Bologna to watch as the Brit methodically picked off first Hector Barbera on Lap 12, then Valentino Rossi on Lap 14, and finally Nicky Hayden on Lap 15.  (Now that Crutchlow has unofficially been offered a contract to ride for the factory Ducati team next year, he has to be wondering about the wisdom of such a move.  The Desmosedici has the power and technology to turn former world champions into also-rans.  What will it do to the career of a promising rider who has never won a single MotoGP race?)

You Mentioned Something about a Demolition Derby…

When you have three CRT bikes finish in the Top 10, something’s up:

Karel Abraham:     Injured; failed to start the race

Jorge Lorenzo:       Crashed, Lap One

Alvaro Bautista:     Crashed, Lap One

Stefan Bradl:             Crashed, Lap Two (first DNF in MotoGP)

Yonny Hernandez: Crashed, Lap Six (not his first DNF in MotoGP)

Colin Edwards:          Retired, Lap Eight (sick of the whole CRT thing)

Aleix Espargaro:       Crashed, Lap 15 (first DNF in MotoGP)

In a shout out to the Paul Bird Motorsports team, discussed at some length recently in this space, it should be noted that Vale Rossi lost a chunk of his rear tire around Lap 20.  He entered his garage, dismounted, had the team brew up an espresso con latte while they replaced the rear tire, enjoyed his coffee, rejoined the race, and STILL finished in front of James Ellison.  I so can’t wait to have TWO mopes from Bird’s team to jeer at next season.

The Big Picture

Today’s result finds Stoner and Lorenzo tied at the top of the food chain, with Pedrosa sullenly lurking, 19 points back, despite still not having won a race all year.  Crutchlow now leads Dovizioso by a single point in their personal Tech 3 battle for fourth place.  With Bautista and Bradl getting blanked today, Nicky Hayden climbed into seventh, a mere two points behind teammate Rossi.  Ben Spies, with his best finish (4th place) of the year, now moves into the Top Ten, his “underachiever” tag firmly in place.  Barbera and Abraham bring up the rear of the prototypes.  In CRT land, Randy de Puniet now trails teammate Espargaro by a single point in the battle for the second division lead.

Jorge Lorenzo’s bad luck today may, in fact, be worse than it appears.  Immediately after the crash, he was running back to his bike, hoping to rejoin the race, when the engine went up in a cloud of white smoke comparable to what you see at The Vatican when they elect a new pope.  If this was a new engine, as the announcers were speculating, it puts added pressure on the Spaniard regarding the six engine rule.  As if he needs additional pressure now, with Stoner all up in his business again.

On to The Sachsenring

Eight days until Round 8 in Germany.  Expect attendance at this year’s German Grand Prix to skyrocket, now that there’s a local boy, Stefan Bradl, in the mix.  With three races in three weeks, any technical development of the bikes is on hold, meaning “the state of the bikes” entering this weekend will remain unchanged through Mugello.  For the factory teams and Tech 3 Yamaha, which operates like a factory team, this is no problem.  For the others, it means holding on for dear life until Laguna Seca in late July.

Three riders in particular have a lot on their minds tonight.  Valentino Rossi must determine what he’ll be doing for the next few years, as the rule changes implemented this weekend preclude him from switching to Yamaha or Honda beginning in 2013 without some mind-bending disruption of the status quo; there will be no fifth privateer Yamaha or Honda for The Doctor next year.  The second rider with a major headache today is Colin Edwards, who is on the verge of calling it a career and pulling the plug on his CRT experiment, a sad failure on a number of different levels.  We will miss his skill, honesty and humor, and wish him all the best.

Then there’s Alvaro Bautista, the fair-haired boy whose star appeared to be rising, until today.  Though his team and owner Fausto Gresini will undoubtedly defend him publicly, his actions today suggest a low racing IQ, a charge being simultaneously leveled at Hector Barbera from several quarters.  Bautista has accomplished more since moving up from the 250cc class than has Barbera, but both need to get a lot smarter if they want to avoid being sent down to the minors.

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Cal Crutchlow Hating on Alvaro Bautista

June 30, 2012

Assen, The Netherlands, Saturday, June 30, 2012–Immediately following today’s race, Cal Crutchlow, who labors for the Tech 3 Yamaha MotoGP team, had a few choice words for fellow rider Alvaro Bautista, the #1 rider on the San Carlo Honda team.  At the start of the race, Bautista launched himself from the number eight spot on the grid, going white hot into the first turn.  The resulting, entirely predictable low-side crash removed Bautista from the contest, which is fine.  The problem was that it also removed championship leader Jorge Lorenzo, he of the factory Yamaha team, who was quietly minding his own business.  Crutchlow, too, was victimized by the reckless actions of Bautista, as he slipped from fifth position to 13th, trying to avoid the chaos in front of him.

Crutchlow was still amped on adrenaline and anger shortly after the race when someone stuck a microphone in his grille and asked him what he thought about Bautista’s actions.  Working without a tape recorder, what follows is the gist of Cal’s comments:  “It’s hard, you know, when some DICKHEAD pulls a stunt like this, risking the careers and lives of everyone around him.  The %$#@& guy was still changing gears when everyone else was on the brakes.”  Suffice it to say that the Crutchlows will not be on the invitation list this year for the Bautista Christmas bash.

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