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.