Posts Tagged ‘Marc Marquez’

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MotoGP Aragon Preview

September 24, 2013

by Bruce Allen.  

See the edited version of this article, complete with hi-rez images, on Motorcycle.com.

Lorenzo needs to keep his streak going 

The 2013 MotoGP championship chase has now come down to the annual Pacific Swing, sandwiched between Aragon and Valenciana.  A mere five rounds left for all the marbles in the premier motorcycle series on Earth.  Seven weeks for Honda little big man Dani Pedrosa or defending Yamaha champion Jorge Lorenzo to erase the 34 point gap Repsol rookie Marc Marquez has built over the past six months.  Good luck with that.

Dani-dani-pedrosa-9702356-435-380Many followers of the sport, myself included, feel it is actually a two man race, that Dani Pedrosa has been spiritually broken over the last six rounds.  He had ruled at the top of the heap after Round 7 at Assen, with two golds and three silvers, and led challengers Lorenzo and Marquez by nine and 23 points, respectively.   Having re-broken his left collarbone in practice at the Sachsenring, he has given up 57 points to his rookie teammate since mid-July.  His body language these days gives the impression of a beaten man.  His are the brooding eyes of a contender who has, once again, fallen short of the prize.

Two time and defending world champion Jorge Lorenzo, on the other hand, Jorge-Lorenzo-Smile-HDseems to have found a second wind since Brno.  By winning at Silverstone and again at Misano, he has clawed back 10 of the 44 point deficit he faced in late August.  Although it will take a minor miracle, and some rookie mistakes by the relaxed Marquez, to put Lorenzo within reach—say 10 points—of the title by the time Valenciana rolls around, he will concede nothing.  He is probably not going to make it.  From Lorenzo’s vantage point, he may run out of time, but he will not have lost.  His are the eyes of a champion.

Here’s the thing.  Marquez has proven, among a host of other things this season, that he is a rapid learner.  As good as he has become since April, he is only going to get better, and faster, over the rest of this decade.  What he has accomplished this season—six poles, five wins, and 12 podiums in 13 rounds—he has done almost purely on instinct.  Add experience and maturity to the mix, and he appears likely to emerge in a class by himself.

Marquez the ManHRC management is going to keep a death grip on Marquez’ services and provide him with the finest equipment on the griduntil he quits the game.  2013 could be the last realistic opportunity for Jorge Lorenzo to secure his third world championship.  No wonder he’s pressing; if we can see the writing on the wall, surely he can, too.  One mistake, though, and it’s over.

A Brief History of MotoGP at MotorLand 

A last-minute substitution for the failed Balatonring circuit in Hungary in 2010, MotorLand Aragon is an anomaly:  a Yamaha-friendly circuit at which Jorge Lorenzo has never won.  Casey Stoner won easily that year on the Ducati, joined on the podium by Pedrosa and Nicky Hayden, who punked Lorenzo on the penultimate turn of the race for his annual post-2006 rostrum.  The race in 2010 was memorable for having had two Ducatis on the podium, the last time that is likely to happen in my lifetime.

Stoner won again in 2011 for Repsol Honda, followed at some distance by teammate Pedrosa, Lorenzo and Marco Simoncelli.  Valentino Rossi, befouled by the new six engine rule that year, became the first rider ever forced to start from pit lane for going over budget on his engines on his way to a 10th place finish.

Last year, Dani Pedrosa, in the midst of his white-hot finish to the 2012 season, blistered the field and fended off all four Yamahas, with Lorenzo and Tech 3 Yamaha pilot Andrea Dovizioso joining him on the podium.  Stoner sat out with the injury suffered at Indianapolis three rounds earlier, and his sub, journeyman Johnny Rea, acquitted himself nicely with a gratifying 7th place finish onboard the Repsol Honda.

Let’s review.  Since 2010, Dani Pedrosa has a gold and two silvers.  Jorge Lorenzo has, in order, a 4th, a 3rd and a 2nd, an encouraging trend if ever there was.  Young Marquez crashed out of the 125 race in 2010, won handily in Moto2 in 2011, and finished second to Pol Espargaro last season in a Moto2 classic, with the top four riders crossing the line within 2 seconds of the winner.  MM ♥ Aragon.

I’m not going out on a limb predicting that these three will end up on the podium on Sunday afternoon.  After all, they’ve hogged the top three spots seven times this year, including the last four rounds.  Alien Emeritus Rossi, meanwhile, has four consecutive 4th place finishes going for him.  His frustration has reached such a high level that he announced this week he’s forming a Moto3 team for 2014, perhaps giving some thought to what life will be like after his racing days are over.  His winning days are largely behind him already.  MotoGP is a young man’s game; there are no Peyton Mannings in MotoGP.

Musical Chairs in the Lower Tranches

Expect the announcement this weekend that Nicky Hayden will be joining the Aspar Power Electronics team for 2014 with enhanced involvement/investment from the Aprilia factory.  Don’t expect his teammate to be Randy de Puniet, who appears likely to take 2014 off to test for Suzuki prior to returning to the grid in 2015.

Aleix Espargaro, meanwhile, is reportedly torn between remaining with Aspar or taking his act to the NGM Forward Racing team to join the ancient Colin Edwards on Yamaha-powered FTRs.  With Scott Redding having signed with the GO&FUN Gresini team and slated for one of the new Honda “production” bikes, there appears to be a seat available for someone at either Aspar or Forward Racing.  I’d like to hear some ideas as to who might end up where.  Laverty’s brother Eugene has expressed interest in the Aprilia MotoGP program, apparently anxious to whip up on brother Michael.  Not to mention quadrupling his salary.

At the bottom of the food chain, Michael Laverty is getting a bit of a promotion on the PBM team, moving from the PBM ART to the ART ART in a dazzling display of acronyms.  Yonny Hernandez, as we mentioned last time, is taking over for Ben Spies on the Pramac Ducati, with Spies insisting his contract is in no jeopardy for 2014; we’ll see about that.  Australian Damien Cudlin, last seen subbing in MotoGP in 2011, will apparently replace Hernandez on the PBM team for the last five rounds of 2013.

Karel Abraham has cashed out for the year, with his Cardion AB seat being taken, at least this week, by Former Ferracci MV Rider Luca Scassa.  Scassa, onboard a Kawasaki, is sixth this season in World Supersport, not exactly a threat to crash the top ten at Aragon.

Honda Weather for Round 14

Temps are expected to rise into the 80’s and 90’s this weekend at Motorland, such conditions favoring Pedrosa and Marquez.  But Lorenzo is overdue for a win here, having tasted victory at the three other Spanish venues.  Has Pedrosa thrown in the towel?  Can Lorenzo keep his streak, and his championship dreams, alive?  Will Marquez provide another last lap thriller?  Tune into Fox Sports 1 at 8 am EDT for live coverage of the Gran Premio Iveco de Aragon.   We’ll have results right here on Sunday morning.

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MotoGP Misano Results

September 15, 2013

by Bruce Allen.  An edited version of this article will appear later today on Motorcycle.com, complete with hi-rez images.  Until then, enjoy the raw copy.

Lorenzo wins easily; Marquez extends series lead 

On a cloudy day in the hills above the Adriatic Riviera, factory Yamaha #1 Jorge Lorenzo demonstrated why he is a double premier class world champion.  In the second of seven consecutive “must win” races, he never trailed the Repsol Honda duo of Marc Marquez and Dani Pedrosa in a decisive Yamaha vs. Honda beatdown.  Now, all he must do to maintain a faint chance for his third world championship is run the table for the rest of the season. 

Lorenzo at work

Lorenzo has had a number of days like this in his six premier class seasons.  Starting from the middle of the first row, he was able to jump out to the early lead, put the hammer down, establish a working margin over the next three bikes, and lay down 28 throbbing, piston-like laps that left his chasers gasping for air.  He clearly has the sense of urgency which should accompany a 34 point deficit to rookie series leader Marc Marquez with five races left in the season.  In the post-race press conference, he acknowledged that today’s win has little to do with the 2013 title, other than to boost his confidence and provide a few warm fuzzies.  With six wins in his last six races in Italy, he should get a “JL ♥ Italia” bumper sticker for his M1.

The trio of Pedrosa, Marquez and Alien Emeritus Valentino Rossi, respectively, trailed Lorenzo at the start, with Rossi looking perky and capable of impacting the podium one way or another.  On Lap 5, Marquez had to stand his bike up to avoid running up Pedrosa’s back wheel, allowing Rossi through into 3rd place and giving the 50,000 Italian fans something to cheer insanely about for roughly 12 minutes.  Marquez went back through Rossi on Lap 12, relegating the local hero to fourth place for the fourth consecutive race, leading to the inescapable conclusion that Rossi is now the fourth fastest rider on the grid.  The insane cheering continued unabated, regardless.

What transpired next was an instructive intra-team battle between yesterday and tomorrow, as Pedrosa and Marquez threw down, bared their teeth, and went at it.  Pedrosa, desperately trying to hold on to second place and some relevance in the 2013 title hunt, kept the rookie at bay until Lap 18, when Marquez aggressively passed him.  Pedrosa, who had been staring at the rookie’s back tire all weekend, was not going down without a fight.  He finally managed to go back through on his teammate on Lap 22, only to cede the lead some three turns later, and that was that. Gathering another 20 points today, Marquez extended his series lead, now over Lorenzo and Pedrosa, to 34 points, with Lorenzo holding the tiebreaker.

cropped-lorenzo-and-marquez.jpgFor those of you anxious to criticize me for conceding the 2013 title to Marc Marquez this early in the season, I will argue that a thoroughly broken Dani Pedrosa is out of the equation, and that what fight is left will be between Marquez and Lorenzo.  Over Lorenzo’s five premier class seasons at the remaining 5 venues, he has two wins—Motegi in 2009 and Valencia in 2010—to show for his efforts.  (Marquez, in his final 125 season and two Moto2 years, has 6 wins out of 13 possibles.)

As today’s tilt showed, even when Lorenzo wins, he can’t count on grabbing back a lot of points on the unflappable, smooth-faced rookie.  Someone kindly calculate the odds of Lorenzo beating Marquez five rounds in a row at circuits where his victories over the past five seasons have come in at around 10% (with three DNFs) vs. 42% for Marquez.  Never mind.  Relying on an advanced degree in economics, I’ve computed that number myself, which comes in at “just north of zero.”

To further kick this dead horse, even if Lorenzo does win the next five rounds— a dubious proposition, although the new Yamaha seamless gearbox will help him—Marquez now has a magic number of, at most, 92.  The heat of Sepang and the slow, stop-and-go pace of Motegi will work in his favor.  With Stoner out of the picture, Phillip Island is now up for grabs, and should favor Lorenzo.  I’m a big fan of Jorge Lorenzo, who handles himself professionally at all times, but I fear he is now in the “moral victory” business, as the war appears to have been lost.  Just sayin’.

Elsewhere on the Grid

Yamaha Tech 3 Brit Cal Crutchlow and LCR Honda’s Stefan Bradl squared off for a day-long battle over 5th place, with Crutchlow getting worked by the young German late on the final lap to cap a nauseating weekend.  He managed exactly one fast lap in practice to start in the middle of the second row after having had to go through Q1.  Bradl, whose season seems to have peaked at Laguna Seca, managed a small victory today but appears to be underachieving on what should be a very fast ride.

Aspar Power Electronics star Aleix Espargaro took full advantage of the cramped layout of the Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli to qualify in 6th place and appeared to be en route to a great day until the lights went out at the start, as he got away way early and had to take a ride-through penalty, ultimately finishing 13th, four seconds behind top CRT finisher Colin Edwards on his NGM Forward Racing nag.  Espargaro, who expects to advance up the MotoGP food chain next season, is apparently having difficulties negotiating a move within the caste system that comprises the premier class, judging from comments he made to Crash.net earlier in the week.

I’m trying to think of something positive to say about GO&FUN Gresini Honda pilot Alvaro Bautista, who started eighth and finished seventh, courtesy of Espargaro’s flinch, but just can’t find the words.  Mark my words—this guy, assuming he holds on to his contract for 2014, is on his way down the food chain.  He may have the best hair on the grid, but the rest of the package is, as my dad used to say, from hunger.  The irony built into his sponsorship is hilarious, as he is generally Slow Go and No Fun.

The season-long skirmish over eighth place between factory Ducati teammates Andrea Dovizioso and Nicky Hayden continued in full force today, with Dovi coming out on top.  Both were within five seconds of losing to factory tester Michele Pirro, again subbing for the so-finished Ben Spies on the Ignite Pramac junior entry, which would have been thoroughly humiliating in front of the suits from the Bologna factory attending today’s race.  Tech 3 Yamaha #2 Bradley Smith, who has benefitted from some of the Dovizioso/Hayden clashes during the season, could only manage 11th place today during a wasted weekend in the idyllic province of Rimini.  He might as well have been laying out on the beach, his fish belly-white skin getting burned to a crisp.

Changes Afoot at the Bottom of the Pool

Crash.net reports some interesting news from the Pramac and Paul Byrd Motorsports teams today, as ridiculous as that may sound.  Pramac, a little slow on the uptake, is apparently finally convinced that Ben Spies’ season is over, and has reportedly poached Yonny Hernandez from the PBM team to finish the season on its junior Desmosedici.  (Yonny, I hope your health insurance premiums are up-to-date.)  Michele Pirro, who seems to have a great deal of potential, will be going back to testing for Ducati.  All of this is apparently good news too for Michael Laverty, who will be promoted from the team’s ART-powered Frankenbike to its full ART package, with an unfortunate Rider To Be Named Later taking over Laverty’s bucket.

As for this report’s bearing on the 2013 championship, it should be noted that Hernandez has scored seven points this year and Laverty three.

TOP TEN RIDERS 2013 YEAR TO DATE

2013 Top 11 Riders after 13 Rounds

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MotoGP Misano Preview

September 9, 2013

by Bruce Allen.

Motorcycle.com will publish this article on Wednesday or Thursday, complete with hi-rez images.  Until then, please enjoy the raw copy.

Lorenzo and Pedrosa are running out of time 

Factory Yamaha kingpin Jorge Lorenzo kept his faint 2013 title hopes alive in Britain last time out with a stirring, come-from-behind win over rookie Repsol Honda wunderkind Marc Marquez.  That Marquez was competing with a dislocated shoulder on a track perfectly attuned to the YZR-M1’s characteristics makes his 20 point day almost beyond belief.  Marquez’s teammate, pre-season favorite Dani Pedrosa, was reduced to spectator status on a day that put the 2013 season in sharp focus. 

Round 13, the GP Aperol di San Marino e della Riviera di Rimini opens the final third of what has been a shocking premier class season.  For Lorenzo and Pedrosa, who had been expected to battle for the title, San Marino will either thrust one of them back into contention or start the countdown to the first of many MotoGP world championships for Marquez, who competes as if he’s from a different planet.  The Alien of all Aliens, if you will.

Silverstone was a race Jorge Lorenzo had been expected to win, having won there in 2010 and again last year.  He had his game face on all weekend, after third place finishes in Indianapolis and Brno the previous two weeks.  He loves the track, and was fast in practice all three days.  When Marquez went over the handlebars on Sunday morning, it looked like the racing gods were finally smiling on the Mallorcan, offering him the opportunity for an easy win, a chance to gain back a big chunk of the 44 point lead his two shoulder surgeries had given Marquez.  Instead, it took everything he had to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat on the penultimate turn of the race.  Like a big old yellow dog, Marquez appears more dangerous when hurt.

As for Pedrosa, his racing life has turned into a dirt sandwich, and the only choice left to him is whether he wants it on white or wheat.  Appearing more stoic than usual, he seems reconciled the fact that not only is he not going to win the title this year, but he is now unlikely to EVER win a premier class championship.  As my dad used to say, all that meat and no potatoes.  He has now become the Karl Malone of MotoGP, with trophy cases filled to bursting in his spacious den, and not a premier class title to be seen.  Fame and fortune are his, but I suspect he would gladly trade it all for a single MotoGP title.  After his supersonic finish in 2012, winning six of the last eight, and a successful offseason, 2013 looked to be his year.  Having to stand by and watch his 20 year-old teammate bask in the glory of an historic rookie campaign must be a bitter pill to swallow.

And so it goes in 2013.  One or two more wins and Marc Marquez will be able to coast to the title.  Jorge Lorenzo needs the new “magic Yamaha gearbox” right now; there is no tomorrow.  Dani Pedrosa needs a miracle or some serious misfortune to befall his teammate.  And while he’s certainly allowed to wish for the former, hoping for the latter is out of bounds, even for a sport in which teammates are usually rivals.  At this point, Pedrosa’s only chance is to out-Marquez Marquez, take the fight to him, and let Shuhei Nakamoto worry about the fallout.

Recent History at Misano

2009, The Year of Valentino Rossi’s Last World Championship, saw Rossi win on his Fiat Yamaha, punking hot-blooded teammate Lorenzo on his way to the title, while Pedrosa claimed third and Andrea Dovizioso, also on a factory Honda, took fourth.  That year, Alex de Angelis seemed to aim his Gresini Honda at Colin Edwards’ Tech 3 Yamaha on the first lap, unseating Edwards, whose suddenly rider-less bike proceeded to remove Nicky Hayden from his factory Ducati.  Hayden and Edwards had to be restrained by the marshals in the gravel, each eager to administer a lesson on the finer points of motorcycle riding to de Angelis, with their fists.

The 2010 MotoGP race was a grim affair won eventually by Pedrosa.  Lorenzo and Rossi joined him on the podium for a subdued post-race celebration, followed again by Dovizioso.  Earlier in the day, Moto2 pilot Shoya Tomizawa died following a gruesome crash involving Scott Redding and de Angelis. That day, we also learned that Cal Crutchlow would be making the jump from WSBK to the Tech 3 Yamaha team, replacing Ben Spies, who was tagged to take Rossi’s seat on the factory Yamaha team after Rossi left to join Ducati, in one of the worst career moves ever, by anyone, in any sport, anywhere.  Just sayin’.

cropped-jorge-lorenzo-2013.jpg2011 was Lorenzo’s year, as he easily defeated Pedrosa while Casey Stoner, on his way to the championship, finished an uninspired third.  Marco Simoncelli claimed fourth place that day, one of the better outings in his too-short MotoGP career, at the track that now bears his name.  For the third consecutive year, Nicky Hayden failed to finish, crashing out unassisted early in the race.

Last year, chaos reigned at the start, a long story which resulted in Pedrosa starting from the back of the grid and ended with his getting Barbera’ed on the first lap.  With Lorenzo busy running away from the field, the way was suddenly clear for dark horses Valentino Rossi and Alvaro Bautista to claim spots on the podium.  Pedrosa, who had started the day trailing Lorenzo by a mere 13 points with six rounds to go, ended it trailing by 38, his day and season ruined by a combination of bad luck and Hector Barbera’s persistent lack of spatial awareness.

Rossi winning at Brno. Courtesy of motogp.com

Rossi winning at Brno. Courtesy of motogp.com

Lest I forget, it should be noted that Marc Marquez won here in 2010 in the 125 class, and also claimed the top spot on the podium in 2011 and 2012 in Moto2.  If you think this weekend’s tilt will be a cage match between the defending world champion and putative 2013 world champion, it shows you’ve been paying attention.  Naturally, most of the fans in attendance will miss the action up front, pulling for Rossi, who figures to battle Pedrosa for third, and Andrea Dovizioso, primed for another grudge match with factory Ducati teammate Nicky Hayden over 8th place.  Jeesh.  Are there any bigger homers anywhere than Italian racing fans?

Your Weekend Forecast

Just kidding.  Herve Poncharal, the big cheese at Monster Tech 3 Yamaha, was speculating on Crash.net this week that the MotoGP calendar may be expanding to 20 rounds next season, with Brazil and Argentina joining the mix and no current venues falling off the schedule.  This, to me, sounds rather unlikely, as most of the riders seem to have a hard time completing an 18 round schedule without several visits to intensive care.  But God knows Poncharal is closer to the action than I am.

OK, OK, the weather forecast for the weekend is sunny and lovely, temps in the 70’s and clear skies, etc., etc.  Great conditions for everyone but the mudders on the factory Ducati team.  If I had to make a prediction, I’d make it Lorenzo, Marquez and Rossi.  Fortunately, I don’t.

Fox Sports 1 will carry the race live on Sunday, with coverage, and the race, starting at 8 am Eastern time.  We’ll have results right here on Sunday afternoon.

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MotoGP Silverstone Results

September 1, 2013

by Bruce Allen      September 1, 2013

An edited version of this story can be found at Motorcycle.com , complete with hi-rez images.

Lorenzo steals a win in Britain; Marquez extends lead 

Factory Yamaha titan Jorge Lorenzo gave a clinic in grand prix racing today in front of a huge crowd of soccer hooligans, out-racing Repsol Honda rookie Marc Marquez to the flag in an instant classic.  That Marquez was in the chase at all today constitutes a minor miracle after he dislocated his left shoulder in the morning warm-up practice.  Repsol Honda #2 Dani Pedrosa completed the all-Alien podium in a result that was more style than substance. 

Not that this wasn’t about as exciting a race as you ever get in MotoGP.  Lorenzo and the wounded rookie got away from the field at the start, while Pedrosa, who used to leave the starting line as if having been launched by an ICBM, got caught up in traffic.  Dani would join the leaders at the front several laps later, but would never advance farther than third place.  Even so, as a leather-clad spectator, he had the best view in the house of the battle between the healthy Lorenzo and the injured Marquez, racing, as it were, with one hand tied behind his back.

Prior to the start, Lorenzo, Pedrosa and even aging Yamaha legend Valentino Rossi resembled sharks smelling blood in the water.  Silverstone, it suddenly seemed, was where they could finally get a little payback for the can of whup-ass Marquez had opened on them two months ago.  Today, it was the veteran Aliens who were healthy, while the upstart had a debilitating injury.  Surely today Pedrosa and Lorenzo could gain back some serious ground in the 2013 championship.

Um, no.  Marquez, unable to lift his left arm at all after the race, began the day 26 points in front of Pedrosa and heads to Misano leading by 30.  Lorenzo shaved five points off the rookie’s lead and now trails by 39 after a largely symbolic victory at a track seemingly designed for the Yamaha M1.  The Mallorcan, usually the picture of calm class, celebrated his win in a manner befitting an NFL wide receiver dancing in the endzone after snaring a touchdown pass with his team down 30.  Such is the desperation in the factory Yamaha garage two-thirds of the way through the disastrous 2013 campaign.

That it took several amazing last-lap moves by the defending world champion to deprive the one-armed rookie from his fifth consecutive premier class win is but another sign of the apocalypse facing MotoGP.  As has been said elsewhere, MotoGP appears to be entering the two-wheeled equivalent of “The Schumacher Years” that damaged F-1 so badly.

I, for one, used to enjoy seeing Tiger Woods take on the golfing world back in the day, winning week in and week out.  Otherwise, I get nothing from watching an individual dominate his sport the way Marquez appears set to do for the next decade.  And just the thought that Marquez could suffer a career-damaging injury is enough of a karma-killer to make one lose his job, his wife, his dog and his ride, destined to spend eternity roasting in the flames of you-know-where.

Elsewhere on the Grid

Once again this week, former Alien Valentino Rossi was reduced to battling LCR Honda pilot Stefan Bradl and GO&FUN Gresini’s Alvaro Bautista for a hollow fourth place finish, and once again Rossi prevailed.  Bautista is probably hearing footsteps about now, as it has been announced that Scott Redding would be joining his team next season on a “production” Honda, in preparation for the Spaniard’s virtually inevitable ejaculation from the #1 seat on the Gresini team in 2015.

Announcer Nick Harris alluded to the “success-starved British fans” in attendance who, other than Roger Bannister’s breaking of the four minute mile barrier back in 1952, have had little, other than “football,” to cheer about since the RAF kicked Hitler’s Luftwaffe out of the skies in the Battle of Britain.  (Okay, Barry Sheene won a coupla motorcycle world championships back in the 70’s, before most of today’s more rabid fans were born.)

Scott Redding did come through for them in Moto2, winning a thriller over Taka Nakagami and Thomas Luthi in the warm-up to the main event.  But the two Brits on the Monster Tech 3 Yamaha team, Cal Crutchlow and local fave Bradley Smith, endured a rough weekend.  Crutchlow went through about €400,000 worth of bikes crashing twice on Saturday and again today.  (The marshals were busy trying to scrape the remains of his bike out of the gravel in the morning when Marquez’s riderless RC213V came flying at them, narrowly avoiding yet more mayhem.)  Smith never got it going all weekend, qualifying 10th and finishing 9th after losing a spot when Ducati slogger Andrea Dovizioso, who never crashes, crashed out in front of him late in the day.

2013 top 10 after 12 rounds

In Case You Were Wondering

Anyone still reading this article knows that Marc Marquez, at 20 years of age, is re-writing the MotoGP record books.  I thought it would be interesting to see what the other three Aliens were doing at the same age.

Lorenzo turned 20 during the 2007 season, his third season in the 250cc class, during which he won his second 250cc championship for Aprilia.  He would graduate to the premier class the next year and finish 4th, second in 2009, and won his first premier class championship in 2010 at age 23.

Pedrosa was 20 during the 2006 season, his first in MotoGP after winning the 125 title in 2003 and the 250cc titles in 2004-2005, also for Aprilia.  He finished 5th during his rookie year on the big bikes and has been many times a bridesmaid, never a bride.  His entire premier class career has been spent riding Hondas.

Valentino Rossi was just out of his teens during the 1999 season, during which he won the 250cc title for Aprilia—this is starting to sound familiar—before graduating to the premier class in 2000, where he captured second place in his rookie season.  He won the next five titles to cement his legend, and took two more in 2008 and 2009, before age and Ducati Corse caught up with him.

Some Clarity Emerging for 2014

In addition to the announcement concerning Scott Redding joining the Gresini team, the Aspar team announced this week that they would contest the 2014 season on significantly upgraded Aprilia packages.  Though there has been no announcement concerning riders, speculation in the paddock has current Aspar rider Aleix Espargaro defecting to the NGM Forward Racing team next season, where he will compete on a gently used and lovingly re-conditioned Yamaha M1 with the “slow” software, 24 liters of fuel, and plenty of engines to last the season.  Apparently, he will join Colin Edwards, whose services are, for whatever reason, being retained for yet another year. All of this seems only fair, since Aleix’s brother Pol, getting promoted from Moto2, will be riding a satellite Yamaha on the Monster Tech 3 team alongside Bradley Smith.

For the benefit of the last few of you still with us, Hectic Hector Barbera continues working his way down the food chain, and is alleged to be heading to World Superbikes next season.  As Misano approaches in two weeks, the silly season drags on.  With Marc Marquez expected to be at full strength, the onslaught at the front looks likely to resume on the Adriatic Riviera.  We’ll be there, praying that The Schumacher Years aren’t descending upon MotoGP.

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MotoGP Silverstone 2013 Preview

August 27, 2013

by Bruce Allen

An edited version of this story, complete with hi-rez images, will post on Motorcycle.com on, like, Thursday.  Until then, enjoy the raw copy.

Can anyone, other than Marquez, stop Marquez? 

As Round 12 of the 2013 MotoGP season looms, it becomes easier and  easier to imagine the unimaginable—a rookie winning the premier class  title.  Repsol Honda phenom Marc Marquez continues to defy expectations  with the composure and confidence of a seasoned veteran.  Back in 1971,  French humanist Rene Dubos observed, “Trend is not destiny,” but this  Spanish rider may be the exception to the rule. 

Captain America - 2013Sportswriters and bloggers love to engage in hypotheticals—if this hadn’t  happened, if so-and-so were thus and such—and the conversation  surrounding Marquez is full of this gibberish.  If Lorenzo hadn’t crashed twice  in two weeks…If Pedrosa hadn’t fallen in Germany…If Marquez hadn’t crashed at Mugello… (this last one is my own work, sorry to say.)  But here we are, in the midst of a minor miracle.  Let’s take a short look back at how we’ve arrived at this point. 

The 2013 season had been running per expectations through Round 6 at Catalunya.  Repsol Honda star Dani Pedrosa and factory Yamaha #1 Jorge Lorenzo were slugging it out at the top, while Marquez was serving his apprenticeship, sitting in third place, with 5 podiums, a win, and a rookie crash out of the lead in Italy.  At that time he trailed Pedrosa by 23 and Lorenzo by 14.  Pretty much as expected.  However, at Assen, things changed.

Lorenzo crashed on Friday, had surgery, returned, and ran a gutty 5th on a day he probably should have been in the hospital.  Marquez finished second to Rossi, who gave us a fleeting glimpse of his classic form.  Pedrosa struggled to a 4th place finish.  Marquez picked up seven points on Pedrosa and nine on Lorenzo.

At the Sachsenring, the wheels came off, so to speak, for the two favorites, as both Pedrosa and Lorenzo crashed heavily in practice.  Both would miss the race, which Marquez won, the beginning of his current four race win streak.  That day, Marquez went from 23 down to Pedrosa to two up.  As MotoGP’s summer break approached, Lorenzo and Pedrosa entered rehab, and Marquez entered the ionosphere.

Winning at Laguna took his margin over Pedrosa to 16.  A third consecutive win at Indianapolis ran the lead to 22.  Sunday’s victory at Brno stretched it to 26.  As any rider who has won a championship will tell you, having a margin of more than 25 points over your closest challenger relieves a great deal of pressure.  It means that even in a perfect storm, one in which you go ragdoll and your rival wins, you will still be in the frame.  It provides a margin for error, a psychological pressure-relief valve.

Assume Marquez crashes out this week at Silverstone.  So what?  He will still be leading a series few expected him to win at the beginning of the season.  He will still have at least three very friendly tracks in his future—Sepang, Motegi and Valenciana.  Unless he gets hurt in a significant way he will still be in the mix.  His confidence is off the charts.  His rivals are spooked.  He will retain the inside track to the title.  And if he wins, or podiums, at Silverstone, well…

Marquez now enjoys not only the lead, but the freedom to relax and focus on the process of becoming a premier class champion, rather than individual outcomes.  At this point, the specific result of each round is less important than continuing up the learning curve, as he was doing early in the season.  He doesn’t need to run the table.  He can’t allow Pedrosa to finish 2013 the way he did 2012, with six wins in eight rounds.  But Pedrosa is still not 100% physically, and his spirit is wounded, too.  He is in an inferior position compared to this time last year.

With 8 rounds left in 2012, Pedrosa trailed Lorenzo by 23 points.  Even winning six of the last eight, he ultimately lost to the Mallorcan by 18.  At this point in 2013, both Pedrosa and Lorenzo are pressing, while Marquez is chilling.  It seems unlikely there will be a great deal of change at the top of the standings for the remainder of the season.  But a word of caution is in order.  At this point in 2011, it looked like Marco Simoncelli was going to be the next great MotoGP rider.  Trend, after all, is not destiny.

Recent History at Silverstone

The British Grand Prix moved from dowdy Donington Park to sleek Silverstone in 2010, with major renovations at the Northampton circuit continuing into 2011.  The 2010 race featured a master class victory by Jorge Lorenzo on the way to his first world championship that fall.

Repsol Honda pilot Andrea Dovizioso, who had won his first and only premier class race at the 2009 event, finished a gratifying second on his Repsol Honda, with then rookie Monster Tech 3 Yamaha pilot Ben Spies “pipping” compatriot Nicky Hayden at the flag for his first premier class podium.  2010 was the year Ducati flagbearer Casey Stoner qualified sixth and went through the first turn of Lap One in, like, last place, only to fight his way back to a 5th place finish at the flag, his teeth by then having been ground down to the gum line.

2011 was a head-scratcher, as Casey Stoner drove his Repsol Honda to a convincing rain-soaked win on his way to his second title that fall.  Once again, Dovizioso claimed second place for Honda and established himself as a “mudder.”  The surprise of the day involved American Colin Edwards, who had fractured his collarbone the previous week at Le Mans.  Riding the Monster Tech 3 Yamaha on a day he should have been resting in bed, the Texan managed his only podium of the year, likely the last of his career.

It should be noted that Edwards’ remarkable day took place with Pedrosa and homeboy Cal Crutchlow out with injuries, while Lorenzo, Spies and Simoncelli crashed out.  Another way of characterizing Edwards’ 2011 British GP would be to say he finished in front of nine riders.  (This year, that would put him somewhere around 15th place.)  The Texas Tornado would rightly insist that a podium finish is a podium finish.

The British Invasion

No, it’s not The Beatles, The Rolling Stones and the Kinks.  It’s Cal Crutchlow, Bradley Smith and Scott Redding, all furiously playing the “home race” card.  Crutchlow and Smith crashed out of the points last week at Brno, putting a bit of a damper on their prospects heading home for the weekend.  Redding, leading the Moto2 series and ticketed for MotoGP next year, struggled in the Czech Republic too, finishing eighth while teammate Mika Kallio won for the first time in his Moto2 career.  The stands are likely to be packed this weekend, and the weather forecast is surprisingly nice, with cool clear conditions forecast for all three days. 

All this homecoming stuff is, of course, a sideshow.  The main event will be amongst the heavyweights at the front.  For Jorge Lorenzo, as the Brits say, it’s win or bin.  On the Repsol Honda team, it will be High Anxiety vs. The Boy Wonder and his sidekick, Mo Mentum.  If you’re a betting person, you gotta go with the double-team.

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MotoGP Brno 2013 Results

August 25, 2013

By Bruce Allen

Marquez wins again, Aliens in shock 

Repsol Honda wonder Marc Marquez won today’s Czech Grand Prix by 3/10ths over teammate Dani Pedrosa, with Yamaha double champion Jorge Lorenzo another two seconds behind.  Once again making it look easy, Marquez now leads Pedrosa by 26 points and a disheartened Lorenzo by 44 with seven rounds left in the 2013 season.  Had the rookie not crashed out of the lead at Mugello back in June, this thing would be over already. 

Marquez is now smashing all time records every time out, a proverbial bull in the 65 year-old MotoGP china shop.  He became the first rookie ever to win at Laguna Seca in July.  Last week, ignoring the footnote, he became the first rider ever to win three rounds in the United States.  And today he became the first rider ever to win five races in his rookie season, having prevailed in the last four rounds.  The sky appears to be the limit for the young Spaniard, as he does not appear quite fast enough to enter a low earth orbit.

22 Masterful Laps

During the practice sessions leading up to qualifying, it was the usual suspects at the top of the timesheets, with Lorenzo, LCR Honda sophomore Stefan Bradl, Monster Tech 3 defector Cal Crutchlow and Marquez taking turns leading a session.  Q2, the main qualifying event, was a little weird, as most of the riders could only manage four laps over the long Brno circuit, and resulted in a front row of Crutchlow, GO&FUN loose cannon Alvaro Bautista and Marquez.  The second row featured Pedrosa, Lorenzo and Tech 3 rookie Bradley Smith, with Valentino Rossi, the now-former Alien, in seventh.

Once things got underway, Lorenzo got off to an impressively fast start, with Marquez and Pedrosa in hot pursuit.  Crutchlow started poorly, immediately back in fourth position, tangling with Bautista and Rossi most of his truncated day, his hopes of a maiden premier class win shattered in the first lap.  Adding injury to insult, the Brit, with seven races left until his self-imposed exile with Ducati for the next two years, crashed out on Lap 9 and eventually finished out of the points in 17th.  So much for sitting on the pole.

Lorenzo led the first group for most of the day, but was unable to get away, while the two Repsol Hondas were relaxing in his slipstream, biding their time, probing for signs of weakness.  Marquez feinted several times before going through for good in the final turn of Lap 16, a replay of what Pedrosa did to Lorenzo on the last lap in 2012.  Three laps later, Pedrosa himself went through on Lorenzo, hoping to overtake his thoroughly annoying rookie teammate in the last three laps.  It was not to be, as Pedrosa didn’t have enough left to mount the late charge he desperately needed.

Before the race, it was generally acknowledged that crunch time had arrived for Yamaha and Jorge Lorenzo, that another loss to either Repsol Honda at the flowing Brno circuit would spell ruin for the 2013 season.  Similarly, for Pedrosa and Lorenzo, allowing Marquez to work them again would be another sure sign of the career apocalypse looming before both.  The two veterans, masters of their craft, gave this race everything they had, but it wasn’t nearly enough.  To the casual observer, the all-Spanish podium would appear to spell joy for the three honorees.  In fact, for two of them, it spelled despair.

Elsewhere on the Grid

Once Crutchlow went walkabout on Lap 9 (joining teammate Bradley Smith in the Tech 3 DNF party) the battle for fourth place between Bautista and Rossi raged all day, a measure of how much Rossi’s game has slipped in the past few years.  While Rossi would eventually prevail, a hollow victory to be sure, he finished 10 seconds behind Marquez, which would have been unthinkable as recently as 2010.

At 200 mph, things can go downhill in a hurry.  In fact, it may not be much of an overstatement to suggest that Rossi is on his way to becoming Colin Edwards, the thoroughly faded Yamaha veteran, other than the fact that Rossi has 80 premier class wins to zero for Edwards.

Stefan Bradl spent a lonely day in 6th place, turning laps, finishing 10 seconds behind Bautista and 15 seconds ahead of the factory Ducati duo of Andrea Dovizioso and Nicky Hayden.  Dovi and Hayden, after their latest close encounter at Indianapolis, had been hauled in front of both Race Direction and Ducati brass over their tendency to trade paint with one another, and refrained from doing so today.

[Before the season started, a Ducati mouthpiece told the media the company expected the two to challenge for wins this season on the ever-changing Desmosedici, providing further evidence, as if more were needed, that the Bologna factory is hopelessly out of touch with reality.]

Andrea Iannone, onboard the Pramac Ducati, ended the day in 9th place, followed once again by Aleix Espargaro, the top finisher in the now non-operative CRT class.  The only other result of note was that of Michele Pirro, subbing for the now-finished Ben Spies, who managed a respectable 12th place finish.  Looks like Pirro will finish the season racing, rather than testing, for Ducati Corse.  Spies, who had surgery on both shoulders this past week, should now be spoken of only in the past tense when discussing MotoGP.

The Big Picture

The standings tell the story.  For Dani Pedrosa and Jorge Lorenzo, their only remaining hope is that Marquez will crash out of a race or two, and it’s bad racing karma to wish such things for your rivals, especially a teammate.  Crutchlow’s gaffe today puts him 16 points behind Rossi in 5th place, but serves as valuable preparation for the next two years of his career.  After an outstanding weekend at Laguna Seca, of all places, Bradl has now settled back to earth and looks beatable by Dovizioso, assuming Dovi can resist further opportunities to mix things up with his teammate.

Top Ten after 11 rounds

On to Silverstone

Shakespeare’s “winter of our discontent” has now become Pedrosa and Lorenzo’s summer of nausea.  The nagging apprehension they likely felt toward Marquez heading into the season has now been replaced by fully-formed dread, as the Honda rookie has proven himself to be, as it were, truly re-Marc-able.  It is impossible to imagine that he will not destroy yet another all-time record next week, eclipsing Rossi’s rookie record of 10 podiums in a single season.

Since moving from Donington Park to Silverstone, Jorge Lorenzo has won the British GP twice, sandwiched around Stoner’s win in 2011.  As such, it would appear that this year’s tilt represents Lorenzo’s last gasping breath of hope for a third premier class championship in 2013.  Pedrosa has a lousy history at Silverstone, and his chances for anything more than a podium finish would appear dubious at best.  Crutchlow and Smith will be completely geeked up for what surely must be a disappointing homecoming weekend.  And Rossi will flash his trademarked smile all the way to the bank while trying to remain within an excuse or two of the podium.

Going forward, a number of interesting questions remain, most of them having to do with who will be riding what for whom in 2014.  The one I can’t get out of my head today has to do with what might have happened had Marquez been running against Casey Stoner on identical bikes this year.  Had it been Stoner and Marquez on the Repsol Hondas this season, the world might have seen some truly epic racing.  The late Robert F. Kennedy captured this sentiment perfectly when he said, “Some men see things as they are and say ‘why?’  I dream things that never were and say, ‘why not?’”

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MotoGP Brno 2013 Preview

August 22, 2013

Marc Marquez looking for four in a row 

Fresh off his fantasy weekend at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, rookie Marc Marquez leads Repsol Honda teammate Dani Pedrosa and the rest of the grid to eastern Europe for the bwin Grand Prix České republiky.  Between 2007 and 2011 the winner here went on to win the premier class championship.  Pedrosa put an end to all that last year, edging eventual factory Yamaha champion Jorge Lorenzo by 2/10ths of a second.  Will the race revert to its historical pattern in 2013? Captain America - 2013

Now that Marquez has established himself as a legitimate title threat in his first premier class season—how crazy is that?—let’s take a moment to review his year-to-date performance.  Other than Assen, where he lost by two seconds to a resurrected Valentino Rossi, he has won at the tracks where the Honda RC213V thrives—Austin, the Sachsenring, Laguna Seca and Indianapolis.  At Jerez, he lost to Pedrosa by 2+ seconds, back when he was still deferential to his veteran garagemate.  He took thirds at Losail, Le Mans and Catalunya, all of which are Yamaha-friendly layouts.

Brno is generally considered to favor the Yamaha, with few first-gear turns.  But Honda has taken the last two Czech rounds, and Marquez has thrived here, too, with a win and a razor-thin second place in two Moto2 tries.  Were it not for Honda’s “magic box” transmission, Brno this year would appear to be a toss-up.  (This is like speculating how a bullfrog might fare if he had wings.)  One thing is certain—both Pedrosa and Lorenzo are going to push to the max to keep the rookie behind them this weekend.  Otherwise, we’ll soon be talking about the magic number for Marquez to clinch the title.

Recent History at Brno 

Back in 2009, Lorenzo crashed out of the lead, leaving the win to Rossi, followed at some distance by Pedrosa, with Toni Elias—remember him?—a distant 3rd on the Gresini Honda.  Lorenzo had 4 DNFs that year and still managed second place.  Rossi, who crashed only once—at Indianapolis—won the 2009 title by 45 points.  A 16 year-old Marquez drove his 125cc KTM scooter to a run-of-the-mill 8th place finish at Brno that year.  At age 16, many of us were just earning our licenses; Marquez already had corporate sponsors.

Recall 2010.  Lorenzo’s first championship season featured an easy win at Brno over Pedrosa, with Stoner in 3rd on the Ducati, having put Ben Spies away late in the day.  Rossi, still recovering from leg and shoulder injuries suffered in a cold tire wreck at Mugello early in the season, finished 5th.  The 148,000 fans held their breath when Andrea Dovizioso, piloting the factory Honda, went lowside, leaving him standing on the tarmac facing riders coming directly at him in 5th gear.  Although he avoided getting creamed, his second off a few laps later ended his day.  17 year-old Marquez, on a 125cc Derbi, had one of his worst outings of the season, finishing 7th, but went on to win the title anyway.

In 2011Casey Stoner won easily for Honda, demolishing the field after Pedrosa left the premises.  Dovizioso came in 2nd, followed by Marco Simoncelli, Lorenzo, and Ben Spies, back when Spies had a bright future.  Pedrosa crashed out of the lead early, after qualifying on the pole, with the fastest bike in the joint (cue the music, from Pink Floyd’s Momentary Lapse of Reason.)  Stoner would win the title that year.  Marquez, having moved up to Moto2, lost by 16/100ths of a second to Italian Andrea Iannone in a vintage Moto2 race to the flag.

2012 saw Pedrosa “pip” Lorenzo by 18/100ths, one of Pedrosa’s finest races ever.  Yamaha qualified four bikes in the top five, but Pedrosa out-dueled the series leader in a fantastic last lap to remain in the conversation for the 2012 title. (It would prove to be a short stay, as he crashed out the following round at Misano.)  At Brno, however, he wrecked my theme for this week, that whoever wins at Brno wins the championship.  Lorenzo would repeat in 2012, despite Pedrosa taking six of the last eight rounds.  Marquez, still a teenager, won a thriller in Moto2, barely edging Thomas Luthi who, in turn, nosed out Pol Espargaro, who punked Iannone, the top four riders finishing barely half a second apart.  (If the premier class could conjure up that kind of action at the front, attendance across the globe would double.)

A Season on the Brink

Watching young Marquez seize the attention of the motorcycle racing world has got to be a hard thing for Jorge Lorenzo.  A double world champion, at age 26, Lorenzo should be sitting on top of the heap, in his prime, the top dog for the iconic Yamaha racing brand.  Yet here he is, his body injured and his pride wounded, perhaps wondering if he’s won his last title.  He came out in the media this week sounding impatient, stating for maybe the first time his opinion that Yamaha needs to expedite the move to their own magic transmission, that they can’t really compete with the Hondas at this point.  A true company man and Yamaha loyalist, he must really be feeling the pressure to level even veiled criticism at his Japanese masters.

And as hard as it may be for Lorenzo, imagine what it’s like being Dani Pedrosa in the summer of 2013.  Early in the season, it appeared this would be his year; time, finally, for his first premier class title after years of distinguished service and too many surgeries to count.  Though he will only turn 28 next month, he’s an old 28, with the scars to prove it.  When you see him, unaware that the cameras are on him, he looks dejected, scowling, downcast.  In a scant four months he has gone from being the alpha male at the top factory team in the game to simply Marc Marquez’ teammate.  In the garage area at Indianapolis at noon on Sunday, the crowd assembled outside the Repsol garage vanished as soon as Marquez came out, jumped on his scooter, and headed off for lunch, with Pedrosa still inside.

You can’t really blame Pedrosa for feeling cursed.  As good as he is, he’s had to deal with Rossi, Stoner and Lorenzo his whole career, and now Marquez.  Scott Redding is coming up next year, and looks to be a load with 1000ccs under him.  And teenagers Alex Marquez, Marc’s little brother, and his buddy Alex Rins are getting it together in Moto3, heading for Moto2 and MotoGP in a few years.

There’s simply no relief in sight for Dani Pedrosa.  The guy can’t catch a break.

Brazil to Join Argentina in 2014

Carmelo Ezpeleta, the Big Cheese at Dorna, left Indianapolis on Sunday evening and flew to Brazil, where he held a press conference to announce that there will be not one, but two, rounds in South America beginning next season.  The Brazilian GP will have to await FIM homologation—if you don’t know, don’t ask—before it’s official, but it sounds like a done deal, which is great.  The announcement does raise the question as to which venues will get booted off the schedule, now that Indianapolis is certain for next year.  Certainly, one of the Spanish rounds is likely to go away.  If I had to guess, I’d suspect the German Grand Prix might go on hiatus, as the Sachsenring is out in the middle of nowhere and most of the riders dislike both the circuit and the food.

The Czech Grand Prix lifts off at 7 am Eastern time in the United States on Sunday.  Fox Sports 1 is the new home of MotoGP on TV, but has not yet released their broadcast schedule for that day.  We will have race results here later on Sunday.

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Indianapolis MotoGP 2013 Results

August 18, 2013

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

Hat tricks abound for Marc Marquez at Indy 

Let’s be clear.  Repsol Honda rookie Marc Marquez is the new king of MotoGP.  His decisive win at Indianapolis in Sunday over teammate Dani Pedrosa marked his third consecutive win for the 2013 season.  It marked his third consecutive win in Indianapolis, having topped the last two Moto2 tilts here.  And, lest we forget, it marked three wins in a row in the U.S., following Austin and Laguna Seca.  Sunday’s win made it a veritable hat trick of hat tricks for the precocious Spanish youngster. 

Captain America - 1969

Captain America circa 1969

Marquez is a man in need of a nickname.  In that his triple triple coincided with the announcement that MotoGP will continue at Indianapolis for at least the next year—a hat trick, if you will, of American rounds—I’m going to suggest Captain America.  Marc Marquez likes racing in the United States, therefore we will pay homage to him with three American rounds.  Easy Rider’s Peter Fonda has been deposed.

You could see this one coming a mile away.  Marquez topped the timesheets in all four practice sessions and qualified on the pole, blowing away the previous track record set by Pedrosa last year.  His only lapse all weekend was at the start of the race, when he allowed both Pedrosa and defending world champion Jorge Lorenzo’s Yamaha to beat him to the first turn, Lorenzo in front.  Things stayed this way until Lap 9, when Marquez went through smoothly on Pedrosa, in deference to his teammate’s injured collarbone.  Marquez immediately set his sights on Lorenzo, himself healing from his own twice-broken collarbone.

Captain America - 2013

Captain America circa 2013

On Lap 13, Marquez had Lorenzo lined up, and went through easily into the lead, from which he never looked back.  Lorenzo and Pedrosa managed to keep it close for the next dozen laps, but neither was going to chase down the rookie.  With two laps left and both riders tiring, Pedrosa managed to go through on Lorenzo into second place, which is how it ended.

At narrow circuits like Indianapolis (which would be a much more interesting track if they reversed the flow and ran clockwise, the way it was designed for F-1 back in the day) there usually isn’t much overtaking, which was the case today.  Sure, there was some jockeying going on in the back half of the grid, but most of us don’t give a rip about who edges whom for 18th place in these things.  But, as they say, all’s well that ends well, and this one certainly did.

Fireworks Late in the Day

Yamaha icon Valentino Rossi, who struggled all weekend after having recorded a win and two podium finishes in his last three races, spent most of the day loitering by himself in seventh place, trailing the likes of GO&FUN Honda hazard Alvaro Bautista, Monster Tech 3 Yamaha defector Cal Crutchlow and LCR Honda strongman Stefan Bradl.  Suddenly, with perhaps 12 laps left, Rossi regained consciousness and began laying down a series of quick laps.  He chased down Bradl on Lap 22, taking over 6th place, and punked Bautista the next time around, moving into 5th.

Next up was Cal Crutchlow, who had announced during summer vacation that he was sick of podiums and was taking his game to the factory Ducati team for two years of well-paid perdition, beginning next year.  Rossi and Crutchlow spent the last two laps trading paint and positions, back and forth, teeth bared, until Rossi finally crossed the line 6/100ths of a second in front of the Brit.  This is good training for Crutchlow, as he is unlikely to engage in any further champagne spraying during what’s left of the Obama administration.  Gut-wrenching losses could become his middle name.

The 60,000+ fans in attendance on Sunday continued roaring during the last lap as factory Ducati teammates Andrea Dovizioso and homeboy Nicky Hayden REALLY got into it heading for the finish.  Hayden, calling upon his dirt track heritage, went low on Dovizioso in Turn 16, causing both riders to jump the curb separating the bike track from the frigging IMS main straight.

Dovi and Hayden AirbornFor one shining moment, the two red Ducatis were airborne, side by side, the teammates snapping and snarling at one another as they tried to regain control.  Surprisingly, they both remained upright for a final dash to the flag, won by Hayden by a full 12/100ths of a second.  Unfortunately for them, while this drama was unfolding, Monster Tech 3 Yamaha second Bradley Smith calmly passed both of them to take eighth place, “pipping” Hayden by 1/100th.  Ta-ta for now, old boy.

 

The Big Picture

Marquez’ win puts him 21 points in front of Pedrosa and 35 ahead of Lorenzo with eight rounds left; the 2013 title is now officially his to lose.  Rossi sits in fourth place, just three points in front of Crutchlow.  Bradl, in sixth place, leads Dovizioso by six points, with Bautista, Hayden and Smith completing the top ten.  Dani Pedrosa’s pronouncement last week that the 2013 title would be decided in the next three rounds—Indianapolis, Brno and Silverstone—may have been off by two.  It very well may be that the 2013 title has already been decided, and we just don’t realize it.

A Little Rumor and Innuendo

Once Crutchlow decided to join Ducati next season, a number of other chips fell into place, as we now know that Bradl will stay with LCR, and Bautista with the Gresini team for 2014.  Still, there’s plenty we don’t know about next year.  Nicky Hayden is rumored to be in the running for a “production” Honda as the #2 rider for LCR next year.

NGM Forward racing, with Colin Edwards and Claudio Corti lugging FTR Kawasaki machines this year, is strongly suggesting they will lease a pair of Yamaha M-1s for next season, mentioning parenthetically that they are discussing their plans with Aleix Espargaro, Hayden and Jonathan Rea.  Owner Giovanni Cuzari insisted, “I will respect my two riders now – Colin (Edwards) and Claudio (Corti) – but of course I need to follow some requests from Yamaha.”  Meaning, in my opinion, that Edwards and Corti are screwed.

On the Other Side of the Tracks

Three riders whose fortunes took a turn for the worse this weekend, if such a thing is possible, were Ben Spies, Karel Abraham and Blake Young.  Spies, attempting a return after missing seven (7) rounds recovering from injury, crashed at Turn 4 in FP3 and dislocated his GOOD shoulder, putting him out of today’s race.  Abraham, too, crashed on Friday, suffering torn muscles in his shoulder that kept him out today and make him questionable for next week at his dad’s Czech Grand Prix.  And Young, the optimistic wildcard this weekend, ended the WUP with smoke pouring out of his Attack Performance frankenbike.  Though he was able to post for the start, he failed to finish a single lap.

On to Brno

The 2013 crash course in pain and glory starts up again a few days from now in eastern Europe, with the Czech Republic hosting the bwin Grand Prix České republiky at Brno, The Circuit That Needs to Buy a Vowel.  Mercifully, this is one of the tracks where the Yamahas can be expected to be competitive.  Whether Lorenzo or Rossi stands atop the podium on Sunday will be determined, in part, along the way—by Captain America.

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MotoGP Indianapolis 2013 Preview

August 12, 2013

Three races, three weeks, three contenders 

Repsol Honda mighty mite Dani Pedrosa was quoted last week as saying he thought the 2013 MotoGP championship would be decided in the next three rounds.  His teammate, rookie Marc Marquez, sits squarely in the driver’s seat, leading Pedrosa by 16 points and factory Yamaha stud Jorge Lorenzo by an imposing 26.  Should young Marquez avoid DNFs over the next three weeks and record a win or two, the 2013 title appears to be his for the taking. 

Recent History at Indianapolis 

Though the race winners at Indy since 2008 haven’t been terribly surprising, the podiums have usually hosted at least one dark horse.  During the inaugural race in 2008, Yamaha mullah Valentino Ross, at his peak, methodically tracked down then Repsol Honda pilot and local fave Nicky Hayden during Hurricane Ike in a race that was ultimately red-flagged due to the weather.  Indy that year was one of Hayden’s two podium appearances, with third place going to Rossi’s rookie teammate Jorge Lorenzo.

Rossi looked ready to repeat in 2009 until an ill-advised crash on Lap 9 handed the win to Lorenzo.  In August of 2009, Rossi had the championship title in the bag, and could have easily coasted to a podium finish.  Instead, he went balls to the wall, his usual style, and left the door ajar for Lorenzo, the eventual 2009 runner-up.  Joining Lorenzo on the podium in 2009 were Alex de Angelis on a satellite Honda and homeboy Hayden on the Ducati Desmosedici.  For both de Angelis and Hayden, Indianapolis marked their only podium appearance of 2009.

The mid-American weirdness continued in 2010, as Dani Pedrosa won on a brutally hot day, joined on the podium by Monster Tech 3 Yamaha polesitter Ben Spies and Lorenzo, who lost the battle that day but would win the war and his first world championship later that year.  In August of 2010, Spies’ future could not have looked any brighter.  He started on the pole and gave Pedrosa all he wanted that day, during a week that saw him anointed as the next factory Yamaha star for 2011-12.

[In retrospect, this was probably the high water mark of Spies’ MotoGP career, despite his stunning win in Assen the following season.  Since 2010, Spies has gone from The Great American Hope to a historical footnote, working his way down from factory Yamaha, to satellite Ducati, to completely irrelevant this year.  He returns to the fray this week after missing the last seven races, and figures to be looking for work in 2014.  Spies is articulate, thoughtful and self-effacing, but his MotoGP career is circling the bowl.  We wish him well.]

Pedrosa’s win in 2010 marked the first of three consecutive wins at Indy for the factory Honda team, as Casey Stoner cruised to victory in 2011 and Pedrosa repeated last year, again in brutally hot conditions.  Indianapolis is, without question, a highly Honda-friendly track, with the tight infield portion having much more to do with who wins than the orgasmic long main straight bisected by the start/finish line.  During the last two races, the podiums have become somewhat more predictable, as it was Stoner-Lorenzo-Andrea Dovizioso (on the Repsol Honda) in 2011 and Pedrosa-Lorenzo-Dovizioso (on the Monster Tech 3 Yamaha) last year.

My sole prediction for Sunday:  Andrea Dovizioso will not appear anywhere near the podium.  Take that to the bank.

Marc Marquez:  Best Rookie Ever?

Crash.net speculated this past week that Marc Marquez may be the best premier class rookie ever.  While our crack Research Department mulls that one over, I would be reluctant to argue the point.  In my 2013 season preview, I had him figured for 4th place this year, with eight podiums, two wins, 4 DNFs, and 220 points for the season.

Should Marquez extend his performance thus far over the second half, he would finish with six wins, two DNFs, 14 podiums, 326 points and a world championship.  Which would virtually duplicate his 2012 season in Moto2.  And he appears fresh as a daisy, none the worse for wear, compared to his main rivals Pedrosa and Lorenzo, both of whom are amongst the walking wounded.

We know three things on this subject as the second half of the season gets underway.  The Repsol Honda likes hot weather, the hotter the better.  Marquez, for whatever reason, seems to perform better in the second half of seasons than the first.  And, he is greatly familiar with pretty much every circuit left on the 2013 calendar.  (This last point is rather moot, in that he won both times he’s confronted a track for the first time, at Austin and Laguna Seca.)

Marquez simply doesn’t ride like a rookie.  His balance and reflexes are incomparable, Stoneresque, God-given gifts; he appears to be doing what he was put on Earth to do.  Now that we have virtually guaranteed his first coronation this year, it remains to be seen whether the Motorcycle.com jinx will rear up to bite him on the bum (paging Cal Crutchlow.)  If not, fans need to get ready for a decade or so of watching him effortlessly win races, championships, and the hearts of Spanish racing fans.

The world appears to be his oyster.

The Yamaha Magic Gearbox 

Our friend David Emmett over at MotoMatters.com is convinced Yamaha was using their version of the seamless shift gearbox during the recent private testing sessions held at Brno.  By measuring oscilloscope readings of sound recordings made trackside, he deduces that the “magic gearbox” decreases shifting time for the Yamaha YZR-M1 by some 143% compared to the conventional version.  This enhancement is significantly less than that provided by the Honda box, but still represents a major improvement.

Apparently, some reliability concerns remain, as there has been no announcement of a change in equipment for the Yamaha factory bikes as yet.  But Big Blue needs to get this system installed sooner rather than later, as the Honda RC213V is clearly superior at tracks with lots of low-gear turns, i.e., Austin, Laguna Seca and, most likely, Indianapolis.  Marquez and Pedrosa are going to be fast everywhere they go, whereas Lorenzo and Rossi need to dominate at tracks like Losail and Aragon and hold on for dear life at the tight, slower circuits.

[As things now stand, Ducati Corse hopes to have their version of the magic gearbox ready to go in time for the 2036 season, while the sober folks at Suzuki profess no belief in magic at all.  The riders who will be testing this stuff for the two B-level factories haven’t actually been born yet.  Just sayin’.]

Great Expectations

If you look up the word “optimist” in the dictionary, you’ll likely find a wildcard rider discussing his chances in an upcoming MotoGP tilt.  This time, it’s Blake Young, last seen trashing his Attack Performance APR Kawasaki bucket at Laguna Seca, along with one James Rispoli, who will be making his Moto2 debut in Indy with the GPTech team on a Tech 3 frame.  Such competition reminds me of a garage band entering a Battle of the Bands against Tom Petty, John Mellencamp and R.E.M..

Give the guys credit for showing up.  While you’re at it, please support their sponsors, who could likely get a better return on their investments tossing wads of $100 bills out of a helicopter.

Finally!  Your Weekend Forecast 

Indianapolis has enjoyed a remarkably temperate summer, and it looks to continue this weekend.  Skies are forecast to be fair, with temps in the high 70’s and low 80’s.  As this is probably your last chance to see MotoGP at the IMS; if you can come to town for the race, please do so.  (Next year you’ll have to travel to Argentina.)

As of this weekend, Fox Sports 1 will be the new home of MotoGP on TV.  Live coverage of all three classes starts Sunday at 11 am Eastern, with the big bikes going off at 2 pm.  We’ll have MotoGP results right here on Sunday evening.

 

 

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The Passing of the Torch

July 27, 2013
Rossi vs. Marquez stalking Bradl

Rossi vs. Marquez as they stalk Bradl, Lap 4, looking into Turn 8

Two beautiful images of what will become a historic moment for MotoGP, the moment Marc Marquez announced he didn’t need no steenkin’ rules, he was just going for the win.  (Borrowed shamelessly from Tom White, who has posted these and a number of others at Motomatters.com.)

Rossi vs. Marquez Lap 4, Turn 8, 2013 Laguna Seca

We don’t need no steenkin’ rules, we’re going for the win. See you later.

While we’re at it, and before we forget, let’s mention how maddening it is to have to wait to hear about Crutchlow.  It is far more interesting, though, to learn that MotoGP has learned something from the NBA and the NFL, namely that a 2 year contract can now become a one year contract with the team (i.e., team owner) holding the option for year two.  Which, in turn, means riders like Bradl, Bautista,, and Smith may be soon looking for work.  Add to this the new rules allowing up to four riders per team, the availability of both Honda and Yamaha satellite bikes, as well as Yamaha engines on other frames.  Plus, chassis manufacturers have now joined the ranks of engine manufacturers as being viewed as owners, subject to the complex rules of one class versus the other.

The only thing we know for sure at this time is that they will be referred to only as “works” teams and “non-works” teams.  Period.  The continental divide in all of this is, of course, how do teams configure their bikes in order to maximize power, i.e., with a Honda or Yamaha engine, while still being allowed 24 liters of fuel and 12 engines per season.  that question sits in front of Suzuki as they plot their re-entry into the fray in 2015.  BMW drops out of WSB.  Aprilia must be considering fielding a works team of them own at some point, as world economics appear to be gaining strength, freeing up sponsorship money for teams willing to go all in on the leased engines and ambiguous rules.

There may likely be riders suddenly available with some real whiskers, including Bradl, Bautista, Smith and Hayden.  Espargaro and Redding moving up from Moto2.  Lots of wildcards in the US rounds.  Ducati needing to do something big to remain relevant in the premier class, as they have no presence in the lower  classes.  Surely they are trying to convince Crutchlow that being competitive is over-rated, while traveling in luxury never goes out of style.  Nicky Hayden had a pretty pleasant last six years of his career with Ducati,, only won three races in his career, nice guy.  I hope he can find a way to dominate WSB like in the old days of dirt tracks and state fairs.

Crutchlow will begin a domino effect that should be fun to watch.  With, it appears, all but the Aliens suffering with one year deals, the so-called silly season in MotoGP will be somewhat sillier this year than in those previous.

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