A Tag Cloud For This Blog...

andy away best bikes changes comes comments dorna doubt edwards f1 fact front getting given god gp happen interesting jan kawasaki labels lap lorenzo melandri motogp needs posted problems qatar qualifying race reactions really rossi round rules shows stoner story superbike team test thank times toseland witteveen working wsb year

created at TagCrowd.com

MotoGP down to 17 bikes

The news last week in the run up to the Sachsenring race was the withdrawl of the Grupo Francisco Hernando team.

Many people chose to comment on this story by discussing whether Gibernau should have made a come back, was he any good anymore, etc. etc. But this isn't the issue and in actual fact one could argue the team did a good job hiring Sete, and had much more coverage/news headlines as a result.

Given that they turned up to race without a major sponsor this was a very important issue. But like everyone else whose tried recently, the team found that "if you build it, they wont come".

Presumably what happened was the money ran out, bills werent paid, etc and end of team.

With Kawasaki seeming to have confirmed their bikes wont be back next year at all, even as the Blackasaki Team Hayate, and Suzuki rumoured to have been clost to pulling the plug themselves last year, MotoGP is in an extremely vulnerable state.

Dorna needs a bigger, bolder, strategy, not only to cut costs, but to make the business of running GP teams a profitable business. And soon.

F1 or WSB...oh what to watch...

Well here I am on Sunday morning with both the Malaysian F1 race and Valencia World Superbikes about to start.

A good day to be on the sofa then.

Both F1 and WSB have gone through changes in the off season. The new qualifying format in WSB is working really well, and has produced exciting sessions in all three rounds of the championships so far. This qualifying rule, with three knock-out rounds within the overall qualifying session, is a copy of an innovation in F1 a couple of years ago.

Mike Scott wrote is his GP Week column a few weeks back about the strength of WSB and the fact the MotoGP is well and truly on the back-foot. Innovations like the F1 acquired qualifying format is just one factor, but a much more significant weakness of MotoGP is subtly highlighted by the mass of rule changes for this years F1.

I'm not expert on F1 (or anything else for that matter) but what is clear about the F1 rule changes is the have shaken up the pecking order profoundly. McLaren and Ferrari are struggling (OK, not helped by 'Liegate' as the Hamilton affair has been called by some) and Brawn, Red Bull, Williams, Toyota et al find themselves competing at the front.

In short, the playing field has been well and truly leveled, and everybody has benefited.

Some of the powers-that-be in MotoGP will no doubt look at those rule-changes and consider something similar, but will as ever miss the point completely.

The fact is it's not the technicalities of the rules that have this effect, its the structure and governance of the sport.

These kind of rule changes would never happen in MotoGP because the technical rules are set by the MSMA - in effect Honda, because of Japanese politics.

If the equivalent situation existed in F1 the rules would be set by McLaren and Ferrari, and would surely be to suit their needs. What is more small teams like Brawn wouldn't be given sight of those rules until McLaren and Ferrari had tested various options and figured out what works best. In short they would never be able to win. The rules would say so.

WSB sits somewhere between the two. Not totally hamstrung by the MSMA to quite the same extent, but nonetheless still some way from the effective sporting governance of F1.

So perhaps that is why a die hard motorcycle racing fan like me finds himself watching the F1 while the WSB is being recorded....

A sad state of affairs.

Toseland blames Herve for Edwards spat...

JT has broken his silence over the Tech3 fall out and given his side of the best story in this years MotoGP off-season.

Edwards has been reveling in the fall out from the crew chief swap and JT has attempted to blame team boss Herve Poncheral for the dispute in an exclusive interview with the BBC.

"The only problem was that there was no communication going back to Colin, so all of a sudden he's told by Garry.

It didn't have to happen like this and I can imagine why he feels the way he does."

However some of his comments are likely to inflame the argument even more, claiming he needed "an experienced engineer". Considering Guy Coulon is one of the most highly regarded engineers in a GP paddock he has worked in for more than 20 years, this might be a tough view to buy, and is hardly an olive branch.

There's only one winner in all of this.

Isn't it boring....thank god for Edwards....

The MotoGP pre-season must be one of the most boring in recent times. With limited testing and nothing in particualr happening it's just dull dull dull.

The previously exciting "round zero" last weekend was noteable for little, and you really have to stretch the facts to get interest out of it.

Kallio's performance was encouraging and the Suzuki's of Loris and Vermulen was positive too.

Up front eh story is the same as the last 2 seasons. Stoner has the speed, Rossi the man who can and probably will beat him over the long haul of the season.

The best stuff is the continuing spat between Edwards and Toseland.

JT is clearly struggling. It will take a monumental performance from him to come back from this pre-season anytime soon. Look at Lorenzo last year. He did it right and it took time.

But the fact that Edwards is really rubbing his nose in the problems, not missing any opportunity to get a little dig in shows just how angry Colin is over the fall out last year.

I dont know if they were friends before, but it all seemed pretty friendly. I hope the full story comes out, because whatever James really did over the whole crew chief deal, he has clearly seriously hurt and upset Edwards.

It's Karma man!

Jan Witteveen Story Comes True

Catching up with the news after a few days away, it seems that Witteveen has indeed quit the Maxtra/Hajoe team - confirming his only role is to supply spare parts.

Given that the engine is his design, and the idea behind the engine was to create opportunities for future development, this is a real disaster for the prospects of the team in the near future.

It shows how hard it is to create a new venture like this - but not specifically in motorcycle racing. The italian press is speculating this is all down to the current economic crisis. But only racers could bring together a team of such different philosophies as Jan Witteveen and Steve Harris, and hope that it would work. For me it shows the lack of sophistication in the business of motorcycle racing compared to other industries.

Such a shame.

Melandri Doubts Persist...

Marco Melandri's prospects of actually racing in 09 on the Kawasaki, sorry Hayate, remain clouded in uncertainty.

After making it clear to the media before the Qatar test that he hadn't in fact agreed to race the bike, and would make that decision based on the Qatar testing performance, his public judgement was a rather uncommitted "too soon to judge".

So what does this mean?

Well given all the circumstances it was totally predictable that the testing would show that there is a lot to do to be competitive. So no bombshells on the result.

Surely what it all really means is one or all of:

1. Melandri is in protracted negotiations with Dorna over money. He must realise he can hold them to ransom after Carmelo so publicly over played his hand on the deal.

2. Melandri really doesn't fancy racing the bike under the circumstances and making up the numbers, but worries that it could well be his last chance. There are not many recent examples of riders coming back into MotoGP after a year out.

3. The grid girls aren't hot enough.

I'd love to ask him.

What do you think?

Rossi v Stoner getting more interesting already!

Well the Qatar test is done, and things at the front are looking as interesting as we'd hoped.

As expected Stoner is fastest, doing blistering lap times. Rossi doesn't seem to have the lap time, but as ever is working more on absolute race pace. The two approaches couldn't be more different.

Fingers crossed for more races like the Laguna round last year.

The one added dimension I've picked up for 2009 - which actually came from Lorenzo, not Rossi - is the possible wheelie problems the new M1 is experiencing.

My understanding is the new chassis has a shorter wheelbase due in part to a shorter swing arm. The desired effects on handling are all there for Rossi and Lorenzo. And so are the niggles - mainly a tendency to wheelie more.

Yamaha of course knew this would happen and have designed a new electronic system to control this, but the impression I have is that this isn't working.

One potentially vital consequence of this is the starts.

Rossi has never been the best starter. For years he has made an art form of wining races by passing most of the field in a few short laps. But last year with Stoner's blistering pace Rossi needed to concentrate more on starts and make sure he was away at the front and able to stick to Stoner like glue - preventing him from running away at the front. Laguna being the case in point.

But if they are experiencing wheelie problems, this will surely make the task much harder. And potentially we could see Stoner getting away at the front more.

We know he can do this. We also know that if Stoner hadn't made the mistakes he made trying to break the field totally at tracks like Brno last year (where he crashed with an early lead of a second or so) he could have been hard to beat.

So the key dynamic still stands. Stoner is faster. But last year he seemed to believe that if Rossi was close, Rossi would win. That's my view on why Stoner was so determined to beat him by the biggest possible margin in every session, on every lap.

Fans will be hoping for a few close fights between Rossi and Stoner on track. But the real fight is in the mind, and in the detail of the lap and spit times.

Thank god the Eurosport coverage is back - as this detail is all important.

And then of course there is Lorenzo. His role in all this could well be crucial.

Bring it on!

Edwards Continues to Dominate Toseland

Colin Edwards continued to rub James Toselands nose in it at Qatar tonight, posting the 3rd fastest time just 0.07 seconds behind reigning champ Rossi.

Despite completing 51 laps Toseland finished the day in last position some 2.5 seconds slower than Edwards.

1. Casey Stoner AUS Ducati Marlboro Team 1min 57.139 sec
2. Valentino Rossi ITA Fiat Yamaha Team 1min 57.747 sec
3. Colin Edwards USA Tech 3 Yamaha 1min 57.817 sec
4. Andrea Dovizioso ITA Repsol Honda Team 1min 57.879 sec
5. Chris Vermeulen AUS Team Suzuki 1min 58.018 sec
6. Loris Capirossi ITA Team Suzuki 1min 58.264 sec
7. Jorge Lorenzo SPA Fiat Yamaha Team 1min 58.400 sec
8. Alex de Angelis RSM San Carlo Honda Gresini 1min 58.441 sec
9. Nicky Hayden USA Ducati Marlboro Team 1min 58.577 sec
10. Dani Pedrosa SPA Repsol Honda Team 1min 58.619 sec
11. Randy de Puniet FRA LCR Honda MotoGP 1min 58.936 sec
12. Toni Elias SPA San Carlo Honda Gresini 1min 59.036 sec
13. Yuki Takahashi JPN Team Scot 1min 59.153 sec
14. Marco Melandri ITA Hayate Racing Team 1min 59.195 sec
15. Niccolo Canepa ITA Pramac Racing 1min 59.266 sec
16. Mika Kallio FIN Pramac Racing 1min 59.764 sec
17. James Toseland GBR Tech 3 Yamaha 2min 0.234 sec

Even Marco Melandri was 1 second quicker than JT on the 'should I stay or should I go' Kawasaki. Or should I say Hayate.

That name is never gunna stick.

But Edwards nickname for JT just might.

Pedrosa Down and Out. Again.

Dani Pedrosa is out of the final pre-season test after a crash tonight injured his knee and hand.

He now looks certain to miss the final test at Jerez, meaning he will have missed all tests prior to the opening round in a couple of weeks time.

Pedrosa has to be under pressure this season. Despite favoritism from Honda, at times absurdly so, since he joined the MotoGP class Dani is yet to win the championship and arguably his only significant impact on the destination of the crown to date was when he carelessly knocked his team mate down at Estoril, destroying Hayden's championship lead going into the final race of 2006.

If Rossi hadn't fallen at that race Dani would not only have not won a MotoGP championship for Honda, he would have lost one for them too.

With Jorge Lorenzo being far more charismatic and exciting, there is the strong possibility that he will overtake Pedrosa as the Spanish fans favourite. Adding more pressure.

Not an ideal pre-season then.

Aprilia RSV4 Goes On Sale. I Want One

Aprilia UK announced the website for pre-orders.

50p says they have already all gone.

www.rsv4aprilia.com

Nice website though. Check it out.

Kawasaki: The Never Ending Story...

The latest twist in the Kawasaki MotoGP saga came today as Marco Melandri revealed he hasn't actually agreed to ride the bike!

In an interview with Italian publication Sportmediaset.it Melandri claimed to be as surprised as anyone at Kawasaki's official announcement and further explained that he was going to ride the bike at the Qatar test with a view to then deciding if he will race the bike.

In many ways this hardly comes as a surprise as no doubt a rider like Melandri wouldn't at all relish the prospect of making up the numbers on an uncompetitive bike with no development back up or prospects for improvement.

It's all getting rather boring - but this is by no means the first time Dorna have gone off half cocked, so to speak, and with Carmelo Ezpeleta so personally involved in this his own credibility is being brought more into question on a daily basis.

Spies shows his class with victory in race 2

Watching Haga slice through the field in race 2 was truly awesome. One thing is for sure in this years WSB championships - it's a fat field. You gotta work super hard for your places after the first lap.

Haga is rising superbly. The 5 way mid race battle for the lead between Haga, Spies, Biaggi, Fabrizio and Haslam is quality and is the sort of action we are sadly unlikely to see in MotoGP this year. It's not fairing bashing, but its great to watch these different riders on different bikes trying to push each other and figure out ways past.

At the mid-point of the race, it looked liked Haga was well set for a double win. But the later stages seemed to favour the 4 cylinder bikes as the Ducati's clearly had less grip left that both Ben Spies and further back Leon Haslam, who came through for a brilliant podium finish. The tyres on the Honda and Yamaha looked in much better condition than Haga's in parc ferme - with Haga claiming after the race that his tyre was totally finished with 5 laps to go.

But the race win went to Ben Spies who timed his move past Haga perfectly and had enough left in the tank to break Haga in the final few laps.

This left the battle for the final podium place to be sorted out in the final 2 laps. By this point Haslam and Laconi had caught Biaggi and Fabrizio. Laconi's late arrival and aggressive moves caught out Biaggi who out braked himself and had to run off track to avoid crashing, limping home in 15th place.

But it was the British pocket rocket who had the grip, race craft and speed to claim the final podium spot. Go Leon.

Like I said last night, if only the TV coverage was up to scratch.

Shinya Nakano is a rider I'd love to see doing well this year. His riding style is totally immaculate and he is one of the riders whose career really suffered as MotoGP switched from 500's to 990's being just outside the chosen few.

Another stand out theme for me in this race is the size of the bikes. Only the Kawasaki and in part the Suzuki, actually look like big bus road bikes. These other bikes are super small compact racing bikes.

Loser of the weekend had to be Shakey Byrne. Poor qualifying and two race crashes. He would have been hoping for so much more, but did just enough to pip Baiggi for disappointment.

Haga by 3 hundredth's in Race 1 at Philip Island

Well a decent first race of the year for WSB with Haga and Neukirchner breaking the field to duke it out in the final laps.

Max Neukirchner looked to have the race in the bag, moving ahead of Haga into Doohan's final time round and being quicker than Haga in the first half of the lap. Haga's strength on the Ducati was the second half of the lap however and he closed right up, but it seemed to be the cool weather and a few spots of rain on the last lap that decided matters.

Running up and over Lukey Heights Neukirchner's Suzuki snapped out of line throwing Max out of the seat allowing Haga to pass. Max regained control and dragged Haga up the straight to close the gap over the line to just 0.032 of a second. Close stuff.

The fortunes of these two couldn't be more different to the other Max. Biaggi got off the line well, not quite getting the holeshot from Johny Rea. But having got away in 2nd place, he was predictably duffed up and fell down the field. In fact it was a rider cutting across Biaggi, causing him to sit up and run wider, that pushed new boy and pole sitter Ben Spies off the track ruining his race.

In stark contrast Haga and Neukirchner pushed through from 13th and 14th on the grid to finish the first lap 2nd and 5th.

Why Biaggi can't seem to race anymore is beyond me and must drive his team manager insane. He settled for 11th place.

But arguably the surprise of the race was the 3rd place finisher Yukio Kagayama. What a dude. His English for my bike is fast is getting better too!

World SuperBike is looking really good this year, as has been said many times. But I have to say the TV coverage is very poor in comparison to MotoGP. Very little on screen info, no on bike pictures, not enough cameras around the track, and pretty poor direction.

Dorna might not be very good at growing the sport and making it more commercially attractive, but they do a much better job of making a TV show out of a race than their SuperBike rivals.

What a shame.

Superbike hots up - I for one am staying up to watch!

The new qualifying format for World SuperBike added to an already exciting opening round of the WSB or SBK (what is it called nowadays?) at Philip Island.

Among the casualties of the format was top 4 rider Troy Corser who seemed to time his use of the precious qualifying tyres poorly. That said the new BMW superbike was visibly suffering from the dreaded chatter.

Lots of riders talk about chatter problems, but it's rare to see it so clearly effecting a bike on TV.

Chatter can effect both ends of a bike, but is most usually associated with the front end. When the front end is loaded up into/round a turn the bike's chassis and suspension will vibrate with such force that it overwhelms the damping capabilities of the suspension and therefore start to bounce - obviously making it difficult for the rider to control the bike and push the bike towards the limits of grip needed to go as fast as possible.

It's also said that 'resonant frequency' effects are involved. In physics, resonance is the tendency of a system - in this case the motorcycle rolling chassis including the suspension - to vibrate at maximum amplitude at a given frequency. Like a sweet spot if you like - making the vibration much more violent.

Chatter is not easy to solve. It's not easy to move these resonant sweet spot because there are so any variables involved it's hard to pinpoint where it comes from. Could be the stiffness of the wheels, the carcass of the tyres, the dampers, the stiffness of the chassis, the list is endless.

Let's hope for BMW it will go away tho, as it would be great to see them up at the front.

The other new bike - the Aprilia - looks like a fantastic package already. Biaggi put his on the front row and Nakano was unlucky not to make it into the final 8 qualifying session.

There was one particular clip on the Eurosport coverage of Max riding the final two turns with the bike cranked over and the rear clearly right on the limit of traction, moving sideways to the edge of the track but barely spinning. Really impressive and damn cool.

I can't see Max winning tho, unless he can get away at the front. He'll probably get duffed up a bit in the first few laps which usually leaves too much to do when the race settles down.

Jakub Smrz continued his good form, and is looking impressive as the fastest Ducati.

I wouldn't bet against Johny Rea though. He looks cool, calm, collected and very fast. A big star in the making quite clearly.

Bring it on!

Smrz takes WSB pole in QP1

My Czech is not that great, but I understand the Czech for "where did he come from" is something like "Odkud přišel"

But that might be Russian...

The performance from Smrz to top the time sheets is outstanding, and what is more exciting, it's often the case in racing that those guys who go fast straight out of the box are those who keep going fast.

Meaning Nakano's performance on the new Aprilia is also great news for the series. If Shinya has finally got over OJ out dragging him to the line he'll be right up there.

But with only 1 second covering the top 14 riders combined with the nature of production based Superbikes - the racing is going to be Superclose and only those who can scrap as well as go fast are gunna win.

So that rules out Biaggi then.

Green light for green bikes - Kawasaki is go

Kawasaki has officially announced that they will be racing in 2009.

I picked the news from BikeSport news - it must have been lunchtime at the other place.

A one rider team will take to the grid using Dorna money.

Marco Melandri is confirmed as the rider.

No news about Hopper - shame.

But this isn't particularily good news. Whilst Dorna will doubtless claim this as a victory it is really nothing more than (as Kropotkin says) flogging a dead horse.

Eurosport coverage confirmed

BREAKING NEWS!

After much speculation surrounding Eurosports MotoGP coverage, it will now be confirmed to the press tomorrow that Dorna has reversed it's decision to stop the MotoGP coverage on Eurosport for 2009.

The news of the confirmation was leaked by a jubilant but anonymous source close to the negotiations a few minutes ago.

This will be a popular move with fans, many of whom complained bitterly about being forced to watch MotoGP on the BBC and not having the more in depth coverage that Eurosport has so far provided.

It is expected that Eurosport will broadcast all the practice and qualifying sessions live, and the 125 and 250cc races live. The only compromise is a delayed broadcast of the MotoGP race to honour Dorna's exclusive agreement with the BBC.

Honda to launch superbikes in India

Honda will launch it's two flagship SuperBikes in India later this month, as the local market prepares for more interest in leisure motorcycling.

The Indian motorcycle market is huge - second only in size to China, and Honda's launch is hot on the heals of major pushes by both Yamaha and Suzuki.

With India being the celeb culture to end all celeb cutures, and the motorcycle being the mode of transport for much of the population, surely it is only a matter of time before India becomes a major market for motorcycle racing.

If only we had some clever people in charge.

More on Edwards and Toseland

I've just caught up with the interview by Dean Adams of SuperBikePlant with Colin Edwards - where he elaborates quite frankly on the Toseland fall out.

It's does seem that JT has bought some Bull**** and may well suffer as a result.

Edwards explains the goings on behind the scenes over the crew chief swap quite frankly, and amusingly explains his nickname for Toseland:

"I call James the Wonder Boy. That's just kind of a nickname I gave him, because obviously, I don't know why, but I think it's Wonder Boy as in "I wonder what the hell I'm doing over here?" [Laughing]"

It's a great interview. Read it.

Gábor Talmácsi loses all but one of his sponsors for 09

Former 125cc champ Gabor Talmacsi could be in trouble for the 2009 season after all but one of his personal sponsors has pulled the plug on his backing.

I'm sure Gabor will still be racing in 2009, but it will doubless effect his performance if money is a big worry off track, and the team have to struggle to make ends meet in the garage.

Taylor denies Witteveen split

According to MCN's MotoGP reporter Matt Birt, Maxtra's team boss Gary Taylor has denied the news going around in the Dutch press that Jan Witteveen has quit the team.

Interesting.

One theory is that this might all be some in-fighting over direction, and in a prima donna moment Jan "threatened" to quit in order to get his way over some dispute.

We will see.

No smoke without fire, but I for one hope it works out for the team. It's an important project for the future of GP racing.

Rossi gives hand signal to Stoner

The master tactician is at it again.

The pre-season mind games between Stoner and Rossi have started to get serious with Rossi getting the upper hand...boom boom.

Not long after the initial tests Stoner talked about his wrist injury causing him problems with pain and discomfort on the bike, but Rossi has hit back, basically accusing Stoner of telling porkies.

We'll see what happens, but we know two things for sure.

1. Rossi knows Stoner is the man to beat, and

2. Rossi knows how to beat his rivals long before the red lights go out.

Bring it on.

Witteveen Quits Maxtra

After the first full team get together at Valencia it seems the Maxtra project has hit some major problems.

First up is the legal dispute over the Maxtra brand name, with a dispute over the rights to the name forcing them to potentially change names. Not a major disaster you would think, but a costly one nonetheless with the paint barely dry on the new race trucks and team gear.

More significantly, I'm told that engineer Jan Witteveen has quit the team. Jan is widely regarded as the best 2-stroke engineer in the business and was the designer of the all conquering Aprilia rotary engines.

If he was simply the chief engineer this wouldn't be a huge problem, but he is the man who has designed the radical 'formerly known as Maxtra' 125cc engine.

The engine is unique in it's 'upside down' design - intended to speed up the flow of air/fuel mixture induction and aid exhaust scavenging.

What's particularly strange is that the Dutch press is saying he's quit because of the poor performance. But he designed the engine? If he is no longer convinced the design can be competitive, where does that leave the team?

Somewhere with out a paddle it seems.

No wonder the teams website has been taken down.

Ex-champ speaks out about bad management in MotoGP

It seems more people are starting to speak out about the commercial management of MotoGP.

I'm just surprised how long it's taken.

Superbike Planet quoted a former champ as saying:

"It's run by a bunch of guys who can't do math. Sponsors keep leaving and no new sponsors come in at the same level. Yet, no one will recognize the fact that the series is upside-down as a business model."


If you look back on past reports about the stae of MotoGP, the talk has always been of the need to change things to make the sport more commercially attractive to sponsors - even back to the days when people worried about there being too many tobacco sponsors.

Where is the initiative?

The root of the problems are clear - even the complete power given to a few manufacturers - all down to the fact that MotoGP doesnt have an outside perspective. All the key players have lived in the paddock for ever. All ex-racers, all taking desicions based on the situation inside the paddock. Even Dorna has now been there for 10 or even 12 years.

Change is needed, and a fresh perspective should be sought.

Lucky Knickers!

I just read a great little article about an ex GP privateer called Walter Migliorati.

Apparently, before he finally stopped racing due to incarceration in a drug dealing bust, Walter was a pretty successful rider who loved to party hard, and had an interesting line in umbrella girls.

Instead of the usual promo-girls in swimsuits, Mr Migliorati used to hire a couple of local prostitutes to accompany him to each race, shag his brains out all weekend and be his grid girls - usually topless.

Lots of riders have lucky charms when they race. But again Walter took this to another level - wearing a pair of the whores knickers under his crash helmet.

Great PR work.

Edwards talks freely...

The news has gone well around the media that Colin Edwards and James Toseland fell out at the end of last season, making Colin happy to have well beaten Toseland at the first test.

I find this an interesting story. The Brits have always been very keen on Edwards and were therefore inclined to believe that a team of JT and the Texan would be a matey place.

British motorcycle racing fans are an odd bunch at times. The way that some people have leapt to Toselands defense over this is amazing. Anyone who has been around racing for a while knows that Edwards is clearly a no-bullshit straight talker. In fact, one could think that is one of his failings in MotoGP - not nearly mean enough.

At the same time, the Brits have always wanted to believe that any racer from blighty is a top bloke in the same mould as Edwards. Straight talking, fair and sporting as you like, but competitive on the track.

Word has been around for some time (not least amongst the umbrella girls) that JT is in fact a bit of an sob.

What is for sure - unless JT beats Edwards on track, and beats him well, JT will look a bit of a tool over the way he's played politics in the Tech3 team.

May the best man win.

MotoGP robot promises to challenge Rossi

Could a rider-less motorcycle robot compete with the speed demons of MotoGP?

That's the vision of Japanese computer graphics designer Yutaka Igarashi who has conceived a new robotically controlled motorcycle design aimed at beating the lap time of a MotoGP bike around a circuit.

Powered by an electric motor, the concept is controlled by swinging a boom (which replaces the rider) through hydraulic actuators. The design is still at concept stage, so no power output or battery details have been specified.

With robots now used for everything from automobile manufacture to robotically assisted heart surgery, a robot motorcycle could no doubt be very accurate at high speed. It may even be possible to replicate a fast lap using telemetry recorded from a human rider but I do have my doubts about whether the talents of a MotoGP riders can be successfully be digitized into G code to allow a Computer Numeric Controlled (CNC) machine to outperform them.

But it's a radical and cool idea, and would certainly be able to draw curtains without needing stitches.

Monster price, mini sticker

Is this the most expensive sticker in MotoGP?

The deal to sign Rossi to Monster energy drink is reported to have cost $3million - which surely makes this the most expensive sticker by square cm ever!

This blog discussed previously how interesting it would be to see how Rossi's flamboyant helmet designs would be adjusted to make way for such a lucrative sponsorship. it seems the answer is not at all!!

Above all, it shows how ineffective the whole GP marketing results have been under guidance by Dorna. Monster could be title sponsor of a good, race winning 250cc team for that kind of money - meaning Rossi's chin is worth more to a sponsor than the whole 250 series...

I wonder what Red Bull are thinking.

Economy in the air....but situation normal on the track

The MotoGP paddock is feeling the cold at the Sepang tests with the budgets being slashed by even the big teams.

MotoGP teams and mechanics will now fly economy.

this could well be the most significant cost cutting move of them all and do more to produce closer racing than ALL of Dorna's tweaking and fiddling, because even the legend Jeremy Burgess will be flying economy.

And this can only speed up his retirement - which will have an enormous impact on track. Put yourself in JB's shoes. You've not only won everything there is to win, done everything there is to do, you've done it a few times over with at least 3 different riders. Would you fly long haul in the cheap seats to do it all again?

Rossi and Doohan are rightly regarded as true greats in racing. In my view it is JB that's made that difference.

It's the same in other sports. Sugar Ray Leonard is regarded as a true great of Boxing, a reputation cemented by the split decision win over Hagler in 1987. People still talk about who really won that fight.

In general, Hagler landed the harder blows and Leonard landed more punches and the flashier ones. Neither fighter was knocked down. Leonard was warned repeatedly for holding by the referee, but no points were deducted. The decision went to Leonard via split decision. Hagler bitterly protested the result, and many boxing fans and writers have argued about the decision since he had retired .

The really annoying thing - as normal in Boxing - one of the judges scored the fight so blatantly wrongly (118 - 110 to Sugar Ray) he must have been - in the words of Jeremy Clarkson - a one-eyed Scottish idiot.

This fight is relevant because Leonard won thanks to the sporting intelligence of Angelo Dundee. The trainer that pulled off a similar trick with Ali vs Foreman in 1974. As good as Leonard was, without Dundee he would have gotten beaten badly by Hagler. And by Duran in the 2nd fight for that matter.

Check out this clip - listen out for Dundee.



Maybe it was a man in red that suggested the move to the back of the plane for JB and and rest.

But out on track, the situation was normal. Pedrosa went home early and the old guard lead the way. The one surprise for me is the poor performance of George. Having Lorenzo on the pace and up the front is key for 2009 I think. He will be missed if he's not there.

Rossi stiched up...

News from the press association:

MotoGP world champion Valentino Rossi has flown to Malaysia for a pre-season test despite having stitches in his left hand and foot after falling onto a glass table at home.

The Fiat Yamaha rider was closing the curtains in his house when he tripped and fell on the table, which broke, cutting the ring finger of his left hand and the sole of his left foot.

The 29-year-old went to hospital for treatment on both injuries.

A Fiat Yamaha team statement confirmed Rossi would nevertheless attempt to ride at the first test of the season at the Sepang circuit, which gets under way on Thursday.

"The injuries are not serious but it is not yet clear whether or not they will make him uncomfortable when riding this week," the statement read.

"Nevertheless Rossi will fly out to Malaysia as planned."

KTM get 5% power boost from F1

Fascinating post on Kropotkins blog (where that name comes from, I don't know) about Harold Bartol using an F1 type KERS system on the KTM 125cc GP bikes.

The full post is here.

Jol sent me a link the other day to an article about KERS in F1, which at the time I really didn't understand, explaining that at times following a crash the system can discharge in the form of electric shocks to anyone who touches it. Now I can't find that link. Argh.

As Kropotkin says - I wonder how the rule makers will respond to this.

Dorna must re-think says Yamaha MotoGP boss

Head of Yamaha's MotoGP effort, Lin Jarvis, has joined the growing list of MotoGP managers to criticise Dorna's commercial management of the sport.

Mr Jarvis is quoted by Matt Birt in MCN as saying:

"I think when you have times of economic difficulty and recession, everybody has to rethink. That includes Dorna...

"we have to look for how we can grow income, because the other way to balance costs is to make sure the sport becomes more commercially attractive and that the show becomes something that is more in demand, and the more revenue we have, we can see really long term growth."

As readers well know, this blog entirely supports that view.

So far, in this off-season, there have been no announcements from Dorna regarding increasing demand for MotoGP among fans or media. Instead, the picture painted by Dorna boss Carmelo Ezpeleta is constantly one of booming success on the commercial side - TV figures, spectators, sponsors and so on.

It is no coincidence that the vast majority of sponsors Dorna has on board (not an impressive list in any sense) are actually suppliers to MotoGP - with Alice being the prime example. One has to wonder if Alice would be the title sponsor for so many GP's without the barter agreement on telecoms/website services.

Change is coming to GP thick and fast

Anyone ever heard the phrase "act in haste, repent at leisure"? It seems there is no Spanish translation.

Well, here's my effort:

"si actuas o haces algo muy de prisa, tendras bastante mas tiempo para lamentarlo"

The MotoGP tabloid press is reporting that when testing starts in Sepang next week the management will be meeting behind the scenes to rush through a radical set of proposals to limit costs over the next two years.

There's nothing new in the leaked proposals - all have been discussed on this and other blogs before. What is upsetting, but not surprising, is the speed of these changes - big mistakes are going to be made. And whilst all these changes are intended to cut costs, arguably the biggest factor in escalating costs is the modern tendency for the rules to change year in year out. Adapting to new rules in a competitive way is always going to add costs.

The list of changes to be signed off in Sepang can be found here.

For non-Italian speakers Kropotkin translated them here.

The more I think about it, the more it's clear WSB is where it's at this year. Can't believe I'm saying that.

We are not alone...

This blog is not the only one to recognise the pointed nature of Denning's remarks.

Autosport led with the major change quote.

See here.

Denning hints at lack of strategic vision in MotoGP

It could be considered a landmark moment. A factory team boss pointing the finger back at Dorna, FIM and IRTA telling them to wake up and think bigger.

Ironically (or pointedly) this was in an interview for MotoGP.com:

"Some of the short term measures that have already been suggested are not going to be very effective, but they may be a minor help.

"The key point is that with the manufacturers, Dorna, IRTA, looking at things from a promoter´s perspective, an organisational perspective, a private team perspective and so on, all factors have to be considered in terms of priority and that big changes are needed, rather than small tweaks."

Funnily enough MotoGP.com didn't lead it's story with the issue, chosing to focus on Suzuki's need to be competative.

Denning might not be the most highly respected team boss in MotoGP circles, but he has come a long way from being a privateer backmarker in British championship racing.

This blog is very pleased to hear someone in his position not only talking about cutting costs - but challenging Dorna to get out there and promote the sport. Make it grow. And think things through from a teams perspective.

IRTA's mention is also interesting. Listening to the factories recently you'd think IRTA ceased to exist.

Maybe Mr Denning is a fan of Out With The Big Boys...welcome sir. And sorry about the backmarker comment.

Dorna shuffling more deckchairs

The latest evidence of Dorna's backwards thinking was revealed today after it pulled down a video they had published themselves after only 24 hours.

After limiting it's own YouTube channel to anodyne clips and the briefest of highlights, Dorna published one full length race on YouTube, complete with the online stream commentary as provided live by Nick Harris.

Only to pull it down again 24 hours later.

Some people have commented that this must surely therefore have been a test - but I'd bet my hat that someone in the commercial department became afraid of the impact on TV broadcasters - or in fact that one complained.

What will it take for them to wake up and smell the roses??

It's not as if MotoGP is a huge commercial success on TV with networks bidding against each other for more and more money to win the rights. If this was the case, nervousness would be understandable.

No, in most countries Dorna has to practically give away the rights and plead with broadcasters to show them.

So why not use the web to tackle some of the demand side problem that are (in reality) killing progress in the sport.

Give it away online. More than that - push it online. Pay a small team of youngsters to sit online seeding the coverage on Facebook, MySpace, bebo, et al.

Then give it away again, and again. Let people edit clips. Make their own soundtracks. Mix clips into movies. Post them on blogs and social networks.

Then it might just catch on. And if it does, I'll eat my hat (and anyone else's for that matter) if people who can watch it on TV watch it online instead.

And while you're at it - give teams video clips for free to use in marketing, building their own fan base.

But of course I'm wrong. A worldwide trebling of the fan base and a sudden influx of major sponsors would do nothing to solve the current cost crisis and dwindling grids.

So says George W Ezpeleta.

TfL Motorbikes in bus lanes and the rise of militancy of cyclists

Finally after years of procrastincation, subtefuge and general buggering around Motorbikes can now use bus lanes. Though it's only the ones that TfL control (so look for it being in a Red Route).

But a small but vocal group of cycle lobby groups are trying to stir up some resistance. Please if you get 5 minutes TfL are asking for 'user views' so set your browser here

https://www.tfl.gov.uk/tfl/roadusers/finesandregulations/motorcycleinbuslanes/default.aspx

and fill out the form.

The thing that frustrates me about the cyclist lobby is that they refuse to be inclusive and collectively look after all two wheeled vehicles; bikes and cyclists both being vulnerable from cars and the "sorry didn't see you gov".

If I was riding my motorbike in a cycle lane then I'm fair game, but this is the road and being invited (as they were) into using the bus lanes. What I find galling is

• They don't pay road tax
• They aren't insured (3rd party insurance, the minimum legal requirement for powered vehicles is for the protection and cover of other peopel not yourself)
• Helmet and protective clothing is in a minority (lycra doesn't count)
• If they would actually obey the highway code and not intrepret a red light to mean "everyone stop but me"

WSB Portugal Test Photos

Just 8 bikes line up for the first 250cc IRTA test!

well, erm, need I say anymore.

Kawasaki hypocrisy

Another thought on the Kawaskit withdraws from MotoGP saga.

The latest news seems to suggest that Kawasaki is refusing to give/lend/lease it's MotoGP bikes to a private team to keep the MotoGP grid numbers up - Carmelo's big idea to save the sport - because this would risk the exposure of their technology...

This is highly amusing, given that Kawasaki poached on of Yamaha's senior engineers and got their fingers burnt when it became public knowledge this engineer smuggled Yamaha's engine plans with him...and Kawasaki copied them...as reported in the German press.

Croft stung with big legal bills after appeal loss

My nice evening out with mates was spoiled tonight as I've just got the news that the Croft circuit lost it's appeal against a "noise pollution" verdict - and that the legal bills and damages are potentially ruinous to the circuit owners.

I'm dont understand the detail of the case, but my guess is that the ruling will mean, best case, an Oulton park style limit on the number of days the circuit maybe active - along with other minor UK circuits this seems to be becoming the norm.

Sadly this is usually bad news for bike racing - car racing days seem to get priority - I guess because they are more profitable.

The UK is just too small, with not enough room. It is already the 4th most densely populated country on earth with nearly 1,000 people per square mile, and at current growth rates we are set to be the biggest country in Europe (by population) by 2060. I guess it just goes to show that theres not enough good stuff on telly.

Superbike getting interesting already...

It's only the second day of the MotoGP style official superbike test and already things are looking interesting.

First up, Brands Hatch favorite Shakey Byrne is topping the time sheets regularly and looking superfast. Great news for British fans.

Secondly Ben Spies is looking really good - which is great news for SBK.

And apart from all the usual suspects being up there, Shinya and Biaggi are making the new Aprilia look pretty good right out of the box.

Finally with less than 4 seconds covering the whole field and quality riders like Makoto Tamada, Greg Lavillia, Tommy Hill, Ruben Xaus and Robbie Rolfo all outside the top 20 (they are all more than capable of getting near the front) the SBK grid is not only looking seriously deep in comparison with MotoGP, it's also looking very competitive.

Admittedly this test is at the relatively unfamiliar Portimao circuit, so this all might change when we get to the established tracks.

Now with hundreds of fans complaining about the BBC being the only TV coverage in the UK (theres even an online petition about the commentators!), SBK is looking like a more serious threat than ever to MotoGP.

Honda Quits Suzuka 8 Hour

Honda has publicly announced its withdrawal of its flagship factory team from the Suzuka 8 Hour race.

Amazing news - given the importance this one off race has historically been given by the Japanese.

And the attempt to see off question marks over Honda's involvement in MotoGP has the distinct sound of a football club's chairman publicly supporting an under team fire manager shortly before sacking him.

Who can doubt there will be more big news to follow.

Ducati points the finger at Carmelo

The pigeons are coming home to roost for Mr Ezpeleta.

Most of the MotoGP news over the off season has been focused on the rising costs of racing and the effect of this versus the sharp economic decline into recession.

Carmelo is hell bent on more and more technical rule changes in efforts to improve the racing spectacle and find the holy grail of 125cc fairing bashing, last lap deciders in MotoGP.

I've commented before on the political use of "safety measures" to force through changes in rather the same way that the now former President Bush used security as the catch all to get his way in the US.

And people are starting to join up the dots.

I read with interest the comments yesterday from Ducati blaming Carmelo's knee jerk rule changes over the past few seasons for the escalating costs - which make absolute sense.

The best case scenario for more restrictive technical rule changes is to slow everybody down by the same amount. The more likely outcome is that more money will be spent by teams looking to exploit the new rules to their advantage. How does either outcome make racing closer?

For me it's simple. MotoGP has a demand side problem. Unless Carmelo and his team step back and see the bigger picture and actually start selling the sport and driving growth in demand no amount of cost cutting rules will work.

There was a great post today on Kropotkin's blog earlier today looking at Google trend data on people looking for info on MotoGP online.

His post focused on the surprising factor that the origin of by far and away the most Internet searches is Indonesia. Whilst it's interesting to think about why this might be, another glaring stat for me was the trend in key countries like Spain or Italy. It's subject to interpretation whether it is actually in decline or not (I think yes, because the peaks are smaller) one thing seems sure - it's not growing significantly in these heartlands.

This brings me back to an argument in a previous post about "cricket for people that don't like cricket". It's an overall trend in sports marketing it seems to change the rules of the games to try and attract more fans. But the downside is often an alienation of the established loyal fan base - meaning that when the promiscuous fans brought in move on, the sport is damaged overall.

Common sense is needed regarding the rules. And common sense is needed regarding the overall MotoGP structure, management and strategy.

Dorna's eye is looking up the wrong end of the telescope.

Great media placement

Simple ad, but a great media buy. Don't know who the agency is, but gotta love it.

Keith Code Superbike School Dates published

California Superbike School has announced 18 dates on which it will run courses in the UK this year.

CSS courses are also available in Spain, Czech Republic, Sweden, Greece, South Africa, Dubai and Bulgaria. For a full schedule check online at www.superbikeschool.co.uk

MCN is at it again...

I read with interest the MCN story yesterday "Ilmor confirm interest in Kawasaki partnership"

Reading between the lines the reality seems to be something like this:

MCN: "Hello Ilmor, would you run the Kawasaki bikes if they were available to you"

Ilmor: "Sure, if someone paid us to and there was plenty of budget available for us"

I predict the following MCN headline in a few weeks time

"Ilmor stuns the MotoGP world and AXE Kawasaki deal, MCN can exclusively reveal"

Anyone want to take the bet?