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!

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.

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.

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.

Am I the only one happy to see Kawasaki quit?

When MotoGP gets news coverage in the FT you know something big has happened and by now Kawasakis withdrawal from MotoGP is old news.

Of all the discussion and editorial comment around the story I particularly liked Dennis Noyes comments on speedtv on "the incredible shrinking grid" which was posted before the news became official.

Like this piece the theme of the coverage is all about the financial crisis and how to get costs down to keep the manufacturers racing, but I think the holy grail of simply more bikes on the grid misses the point.

The real issue is not the costs, it's the commercial management of the sport. So little has been done to make racing in grand prix an attractive business for racing teams that no amount of cost cutting will do the trick.

Even before the credit crunch hit the paddock was pretty doom and gloom and I'm told had been for sometime. Stories of staff not being paid, teams running out of cash part way through the year and being propped up by the rights holders, teams only taking riders who pay big fees are everywhere and the general feeling is just one of imminent doom.

This is inevitable in a situation where everyone in and around the sport has no real control over their own destiny. Everything is at the whim of the manufacturers, Dorna, and Rossi - and it only takes two out of the three to really want something and they get it (the fuss over Rossi's switch to Bridgestones being just one example).

Of course each of these three are only ever going to act in their own self interest - and rightly so, Rossi wants to win races and the manufacturers in the end want to sell more motorcycles - but when the people who hold the cards for everyone else, Dorna, seem to act out of naive self interest, or totally in the interest of the manufacturers or Rossi, things are never going to be good.

Whatever the costs of racing, unless you are a manufacturer the odds are stacked against you - by design the MSMA comes first.

Sir Jackie Stewart spoke bluntly recently of the need for change at the top of F1 calling for both Ecclestone and Mosely to go, but sadly no-one seems to be calling for such big changes in MotoGP.

Until someone really gets a grip on MotoGP and tackles the big commercial issues of making GP racing a sustainable business for racing teams (and not simply motorcycle manufacturers) the slide towards watching two Honda's race two Yamaha's and possibly two Ducati's will continue.