How time flies! It’s been a while since I managed to sit
down and tap away on a keyboard to create another edition of Straw Bales...but
finally here we are!
It’s been an interesting few weeks in the motorcycle racing
world since the last instalment and far too much to cover in one blog without
sending both of my dear readers to sleep (hi mum!) so I’ve decided to keep this
one MotoGP-based mainly due to BSB being somewhat quiet and the TV coverage of
Misano WSB confirming my thoughts of previous blogs!
The world of MotoGP has been in rumour-mill overdrive since
Repsol Honda’s reigning World Champion Casey Stoner announced his intention to
retire at the end of the current campaign. The permutations of the 2012 ‘Silly
Season’ are innumerable and enough to make your head hurt if you pay too much
attention to them. Aside to all the why’s, wherefores and do you mind if I
dont’s there are three confirmed contracts for the 2013 MotoGP season - those
of Bradley Smith’s with Tech 3 Yamaha, Stefan Bradl is one year in to a two
year deal at LCR and the news released at Silverstone that Jorge Lorenzo has
signed for 2 more seasons at Yamaha. So that’s 2 seats taken for definite next
season, but the question mark over Smiths must remain.
As was pointed out to me by MotoPod Cast’s Martin
Darlington, and with some delving it appears Smith himself metioned it on
Eurosport coverage, the contract between
Smith and Herve Poncheral is target-driven – and not a slightly blinkered error of judgement to
give the still-to-prove-himself Smith a seat at the second tier of the MotoGP
table. In my opinion, and that’s all it is, I don’t believe Bradley has earned
his place in MotoGP just yet. Save for one good season in the 125cc
Championship back in 2009, ‘Bradders’ has failed to capitalise on his chances
and put together a title-challenging run and prove his doubters – yes, people
like me - wrong. I would be more than happy for Bradley to prove me wrong come
the latter part of the season but since he stepped up to Moto2 it’s not been a
stellar step in his career and he really needs to be challenging at the front
of every race to be even considered for the step up.
It is clear to even the most casual observer that Great
Britains other Moto2 rider, Scott Redding, is coming of age better than his
compatriot so far in 2012 with two podiums to his name already and therefore should
be better placed to step up to the big class for 2013 and hopefully with a two
year contract that will allow him to learn then deliver. His physical size notwithstanding, his riding
style could be well suited to the brutal 1000(ish)cc powerhouses and I truly
believe we have another star to follow in the footsteps of Cal Crutchlow.
Cal himself has done his prospects for 2013 no harm at all
with his consistent top five finishes this season. He and his current team mate
Andrea Dovizioso have one eye firmly on the other factory Yamaha M1 that may be
vacated by Ben Spies at the end of the season unless he can turn round his poor
early season form. The sticking point for anyone coveting Ben’s ride is his connection
to the American motorcycle market, and Yamaha are more than aware of this, as
is the way of the world the ‘sales & marketing’ machine is king and it’s sometimes
more about that than pure talent.
Something else that came out at Silverstone was Dorna’s
indication that the ‘Rookie Rule’ is likely to be abolished for 2013, paving
the way for Repsol protégé Marc Marquez to replace Casey Stoner at HRC. It is
accepted that Marquez will join the ranks of the MotoGP elite next term and
nobody is under any illusion that he wont be on anything but full factory
machinery so it makes sense for him to drop straight in to the Repsol Honda squad
rather than field him out to Gresini Honda for one year, delaying the
inevitable – which would leave any other potential replacement of Stoner on just
a one year deal.
It was not long after the rumours of Lorenzo to Honda started to appear that HRC Vice President Shuhei Nakamoto announced that they would not run two Spaniards in the same squad ( here ). This was obviously before Dorna began the backtrack on the ‘Rookie Rule’
and was released to quash those Lorenzo rumours, but now the goalposts have
been moved does this now pave the way for a two man Spanish Repsol Honda title
assault in 2013? Personally, I would like to see another nationality on the
other RC213V although that’s unlikely as Dani Pedrosa is held in high regard by
Honda and can’t see him accepting a sideways move to Gresini Honda for
instance.
Valentino Rossi said on stage on Saturday night at
Silverstone that the team are expecting a whole host of changes (again!) for
the Laguna Seca round at the end of July. He categorically stated that as it
stands now he will stay with Ducati for 2013 but if these parts do not make the
desired changes then he will begin to look at potential options for next season
instead. These options are just as full of ‘if’s, but’s and maybe’s’ and where
he will go only Valentino knows. I can’t see him in any full factory squad
other than the one he is in, that is unless Suzuki make a shock return 12
months earlier than originally planned.
There are other hungrier and currently faster riders who are
above VR in the pecking order for rides next season, and they’re a damn sight
cheaper too and come without the travelling circus that is VR’s entourage but
they don’t yet posess the marketing potential of the Italian. There is also the
question of crew. Valentino will undoubtedly want to bring his crew with him
should he move on, the biggest question over this is will they actually want
to? These guys have been travelling the world, winning title after title, for
almost 20 years and with Jerry Burgess having understandable concerns at home
and other crew members with growing families it’s not a given that ‘my guys’
will move with him. Plus after chasing their backsides and not getting very far
for the last 18 months, this Ducati ‘adventure’ must be taking its toll on MotoGP’s
most successful crew.
The absolute bottom line is nobody can say for certain where
people will be sitting when the music stops, every week there is another angle
to consider and another permutation we hadn’t thought of. I mean, Cal to
Ducati? Scott Redding to Ducati? I know both have been courted by the Italian
giants and both would fare well on their bikes but it again depends on what
happens above them. Nothing major will happen until Valentino and Dani Pedrosa
decide what they’re going to do. Apart from the addition of Marquez, it is a
realistic possibility that seven of the top eight seats could actually remain
static for another season, has anybody actually considered that...?
One thing that was really noticeable at Silverstone was the
glaring speed difference between CRT and prototype motorcycles, CRT positively
sluggish in comparison. To make CRT a viable option for up and coming riders
from Moto2 or World Superbikes something needs to be done to bring the lesser
bikes closer in terms of lap times to the satellite teams rather than just
hanging on to their coat-tails. If a successful Moto2 rider had the option of
CRT or another season as a Moto2 front runner I have no doubt what they would
choose. If CRT was closer time-wise we would see more big name riders partaking
in that category rather than Edwards and de Puniet as the star attractions and
replacing riders like Pasini, Hernandez etc to further enhance the profile of
the series.
CRT will come good, it has too – it may not be in the same
guise though as rules need to be amended to further improve the spec and
competitiveness of the machines in order to attract the class of rider needed
to push it forward to the next level.
The championship overall is looking at this early stage like
Lorenzo’s second major crown could be in the making, his podium run so far has
been reminiscent of the campaign Stoner put in last season and he looks
completely at ease with his M1 and his style smoother and more accurate than
ever. Ominous.
As much as I love BSB, as much as I love watching them do
their thing – there really is nothing to beat MotoGP. The sight of the world’s
elite riders mastering the bucking (not in Jorge Lorenzo’s case I must
add...smooth like butter) sliding pinnacles of motorcycle engineering
excellence is an experience every race fan should have. The TV does not do the
colours of the machines and riders leathers justice; they are the most intense
colours you can imagine but the biggest thing of the whole experience is the
noise! It goes right through you, a true assault on the senses – not just the
sheer noise of acceleration of the machines but the noise they make under
braking and the split-second gear changes are just mind-blowing. If you have
never seen a MotoGP bike in action, make that trip to Silverstone next year,
even if it’s just for Practice or Qualifying. I promise you wont regret it.
Thanks for reading.
Link courtesy of Autosport.com
