Posts Tagged ‘Marc Marquez’

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The State of the Game: MotoGP in 2014

March 23, 2014

Then, There Were Eight 

The decision, announced on February 28, 2014, that the once-proud Ducati factory would compete the 2014 MotoGP season on the “Open” side of the tracks suggests that Dorna chieftain Carmelo Ezpeleta’s not-so-secret mission to dumb down the sport is working.  As the season starts, 15 of the 23 bikes on the grid will be running in the Open class. 

In 2012, Dorna introduced us to the CRT class of bikes, for which I was never able to come up with satisfactory filler for the acronym.  While expanding the grid from the mid-teens to the mid-20’s, the move increased the number of bikes traveling at relatively slow speeds (BTRSS) without increasing competition at the top of the food chain (TFC) where only three riders won races in 2013.

In the midst of last season, the two dominant MotoGP factory operators, Yamaha and Honda, announced that they would be making equipment available to the Open teams in 2014.  Yamaha announced its intent to lease, not sell, what are basically year old M-1 engines and swing arms, while Honda would be selling, not leasing, entire bikes, in this case a cranked-up version of their World SuperBike RCV1000R, affectionately known as the Honda Production Racer.

NGM Forward racing, featuring Colin Edwards and veteran older brother Aleix Esparagaro, jumped all over the Yamaha offer and slotted M-1 engines in their FTR frames.  Pretty much everyone else at all serious about actually competing in the premier class went with the Honda production bike, including Aspar with both Nicky Hayden and Hiro Aoyama onboard, and Fausto Gresini, who bought one for Scott Redding to learn on while #1 rider Alvaro Bautista gets to keep his RCV for another year.  Karel Abraham’s dad bought him one.  The Avintia Blusens team plods on for another year with their Kawasaki powered FTRs, while Paul Byrd Motorsports continues with Paul designing his own frames for Aprilia powerplants.  Ioda Racing, which had been planning another two-rider season with Aprilia, saw their main sponsor Came walk and now looks shaky as the season starts, putting the screws to Brit rider Leon Camie, whose premier class tenure appears to have lasted, um, less than one race.  Whether the team, and Danilo Petrucci, finish the season together remains to be seen.

So, propulsion this season will come from four Ducati engines, six Yamahas and eight Hondas; Aprilia will power three riders and Kawasaki two.  With most of the juice still residing in the two top factory teams, Repsol Honda and Movistar Yamaha (with one notable exception), the season opener, now less than a week away, brings with it a lot of unforced whining from some unexpected places.  Actually, pretty much everyone but Aleix Espargaro is whining about something, as follows:

  • Defending world champion Marc Marquez is placidly copacetic about the leg he broke in training last week.  This may portend something of a slow start for the super sophomore, or nothing at all.  We tend to lean toward the latter.  He’s not whining now, but if he gets off slowly this season, we’ll be waiting for it.
  • Repsol Honda teammate Dani Pedrosa, always good for a complaint or two, and with a few more microphones poked at him since Casey Stoner retired in 2012, was bitching about the lack of grip from the new Bridgestones, until the Phillip Island test, where he was the fastest guy on the track.  (One way Dani could improve grip would be to put on a few pounds.)  Dani is now on the back nine of his career, and fewer of us will be paying attention to his periodic rants as things wind down for him.
  • Double champion Jorge Lorenzo, put off by the new fuel limits and the tires, doubts he’ll be able to manage much better than second place this year.
  • Lorenzo’s Yamaha teammate, the legendary Valentino Rossi, whose last three seasons were utterly forgettable, has been laying down some very fast laps while holding his cards tightly to his chest and saying little of substance.  Perhaps he and his new crew chief have something going on.  Personally, I would love to see Rossi come back and challenge for wins again.  The game needs another Alien.
  • LCR Honda’s Stefan Bradl seems to spend a lot of time in fifth place.  Just sayin’.  He’s on the same bike as Marquez and Pedrosa.
  • Gresini Honda, sponsored again this year by GO&FUN, features chronic underachiever Alvaro Bautista on their #1 RC and recent Moto2 grad Scott Redding on their #2 RCV1000R.  Bautista has tested in the top ten, Redding in the bottom ten.  Redding will finish the season closer to Bautista than he has been during testing thus far.
  • The satellite Yamaha Tech 3 team, featuring Bradley Smith and injured rookie Pol Espargaro, seems to be having its own problems with tires and fuel mixture.  However, they will be working with the new Yamaha seamless shift transmissions this season.  Most of the interest in this duo will have to do with their intra-team competition, rather than their top-ten-but-never-contending-for-a-win performance during races. They will have a problem, however, if the Forward Racing team starts beating them on a regular basis, suggesting that engines, gas and development outweigh software and the sanctity of the “factory-made” label.
  • Bear with me while I try to think of something positive to say about the Drive M7 duo of Nicky Hayden and Hiro Aoyama turning laps on their HPRs.  OK, their livery looks minty fresh.  There.
  • The team making the most positive noise during offseason testing, without question, is the Open team at NGM Forward Racing.  Aleix Espargaro has been consistently running in the top three and appears to be loving his new Yamaha powerplant.  With four extra litres of fuel, seven extra engines during the season, a softer rear tire and Yamaha power, it figures to be only a matter of time before Espargaro becomes the first Open class rider to win a race.  My guess would be Assen or Sachsenring this year.  Funny, though, that HRC is whining in the media about how the NGM project is “outside the intent” of the new regulations.  In my half-baked opinion, that would be true only if the new FIM regulations required Open teams to finish in the bottom third of the grid.  I’ve checked—it’s not in there.  And the NGM joke is that the ancient Colin Edwards is hanging around not to milk another mediocre season out of Aspar’s horde of sponsors, but to “mentor” Espargaro, who is running circles around him.  My sides are splitting.
  • The revelation that all four Ducati Desmosedicis will run in the Open class this season is big.  Big, in that the new Powers that Be in Bologna have decided that, though the Dorna software is marginally inferior to Ducati’s own, having twice as many engines to break, more fuel, and the ability to continue development of the engine during the season, which Ducati desperately needs, far outweigh the loss of a couple of 10ths due to the software.  Dovizioso’s sentence has one more year to run, while Cal Crutchlow has now really put himself in it, having signed on for two years of Open class competition and second-rate results, but for a bigger paycheck.  Yonny Hernandez and Andrea Iannone will keep the wheels turning over at Pramac; Crazy Joe may challenge Crutchlow a few times this year, which will be great fun to watch.  Crutchlow will also have to sit around next year as the factory Honda and Yamaha teams, with Suzuki making its return, go about the process of pushing wheelbarrows full of Benjamins at Marquez and Lorenzo, with Rossi and Pedrosa on hand to drive up the bidding.
  • Life goes on at Avintia Blusens and Paul Byrd Motorsports, both of whom must have the best, most understanding, least demanding sponsors in motorsports.  Two riders per team, with a Top Ten finish for one of the four once in a while. 

The newest release of the “Dorna software” appears to be a sizeable step up, especially for Ducati.  So sizeable that Dorna and FIM threw together a third class of bikes, “Factory 2”, to which contestants running in the Open class will be dispatched if and when they start appearing on podiums on a regular basis.  Open 2 bikes basically split the difference on engines and fuel, compared to the two “established” classes.  This cobbled-up class was apparently developed, on the back of a cocktail napkin, in response to the howls of protest emanating from the Yamaha and, especially, Honda camps concerning the unexpected competitiveness of some of the Open class bikes.  Perhaps they should refer to it as The Espargaro Rule.

Until Marquez got hurt last month, it looked to be a no-brainer predicting the 2014 world champion, and it doesn’t really look much different today.  Lorenzo and Pedrosa have had some issues during the offseason testing sessions, while Valentino Rossi looks strong again, and Aleix Espargaro looks like a factory rider.  If Rossi has, indeed, regained the step he had obviously lost since 2010, and if Espargaro has the bike to remain in the top five on a regular basis, it promises to be a more interesting season than was 2013.  Marquez, even with a tender start, looks to be dominant, and Pedrosa and Lorenzo will be fine.  Issue Alien cards to Rossi and Espargaro, and it will be a fun season to watch.

As well as further evidence that Ezpeleta’s evil plot is working.

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2014 Valencia Test, Day 3

November 13, 2013

by Bruce Allen

Final day of testing at Valencia 11/13/2013.  Results courtesy of Crash.net.

Young man has the world by the balls.

Young man has the world by the balls.

1. Marc Marquez ESP Repsol Honda Team (RC213V) 1m 30.287s (Lap 54/56)
2. Bradley Smith GBR Monster Yamaha Tech 3 (YZR-M1) 1m 30.598s (35/36)
3. Stefan Bradl GER LCR Honda MotoGP (RC213V) 1m 30.868s (20/54)
4. Dani Pedrosa ESP Repsol Honda Team (RC213V) 1m 30.992s (32/70)
5. Alvaro Bautista ESP Go&Fun Honda Gresini (RC213V) 1m 31.229s (57/58)
6. Pol Espargaro ESP Monster Yamaha Tech 3 (YZR-M1) 1m 31.533s (12/28)
7. Andrea Iannone ITA Energy T.I. Pramac Racing (GP13) 1m 31.594s (49/69)
8. Aleix Espargaro ESP NGM Forward Racing (FTR-Yamaha M1) 1m 31.644s (45/49)
9. Andrea Dovizioso ITA Ducati Team (GP13) 1m 31.716s (33/36)
10. Cal Crutchlow GBR Ducati Team (GP13) 1m 31.875s (44/54)
11. Michele Pirro ITA Ducati Test Team (GP13) 1m 31.883s (47/58)
12. Nicky Hayden USA Power Electronics Aspar (Honda RCV1000R) 1m 32.123s (37/40)
13. Hiroshi Aoyama JPN Power Electronics Aspar (Honda RCV1000R) 1m 32.530s (27/60)
14. Michael Laverty GBR Paul Bird Motorsport (PBM-ART) 1m 33.055s (43/44)

What’s Bradley Smith doing up there with the four RC213V’s?  Pretty surprising.  Pol Espargaro is getting off to a great start on his shiny new YZR-M1.  Joe Iannone the fastest of the Ducati sloggers?  I guess.  Dovizioso and Crutchlow getting comfortable running 9th and 10th, with Dovizioso claiming to be “optimistic” about next year.  “Optimistic”, in this case, meaning only one year away from escaping from Ducati and getting back on a competitive ride.    Nicky Hayden’s second day not as good as his first, dawdling around with Hiro Aoyama.  Crazy.

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2014 Valencia Test Times, Day 2

November 12, 2013

by Bruce Allen

11/12/2013            Courtesy of Crash.net

1. Marc Marquez ESP Repsol Honda Team (RC213V) 1m 30.536s (Lap 75/77)
2. Jorge Lorenzo ESP Yamaha Factory Racing (YZR-M1) 1m 30.768s (58/60)
3. Dani Pedrosa ESP Repsol Honda Team (RC213V) 1m 30.948s (67/72)
4. Stefan Bradl GER LCR Honda MotoGP (RC213V) 1m 30.990s (57/60)
5. Alvaro Bautista ESP Go&Fun Honda Gresini (RC213V) 1m 31.208s (41/72)
6. Bradley Smith GBR Monster Yamaha Tech 3 (YZR-M1) 1m 31.397s (77/78)
7. Valentino Rossi ITA Yamaha Factory Racing (YZR-M1) 1m 31.414s (56/57)
8. Andrea Dovizioso ITA Ducati Team (GP13) 1m 31.661s (55/62)
9. Pol Espargaro ESP Monster Yamaha Tech 3 (YZR-M1) 1m 31.836s (66/72)
10. Andrea Iannone ITA Energy T.I. Pramac Racing (GP13) 1m 31.844s (61/68)
11. Cal Crutchlow GBR Ducati Team (GP13) 1m 32.114s (53/53)
12. Michele Pirro ITA Ducati Test Team (GP13) 1m 32.473s (47/65)
13. Nicky Hayden USA Power Electronics Aspar (RCV1000R) 1m 32.576s (76/76)
14. Yonny Hernandez COL Ignite Pramac Racing (GP13) 1m 32.800s (26/27)
15. Aleix Espargaro ESP NGM Forward Racing (FTR-Yamaha M1) 1m 32.847s (17/18)
16. Colin Edwards USA NGM Forward Racing (FTR-Yamaha M1) 1m 33.149s (21/34)
17. Michael Laverty GBR Paul Bird Motorsport (PBM-ART) 1m 33.672s (32/43)
18. Randy de Puniet FRA Paul Bird Motorsport (ART) 1m 33.833s (22/37)
19. Scott Redding GBR Go&Fun Honda Gresini (RCV1000R) 1m 34.541s (22/23)
20. Mike di Meglio FRA Avintia Racing (FTR-Kawasaki) 1m 34.618s (29/42)

Interesting notes–

Marquez, Lorenzo, Pedrosa and Bradl all lap under 1:31, starting up where they left off on Sunday.

Dovi testing at ValenciaAfter a full year on the GP13, Andrea Dovizioso is half a second faster than Cal Crutchlow is after one full day.  Nicky Hayden slipped a mere 8/10ths from his qualifying time on the GP13 during his first day on the new Honda lite RCV1000R.  Little Brother Pol Espargaro, riding the Tech 3 satellite Yamaha, beat Big Brother Aleix on the FTR Yamaha  by a full second.  Randy de Puniet shows up out of nowhere and Paul Byrd puts him on the full ART, throwing Michael Laverty back on the so-called PBM-ART, from which Laverty thought he had graduated late last season; the Welshman can’t be too happy about that.  And Hector Barbera, fresh off signing a new two year deal with Avintia Blusens, is too drunk to get on the bike either day, but sober enough to give a gushing interview to the Italian media as to how excited he is by the prospect of finishing 16th most days for the next two years.  Jeesh.

Scott Redding is too banged up to give his new Honda lite a proper whipping.  Valentino Rossi, who unceremoniously threw his faithful and longstanding crew chief Jerry Burgess under the bus last weekend, still finds himself running behind the likes of Bradl, Bautista and satellite Yamaha rider Bradley Smith.  Vale, you’re on the same bike Lorenzo nearly won a third world championship on.  The problem is NOT the crew chief!

Yonny Hernandez, on a factory spec GP13, finds himself running in 14th position.  Wait until he gets the dumbed-down version with the second rate software.  At least he’ll still have the pleasure of getting to burn out a dozen engines during the season, while Crazy Joe Iannone will have to settle for five engines and a fighting chance to run in Q2s and finish in the top ten at some tracks.

 

Captain America - 1969

This picture of Peter Fonda doing his Captain America bit from Easy Rider  is appropos of nothing, but there’s no editors at Motorcycle.com to take it down.  Gotta love that!  Pretty sure the crack about Barbera being drunk wouldn’t have made it through, either.

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Posted in Grand Prix Motorcycle Racing, MotoGP, MotoGP Valencia, Motorcycle Racing | 3 Comments »

Marc Marquez–2013 MotoGP Champion

November 10, 2013

by Bruce Allen.  An edited version of this story will appear on Motorcycle.com later today.  Until then, please enjoy the raw copy. 

With 13 points separating defending world champion Jorge Lorenzo and rookie challenger Marc Marquez heading into the 2013 finale in Valencia, the tension leading up to the race couldn’t have been cut with a machete.  Unforced falls by leaders in the Moto2 and Moto3 tilts served as a reminder that, as Yogi Berra once observed, “it ain’t over ‘til it’s over.”  When it was over, however, Yamaha icon Lorenzo had won the race and handed over his crown to Repsol Honda’s boy wonder Marquez.  It feels like the beginning of a new era in grand prix racing. 

Final Podium of 2013-2

To take his third title in the last four years, Lorenzo needed a win and a load of bad karma to befall Marquez.  Winning, as it turned out, wouldn’t be a problem, as he had the pace all weekend while Marquez was in an uncharacteristic risk-aversion mode.  Lorenzo’s strategy early in the race was to take the lead, slow the pace, and see if mayhem might arise behind him.  Instead, he found himself in a cage match with Repsol #2 Dani Pedrosa, who had been dispatched by his team with orders to harass and annoy Lorenzo.  As a result, the first ten laps of the race were as good as it gets in motorsports.

At the start, the two Japanese factory teams got away at the front, with Lorenzo and Pedrosa playing grab-ass while Marquez lay back slightly, bracing for an expected assault from Yamaha #2 Valentino Rossi, whose job was to attack Marquez and, hopefully, force him into a king-sized mistake.  Five separate times during the first seven laps, Lorenzo and Pedrosa exchanged positions twice, as Pedrosa would go through on Lorenzo and Lorenzo would immediately return the favor.  Meanwhile, Rossi, pedaling as hard as he could, was unable to mount the slightest challenge to Marquez, abandoning his teammate to the usual Repsol double-team.  [In his first year back from two purgatorial seasons with Ducati, The Doctor has officially been demoted to The Physician’s Assistant.  One hopes he gets out of the game before becoming The Registered Nurse.]

Lap 10 was decisive.  Pedrosa had gotten in front of Lorenzo once again, and the now-desperate Mallorcan dove inside hard enough to prompt an examination from Race Direction, pushing Pedrosa way wide and allowing Marquez to take the lead, with the ever-dangerous Alvaro Bautista, onboard the GO&FUN Gresini Honda, sneaking briefly into third place as Pedrosa re-entered in sixth.  Lorenzo and Marquez then traded passes late in the lap and again for the last time on Lap 11.  Rossi and Pedrosa went though on Bautista on Lap 12.  Pedrosa, with Lorenzo’s tire tracks on both sides of his leathers, passed Rossi for the last time on Lap 14, and was shown a little respect by Marquez on Lap 27, who sat up to allow him back into second place, cementing the final order of finish.

Lorenzo’s Pyrrhic victory displayed once again the heart of a champion, while Marquez’ well-considered third place result evidenced intelligence and coachability.  Having won the last three races of the season, two of which were contested at very Honda-friendly tracks, Lorenzo demonstrated that Yamaha’s new magic gearbox has decidedly leveled the field.  Thus, my coronation of Marquez as the inevitable ruler of the next decade appears to be somewhat premature.  Certainly, the next few seasons promise some epic duels between the two Spaniards, with Pedrosa and Rossi filling the undercards until they decide to hang up their leathers and call it a career.

2013 Valencia Top Ten Finishers

Valencia 2013 Top Ten

2014 Starts Tomorrow

Top tier team testing for next season begins tomorrow at Ricardo Tormo, although Yamaha will not take the track until Tuesday.  Cal Crutchlow, who crashed out of fifth position today, climbs aboard the Ducati Desmosedici for the first of what promises to be two years of well-paid ineptitude.  His former and now new teammate Andrea Dovizioso seemed at some point to lose interest in dragging the big red bike so far behind the leaders, having earned 81 points in the first half of the season and 59 thereafter.  Crutchlow’s place on the Monster Tech 3 team will be taken by Pol Espragaro, who graduates from Moto2 with the 2013 trophy in his mitts.

Brit Scott Redding, who finished the Moto2 season in second place, joins Alvaro Bautista on the Gresini team with one of the new production Honda RCV1000Rs beneath him, and will benefit from the extra horsepower that comes with it.  Both Nicky Hayden and Hiro Aoyama will go to work tomorrow for the Aspar team, also riding the new Honda lite machine, with current riders Aleix Espargaro defecting to NGM Forward Racing to join Colin Edwards on Yamaha-powered hybrids, and Randy de Puniet slinking off to the Suzuki factory to test their anticipated 2015 entry for a year.  The Pramac junior Ducati team will retain Andrea Iannone on factory equipment and Yonny Hernandez on a spec version, with “The Seven Circles of Hell” embroidered on his leathers.  We’ll have to wait and see what transpires closer to the bottom of the premier class food chain.

A Thriller at Moto3 

The Moto3 race today was an object lesson for those of us who turn up our noses at the youngsters on the little bikes.  Three Spanish kids—Luis Salom, Alex Rins and Maverick Vinales—lined up at the start understanding this was a rare “winner take all” occasion.  Getting off cleanly from the front row, all three attacked the 24 laps of the Ricardo Tomo circuit, with Vinales and Salom taking turns in the lead, and young Rins sitting in third.  Unaccountably, on lap 15 Salom lost the front and slid unmolested into the kitty litter, leaving Vinales and Rins to slug it out for the title.  With four laps left, the riders dropped their gloves and started throwing hooks and haymakers, every turn contested, the gap separating them measured in hundredths of seconds.

Almost as if it were scripted, it came down to the final turn on the final lap, with Rins going through, running a tiny bit wide, and leaving the door ajar for Vinales, who eased through and won the sprint to the flag.  Vinales graduates to Moto2 next season, while Rins appears destined to remain in Moto3 for another year, where he is expected to contest the championship with teammate Alex Marquez on the way to their expected Moto2 debuts in 2015.  With Suzuki and now Aprilia having announced their intentions to re-enter the premier class fray in 2015 and 2016, respectively, and speculation rampant as to whom will pilot the new factory bikes, Vinales, Rins and Marquez the Younger would appear to be logical suspects.  By then, one of the three may have replaced Dani Pedrosa on the Repsol Honda and a second received the baton from Valentino Rossi on the factory Yamaha.

A Final Word on the 2013 Season

Aside from Marquez’ brilliance, no discussion of the past year can take place without mention of Lorenzo’s two injurious crashes in the Netherlands and Germany or Pedrosa’s ruinous accident at the Sachsenring.  Last year, in anticipation of Marquez joining the premier class, we found an appropriate quote from Rudyard Kipling with which to close our season’s work.  This year, we sacrifice literary elegance for down-home wisdom, and turn to the late Don Meredith, the hilarious quarterback of the Dallas Cowboys back in the day.  It was Meredith who observed, “If ifs and buts were candy and nuts, wouldn’t it be a merry Christmas?”

christmas-candy-bark2

Enjoy the off-season, be well, and please join us here again next spring for more MotoGP news and analysis.  On time and on the money.

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Posted in Grand Prix Motorcycle Racing, Moto, MotoGP, MotoGP Valencia, Motorcycle Racing, Racing News | 2 Comments »

MotoGP Valencia: Thirty Laps to a Title

November 4, 2013

MotoGP Valencia 2013 Preview, by Bruce Allen.  

See the edited article on Motorcycle.com later this week.

Lorenzo - MarquezFor the first time since 2006, and only the second time in over two decades, the fast movers of MotoGP head to the season finale with a championship on the line.  Against all odds, Yamaha mullah and defending champion Jorge Lorenzo has a puncher’s chance of repeating, the first rider to do so since teammate Valentino Rossi in 2008 and 2009.  The problem facing Lorenzo:  Repsol Honda rookie Marc Marquezwho, at age 20, looks ready to dominate the premier class for the next decade.

Lorenzo’s mission this weekend is to blow away the field, win going away, and hope that something, or someone, causes Marquez to finish worse than fourth.  With 13 points in hand, fourth or better gives Marquez the title, regardless of Lorenzo’s result.  And while “on any given Sunday” undoubtedly applies to MotoGP, the oddsmakers currently have Marquez at 1 to 5 and Lorenzo at 5 to 1.  Clearly, the betting world sees Marquez seizing the first of his many titles this weekend in Valencia.

Marquez, the 20 year old Catalan, has dominated the discussion this season, with a rookie campaign that has thoroughly eclipsed those of the current and former Aliens.  Neither Rossi, Lorenzo, Casey Stoner or Marquez’ hard luck teammate Dani Pedrosa, as rookies, came within 100 points of what Marquez has already achieved this year.  He has set rookie records for points, poles, and wins, and probably a dozen others.  He has walked away from a number of crashes that would have put other riders in traction; in this regard, he seems overtly blessed.  His baby-faced good looks mask the heart of a champion and the competitive constitution of a honey badger.

Back in the day when I was clearing the bases playing slow-pitch softball, one of my more annoying teammates used to taunt the opposition with the sing-song chant “it hurts with two out, don’t it?”  Come-from-behind wins aren’t just wins; they are spirit-breaking insults that give opponents the sense that no lead is safe.  Of Marquez’ six wins thus far in 2013, most have come late in the day, giving the impression that he enjoys loafing near the front until his fuel load drops, and lowers the demoralizing boom on the leaders only when it suits him.  As if he’s playing a game of cat-and-mouse at 200 mph, toying with his opponents.  The truth is, absent a ridiculous gaffe by his team at Phillip Island which got him DQ’ed, he would have already clinched the title, and this weekend’s tilt would be another meaningless Valencian ring around the rosey.

Recent History at Valencia – Bah!

I’m not going to bother rehashing the past few years of the season finale, as this year’s race is fundamentally different from the last few.  A great deal of the chatter in cyberspace this week has centered on the roles to be played by each team’s #2 rider—Valentino Rossi on the Yamaha and Dani Pedrosa on the Honda.  Conspiracy theories abound, with a number of vicious suggestions out there regarding what Rossi should do to Marquez and/or what Pedrosa is likely to do to Lorenzo.

rossi-winning-at-brnoThe sole fact supporting these shameful ideas is that the riders have no fear of earning any laughable MotoGP “points on the license” in the last round of the season.  Fans of the two combatants might enjoy entertaining such thoughts, but they truly range from the ridiculous to the sublime.  These men have known each other for years, and will have relationships for decades into the future.  There is no real chance that anyone on the grid is going to intentionally sabotage either Lorenzo or Marquez.  Sure, accidents happen in the heat of battle, but in truth none of the other top ten riders on the grid has much skin in the game at this point.

It pleases me to observe that Jorge Lorenzo and I have something in common these days.  His approach to the Gran Premio Generali de la Comunitat Valenciana is the same as my plan for retirement:  work like a dog and hope for the best.  The odds of Marquez and Lorenzo actually tangling the way they did at Jerez and again at Sepang are remote, as Marquez has nothing to gain and everything to lose by engaging in handlebar-to-handlebar combat with the Mallorcan.  One should expect Marquez to avoid contact with anyone on Sunday, with the possible exception of Alvaro Bautista who, earlier this year and in years past, had a tendency to get over-excited when running up front and inadvertently taking an Alien or two out with him.

What to Expect This Weekend

Simply stated, look for Lorenzo to follow what has become his only strategy of late, jumping out to as large a lead as possible and hanging on for dear life as the Repsol Hondas try to track him down. I envision Marquez shooting for third place, allowing teammate Pedrosa to go after Lorenzo if he so chooses, and staying clear of the inevitable Valentino Rossi in fourth place. Marquez will only need to up his pace in the event the Italian feels like mixing it up, and while this possibility exists, Marquez has had the pace all year to put down a vapor trail and leave the aging Rossi gasping in his wake.

Despite its reputation as a sun-drenched Mediterranean paradise, Valencia can be kind of English countryside this time of year, and Lorenzo in the rainweather, of all things, could play a part in the weekend’s festivities. The forecast for Friday through Sunday calls for highs in the mid-50’s, lows in the low 40’s, with the chance for rain ranging between 30% and 60% all three days. A wet race or, perish the thought, a flag-to-flag affair could easily throw a spanner into Marquez’ works. It has been observed elsewhere that Marquez is not a strong in the wet as he is on slicks. How ironic would it be that a season dominated by youth and injuries could be decided by something as mundane as the proverbial rain in Spain.

One of my many failings covering this sport is the complete lack of attention I pay to the lower classes. This weekend, however, I intend to make an exception, because the Moto3 race on Sunday promises to be epic. The three leaders—Luis Salom, Maverick Vinales and Alex Rins (teammate of Alex Marquez, Marc’s hermanito)—are all young Spaniards, all riding KTM machinery, and are separated in the standings by a mere five points. As interesting as the MotoGP race promises to be, the Moto3 tilt should be one for the ages. Unless your cable provider offers more channels than mine, you’ll have a hard time finding the Moto3 race on TV.

The MotoGP race goes off at 8 am Eastern Standard Time. So far, I’m not finding it on Fox Sports 1. Rest assured, however, that we’ll have results of the Grand Prix of Valencia, and the entire 2013 season, right here on Sunday afternoon.

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Posted in Grand Prix Motorcycle Racing, MotoGP, MotoGP Valencia, Motorcycle Racing, Racing News | 3 Comments »

Lorenzo Wins at Motegi; Title Up for Grabs in Spain

October 27, 2013

Read all about it on Motorcycle.com.  Too tired tonight to do all the cutting and pasting.

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Posted in Grand Prix Motorcycle Racing, MotoGP, MotoGP Motegi, Motorcycle Racing | 4 Comments »

MotoGP Phillip Island 2013 Results

October 20, 2013

by Bruce Allen.  An edited version of this story, complete with hi-rez photos, can be found on Motorcycle.com.

Marquez DQ leaves Lorenzo still breathing 

Round 16 of the MotoGP 2013 world championship was all about the track.  The new racing surface, installed at the cost of millions, provided outstanding grip for the riders, but was chewing up tires at a stunning rate during the practice sessions leading up to the race.  Race Direction was putting out one-time rule changes as fast as they could print them.  The last of these ensnared Repsol Honda rookie Marc Marquez, resulted in his disqualification, and left the title up for grabs for at least another week. 

Usually, the Australian Grand Prix is a 27 lap affair won by Casey Stoner.  With Stoner having retired after last season and the racing surface replaced in the interim, it looked like business as usual following last week’s tilt in Malaysia.  But once the practice sessions started at Phillip Island on Friday, Bridgestone, the official tire supplier of the premier class, realized it had a problem on its hands.  The riders were putting up great lap times, but the tires were disintegrating at an alarming rate.

After a series of meetings with Dorna officials, it was announced on Saturday morning that the race was being shortened to 26 laps, and that riders would have to make a mandatory pit stop to change bikes by the end of Lap 14.  Such an announcement had never been made in the history of the series.  But the trouble didn’t stop there.  After qualifications, and more discussions, it was announced that the race was being limited to 19 laps, and that riders would have to make a mandatory bike change by the end of Lap 9 and no later than the end of Lap 10.

Marc Marquez’ team apparently missed the email.  It was his team’s failure, not the rider’s, which led to mayhem, a black flag for the series leader, and at least another week before the 2013 title can be settled.

The teams were undoubtedly up late into the night devising their strategies for the race.  They would all be using two bikes, each with a soft front tire, half a tank of gas, and no worries about tire conservation.  After the pit stop, they would be re-entering the race on cold tires.  There were concerns about entering the track from pit lane with on-track bikes running around 200 kph at the entry point.

Enough about the Rules—What about the Race?

Big Three - AustraliaWith a front row of defending world champion and Yamaha strongman Jorge Lorenzo, series leader Marquez, and fading star Valentino Rossi, the race got off to a clean start.  Lorenzo stormed into the lead, followed closely by the Repsol duo of Marquez and Pedrosa, and a wild first lap featured contact between all three.  By the end of Lap 1, it was Lorenzo, Marquez and Pedrosa up front, with a second group comprised of Rossi, Tech 3 Yamaha rookie Bradley Smith, FUN&GO hazard Alvaro Bautista and Smith’s teammate Cal Crutchlow.  By Lap 5, Smith had dropped back, and Marquez appeared to be lining up Lorenzo for a potentially championship-clinching pass.

At this point, as the riders approached the start/finish line, the pitboards started putting up reminders about the number of laps remaining before the riders had to enter the pits and change bikes.  The riders were maintaining their respective positions, but by Lap 9 only 2/10ths of a second separated leader Lorenzo from Pedrosa in third place.  It soon became apparent that Team Yamaha was better prepared for what was to happen than was the Repsol Honda crew.

As Lap 9 ended, Pedrosa entered pit lane, changed bikes, and got caught speeding coming back onto the track, which would later force him to allow Marquez through and, at the end of the day, amount to nothing.  As Lap 10 was ending, the entire place expected to see Lorenzo and Marquez enter pit lane.  The veteran Lorenzo, with his experienced crew, veered left as expected, while Marquez unaccountably kept right on going.  The poor British race announcers, Gavin Emmett and Nick Harris, were suddenly on their feet shouting, prancing about, and speculating wildly as to the possible consequences of Marquez’ error.  A ride-through penalty?  More points on his license?  A back-of-the-grid start at Motegi?

As Marquez re-entered the track on what was now Lap 12, he veered into Lorenzo’s line, and Lorenzo gave him a good smack, knocking a piece of Marquez’ brake lever/cover flying, and allowing Pedrosa through.  The race, and the speculation, continued, with Marquez going through on Pedrosa on Lap 14.  Finally, on Lap 15, the dreaded black flag appeared, and #93 was done for the day.

In the end, Lorenzo won comfortably by 7 seconds over Pedrosa, while Rossi eventually vanquished both Bautista and Crutchlow for another tarnished podium.  Today’s top ten finishers looked like this:

Top Ten finishers 2013 Phillip Island.

The Big Picture

Not much has changed in the 2013 standings, despite the dramatic turn of events Down Under.  Lorenzo now trails Marquez by 18 points, and needs to thump the rookie pretty good at Motegi to have a puncher’s chance of repeating as world champion in Valenciana.  Dani Pedrosa’s fortunes hang by a thread, and are out of his control.  Trailing Marquez by 34 points and Lorenzo by 16, he needs a world of woe to befall both riders in Japan to have anything beyond a mathematical chance of winning his first premier class title in Spain next month.  In all likelihood his championship hopes will expire next week.

Although Jorge Lorenzo gets plenty of props, has a room full of trophies and a distinguished body of work to show for his MotoGP career, one of the things he doesn’t seem to get much credit for is his mental toughness.  At the start of today’s race, with Repsol Hondas banging into him right and left, he was giving as good as he got, conceding nothing.  When Marquez got in his way on Lap 12, he brushed him aside, as if he weren’t going well over 100 mph on two wheels.

In a race in which he had nothing to lose, Lorenzo put the hammer down, damned the torpedoes, and went for all the marbles.  When today looks hopeless and there’s no tomorrow, many of us will throw up our hands and surrender to the inevitable.

There’s no surrender in Jorge Lorenzo.

A Look Back at the 2013 Australian Grand Prix

The big loser today was, of course, the Phillip Island Circuit.  The track operators invested heavily in re-paving the entire course, and now have an un-rideable track on their hands.  In the big money world of MotoGP, no one wants fingers pointed at them, blaming them for conditions or circumstances that can have a material effect on the outcome of an entire season.  Such is the state of Phillip Island.

Perhaps the most picturesque circuit on the MotoGP calendar, attendance today was under 32,000—about what you get at an average Boston Red Sox game—and the operators are facing a massive “Now what?”  Re-pave the track again?  Sue the contractor (which is what we would do here in the U.S.)?

A weekend that started under brilliant sunshine produced a flawed race run under leaden skies and that ended, somewhat appropriately, in the rain.  Phillip Island, which should really be re-named Stoner Island, is, for now, the venue for Round 18 on the 2014 MotoGP calendar.  Unless the owners find a solution to avert another cluster that was today’s race, we may find ourselves back to an 18 round season next year.

phillip island

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Phillip Island – Lorenzo’s Last Stand

October 16, 2013

by Bruce Allen.  The version of this story  on Motorcycle.com has some great photos.

Yamaha star needs win to keep his faint hopes alive 

This MotoGP season has developed an air of inevitability.  Not that Repsol Honda rookie Marc Marquez is going to win the 2013 title; that’s pretty much in the bag.  It’s entirely possible he could win the next six or eight world championships.  The young Spaniard may do for MotoGP what Michael Schumacher did years ago for F-1—turn it into his personal playground, at the cost of much of its popularity. 

Despite Dorna CEO Carmelo Ezpeleta’s efforts to level the playing field as regards equipment (which could easily take years, given the resistance he faces from the Hondas and Yamahas of the world), the observation that MotoGP is 80% rider and 20% bike is mostly true.  Marquez won the 125 class when he was 17, and would have won two Moto2 titles had he not splashed out in Sepang in 2011.  If you were to put the entire premier class grid on identical bikes, there’s no question in my mind that Marquez would win 75% of the races, for as long as you wanted to run them.  Against Lorenzo, Pedrosa, Rossi and the rest.  No question.  He’s that good.

Compare his premier class rookie season to that of his role model.  In his first six races in 2000, Valentino Rossi, the impudent Italian fast mover, crashed twice, finished 12th, 11th and 3rd twice, earning a total of 41 points.  Marquez, in a larger grid, crashed once, finished on the podium five times, had a win, and pulled down 93 points.  Rossi earned 209 points in 2000 over 16 rounds (13 points/race); Marquez is on track to reach perhaps 360 points over 18 rounds (20 points/race).  Rossi soon became a MotoGP icon, and years after his last competitive season in 2010, he is still recognized around the world and is the fifth-highest earning driver in all motorsports.

Brolly Girl SepangStatistically speaking, Marquez is almost 50% more productive than Rossi was in his rookie year.  Not to mention he’s Spanish, a country that’s mad about MotoGP, in a league that runs almost a quarter of its races in Spain.  Talk about a rock star.  Repsol acknowledged as much last Sunday, installing a vastly upgraded brolly girl in place of his customary helper, who resembles Yoko Ono with a migraine.

As Woody Hayes, the legendarily run-oriented Ohio State football coach observed about the forward pass, “Three things can happen, and two of them are bad.”  Obviously, in MotoGP, injuries play a major role in the fortunes of the top riders.  Despite improvements in leathers, bikes, helmets and the tracks themselves, going 200 mph on a motorcycle is, as it were, a blueprint for disaster.  For a vivid example, check out Alex de Angelis in practice for the 2010 Moto2 race at Jerez.  (BTW, de Angelis walked away from it.)  Marquez could, yet this year, suffer a career-ending crash, exposing the folly of this speculation.  But if he is fortunate enough to avoid a series of bone-crushing high sides over the next decade, he looks ready to rule MotoGP until someone (Alex Rins?) grows enough whiskers to mount a serious challenge.  No one currently running in the premier class has the chops.

Weren’t You Going to Discuss Jorge Lorenzo?

For defending champion and Yamaha golden boy Jorge Lorenzo, the only thing that will allow him to repeat would be a significant crash by Marquez.  Soon.  Repsol Honda’s unlucky #2 Dani Pedrosa will, in all likelihood, be eliminated from contention this weekend, leaving Lorenzo as the last man standing in Marquez’ way.  And even if Lorenzo were to run the table—a dubious proposition, with Motegi on the horizon—he would need a complete, utter collapse by Marquez, which just doesn’t appear likely, to become a three-time champion in 2013.

Marquez showed me something this past Sunday in Sepang, once he had gone through on Lorenzo into second place.  With teammate Pedrosa a few seconds in front of him, and plenty of time on his hands, Marquez elected to play it safe, gather his 20 points, and move onto the next venue.  If he were truly a mad dog, a pathological risk taker, he would have put the hammer down and gone after Pedrosa.  I’ve said before that Dani Pedrosa, after countless surgeries, is old for his age.  Marquez, by contrast, is mature for his age while still young enough to heal quickly from the “bumps and bruises” (paging Cal Crutchlow) inherent in the sport.

Anyway, Jorge Lorenzo had his game face on in Sepang, and still managed to lose to both Repsol Hondas.  Phillip Island is a far friendlier track for the Yamaha M-1, and Lorenzo has a decent chance to win on Sunday, further prolonging his 2013 agony.  If I were Jorge, I’d have my post-race press conference blurb already prepared, ignore the questions, and talk about how I only enjoy winning titles in even-numbered years.  Because, even if he’s still alive after Australia, he’s pretty much toast in Japan.  With two wins in the last nine years at Motegi, Honda’s home track, putting your money on Yamaha, even with Jorge Lorenzo in charge, is a fool’s wager.

Quick Hitters

Nicky Hayden, according to Speedweek.com, will be riding the production Honda RCV1000R for the Aspar team in 2014.  With current Aspar CRT champion Aleix Espargaro on his way to join Colin Edwards at NGM Forward Racing on a rented Yamaha M-1 next season (displacing Claudio Corti), Aspar suggested that his choices for the #2 seat on his 2014 team were limited to Hiro Aoyoma, Eugene Laverty and Yonny Hernandez.  This presumes that his current #2, Randy de Puniet, takes a year off testing for Suzuki before returning to the grid in 2015 on a factory Suzuki.

Hayden, unceremoniously dumped by Ducati in mid-season—that must sting—now has engine problems for what remains of the 2013 season.  The engine he blew at Sepang was his last new one, and the other four are pretty beat up.  According to MotoGP.com, Hayden may have to unwrap a sixth engine this week, becoming the second rider ever to start from pit lane as punishment for failing to manage his engine allotment.  The first, you will recall, was Valentino Rossi in 2011.  Who remembers where that took place?

If Marc Marquez manages to collect another penalty point this week or next, he will be forced to start the following race from the back of the grid.  He’s probably not too worried about the prospect.  During his first Moto2 season in 2011, after an incident during practice at Phillip Island, Marquez was banished to the back of the grid, starting in 38th place.  He finished 3rd that day.

What About the Weather Down Under?

According to Weather.com, conditions at Phillip Island this weekend will be seasonal, which is to say cool and windy.  Temps will be in the high 60’s and low 70’s with a stiff breeze out of the north, making it feel colder than it actually is.  Morning practice sessions will be treacherous on cold tires.

Casey Stoner will be in the house, getting his props from Dorna in recognition of a distinguished, if whiney, career. The temptation to climb
 aboard Stefan Bradl’s idle RC213V must be overwhelming, but I doubt he will succumb.

Stoner testing

 

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Pedrosa wins at Sepang; Marquez extends lead

October 13, 2013

by Bruce Allen.  An edited version of this story, complete with non-bootlegged images, will appear on Motorcycle.com tonight or tomorrow. Until then, please enjoy the raw copy.

Repsol Hondas finish one-two in the Malaysian heat 

pedrosa_marquez

For factory Yamaha double world champion Jorge Lorenzo and the Repsol Honda duo of Dani Pedrosa and Marc Marquez, Sunday’s Malaysian Grand Prix was going to be a statement race.  Lorenzo’s intent, clear from the outset, was to beat rookie Marquez at any cost.  Pedrosa, the victim of plain bad luck at Aragon, looked determined to prove that he was still a force at the top of the MotoGP food chain.  And Marc Marquez, on his way to the 2013 title, wanted the world to know that his brain is bigger than his balls. 

How, you’re wondering, do I know these things to be true?  Pure deduction, based upon things that were said during the week, and the actions of the riders during the race.  At the Thursday press conference, Jorge Lorenzo went OFF, delivering a scathing critique of Marquez’ relentless risk taking and Race Direction’s lame season-long response thereto.  To paraphrase Lorenzo’s tongue-in-cheek outburst, he claimed that Marquez approaches MotoGP as if it were NASCAR, bumping and grinding his competitors every time out, with but three “penalty points” to show for his behavior.  Actually, three penalty points and a World Championship.  Lorenzo, it seems, is put out over how Race Direction has rewarded bad behavior on Marquez’ part with a trophy and a bit of toothless punishment.  Thankfully, he didn’t play the Marco Simoncelli card as an example of what can happen to the fast and the reckless.

Dani Pedrosa gave us one of his trademarked “slingshot” starts today, moving from fifth position on the grid to sitting on Lorenzo’s pipes in the middle of Lap 1.  He and Marquez had been fast all weekend in practice, but Pedrosa looked determined not simply to podium today, but to win.  On Lap 5, having just received a mapping change from his pit crew, he bumped Lorenzo out of his way—just racing!—and took over first place for the duration.  Never looking back, he won by almost three seconds, for the first time since Le Mans.  Two years ago, when he had this kind of pace, Pedrosa would win by 12 seconds, and would have felt great afterwards.

Two years ago he had no Marc Marquez to deal with.

Marquez, for his part, looked mainly interested in staying out of trouble today.  He seemed surprised at Lorenzo’s Thursday outburst, and tried to make light of it, before figuring out that Jorge was seriously furious with him.  Settling into third position at the start, he joined Pedrosa in slipping past Lorenzo on Lap 5.  The Yamaha icon was simply not having it today.  He came right back at the rookie and gave him a good bump on Lap 6, briefly moving back into second place.  The two went at each other tooth and fang through Lap 7, when Marquez went through for good, pushing Lorenzo out onto the candystripes exiting a late corner, and essentially sealing the 2013 championship in the process.

Having put Lorenzo away, you expected Marquez to go after Pedrosa in the hunt for another gratuitous win.  Instead, he appeared to lay back, content to simply manage the gap between himself and Lorenzo.  In addition to being his teammate, Dani Pedrosa is absolutely no threat to his title aspirations.  The mountain of criticism piled upon Marquez after Aragon, most of it undeserved, clearly had an effect on the young Spaniard.  Thus, he was able to emerge from today’s race with no further damage to his reputation, and with a bigger lead in the championship race than he had at the start of the day.  All in all, a good day’s work.

Elsewhere on the Grid

Valentino Rossi on Saturday enjoyed his best QP since 2010, starting from the second spot on the grid.  On Sunday, this advantage lasted all of 10 seconds, as both Lorenzo and Pedrosa blew by him on the way to the first turn.  Rossi spent the entire day—all 20 laps—in fourth place, and appeared to be hanging around, waiting for one of the leaders to fall, or run wide, something, anything, in the hope of securing yet another hollow podium.  I get it that Rossi is a marketing machine who makes cash registers ring for Yamaha, but his diminishing presence on the team means Lorenzo is getting double-teamed every week.  And as the standings show, the result is going to be another world championship for Honda.

With the bulk of the field strung out in a ghastly premier class procession, the only real contest of the day involved Tech 3 Yamaha Brit Cal Crutchlow and GO&FUN pilot Alvaro Bautista, who spent the day jousting over fifth place.  Crutchlow, with the slower bike and zero motivation, eventually succumbed to Bautista, losing out by a couple of tenths.  While LCR Honda’s Stefan Bradl missed today’s race due to a broken ankle suffered in FP4 on Saturday, Bautista moved past Bradl into sixth place for the season.

With two of the four Ducatis on the grid retiring with mechanical problems—Iannone with exhaust issues, Hayden with a blown engine—Yonny Hernandez made a respectable showing on his Pramac Ducati, finishing 10th after starting 16th.  Hector Barbera, riding for the Avintia Blusens team, weathered a ride-through penalty for jumping the start and still managed 14th place for the day.  Fellow jumpers Colin Edwards and Michael Laverty fared slightly worse, with Edwards coming home in 15th place and Laverty crashing out on Lap 13.

The Big Picture, Heading to Australia

The season has developed what feels like a grinding inevitability, as Valenciana draws closer and Marquez’ lead in the standings grows larger.  The rookie demonstrated today that he is not, in fact, compelled to try to win every single round, that he appreciates where he sits in the standings and what he must to do stay on top.  He showed a little respect (or was it pity?) for his teammate by laying off and not trying to out-race him yet again today, when there was nothing to be gained from such showboating but a few more haters.

Stoner testing

With Phillip Island looming, the Magic Numbers are now clearly in focus.  Lorenzo trails Marquez by 43 points; Pedrosa trails by 54.  Unless Pedrosa wins in Australia, he will be eliminated next week.  If Marquez wins and Lorenzo finishes third or worse, the fat lady will be singing “Advance Australia Fair” next Sunday afternoon.  The moment it was announced that Bradl would miss Round 16, rumors started circulating that Casey Stoner would return to try for a seventh (!) consecutive win at his home track, a rumor both Honda and Stoner currently deny.  But the alignment of the MotoGP stars and planets is such that Stoner’s appearance on the LCR Honda next weekend wouldn’t surprise, or disappoint, too many fans.  With three rounds left, there is precious little else to cheer for.

TOP TEN YTD AFTER SEPANG.

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Marquez tags Pedrosa, wins again at Aragon

September 29, 2013

by Bruce Allen. This story, along with hi-rez images, can be found on Motorcycle.com.

Marquez at AragonYears from now, when racing historians ask, “Was there an identifiable moment when Marc Marquez made it clear he would become one of the all-time greats in MotoGP?” many people will answer, “Lap six of the 2013 Aragon GP.”  Determined to go through on Repsol Honda teammate Dani Pedrosa at Turn 12, he grazed the back of Pedrosa’s rear tire, stood his bike up, and watched as Pedrosa lost control in a violent highside.  With Pedrosa done for the day, Marquez went on to track down Yamaha #1 Jorge Lorenzo for the sixth win of his rookie year. 

With four rounds left in the 2013 season, it appears Marquez can coast to the first of what promises to be a healthy number of premier class world titles.  Lorenzo, his nearest rival, now trails him by 39 points while Pedrosa, battered, bruised and broken, stands another 20 points in arrears, the victim of Marquez’s lack of experience and utter fearlessness.  No one will suggest that Marquez’s move in Turn 12 was malicious; he came within a whisker of crashing out himself, saved once again only by his cat-like balance and reflexes.  If he can be accused of anything, it is a certain ruthlessness hidden behind his apparent baby-faced innocence.  But make no mistake about it:  Marquez is ambitious and driven, and you had better stand out of his way.

The other riders on the grid have already figured this out.  Jorge Lorenzo, who led from the first turn, found himself on Lap 14 with Marquezcropped-jorge-lorenzo-20131.jpg on his pipes.  Rather than be attacked by the rookie, Lorenzo, as competitive as they come, let Marquez through, admitting so in the post-race press conference.  On a windy day, with braking problems, Lorenzo decided he would be better off slipstreaming the Honda rider, attacking rather than getting attacked.  His strategy failed, as Marquez, once through, never looked back on his way to winning by 1.5 seconds.

Last week I talked about the eyes of Pedrosa and Lorenzo, how Pedrosa appeared resigned while Lorenzo seemed determined.  The images from today’s race will show Pedrosa wearing what’s known as the thousand mile stare, and a look of resignation—not to be confused with acceptance—now written on Jorge Lorenzo’s face.  Nothing Lorenzo could have done today or this season (other than paying heed to cold tires at Assen and the Sachsenring) was going to prevent Marquez from winning his first premier class title.  It has been a matter of too much bike, too much ability, and too much good fortune to end any other way.

One wonders about the atmosphere going forward in the Repsol Honda garage.  On the Marquez side, at age 20, his career path is now leaving contrails on the way to fame, fortune and glory.  On the Pedrosa side, there must exist a disturbing sense that part of the reason for his now certain ruin lays at Marquez’s doorstep.

On his 28th birthday, Pedrosa must understand that his future in MotoGP is likely to consist of a few competitive seasons, followed, perhaps, by a few non-competitive seasons, after which he will need to find something to do with the rest of his life.  Like Roman candles, the best MotoGP careers burn spectacularly for a short time, inspiring plenty of oohs and aahs, before leaving behind, in most cases, a charred, hollow, quickly-forgotten casing.  Winning a championship changes the end of the story and establishes a legacy; failing to do so reduces one to a Wikipedia entry.  In the opinion of many, Dani Pedrosa deserves better.

Dani-dani-pedrosa-9702356-435-380

Elsewhere on the Grid

Yamaha #2 and Alien Emeritus Valentino Rossi took advantage of Pedrosa’s misfortune by out-riding GO&FUN Honda pilot Alvaro Bautista on the way to his fifth podium of the year.  Rossi, Bautista, LCR Honda German Stefan Bradl and Monster Tech 3 defector Cal Crutchlow formed the second group of the day and jockeyed for third place from Lap 6 on, with Rossi taking advantage of his experience to beat the two Hondas to the flag.  The same could be said for most of the grid from Row 5 up; for the non-Aliens, the 2013 Aragon GP pretty much ended up where it started.

Crutchlow’s teammate and fellow Brit Bradley Smith finished in his customary seventh place, while Ducati #1 Andrea Dovizioso topped teammate Nicky Hayden in their weekly tussle for eighth.  For the season, Hayden has finished seventh, eighth or ninth a total of 10 times and Dovizioso nine.  Dovizioso leads Hayden in the standings 112 to 102.  After 14 rounds last year, Dovi had accumulated 179 points.  The difference—67 points, or 5 points per round—is The Ducati Effect.  Crutchlow, leaving Tech 3 Yamaha at the end of the year for the Italian manufacturer, currently holds 156 points.  Expect him to be under 100 at this time next year, but living in a bigger house.

The Big Picture

The only conceivable factor clouding the picture as the 2013 season winds down is the fact that Marc Marquez suffered the single most injurious crash of his career at the next stop on the tour in Malaysia.  That was in 2011, and it was overlooked in the chaos and heartbreak surrounding the death that same weekend of Marco Simoncelli.  During one of the practice sessions following a rainstorm, with the track drying, Marquez failed to notice a puddle of water in one of the turns, hydroplaned at speed, going airborne and landing on his head.  His vision was impaired through the beginning of the 2012 season.  He will undoubtedly be more cautious this year, as he can clinch the title by finishing third for the next four races.

Jorge Lorenzo, of course, will not quit in his pursuit of his budding nemesis.  He will be at a disadvantage at Sepang due to the heat and Motegi due to the layout.  He will have a puncher’s chance at Phillip Island and Valenciana.  But unless Marquez crashes out at least once, Lorenzo will have to be satisfied as the runner-up in 2013.  And, as we’ve discussed above at length, probably for some years to come.

Otherwise, there is very little at stake in the remaining rounds.  Crutchlow is leaving his team at the end of the year and has nothing to prove.  Bradl would prefer to finish ahead of Bautista in the satellite Honda scrum, but each is under contract for 2014.  Nicky Hayden may be the most highly motivated rider on the grid for the duration, as he would dearly love to stick one in the eye of Ducati management and outpoint teammate Dovizioso before his ejection from the team.  If, as rumored, he hooks up with the Aspar Power Electronics team on what would be pretty much a 2014 factory Aprilia, it wouldn’t surprise me to see him beating the Ducati riders next season.  That would be something to cheer about.

Top Ten after Aragon

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