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.