Goodbye 2012, Hello 2013! Testing Times Ahead...

Soon comes around doesn't it? The 2012 season has drawn to a close, all the bikes are off to Shows around the world, riders are all on holiday or rallying or whatever they choose to do and Alex Briggs has hung his pass on the back of the door with the other 19 he's collected... THAT'S when I know it's all over...It was a season that, in places, lacked excitement and few meaningful on-track battles at the front, with Brno and Silverstone the notable exceptions in a difficult season.

Things at Valencia for the final GP could've been so different in the MotoGP class and really they should have been but for two episodes of misfortune, Jorge at Assen and Dani at Misano which in turn would maybe have lead to a different podium at Phillip Island at the penultimate round, where win or bust for Pedrosa was the order of the day.

It was Lorenzos early season form that helped him secure the title, every season is a marathon not a sprint but in 2012 it was Yamaha who got the head start in to that marathon while HRC were still tying their laces. Yamaha were hurting from losing their crown to Casey Stoner at the end of 2011 and came out swinging, Honda had made errors with the new bike that both riders were critical of, although I guess one of the riders was just moaning for no reason... However the Yamaha looked to be on rails and the  metronomic rhythm and blistering pace of Lorenzo was no match for his biggest rivals and the season looked to be a foregone conclusion as far in to the championship as Silverstone.

But Honda fixed the RCV213V a little and the tide turned...

Dani Pedrosa found some self-belief, a consistent but somewhat lack-lustre start to the season saw the diddy Spaniard consistently finish top four and remain fully fit. His first victory of the season at the German GP at Sachsenring saw the beginning of a sequence that, had Honda produced THAT bike for Qatar would have seen a whole different light shed on the 2012 season.

Sachsenring was almost the beginning of the end of Casey Stoners title charge, a fighting second at Silverstone followed by a win at Assen showed he had the desire to defend his crown, even though at that point he was all for retirement from the sport, a distant eighth at Mugello made many ask questions of Caseys commitment before a dominant win at Laguna (the race noted for its ONE pass) saw a brief upturn in fortune but then came Indianapolis qualifying, and we all know what happened there...

Caseys injury at Indy saw a fire lit under Pedrosa, after spending the whole of 2011 in the dark shadow of his imperious team-mate, he looked a different rider. While Stoner struggled round the Brickyard (struggled as in finished fourth, 30 secs ahead of Valentino Rossi) with an injury that curtailed his season, Dani, in true Spanish style, took the bull by the horns (you see what I did there? Always thinking...) and embarked on a remarkable string of results which Lorenzo had no answer to, regardless of how hard he tried. You could sense the tension in the Yamaha camp as Dani was on a run of form that matched Lorenzo's early season stats, at Phillip Island though the story was to end prematurely.

I know that every season can be looked at in hindsight with ifs, buts and maybes but really, IF after qualifying on pole for the San Marino GP at Misano, the chain of events that followed hadn't happened therefore making Dani over-ride too early at Phillip Island and IF Jorge hadn't have been skittled by Bautista at Assen or dropped it at Valencia...well  the championship would have looked the same...

Jorge was going to win at Assen, of that I have no doubt. Dani was going to win at Misano, again of that I have no doubt - such is the season we've just had - so taking that in to account, with the Phillip Island result staying as per qualifying leaving Dani in third, which was also more than likely and Jorge staying on to finish second at Valencia, then Dani Pedrosa still would not have been 2012 World Champion. Jorge would have still taken the crown 390 to 369. Even though both riders shared an outstanding run of results, it was Pedrosa's early season form over the first six races with three 3rds and a 4th that ultimately cost him the title compared to Lorenzo's staggering 1st/2nd consistency throughout the year.

But, back to reality, as it was Dani had to ride hard, fast and early at Phillip Island to stand any chance of clawing the defecit back on Jorge, and in Stoners back yard it was, ironically, the tallest of orders for the shortest of riders... On that day nobody, and I mean N.O.B.O.D.Y, was going to beat Stoner on his final appearance in front of his adoring crowd and it was the simplest mistake that handed Jorge Lorenzo his second world crown. A crown won the hard way, from the front and without the 'ah, but' stigma of injury to his closest contenders.

Dani was back to dominant form at Valencia where interference from Mother Nature saw the most exciting race of the season unfold. Starting from Pit Lane after a last minute tyre change saw Dani chase down race leader Lorenzo and win from the very back of the pack. Sadly an uncharacteristic lapse of concentration saw Jorge end the season in the gravel, and with it the chance of taking the record for most podium appearances in a season, after a mis-guided attempt to pass James Ellison, who rode a fantastic last race to finish a deserved ninth. Shock of the day was a CRT machine leading for two laps, a mix of youthful exuberance and nationalistic pride helping Aleix Espagaro to his short burst in the limelight before normal service was resumed.

Maybe Dani felt a little karma at this point after his Phillip Island off, over-excitement putting paid to a points haul there and the same for Lorenzo at Valencia. Either way it didn't prevent him from hammering home his seventh win of the season and taking the 'prize' of Most Wins in 2012. He'll carry that forward in to 2013, whereas Jorge showed us that he still has, albeit deep-rooted, that impetuousness that flared so often in the junior classes with his haste to get around James Ellison but his consistency is nothing short of phenomenal, and if Dani starts '13 the way he ended '12, then it's going to be an amazing season.

Testing for 2013 was held in difficult conditions over the Tuesday and Wednesday  following the  GP with Valentino Rossi's long-awaited return to Yamaha the focal point of most peoples attention. The keener eyes of the paddock were waiting for the young pretender to take his place at the top table. Enter Marc Marquez....erm...but not until the Thursday and, sadly by that point, Yamaha had de-camped to Aragon.

This is the point where my limited vocabulary runs out of superlatives, his performance in testing was nothing short of spectacular. Whereas rookies before him had had two full days and a 100+ laps to get within 2 seconds of the fastest time of the test Marquez required half a day, 28 laps in total, to get to within 1 second of Dani Pedrosa's best time. I said it last time, this kid is special, very special. He may well visit the Clinica Mobile on a regular basis as he searches for the limit on a 1000cc Prototype, just as Jorge did in his maiden season on the 800. But believe me, he's going to win races next season. Dani, Jorge, Marc, Cal, Stefan all fighting it out to be on that podium...oh and Valentino too. Bring on Sepang!

David Emmett at Motomatters.com sums the testing and rookie debut up far better than I right here and if you haven't already, then read it - it's an education in to the future of MotoGP and that future IS Marc Marquez.

Final word, as I said earlier, goes to @guyhanderson 'What if...'

Casey Stoner retiring at the age of 27 is nothing if not remarkable.  And he neatly steps away from the circus as a two-time world champion to enjoy fishing and his marriage and daughter as well as some V8 car racing it seems.  It must take a lot of determination to get to the top and even more to walk away from it all when riding the crest of the biggest wave in bike racing.  Its almost been universally accepted in the racing circus that Stoner has done what a lot wish they could do; that is separate the mind-blowing act of racing from reality.  Its not that important to Stoner; it might be to armchair experts and 99% of the other riders, but to him?  “Pfft…!” as he might say.

But what if he hadn’t?  What if he had stayed at Honda next year? He was possibly the number 1 in the team as the reigning World Champion at the time of joining and recognised by all as being the fastest on the RCV213, although Pedrosa’s transformation into a tougher, faster rider this year has been not much short of brilliant.

Stoner staying would have caused HRC a mighty headache.  Remember the 3 man team last year with Stoner, Pedrosa and Dovizioso?  As rich as Honda are they only wanted a 2-man team, and only ran a three man team because Dovizioso (foolishly?) exercised his rights in his contract that said if he was third the season before he would be retained.  But Stoner left Ducati and Honda wanted him. 

So to 2012 and there was one thing that was 100% cast-iron certain; Honda wanted to keep Marquez in the family.  Marquez is Spanish, but don’t read too much into that – they’d have wanted him if he had been British and that fast!  Repsol have no problem with Marquez, after all he’s already riding a bike sponsored by them; a perfect marketing tool for Repsol and the other sponsors.  There was no way Honda were going to let him go to Yamaha.  Can you imagine Lorenzo and Marquez in a team together?  What a prospect; the current World Champion and almost certainly a future WC.  Now Rossi is good and alongside Lorenzo, Yamaha have a great team, but Lorenzo and Marquez? Phew.  Anyway dream on; its not happened - yet. You almost get the feeling Honda paid Yamaha to take Rossi, so they couldn’t have Marquez.  Don’t ya?

So if Stoner hadn’t have announced his retirement; Stoner, Pedrosa and Marquez in one team?  I think not.  Marquez to LCR to replace Bradl who is rookie of the season would have been a tough call.  So I guess Marquez to Gresini might have been the only way, but those guys are the only team to run Showa suspenders still.  The rest of Honda went to Ohlïns (after Yamaha sold them) because basically they make better suspenders.  And as you can tell everybody wants Ohlins.  I guess there could have been some technical and political manoeuvring to give Marquez a full-on full-fat factory bike at Gresini, and he may have brought some headline sponsors with him, but at the same time I doubt Repsol would have been happy.  Or Pedrosa out of Honda and off to Yamaha with Alberto Puig?  Blimey – now there’s a salivating thought!  Puig is pretty much a Honda man, and I doubt he’d hold the same sway at Yamaha as he does at Honda.  Alternatively, Pedrosa to Ducati, but Dani is much shrewder than that – he’s seen the metaphorical car crash that has been happening at Ducati for the past 2 years.  Personally I would have liked to have seen Pedrosa at Yamaha, but you have to admire his loyalty staying at Honda ever since he stepped up to the main class, despite all the speculation. 

At the end of the day, as much as Casey Stoner retiring might be a big disappointment to 99.9% of race fans, it sure as hell helped sort out the remaining riders’ team places.

Takes a special kind of talent to get 'pfft...!' in to a piece doesn't it...

Thanks for reading.

  

Exciting Times Coming!

Hello and welcome to the latest installment of StrawBales.

As I sit here contemplating the run in to the end of the season I must remain positive in my thoughts, it would be so easy to be drawn in to the negative aspects and disappointments of the season drawing to a close with WSB done and BSB almost done. There is still so much left undecided, even if some Championships are seemingly somewhat of a foregone conclusion, ie Moto's 2 & 3, but with MotoGP retaining some semblance of a fight to the finish there is still all to play for for Messrs Lorenzo and Pedrosa and the British Superbikes boys are again taking it to the wire.

This weekend in Japan we see the return of the current World Champion Casey Stoner to the fray and in his own words is feeling 'good and fresh' from his injury recuperation but freely admits that FP1 will be crucial in finding out how his ankle truly fairs and just how much weight transfer he can apply. It's good to have the Aussie back as I know the championship fight has missed him, and fans have certainly missed his style, he would certainly have had a big bearing on the current points standings.

As expected, and in the light of the Eugene Laverty/Max Biaggi farce in World Superbikes at Magny Cours, the spectre of 'team orders' was raised with the straight-talking Aussie and his reply said it all... 'HRC haven't asked me to help Dani and I don't think they will, I've said in the past I think championships should be won outright...' says it all really, and who in their right mind would argue..?

Dani goes well at Motegi and is the only rider to win there in all 3 classes, which is a feat in itself, and with it being Hondas home circuit you can be sure they'll be pulling out the stops to ensure there's a repeat of Dani's runaway win last season, with Casey second in an ideal world, no offence intended to Lorenzo fans anywhere but purely to keep the season alive!

There's also a big anniversary on race day, it will be 11 years exactly that Valentino Rossi clinched his first premier class crown on his Nastro Azzzuro Honda NSR500 down at Phillip Island in what was the closest race finish in years with the top nine covered by three seconds...oh to have that kind of racing today! 

Incidentally three of those in that top nine finish were Japanese riders, a contingent that is largely absent from the three Grand Prix classes today and the series is somewhat the poorer for it. Mad samurai warriors like the Aoki's, Harada, Ui, Tsujimura, 'cheese n' Tamada, Haga, Aoyama et al were a sight to behold in full flight and hopefully it won't be too long before we see a new batch of fast Japanese riders like Takaaki Nakagami in Moto2 and female rider Yui Watanbe in the Red Bull Rookies Cup series becoming regular championship contenders..

I have to say it's great to see Danny Kent get his opportunity in Moto2 with Tech3 for 2013, he was beginning to suffer from the same handicap as fellow county-man Scott Redding with his height becoming a bit of hindrance against the continental pocket rockets, so this opportunity will be a breath of fresh air for the Gloucestershire youngster (what do they put in the water down there?!). Also if you look at how Bradley Smith has performed on a bike with almost no development (regardless of your thoughts on how talented he is/isnt) and what is essentially a nail of a bike compared to the Kalex and Suter chassis of the Moto2 world, then the future looks bright for the Danny. Could we see him make the MotoGP step in two years? I wouldn't bet against it...

World Superbikes rounded off the season at Magny Cours last weekend in typically dramatic fashion. Aprilia's Max Biaggi held a healthy 30+ point advantage over Tom Sykes going in to the weekend but inclement weather and an uncharacteristic slip in race one from the Roman and a strong third place for Sykes meant it was all to play for in race two. Sykes did all he could do by winning the race and hoped Biaggi finished lower than 5th for the Yorkshireman to take the crown but it wasn't to be and the Italian maestro took his second World Superbike crown by 0.5 points, the closest points margin possible (as a dead-heat requires race win countback). 

There was an out-pouring of emotion on social media networks in favour of Tom winning the championship but, to be honest, it was actually Max's to lose with the points gap he had. If Tom won both races and Max followed him home both times the gap would still have been over 20 points so to say Tom lost the title is harsh on Biaggi, regardless of thoughts on his (lack of) personality. Sykes had a fantastic season, make no mistake - the teams goal back in February at Phillip Island was to finish in the Top 5, mission accomplished you would say. Bring on 2013!

This weekend, however, in a sleepy corner of the 'Garden of England' at Brands Hatch, the six Showdown contenders for the 2012 British Superbike title will fight it out over three races to see who will be finally crowned king. Shane Byrne leads the way by 9 points from uber-consistent Aussie Josh Brookes with Silverstone double-winner Alex Lowes 15 points adrift of Brookes in third and reigning champ Tommy Hill realistically, but not mathematically, out of the battle 18 points in arrears of the Lincolnshire twin. The remaining contenders of Laverty and Bridewell unfortunately, I believe, are too far back to make an impression on the top three in the championship although they can both have a big say on the race results as they're both capable of podium finishes - Bridewell was particularly quick at Brands last year on a Honda Firebalde that was actually five years old and was immediately retired after the race so, regardless of points standings, we have a minimum of six riders who all have podium potential, what a prospect!

For me its all in Shakey's hands, a double race win there at the summer round back in July and a host of dominant race wins prior to that must be ominous for the chasing pack although I have to say he was pushed well by Brookes and Hill that weekend and they weren't runaway wins by any means. Brookes was only .5s behind in race one and 1.5s in race two. Tommy Hill also has a strong record at Brands add Lowes to the mix and you have the makings of a race weekend to rival anything that happened last year...well...almost anyway, but this is motorcycle racing and anything can happen.

Byrne is in the ascendancy after his performances at Assen and Silverstone, where two of his main rivals each had rounds to forget - Hill with his starting grid crash in race one at Assen and Brookes at Silverstone who's Suzuki looked slightly down on power at the fast flowing venue, despite all his obvious efforts, compared to the Kawasaki and Honda he was chasing. Could Shakey have his off day this weekend, or was his off day at Cadwell Park in August? Has Brookes got what it takes to beat the Kent man in his own back yard or will Alex Lowes spring a further surprise, a 24 point deficit to claw back over three races is certainly achievable. It only takes a small mistake to put you on the back foot this weekend, as Brookes and Laverty will attest to from last year and if Hopper's bike hadn't reset itself on the opening lap of race two on the Sunday then race three would have had a whole different look to it...

The British Supersport title is far from over too, leathery Triumph-mounted Aussie Glen Richards holds a 12.5 point advantage over young Irish contender Jack Kennedy going in to the final two races this weekend. The Mar-Train Yamaha rider has had two rounds to forget at Assen and Silverstone after crashing out of at least one race each weekend so he has it all to do to turn his season back around and prove that the title-winning form he's shown wasn't just a flash in the pan and that he can over-come the smoothness and consistency of the old man of the series. Kennedy is definitely one for the future - whether that future goes through World Supersports or British Superbikes first is yet to be determined but he's definitely a star in the making. 

There are masses of 'if's', 'but's', 'maybe's', 'why's', 'wherefore's' and 'd'you mind if I don'ts' this weekend, possibly more than ever before as three riders can win the crown and the pressure will be at it's maximum for them all, so mistakes WILL be inevitable - how costly they are will remain to be seen. So, for those in the Eurosport coverage umbrella (sorry to you guys in South Africa who'd love to see BSB, yes that means you Ella!) for Saturday and Sunday afternoon make sure you've been to the toilet, take the phone off the hook, put a Do Not Disturb sign on the front door, if you're other half isn't in to racing sit them down and watch them change their mind (failing that throw them some cash and send them shopping, whether male or female!) and enjoy what will be possibly the most intense series of races you've ever witnessed.

I'll be there and, like a 5 year old child at Christmas, I absolutely can't wait!

Thanks for reading.

BSB Showdown Time, MotoGP & Even WSB!

A change around from the usual format to Straw Bales, in the lull of MotoGP action between Brno and Misano, and finally the calming of 'Silly Season', we can concentrate on the weekends action at Donington Park and British Superbikes for a change, looking in to the Showdown stage of the Championship.

British Superbikes

For those of you unfamiliar with the format of the British Superbikes Showdown, this weekends meeting at Donington Park was the last round that made up the 'regular' season. The top six riders in the championship now move forward to a level playing field of 500 points,  and on top of those 500 points are added the podium credits earned during the season - 3 credits for a win, 2 for second and 1 credit for third - all designed to reward the more consistent riders with a deserved advantage in the second part of the Championship.

The system has its flaws though, for example Team WFR Honda's Alex Lowes finished sixth in the championship's regular season on 146 points, a full 206 points behind leader Tommy Hill who'd scored 352. Once the Showdown rules and podium credits are applied, Alex is now only 33 points behind Tommy in the race for the title, where one race DNF by the current leader can throw the championship chase wide open - which, obviously, is the very aim of the format.

As well as Alex Lowes' deserved slot in the Showdown, a special mention to Supersonic BMW's Tommy Bridewell - for a team in its first season in BSB with almost the forgotten rider of the series, after being without a ride in the Championship at the start of the season, a fantastic effort by all concerned see's the Italian team in with a shout of the title with quite possibly the most improved rider of recent years in Bridewell, a great story with a potentially very happy ending.

Just as an example though, should the traditional championship chase still be in effect, Swan Yamaha's Tommy Hill would still lead the championship on 352 points from the Tyco Suzuki-mounted Josh  Brookes on 326 with the Rapid Solicitors Kawasaki of Shane Byrne effectively almost out of the running 97 points behind Hill, leaving it a straight fight between the top two over the last three rounds. That's still the case but now with a much narrower gap... It is harsh on the leader going in to the second phase really, after all their hard work and consistency seeing a massive advantage over some of the chasing pack wiped out just adds extra pressure to the situation. However, this is what MSVR wanted, to provide the paying fans with unrivaled entertainment in what is undoubtedly the premier domestic championship in the world and after last season you can't argue that it doesn't provide just that.

As for who will win the title come Brands Hatch in October, it's a very difficult call, not just for the reasons explained above either. If none of the 'Title Fighters' suffer a DNF, for me personally, I think Josh Brookes has his tail up after his double pole position, double fastest lap and double win at Donington yesterday, an impressive showing by anyone's standard, and will carry that forward to Assen and beyond. Tommy Hill looked a little jaded, giving 100%this weekend as he always does he couldn't lay a kangaroo skin glove on the increasingly likeable Aussie, a massive turnaround from Hill's similarly dominant display at Cadwell Park two weeks prior. Hill was chasing set-up all weekend, suffering chronic lack of grip (as opposed to team-mate Nori Haga who was suffering lack of glip, apparently) so confidence was not at it's highest throughout the meeting, a total contrast to Brookes who showed a rare moment of emotion in Parc Ferme after race two, a mark of just how much he's matured this year, both as a person and a rider. 

As a side note to that, I was fortunate enough to speak with Josh in the Paddock after qualifying, I was honest with him and said I'd been one of his harshest critics in the past but was really impressed with how he'd gone about his racing this year and how he was showing more character and maturity and that my opinion of him had changed for the better. He seemed genuinely appreciative of what I was saying - not that my opinion counts too much being just a race fan - but I'm sure I'm not the only one that has done an about-turn in their opinions of him. I also said something else to Josh, but I'll keep that back from you lot until after Brands Hatch...

Tommy has the experiences of last seasons epic Showdown with John Hopkins to draw on to combat the threat of Brookes and I think that will be invaluable as the story of the season unfolds. You know my thoughts on Tommy from my blog covering the Brands Hatch finale of 2011, he will always be a favourite of mine - well as close as I can get to having a favourite whilst accepting all other riders too, well they're all bloody good aren't they?! However, it's a split between head and heart for this one whereas last year it was Tommy all the way as I didn't want the 'dentists dream' to come over here and deny any of our boys the glory, just like the Trans-Atlantic Trophy races in days of yore, it was anyone but the Yank! Head says Brookes but heart says Hill...and your heart shouldn't rule your head! 

I'm not totally discounting Shane Byrne either who is well in the mix just 12 points back from fellow-southerner Hill, but just how well he will cope with his shoulder injury remains to be seen. Shoulder injuries are notoriously difficult to fix quickly and these next three tracks are high-speed maximum effort tracks so we wait and see just how much 'Shakey' can affect the top two before his home round at Brands Hatch. He says he'll be fit for Assen but his fit and our fit are light years apart, add to that the notorious bluff and bluster of just how serious the injury was we won't know the true extent of his fitness until FP1 in Holland.

Samsung Honda's Michael Laverty is 21 points back in fourth place, by no means out of the chase and also showed good form at Donington Park with a third and a second place so he is another carrying high confidence for the series debut at Assen on 21-23 September. Last year at this point on the sister Swan Yamaha he was 19 points back of Hill with three rounds remaining but a gravel trap excursion, after a coming together with Byrne, at Donington and a DNF in the second of three races at Brands Hatch put paid to his championship charge and he is desperate to make amends for that in 2012.

Looking at the comparison of the same point both last year and this, Brookes is the one who's greatly improved his position over 2011, finding himself just 10 points behind the leader over the 20 point deficit of last year. Tommy is 3 points to the good, Shakey is 5 points worse off and MLav 2 points further back than this time last year. Looking at the results over the final three races (remember Donington Park was the first round of the Showdown last year) of the first ever Showdown it was Tommy Hill who top scored with 118 points and no DNFs in the six races, Shane Byrne with 103 courtesy of a double victory on the final day with Laverty on 91 and Brookes the lowest scorer with 89, a DNF and distant sixth on the final day spoiling his previously consistent season. But that was last year...this is now, and its going to be an emotional roller-coaster for all concerned - riders, fans and team members alike, make sure you watch as it's a sight to behold and likely to go to the very last race, will we have the same drama as last season? Probably...

MotoGP

Over in MotoGP land we had a fantastic race in the Czech Republic at Brno. You may remember, if you've paid attention in previous blogs, that I pointed to Dani Pedrosa as a dark horse for the Championship. 

After the unfortunate injury to Casey Stoner's ankle that's ruled him out for the foreseeable future, many fans were throwing their arms up and saying 'well we might as well give Jorge the title now'...how wrong they were! 

Since Silverstone Dani Pedrosa has consistently appeared on the podium in the seven races from the British round to the latest round at Brno, the DNF at Assen was undoubtedly costly to Lorenzo's title aspirations as it's seen Dani close the gap on his rival taking 147 points to Lorenzo's 130, but its the sequences of the race results that make the most interesting reading. 

If you take the championship from Sachsenring, the Mallorcan and the Catalan have been inseparable on the podium finishing either 1/2 or 2/3 in the last five rounds, again with Pedrosa coming out on top scoring 111 to Jorge's 105 points. Without question the impetus lies with the diminutive Repsol Honda rider, this is the first season in his MotoGP career that Dani has started, and remained, fully fit and doesn't it show - winning three of the last five races including a memorable back to back at Indy and Brno.

If anyone thought the title was over and done, re-read that paragraph again. It is between these two riders and on this form, barring any injury/DNF, it will go down to the final race at Valencia in November in front of a partisan crowd, that itself would be fantastic for the sport as a whole and for the fans, who've been starved of a true down-to-the-wire championship battle since Nicky Hayden took the crown at Valencia in 2006!

I've no doubt Casey will return for Phillip Island, if not sooner and it's a mouth-watering prospect to see him wringing the neck of that RCV213V there for the very last(?) time. Valentino won there by 15 seconds in 2003, who'd bet against Casey doing the same this year just to prove a point? Honourable mention to Suzuka 8-Hour winner Jonathan Rea who deputises for the crocked Aussie at Misano and Aragon, a fantastic opportunity for the Northern Irishman to stake a claim on a seat for next season and if testing is anything to go by, he's doing that just fine.

After Dovi's not unexpected signing for Ducati, Ben Spies has unexpectedly signed for the Ducati Junior squad to campaign a factory GP13 next year alongside Moto2's own 'Crazy Joe' Andrea Iannone. Ben shares the same Superbike-derived style as Nicky Hayden who, all things considered, has gone well on the much-maligned GP12.1.2.1.3.2.1.6 (just kidding) and I think he'll do ok as he too has a point to prove after being bumped by Yamaha management to make way for the return of Valentino Rossi.

Cal Crutchlow will partner Bradley Smith in Team Rosbif, the irony of two Brits spearheading a French team not lost on the paddock comedians. This is good news for Cal and he rode the M1  accordingly at Brno securing his first MotoGP at a track he's traditionally excelled at.

Team Gresini is the final piece in the jigsaw of silly season, what of Alvaro Bautista? With Scott Redding a reported favourite to take a seat at Honda's second table and Johnny Rea doing his best to gatecrash the party it may be a while yet before that particular piece is put in place.

World Superbike

A quick nod in the direction of World Superbikes, the Nurburgring proved a happy hunting ground for the Brit Pack yesterday with admirable performances from Tom Sykes, Eugene Laverty, Leon Camier and Chaz Davies...yes Chaz Davies came of age in WSB this weekend with a third place in race one and a fine maiden win in race two, fully deserving his place for next season with the BMW Italia squad, true title contenders.

I mentioned Leon Camier too, another rider who, like Josh Brookes, I've been critical of in the past - however after watching yesterday my opinion is changing, two very mature rides and a bagful of deserved points for his efforts. Keep it up Leon, another rider I'm happy to be wrong about.

The championship fell wide open too at the Nurburgring with Biaggi falling in race two, Checa falling but remounting in race one and Melandri incredibly recording two DNF's leave the standings with Biaggi still on top from Melandri but Sykes has closed the gap in third to 26.5 points with 4 races left, all to play for!

As always thanks for reading.

MotoGP...Never A Dull Moment!

Hello and welcome to my Straw Bales Blog, if you've read it before then welcome back, if you haven't then WHERE THE HELL HAVE YOU BEEN?! 

After the almost constant stream of racing over the past few weeks we are now currently two thirds of the way through the summer break for MotoGP, and what a few weeks of racing it was leading up to this break. The title battle pendulum has swung from Jorge Lorenzo to Casey Stoner and back again, we saw Casey finally get back to winning ways at Laguna Seca and Dani Pedrosa cement his top three place in the championship. The biggest news out of the US round, however, wasn't Casey's win or Valentino's off at the top of the Corkscrew. More on that in a little while.

The race at Laguna wasn't by any means a classic of epic proportions, one televised pass in the whole race doesn't do the show justice (what show? I hear you say!). As I've said previously, MotoGP racing of late hasn't been the stuff of legend, its more a game of chess than balls-out racing...but actually it is balls out racing. You just have to watch it with a different perspective on racing, for this season at least and admire the ability and control of the best riders in the world...yes you really have to watch what's happening. Concentrate, grasshopper. These boys are stunning to actually watch, not just look at.

Lorenzo is riding on a crest of confidence after putting together a sequence of second, first and second since his skittling at Assen. Pedrosa has posted a first, second and third over the same period with Casey fairing worst with a DNF, eighth and a win. Winning margins don't make for great reading either 5s,14s, 5s and 3.5s at Laguna Seca, however, there were three different winners in that sequence so it's not down to any one rider's domination and it show's how fine the line is between a perfect machine set-up and a not so perfect one - 0.3s a lap over 25+ laps makes a small gap look huge.

Anyway enough of my aimless ramblings, there is masses of proper news to get through!

So to British Superbikes...what?...there's something MORE important than my beloved BSB?! Oh yes, the British round of World Superbikes took place at the most spectator-unfriendly (great amenities though) circuit on the calendar, the barren flatland that is Silverstone. Well what a set of...oh ok...not that either...alright, here we go then...

Prioir to the Laguna Seca MotoGP round, Factory Yamaha rider Ben Spies announced his departure from the team effective from the end of the current campaign. Ben has yet to announce his future plans but all signs point to a return to the World Superbike paddock with the BMW Italia team alongside Marco Melandri. BMW are known to have one eye on a berth in MotoGP in the near future so it may not be too long before we see him back in the premier class of racing.

We don't know the in's, out's and wherefore's of Spies' decision but I know things aren't all they seem in the gleaming garages, internal team politics are rife and Ben's results of late have been less than sparking. He has regularly been bested by both satellite Yamaha M1's, not what you would expect from a much-heralded rider such as he, also with the almost infinite adjustability of Yamaha's flagship motorcycle the American and his long-time crew chief Tom Houseman it also looks as if the team have lost there way a little with the M1, causing Ben to maybe lose some of his famed steely confidence. Either that or the Valentino Rossi deal was in the bag earlier than we expected and he jumped before he was pushed....

As for the artist formerly known as the Honey Badger (was it @GuyHAnderson pointing out it had an anal pouch that changed his mind?!), Cal Crutchlow has reigned in his chest-beating 'I deserve a factory ride' of a few weeks ago and all the Ducati speculation of pre-Mugello has died a death somewhat. Could be that Cal may well be falling victim to the wrong passport colour and the dreaded MotoGP politics that blight so many riders every year? I'm not sure this is such a bad thing to be honest. He still has an offer on the table for two more years at Tech3, on a bike he clearly gets on with and that - as ably demonstrated by his team-mate - is undeniably podiumable (it's my blog and I'll use what words I want). Cal needs to shake the monkey off his back of finishing fourth though - a couple of podiums before the end of the season will underline his potential in the class and his right to be there. It may well pan out that Yamaha, similar to HRC with Gresini, provide a full factory M1 to the team and Cal would be better served securing that seat than a potentially career-killing Ducati GP13.

His team-mate is a more difficult connundrum (can anyone hear the Countdown music?). Andrea Dovizioso, it seems, will definitely move on from Herve Poncheral's team after the Valencian GP in November but his intended destination is still up for debate. Is he going to Ducati? In MotoGP? In WSB? Or Honda...er, no, not after he forced HRC's hand to keep him on last season no.He's on the same Blacklist as Valentino Rossi. Most recent murmurings have him on the Ducati GP13 for next season, a move that may well raise eyebrows after he said in one TV interview that Ducati, for him, wasn't an option. MotoGP smoke and mirors yet again...? If Dovi does well on the Desmo and turns it around, kudos falls with him in doing something that the greatest rider of the modern era couldn't do - tame the beast. However, I'm not sure that his 250cc-derived style will suit the Bologna Bullet, after all, it didn't work for Capirossi, Melandri or Gibernau did it?! If he can adapt his style to suit the bike, rather than the other way round of more recent high-profile attempts, then who knows what could happen.

And so to the return of the prodigal son to his spiritual home of Yamaha after what will be two seasons in the MotoGP wilderness, chasing what should have been a marriage made in motorcycle racing heaven but, from his first lap of the Valencia test in 2010, was destined to be a nightmare realtionship of epic proportions for two of Itay's biggest icons, Valentino Rossi and Ducati. 

The furore on social media networks as his return was announced to the waiting world was a sight to behold. People openly weeping, some offering their first-born children in gratitude to Yamaha for his safe return (ok, that was a lie!) and heralding the return of the king! Did everyone see it like that? No... reality check time. 

Many fans are split at the news of VR's return, some saying he's failed at Ducati, some saying Ducati have killed the reputation he once had. I'm not that severe in my thoughts but I do think he's left unfinished business there and this may well be more damaging for Ducati than Rossi in the long run. Ducati spent millions of euro's in developing the bike he wanted, every new update brought fresh anticipation that they had turned the metaphorical corner (by loading the front confidently, of course) only to be denied with yet another spectacularly average result. The gain for Ducati was if he could develop a bike for all, a Yamaha/Ducati hybrid, sadly we'll never know, I hope the next incumbent of that seat can push them forwards and get the results the little factory deserve, much of that rests with Nicky Hayden too,who's results have out-shone his more illustrious team-mate of late and who's style is vastly different...a lesson to be learned?

The first and biggest point to makeis that the M1 he will throw his leg over in November at Valencia is not the baby he said bye bye to so emotionally at the end of 2010, that was the 800cc variant in which he had a massive say in development with alongside the godfather of the project, Masao Furasawa. The M1 he will ride has Rossi/Furusawa DNA but has been driven forward by Jorge Lorenzo and Ramon Forcada - it's their bike now, it's the complete role-reversal of Lorenzo joining Yamaha in 2008 to ride Rossi's bike. This bike is brand new from the ground up and is tailor made for Lorenzo, that's not to say that Rossi wont ride it well - he will - and it will suit his style far more than the Ducati was ever going to do.

Don't be sucked in to thinking that Rossi will pick up his 10th world championship in 2013, step back, have a good long look. He will be more competitive no doubt about it, he will almost certainly add to his tally of 46 wins for Yamaha but the Championship is a different level now. The Jorge lorenzo he left behind has grown in to almost the complete racer. He isn't intimidated by anyone, has a better record than his new team-mate over the last what will be three seasons and will be the team's number one rider in 2013, potentially with his second premier class championship under his belt to boot. It was the threat of Lorenzo that pushed Rossi to train harder than ever in early 2010 and he is acutely well aware of the young Mallorcan's ability and prodigious talent and also, at 34 years of age when next season begins, time is running out for the mercurial Italian to re-assert his authority in what will be the most hotly anticipated championship of all.

What isn't confirmed as yet is whether or not his crew will move with him. it wasn't until a month or so after Vale announced that he was moving to Ducati that Burgess, Briggs and co (sounds like a firm of lawyers!) also announced there intention to move, with Alex briggs tweeting that they were there at the start of the journey so it's only right to be there at the end. This was all when it seemed that VR was destined to retire at the end of his two year deal with the Bologna factory, so maybe the Aussies all had designs on hanging the pass on the back of the door for the last time at the end of this season and spending some well earned time with their families, especially JB who's wife has been very ill in recent years. Not only do the crew require wages, they also require numerous business-class flights from Australia to where ever in the world they are required to be...and they aren't cheap! If Yamaha are requesting VR brings sponsorship with him and 'only' offering a reported wage of around 4-5 Million euros, a further multi-thousand Euro airfare bill on top may well be something Yamaha could do without. After all, there is already a full team of technicians left following Spies' departure, not to mention ex-Rossi crew members in Stoners garage.

I have a sporting wager of one pint of beer with a good friend on Twitter, @_paulthomas_ believes that Valentino will win a race before the circus reaches Barcelona next season, which this year was round five. I believe he'll podium in that time but a win is too big an ask for me, who knows what damage the Ducati saga has caused mentally and to his confidence. Factor in the rest of the competion - Pedrosa will be keen to make his point in what could be his last season with HRC (and have a potential World Championship under his belt if things go his way!), Marquez will be keen to assert himself on the championship from the off - if not keen to assert himself on other riders who dare to be on the line he wants... Bradl will be fresh from an excellent debut year, Crutchlow may well be on identical machinery to Rossi but if Mugello was anything to go by then he'll not manage to pass him, and then there's the rest...who wont challenge much beyond the top 5 sadly. So I think my bet is reasonably safe, although I won't be disappointed if I lose either!

The bottom line is the GOAT is still hungry, he's proved that in the wet on that nail of a bike that he still has the speed and commitment to make a difference. I would love to see him back on top of the podium, with his big smile and back to 'I'm veeery veeery 'appy, thanks to-a my guys they-a give-a me a great-a bike-a, we go veeery fast and I arrive-a in first-a place. Ciao'

Welcome back VR, you've been missed.

Thanks for reading.