It must be getting a tad chilly down under these days, and I don’t mean in Australia. Honda just did a press release confirming they they are in discussions about supplying engines to Kenny Roberts’ MotoGP team for the 2006 season, assuming that Team KR can find the sponsorship necessary to lease the motors from Big Red. This is surprising for a few reasons…

First and foremost, is the fact that Honda and Kenny Roberts have never been on particularly friendly turns. Roberts made his reputation as a motorcycle racing demi-god by campaigning Yamahas. First against the might of Harley and Honda in American dirt track, then road racing against Honda, Kawasaki and Suzuki in the AMA Formula One and finally winning three consecutive 500 GP titles against Honda and Suzuki. Did you notice the name that was consistent across all those years of racing rivals? Additionally, Roberts has stated publicly for the past eight years that his aim for creating his TeamKR GP bikes was to best the major manufacturers in general and Honda in particular.

On the other side of the coin, Honda is a very traditional Japanese company where loyalty is the highest virtue. When a rider, a manager or a vendor breaks that bond then they are rarely ever invited back into the hallowed halls of Honda. Given Honda’s long history of working against Roberts, not to mention his long history of bad mouthing the Japanese firm, it seems strange from both sides that the two would come to an agreement to partner up in MotoGP.

From Robert’s perspective he may not have a choice. With KTM dissolving their partnership midway through the ‘05 season and with sponsorship money become harder and harder to find, I’m sure Team KR knows they can’t rejuvenate on their old V5 development program in order to build a competitive motor. As I said in a blog write-up this past February, building motors is the downfall of most small motorcycle producers and I’m sure many of the same roadblocks lie before a small race shop as well. The current Honda motor is among the best in the class and I’m sure they have a head start over everyone else in developing their 800cc engine. Having a competitive motor would allow the Roberts gang to cut costs and focus on handling which is where the TeamKR bikes have always excelled.

From Honda’s perspective I think that working with TeamKR, like their partnership with Moriwaki, would accomplish a few things. First, it would keep another team in the MotoGP championship which I’m sure is vitally important to both Honda and the FIM since a world series with only two or three manufacturers involved loses all of its legitimacy. Second, Honda has always promoted the idea of having strong involvement in the GP series by factory supported satellite teams. In the 90s, Honda created a lower cost (but only marginally competitive) 500cc V-twin specifically to provide to satellite teams that couldn’t afford the astronomical leasing costs of the four cylinder bikes. They have done the same in the 250cc class by retiring their NSR GP racer and instead using a more mundane RSW250 which is available to other teams (but using factory kit parts to bump up its performance for star riders like Dani Pedrosa). To that end, having another bike on the grid powered by a Honda motor would help fulfill their dream of moving MotoGP more in the direction of Formula One where companies build engines and teams build chassis.

Okay, so all that makes sense. What’s the rub? Well, if there was ever someone that is not a company mouthpiece it has gotta be King Kenny. That Honda would align themselves with someone that has been so blatantly critical of them for the past three decades is amazing. Additionally, look at the risks involved. If the Honda powered Roberts bike could actually be competitive it would be taking prestige away from Honda. After all, if the TeamKR bike wins then it implies the Honda chassis is flawed. If the bike, like the current Moriwaki project, can’t hang with the big boys then KR is probably the first person who will be critical of the partnership and/or the engine’s capabilities which isn’t going to do Honda’s marketing department any favors. Either way, there is definitely a lose-lose situation brewing.

Another person that will likely be hurt by his is Yamaha. While the relationship between Roberts and his former employer has been tenuous at best over the past few decades there has nevertheless been a continual effort by Yamaha to use Roberts’ successes in their marketing. Lets face it, Yamaha built their entire 50th Anniversary celebration at this year’s USGP around Robert’s GP victories in the early 80s. If Honda starts supplying motors to Kenny’s race team the facade of him bleeding yellow will certainly be broken. I’m not sure who will faint first at the sight of a Honda ad with Roberts in it, the marketing department at Yamaha or the fans who grew up watching bumblebee bikes dominating the AMA series in the 70s.

Don’t get me wrong, as I said when KTM stepped in with motors earlier this year I think it is fantastic to have Kenny Roberts involved in the sport. Not only does his involvement represent the best of the David versus Goliath situation, his personality harks back to a time before riders were hired as mouthpieces for sponsors rather than to win championships. The very issues that make a potential partnership with Honda so unlikely are the same reasons I want to see him in the paddock in ‘06. Still, no matter what the personalities and corporate cultures that are involved, the real trick will be for TeamKR to find the cash required to go racing with *any* motor, Honda or otherwise. Once they’ve overcome that hurdle then we can see if a V5 Honda appears in their chassis.

Once before on this blog I mentioned that Hell must be freezing over and that was when Mick Doohan was let go by Honda. With this latest rumor of a partnership between Roberts and HRC I’m sure the demons are buying ski gear in hades tonight!

[image from the Saro di Bartolo web site.]

The Internet rumor mill was churning for the past week with a series of reports about what HRC’s General Manager Tsutomu Ishii may or may not have said concerning Honda’s lead riders for 2006. The first report claimed that Ishii-san declared development of the final version of the RC211V would be put squarely upon the shoulders of Nicky Hayden and Marco Melandri. Then, a few days later, a story was released denying any such thing and saying development may yet fall to more experienced riders.

Well, after watching this weekend’s innaugural MotoGP race at the Istanbul Park Circuit in Turkey, I’d have to say Honda should have stuck to the initial story. Both Melandri and Hayden have looked spectacular at the past few races and both put on strong performances at Turkey to prove they have Valentino Rossi in their sights for next year. Besides, who else could Honda depend on for bike development next year? The Repsol team, which has always carried the standard for HRC, will be Hayden teamed with 250 star Dani Pedrosa. HRC will be looking to Pedrosa for leadership on the smaller 800cc bike in 2007 but surely they wouldn’t make him their lead rider in his first season in MotoGP. Likewise, Melandri will be joined by Toni Elias on the Gresini team. Elias has improved steadily in 2005 but won’t be ready to upstage his new teammate, especially if Melandri ends the season runner-up to Rossi this year. The Sito Pons team will be Max Biaggi and Carlos Checa. Both riders bring a lot of experience (and sponsorship cash) but based on their results this year it would be suicide to bank on them next year. Finally, Makoto Tamada will likely be back and while Honda always likes to back Japanese riders it would be a political nightmare to give him the development role while passing over faithful Honda teams like Pons or Gresini. I think the first release was correct but probably leaked out too soon (IE: before the contracts with Tamada, Checa and Elias have been inked). Whatever the official line may be right now, expect the eyes and ears of HRC’s engineers to be focused on Hayden and Melandri next year.

But at the start of this weekend all eyes were again on Sete Gibernau. Both Gresini Movistar Honda riders were fast from the first time bikes turned a wheel on the Turkish track and both set the pace in qualifying as well. However, it was the Spaniard who threw down the fastest lap once the sticky tires came out and thus would be starting from the pole position. With Gibernau’s string of crashes and mistakes over the course season the entire motorcycle racing world had to be wondering if Istanbul would finally be where Sete would turn things around.

Come race day though it was Melandri who was feeling his oats. From the time the lights went green he was on a mission. Melandri lead early but Gibernau made the pass for the lead within a few laps. However, on lap six Sete’s brain fade once again struck as the Spaniard took a tour of a Turkish gravel trap. This gifted the lead to Melandri with Hayden suddenly finding himself fighting for the lead after the Rossi curse struck Gibernau. Rossi, meanwhile, had a horrible start and was working his way past fellow Yamaha riders Colin Edwards and Toni Elias.

As few interesting things happened as the race progressed. First Shinichi Itoh, subbing for the injured Capirossi on the Ducati, was given the meatball flag for a jumped start but then failed to pull in for his penalty. He was eventually black flagged out of the race. Equally interesting, but for a more positive reason, was Chris Vermeulen who ran in the top 10 for most of the race ahead of both Makoto Tamada and Max Biaggi. He made a mistake late in the race which allowed the Japanese rider past but still stayed ahead of Biaggi till the end.

After Gibernau’s mistake on lap six the race turned into a bit of a procession. Rossi got around Hayden but seemed unable, or at least unwilling, to press the issue of the race win against his buddy Melandri. At one point Rossi turned in a record lap (later bested by Melandri on lap 17) and he repeatedly up’ed his pace whenever Hayden turned in a flier so it seemed the Italian was capable of running with Melandri. Nonetheless, all three riders ran for the final eight laps separated by a little over a second each with little change in the gap from lap to lap. Further back, Gibernau recovered from his side trip off the circuit to work back up through the field to a lonely fourth. Carlos Checa was equally alone in fifth, having gapped the chasing Yamahas but not really able to close the distance on the Honda ahead. Toni Elias turned in another impressive ride for a MotoGP rookie in this case nipping Colin Edwards at the line for sixth. Chris Vermeulen brought the Honda home in a credible 11th place.

Going into the last race of the season it looks like the battle for second place in the points has boiled down to Hayden chasing Melandri. The Kentucky Kid will have to pull 10 points on the Italian at the Valencia race in two weeks to claim the runner-up spot and that seems like a tall order given how well Marco is riding. Edwards still has a mathematical shot at second but in order for him to make up 25 points he would have to win the final race and have something bad happen to both Melandri and Hayden. Edwards could be overtaken for fouth by Biaggi since only eight points separate the two but given the Roman’s form of late that ’s not likely to happen. Gibernau needs to make up thirteen points on Mad Max to take fifth which is a distinct possibility if Biaggi has another round plagued by mysterious suspension problems and if Sete can stay out of the Spanish gravel traps.

Based on the races at Qater, Phillip Island and now at Istanbul, it seems clear that Honda does need to throw its development weight behind the youngsters. If anyone is going to beat Rossi in ‘06 it is most likely to be Melandri or Hayden. If not, and with Rossi looking likely to leave the sport in ‘07, then Melandri and Hayden will surely be the stars of the future. I have a lot of respect for the results that Biaggi has brought teams over the years (as well as respect for the sponsorship money Checa has brought those same teams) but these elder statesmen of the paddock should no longer be the leads for HRC’s R&D. Let them race for financial, political or even marketing reasons but its time for Honda to look to the future.

[image from the GPone web site.]

Yes, its true. I’m going to avoid the obvious Thanksgiving pun when describing this weekend’s inaugural MotoGP Istanbul event in Turkey. Since this is the first motorcycle event at the track it will be a new experience for crews, riders and fans. Other than some ideas about that track which riders may have gleaned while watching the F1 car races back in August all the racers will be starting with a clean slate.

The Istanbul Park Circuit is an interesting one having been designed by the same architect that sculpted the F1 tracks in Sepang and China. Best of all, he placed little odes to famous tracks around the world in his layout so riders will immediately have a little familiarity at certain places on the track. The builders weren’t stingy with the asphalt either as the track is 3.31 miles in length and 40 to 50 feet wide in places. It shows it’s non-European roots by bucking the continental trend and being run in the counter-clockwise direction. This means that left hand curves predominate (of the 14 turns 8 are left-handers). Since no one has yet ridden the track it is hard to predict how the track is going to work out but looking at the map and specs a few things seem to be likely.

First, like Sepang, the track should allow for plenty of passing. There are a wide variety of corners including some slow, tight turns that are proceeded by relatively straight fast sections. This is the norm for F1 tracks, since it is pretty much the only place the cars can make passes, but it makes for good bike racing as well. This is particularly true in three places: The 90 degree left hander after the start/finish straight, the tight left at teh bottom of a hill that is around the halfway point of the lap and, finally, the last corner on the track is a chicane with a downhill entrance and an exit leading onto the front straight. Like Phillip Island, these downhill braking zones will probably be a natural place for a rider to go for the inside line and pick up positions.

These corner descriptions bring up another interesting aspect of the track which is the elevation. The long track length, which includes four different “straights”, and the constant elevation changes mean that the teams better bring their horsepower this weekend. That usually means the Ducatis and Hondas need to be watched since they always show up with extra ponies. Finally, the track width means that multiple lines can be used going into corners and that should help encourage more passing. Since passing is what makes watching a race so exciting that is definitely a good thing.

As I mentioned above, the circuit has a little of everything. Most of the corners flow together but there is a mix of rhythm sections, slow turns, fast bends and straights. Bike setup will be tricky since the front forks have to be stiff to deal with the two hard downhill breaking areas but will then be too hard for the two ultra fast right hand kinks (one exiting the first turn and the second in the middle of the back straight). The bikes need to be stable for the long straights and to deal with the acceleration/deceleration areas but that then means they will be a handful when transitioning side to side in the “s” sections. Riders will have to decide where they want to make their compromises and that means certain people will be fast in some sections and others fast in different parts of the track.

The tire situation will again be one to watch. Since this is a new track neither Michelin nor Bridgestone have any bike set-up information. Both tire companies supply F1 teams so it will be interesting to see which company has the best transfer of information between their cage and bike divisions. It will also be interesting to see just how conservative the two companies are with their selection of tires for the weekend. Since the track has a very fast layout, expect tire wear to be a concern all weekend long. We’ll have to see if either company gambles wrong when it comes to tire life.

Naturally, there is still a lot of interesting news in the paddock. Silly season is coming to a close but there are injuries, replacement riders and job hunters still to be mentioned. After last weekend’s Australian GP, Capirossi and Roberts Jr are nursing wounds and neither will make the show in Turkey. Likewise, Bayliss and Hoffman are still out and neither will likely re-appear on a MotoGP bike this season. Ducati is replacing Capirex with Bridgestone test rider and GP veteran Shinichi Itoh. Jacque is again filling in for Hoffman at Kawasaki and Honda superstar Vermeulen is still subbing for Bayliss. All three of these riders are hoping for GP rides next year though it sounds like their current rides will not be available. Itoh is rumored to be a possibility on the D’Antin Ducati squad, Vermeulen may or may not be heavily in talks with Suzuki and Jacque is begging for something better than another year as Kawasaki’s test rider.

The first question, as always, is whether anyone can beat Rossi. The only time he has really been bested all season was when he had to learn a new circuit at Laguna Seca. The Americans had ridden there before and their 1-2 finishes over Rossi were thus explained away as home field advantage. It will be interesting to see if anyone can win against The Doctor when the track is equally new to everyone. The layout should favor Hayden because of the left hand turns so expect him to be fast. Likewise, Melandri is mostly healed from his foot injury and has returned to his early season form with strong finishes at the past few races. Since he is fighting with Nicky for second overall in the championship Marco will be up front. Checa has also woken up here at the end of the year and will want to close out his career on the Ducati with strong finishes. Expect the Duc’s power to be very helpful when accelerating out of the slow corners in Turkey. Gibernau, who has gone backwards at the last few races, will want to close to his season with Honda with an upswing before trading bikes with Checa for next year.

Then there is Rossi. Ever time a track looks to suit the faster bikes the Italian wonder boy shows that his incredible talent trumps everything. I expect to see Rossi pull some amazing passes at the Istanbul circuit especially into the downhill tight turns. Rossi was given some push back at Phillip Island by the youngsters Hayden and Melandri. I doubt he’ll be able to break away from the faster Hondas in Turkey but expect him to rule the turns.

It should be an exciting race. Fortunately, SpeedTV is showing both the MotoGP and 250GP race this Sunday so I’ll be able to settle in for an afternoon of race watching. I hope you can do the same.

[image from the Istanbul MotoGP web site.]

For awhile I was doing regular postings based on mangled motorcycle parts I found in my Box of
Shame. Well, I’ve pretty much exhausted the stories about my mechanical screw-ups so that thread is on hold until I break something else. In the meantime, I thought I’d do a few write-ups about some of my riding buddies and our trips together. Today seems like an appropriate day to start this new series of postings since it has been exactly five years since one of my closest friends passed away. This inaugural post of my Riding buddies series then is as much memorial as it is celebration of our friendship and our shared passion for motorcycles.

I first met Mike Mitten when I was in college at Georgia Tech. He and I were both computer geeks and thus haunted the computer labs in the evening and weekends. We were also both pretty unhappy with our situations at the university, both feeling like we lacked freedom and were being run through their system like anonymous degree earning robots, so becoming friends was inevitable. We both pulled the rip cord at the same time during our junior years and opted to drop out and enter the “real world”. We remained friends and met up regularly to eat, drink and trade stories. A few years later, while swapping drinks at an Irish Pub, we got to talking about motorcycles. It turned out we had both become interested in them over the years and we were both shopping for bikes. I eventually bought my old Honda CB400 and shortly thereafter Mike bought a Suzuki GS850.

At this point in time, Mike and I had known each other for about 7 years. However, it was the bikes that really fueled our friendship. By the time I moved to Colorado in ‘95, I’d ridden almost 50,000 miles on that old CB400 and on the GSXR1100 that followed it. Of those, probably half were ridden with Mike. In the three years we did rides together we covered much of Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Tennessee, South Carolina and North Carolina. We did trips up the Blue Ridge Parkway and halfway across the country to Colorado and New Mexico. We formed a small group of motorcyclist that met up on Tuesday nights at a cafe in Atlanta to talk bikes. We learned to ride together, became mechanics by working on each others bikes and even formed a staggeringly large group of mutual friends all through our common love of motorcycles.

Let me break for a moment and tell a little story about Mike’s first bike. After I bought my little Honda, Mike got the itch to buy a bike really bad. We’d been talking bikes for a few months so once I got one and was actually riding it pretty much sent Mike over the edge. He found an ad in the local paper from a guy selling an ‘82 Suzuki GS850GL that was described as being “used but running”. I went with Mike to look at the bike and I must say I questioned even that optimistic of a description as soon as I saw the thing. The bike had clearly been crashed at high speed but a stout set of crash bars had borne the brunt of the accident. The bars were twisted, the front fender was bent, the turn signals and mirrors on one side were missing and there was a healthy dose of road rash on various parts. However, Mike’s desire to own a bike clearly gave him a case of rose colored glasses and he bought the thing straight away for $250. At the time, I would have sworn the bike wasn’t capable of leaving the Atlanta city limits. The bike needed a lot of work but in the end, that old GS covered about 40,000 miles. Mike rode it to Canada, halfway across the US, up and down the east coast, everywhere in the southeast and God only knows where else. It looked like crap from the day he bought it till the day he sold it but was probably the best $250 he ever spent…

Mike eventually bought a BMW R100GS/PD which was a fantastic upgrade from the old GS. He moved up north to New Jersey for awhile and rode the old Beemer all over New England. As I mentioned above, I moved to Colorado in ‘95 and although we didn’t get a chance to ride together after that we did keep in touch via email and visits.

In 1998, Mike was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. He spent over a year going through chemotherapy and was pronounced cancer-free in the summer of 2000. Unfortunately, Mike’s immune system had taken a hell of a beating from the chemo and he ended up catching a cold that September that progressed into serious pneumonia. In October the pneumonia took a turn for the worst and eventually took his life.

My plan is to write stories not just about my riding buddies but to also share some stories from our rides. However, in this case, I’ll just let this entry stand as it is. I know this is a downer for a series of blog entries that are supposed to be about celebrating motorcycles but hey the world isn’t always sunshine and fuzzy bunnies. Mike was someone who was passionate about life, he was a dedicated motorcyclist, he was a great friend and he was a damned fine guy. Its been five years and I still miss him. So is there a motorcycling message from this? Sure. You never know what life is going to throw at you so just get out there and ride.

…Oh, and enjoy the time you spend riding with your friends.

[image from my photo collection.]

Periodically this year I have done blog entries tracking the progress of American Nicky Wimbauer’s season in the World 600 Superstock series (which is a support class for the World Superbike series. Well, it has been a couple of weeks since the last World Superbike race of the season so it is time to give a final update on how Nicky did over the course of the season.

First, his ‘05 results:

Valencia - 8th
Monza - 23th
Silverstone - 13th
Misano - 12th
Brno - 14th
Brands Hatch - 6th
Assen - DNF (crash)
Lausitz - DNF (crash)
Imola - DNS (blown motor)
Magny-Cours - 14th

Final position in 2005 World 600 Superstock championship: 15th

Now I’m sure that fifteenth wasn’t what Nicky hoped for when he started the year but I think it is a quite respectible finish. This was his first full season racing at the world level which means he was going to have to learn the tracks, deal with all the difficulties of travel and fast track his skill improvements to be able to race at that level. He had the advantage of racing for the Moto 1 team which is a very professional privateer outfit running with factory support from Suzuki but the disadvantage of never having raced any of the European riders before while many of them had been racing against each other in their national series for years.

For a little perspective on that 15th place finish keep in mind that there were a total of 37 riders from 11 different countries who scored points during the ten rounds of the ‘05 season. Unlike the 600 Supersport series which has been dominated by Honda the past few years the level of parity among the bikes in 600 STK is amazing. All four of the Japanese manufacturers were represented in the top five positions of the 600 Superstock championship. The series was lead primarily by two riders: Italian Claudio Corti on a Yamaha and Frenchman Yoann Tiberio on a Honda. Only eight points separated the two riders at the end of the season, so it was a thrilling championship to watch.

…but back to the point of this article. Nicky Wimbauer went into the season with high hopes. In the end, I doubt he is happy with his performance but as a somewhat neutral outsider I think that he did well. He was consistent with top fifteen finishes in ever race were he wasn’t taken out by another rider or didn’t have mechanical problems. He learned all the tracks and was able to improve his lap times over the course of each weekend. He showed everyone that he was a responsible rider with talent and an desire to win.

With all that said, I think Nicky now has to focus on what to improve next. I’ll be the first to admit that luck plays a big part in racing but I also think a rider sometime has to made his own luck. Wimbauer, like Nicky Hayden during the first two years of his MotoGP career, has been struggling with qualifying. There is a huge amount of pressure when racing against the clock. The mental and physical effort required to turn a single fast lap during a qualifying sessions is intense. Still, three of Nicky’s DNFs have been because of first turn incidents where he has been taken out by another rider. If Nicky can improve his qualifying then he’ll be starting further up the grid and thus lessening the chance that a mistake by another rider is going to affect him. Getting knocked down by someone else’s crash is bad luck. Qualifying well enough that you aren’t there to get hit when a crash happens is making your own luck. Job one for next year is to improve in that regard.

It hasn’t been announced yet whether Nicky will have a ride with Moto 1 next year. If not, I hope that some team owner is willing to give him another shot in one of the world roadrace series. He has shown that he is willing to take on challenges head first and that he’s got the raw talent of a champion. I’m confident that he’ll be given another chance to show off those skills some more in ‘06.

Oh and in case you are just checking in, you can read my past postings about Nicky Wimbauer here:

December of ‘04 - pre-season preview

April of ‘05 - First race review

August of ‘05 - mid-season review

[image from the Nicky Wimbauer web site.]

Last month I did a long posting announcing the start of the biennial Paris Motorcycle Show. Well, I’ll have to say that based on the press releases I read and the reports on various web sites I was pretty disappointed with the show. There are two things that I depend on to buoy my sagging spirits as the riding season draws to a snowy close and race series one by one crown their champions for the year.

The first is silly season. That crazy time of the year when riders, sponsors, team managers, lawyers and journalists all converge in a feeding frenzy of rumors, second guesses and wild hunches. For a few short months, before the cold of the Colorado mountains freezes my brain cells together, my imagination can run free with thoughts of dream teams and undiscovered young talent.

The second are the new bike announcements that at first trickle and then flood from the various manufacturers as each tires to upstage the next with innovative ideas, bold styling, technological breakthroughs and the continual game of performance oneupsmanship. Retro chic, futuristic concepts, cross genre blending and narrowly focus designs all shine as everyone tries to find the next big thing.

So I place a lot of expectations on the shoulders of the bike manufacturers to really surprise me each year and that holds doubly true for something as big as the Paris Motorcycle Show. I mean, they only bother to crank the thing up every other year so surely it isn’t unrealistic to expect something earth shaking when they open the doors. Well, this year the motorcycle makers apparently decided not to play along. Most of the major new bike announcements, like those for the Kawasaki ZX-14R, the Yamaha R1LE, the Aprilia SVX and the Triumph Scrambler, were shown to the public in early September a few weeks before the first show off the year. A few new bikes were announced, like the very interesting Yamaha MT series of roadsters and the awesome custom KTM 990 SuperDuke RR but on the whole there were disappointingly few surprises to be found at the Paris show. Even the bike declared “Best in show”, the BMW HP2, was a bike that was announced almost six months earlier. Its an interesting bike but it was old news by the time it hit the spotlight in France.

Well, ever the optimist, I’m now pinning my hopes of new bike excitement on this coming weekend’s Tokyo Motor Show. The Big Four have already announced most of their big production bikes but Honda and Yamaha always seem to pull something special out of their collective R&D hats when the Tokyo Motor Show rolls around. It is happening earlier this year than last and thus it gives the Japanese companies a chance to showcase their concept bikes on home soil rather than jumping the gun with a display at one of the European shows that historically have happened earlier in the year.

Scooters are huge in Japan and thus they will be the focus of most of the marketing buzz at the Tokyo show. Honda, intent on flipping that statement by putting a huge scooter in Japan is set to release the 900cc E4-01 scooter this weekend. Imagine putting a CBR motor into a scooter chassis! With the low center of gravity and long wheel base the thing could be a beast in acceleration. Yamaha has already leaked photos of a whole line of bizarre scooters including the hybrid powered bizarre Gen-Ryu that looks like something out of a 1950s sci-fi comic book. They also have a fuel cell scooter, an electric scooter and a two wheel drive scooter. See a trend here? But the pre-show news indicates that step-thrus won’t be the only cool bikes on display. Suzuki is supposedly going to show a production ready in-line six cylinder bike styled like an early 80s Katana. Talk about a bold statement!

Hopefully the news that comes out of Tokyo this weekend will entertain me in a way that the Paris show couldn’t quite manage. I’m all for controversial bikes…nothing gets the conversations going quite as fast as an ugly bike. It is a fascinating time of year and I love reading about it whether the bikes are making a fashion statement, a technology statement, a performance statement or just a strange statement. Viva la Tokyo!

[image from the Riding Sun web site.]

“No man is an Island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the Continent, a part of the main.”
– John Donne, Meditation XVII

That quote may be true in it’s context but there is one man that certain stands alone in the world of MotoGP and he’s quickly becoming permanently associated with an island. In this case the man is Valentino Rossi and that island is Phillip Island.

The weekend started off interestingly enough. As I mentioned in my preview on Friday both Loris Capirossi and Kenny Roberts Jr crashed their way out of the event in practice on Thursday. These wouldn’t be the only riders bitten by the high speed corners before the weekend was over.

Qualifying was typically thrilling. Carlos Checa, always a rider that seems to find his pace when contract time rolls around, was consistently fast. Max Biaggi and Sete Gibernau were also near the front for most of the session. However, when the clock started winding down it was Valentino Rossi and Nicky Hayden that set the pace. Both put in fast laps once the Q-tires came out but it was Hayden who ultimately did the business to win his third pole position of the season by setting a new lap records for the Phillip Island circuit. Rossi and Gibernau completed the front row with all three riders seperated by just 1/3 of a second.

At the other end of the grid, Franco Battaini on the WCM failed to make the 107% cut-off and thus wouldn’t normally line up for the race. For whatever reason the FIM waived the rule thus allowing him to race. I have two theories for this: First, Battaini is Italian and, coincidentally, so is most of the FIM board. I’ve bitched already this season about how Rossi wasn’t penalized after his Motegi accident when Spaniard Lorenzo was suspended for a similar accident in the 250GP class that same day. Naturally, I’m not surprised that an Italian rider is given a reprieve from the rules when it might otherwise mean he wouldn’t be riding. My second theory has to do with the depleted field caused by the absence Team Proton and then compounded by Capirossi and Roberts accidents. Surely the FIM knows that a grid of 18 bikes is bad for marketing and that losing one of those because of qualifying rules hurts even more. The FIM needs bikes on the grid to have a viable product to sell to the fans, especially with the World Superbike Series showing such strong growth this year. At this point the FIM needs everyone on a bike that they can get and thus can’t afford to disqualifying someone even if they can to compromise safety to do it. Bad juju either way.

Okay, I’ll move beyond the qualifying controversy… Once the race got under way it was Hayden who led the way off the line. The young rider from Kentucky looked confident perhaps because the track contains so many ultra fast left turns which may play to his past as a dirt tracker in America. One rider who didn’t have such a great start was Max Biaggi as the Italian crashed out about halfway through the first lap. Since Biaggi had been leading the battle for second in the points his early exit, along with Capirossi’s absence, threw the door wide open for Hayden, Melandri and Edwards to capitalize.

Almost immediately the race soon broke into small groups. The lead battle was Hayden, followed by Rossi and Melandri. Behind them, Gibernau, Edwards and Checa were locked in their own battle. Behind them came Barros, Tamada and Nakano. Rossi soon made his way to the front and brought Melandri with him. Despite showing speed in his pass on Hayden, Melandri was unable to go once Rossi had clear track in front of him and could cut fast laps. The American Repsol Honda rider, on the other hand, re-passed the Italian aboard Gresini Honda and re-closed the gap to the World Champ out front. The Yamaha rider tried his best to out pace the Honda but couldn’t shake the Kentucky Kid.

Further back, Olivier Jacque had another tough race on the Kawasaki this time pitting early with tire problems. It was announced this weekend that Jacque’s countryman Randy De Puniet will be riding the Kawasaki next year so it looks like Jacque may again be out of a job in the GP paddock. He needed some strong rides in these last wild card appearances to convince team bosses he’s got what it takes and it doesn’t look like that is going to happen. Another rider that needed a good result this weekend was Alex Barros. Unfortunately, the Brazilian threw his Honda down the track at the ultra fast Haystack corner and was lucky to survive the crash with only severe bruising. Still, a DNF wasn’t what he needed this weekend especially with rumors floating around the Carlos Checa was in talks with Sito Pons about a ride on the Camel Honda in ‘06.

Around half race distance Vale realized he couldn’t break the field and so he shifted tactics and slowed the pace. Nicky initially didn’t take the bait but with lap times two seconds a lap slower than those run by the trailing pair he eventually re-passed for the lead. However, the damage was already done. Melandri and Carlos had closed the gap and what had been a mano-a-mano struggle was now a four rider scrap. Once the gap was closed Rossi again went to the front and again dropped his lap times in an effort to break away. Meanwhile Hayden was fighting for position with Melandri and couldn’t immediately respond. It took two laps for Hayden to shrug of the pursuing riders but by then Rossi had built up a one second gap. Nicky took back a few tenths but there wasn’t enough time left to catch back up. Valentino managed the gap and won the race. Carlos used the power of the Ducati to pip Marco’s Honda at the line for third. Sete was a lonely fifth, followed by an equally lonely Colin in sixth.

Valentino Rossi’s win accomplished two things. First, it marks the Italian’s 11th win of the season. This ties his previous best record for single season victories. It also puts him just one race away from equalling Doohan’s all-time record of twelve race wins in one year of GP racing. With two races left this season, Rossi still has a chance to break that record if he can sweep both of them. The second thing accomplished by his victory was locking up Manufacturer’s Title for Yamaha. This gives Rossi a perfect trifecta for the year having won the Rider’s Championship, the Team Championship and the Manufacturer’s Championship for ‘05.

Hayden’s second place moves him into a tie with Marco Melandri for second in the championship. Edward’s sixth place finish moves him to fourth overall eight points behind the two Honda riders. Biaggi falls to sixth a further three points behind Edwards and Capirossi slips to sixth eleven points behind Biaggi. With 50 points still available in the final two races, the season runner-up is still a long way from being decided but it is quickly narrowing down to a Hayden, Melandri and Edwards contest.

…but out front Rossi is still an island unto himself.

[image from the Motocourse web site.]

Australia is a place with a reputation. It is a place where the rugged individual shines, a place with a harsh landscape that doesn’t coddle the weak and a place where men are men. Down under you entertain yourself by spending weeks on a walkabout in the desert, wrestling with a crocodile and ordering beers the size of buckets. Macho behavior is the norm and bravery is a prized virtue. Its not surprising then that when it comes to road race circuits Australia boasts a track which is not for the weak of stomach.

This weekend the MotoGP crowd shows up at the incredible Phillip Island circuit. The first sign that this isn’t your average race track is the fact that it’s located on a small island off the southern coast of Australia. The nearest major city is Melbourne but the track itself, as the name would suggest, is on Phillip Island. By being on an island, the weather can be downright tropical one minute and then blasted with gale force winds or drenched with torrential rain the next. If the riders aren’t busy fighting the conditions they are probably dodging the sea gulls. Did I mention already that riders who like the comfortable life aren’t welcome here? However, those challenges are offset by the circuit itself. Most tracks built for MotoGP are amazing venues but this track tops them all. Not only is the 2.763 mile long track one of the best designs of any track in the world it also offers a stunning back drop with the Bass Strait just a few hundred yards from the race track. On TV, the views of bikes cresting the hill at Lukey Heights is enough to make any roadrace fan want to buy a plane ticket on the spot.

The track is simply amazing. Technically, it is listed as 12 turns (8 lefts and 4 rights) but in reality is more like a roller coaster. There are two slow right turns (Honda and MG corners) but everything else is just one high speed lean after the other. Three of the turns are taken in third gear at around ninety miles an hour but it is the turns of Doohan Corner, The Hayshed and Turn 12 that really make this an Aussie style track. All three are taken in fourth gear with the bikes going around 120 mph. Then, as if that wasn’t fast enough, the long Gardner Straight has the bikes nearing 200 mph. Since Doohan corner comes immediately after this top speed run it means the bikes are scrubbing off around 80 mph and then sliding the bike through the right hander at a buck twenty. While the bike is still scrubbing off speed the riders have to transition from one side to the next for the Southern Loop left hander which is taken in third gear at around 80mph. The faint of heart need not apply at this track.

Because of the incredibly high average speed and because the slowest spots on the track are still above 50mph the bikes have to be set up soft. No need to stiffen up the front forks for hard breaking instead keep the bike a little loose so the riders have the feel they need while banked over in the Hayshed. With ultra fast left turns dominating the track the tires are crucial. Bridgestone and Michelin have been going at each other in the past few races so it will be interesting to see which tire brand has the advantage on the Island. Keep a close eye on the bikes as they accelerate through Turn 12 and onto the front straight as that will be the first place shagged tires start to show themselves.

When it comes to the riders a few things have already sorted themselves out. During the first practice session on Thursday two riders had sickening violent accidents. First, Kenny Roberts Jr was high-sided off his Suzuki at 180mph at the end of the Gardiner Straight. The resulting rag doll routine through the gravel trap resulted in a broken left wrist. Since Roberts is still unsigned for ‘06 and since this injury will probably take him out for the rest of the season this is particularly tragic for the ex-world champion. It will be doubly so if it rains on Sunday. The second accident was nearly identical as Loris Capirossi was ejected from his Ducati at the same spot and at the same speed. At first the Italian seemed uninjured but Thursday night started feeling some chest pain and was brought to the hospital for tests. It was found that he had badly bruised his lungs and was bleeding internally. He’s been in the med shack ever since. He is out for the Aussie race and probably for Turkey as well. Capirossi was in the amazing battle that has been raging for second place in the championship and given the momentum he has had after his Motegi and Sepang victories he looked good to win that runner-up spot. His crash not only hurts Ducatim but also hurts Bridgestone since he was probably their best hope for a win as well.

Bayliss is out for the rest of the season with his broken wrists and with the recent announcement that he’ll be racing for Ducati in World Superbike in ‘06 he won’t be seen anywhere near the Camel Honda garages for the remainder of the season. One Australian’s loss is another’s gain as Chris Vermeulen makes his MotoGP debut while subbing for Bayliss. All the young WSBK star has to do is stay upright, run mid-pack and show he can cope with 250hp. If he can pull that off, he’s pretty much assured a Honda MotoGP ride next year. Hoffman is still of the Kawasaki due to injury but is again being replaced by Olivier Jacque. After the Frenchmen’s visit to the hospital in Doha from his practice crash I think he probably has the same goals as Vermeulen…stay upright and finish the race. Melandri is still recovering from his foot injury but given his fifth and second place finishes since Japan it doesn’t seem to be an issue. Expect him to run up front.

Of those not on the injured list Rossi again tops the list of riders to mention. He pulled a seemingly impossible move last year to win the race. Phillip Island is perfect for the agile Yamaha as the transition from side to side at high speed is where the bike really shines. Like Mugello, the M1 may get beaten down the straight by the Hondas and Ducatis but expect Rossi to own the first and second turns. Perhaps the second rider to watch is Nicky Hayden. He’s always done well at the Island, including a third in ‘03, and is coming off a podium at the previous race. As has been said before, the Honda rider needs momentum and he started that in Qater. Biaggi needs a good race to bounce back from his disastrous weekend at the Losail circuit. He’s also still looking for a job so needs to put in that little bit extra. Capirossi being out takes some pressure off the Roman but the gap he has over Melandri, Edwards and Hayden for second overall is still only seven points. Speaking of which, all three of those riders were faster than Biaggi in the opening practice so keep an eye on them… As much as I hesitate to say it, another rider with a history of strong finishes in Australia is Sete Gibernau. The only momentum the Spaniard has had recently is with making mistakes so he could desperately use a little Phillip Island magic to rejuvenate his confidence. Finally, there are the guys that always seem to pull something out of the hat at the end of each season in an effort to get a ride. GP veterans Barros and Checa were both fast in the early practice and both are desperate to get offers for ‘06. They may show a little extra Aussie-like manliness on Sunday if it will help impress the team bosses.

SpeedTV is showing the MotoGP race at 9am (MDT) on Sunday but sadly are delaying coverage of the 250s until Tuesday. Its bad enough that they have been delaying World Superbike and AMA but now MotoGP? Speed, I thought you were our friend? Et tu, Brute? What do you guys expect me to go on Sunday afternoon, go on walkabout?

[image from the Australian Motorcycle GP web site.]

Word leaked out of the Team Kenny Roberts Proton camp this week that they are going to be testing their old 2004 V5 in a couple of weeks to see if it can be made race ready for the season ending MotoGP race at Valencia on November 6th. This isn’t really a surprise because Team KR said just before the Japanese GP that they would be skipping the fly away races and were hoping to come back for the last race of the year. What is surprising is that the rider tipped to be sitting on the bike at this test is Kurtis Roberts.

Alright, so why am I surprised at that you must be thinking. Now I’m plainly aware that Kurtis is the son of Team KR owner Kenny Roberts and I’m also aware that Kurtis is currently without a ride for ‘06. What strikes me as at least a little bit odd about this situation is that despite Robert, Sr calling the shots over in the Proton garage the MotoGP world is still a viciously political place. Take the following into consideration:

In 2004 Kurtis raced the Proton V5 for dear old pops. That season, by everyone’s account, was a disaster. The bike lacked power, the engine was unreliable, the Dunlop tires were crap and Kurtis spent nearly as much time crashing as racing. At the end of the year Kurtis was pretty liberal with the press with his view of the state of the bike and opined on a few occasions that he felt he’d been mislead by the team at the beginning of the season as to the competitiveness of the bike. This sort of verbal spewage is the norm for Kurtis, and for that matter for his father, so no surprise there. The youngest son of King Kenny split not only with the Team KR crew but also with his management company and returned to the US to race Superbikes for Erion Honda in ‘05.

While I’m sure the paternal bond between KennyR and KurtisR was strong enough to smooth over that bump in the familial road it probably still stuck in the craw of some of the management and crew back at the offices in Banbury. I suspect that when Kenny casually walked into the place and mentioned that he was inviting his son to test the bike in a couple of weeks more than a few people were gritting their teeth and mumbling behind their hands. (If the bike grenades in the first test session and sends Kurtis flying into a gravel trap I’m guessing it won’t be from an actual mechanical failure). Basically, it shows both how thick the blood in the Roberts clan is and how much control Robert Senior wields over his shop that a rider who was blatantly critical of their bike can get invited back into the team after less than a year.

The second reason I’m surprised by this is what Kurtis himself could be risking. When Kurtis returned to the US for ‘05 aboard a Honda Superbike it seemed he was returning to his destiny after a short international vacation in MotoGP. While I’ve never been happy about his attitude I’ve also never questioned his talent and at least from that perspective was glad to see him back in this country. Kurtis left the AMA series immediately after winning two Superbike races and looked for a short time there like he could be the one to challenge the dominance of Mat Mladin. In ‘04, the Honda CBR Superbike was a potent weapon and it was Superbike rookie Jake Zemke that took the fight to the Yoshimura Suzuki rider that year. By the time Kurtis returned to a place aboard a Honda Superbike the landscape had shifted significantly. American Honda brought their superbike development effort in house and the three riders (Zemke, Duhamel and Roberts) were given the task of turning the CBR into a contender. That never really happened throughout the season and the Erion squad suffered the worst in this new role since they lacked the resources of American Honda. Rather than fighting for the wins Kurtis was usually struggling to break the top ten.

Giving a remarkable rider uncompetitive hardware is bad enough but giving the vocal Roberts a pile is just asking for trouble. Roberts did what he does best…he bitched and moaned about the bike to the press at every opportunity. While Team KR may be forgiving of harsh criticism, Honda has never been known to have that particular trait. Someone probably pointed this out to Roberts because he toned down the negative comments considerably after the mid-point of the season. I don’t know if Kurtis has already been shown the door at Big Red since it doesn’t appear there is a ride available there next year but I’m sure that riding for one of their rivals (no matter how uncompetitive the bike may be) at the last race of the MotoGP season isn’t going to do him any favors in the land of sushi. Maybe the Proton test is just a sign that he has not other options left open to him for next season.

Alright, so I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. The youngest Roberts kid is a great rider. He should be on a competitive bike at least in the AMA series if not in an international one. However, he also needs to prove he deserves it. That isn’t just by being fast or winning a few races but by putting away his truck load of pride and getting down to the task of riding whatever he’s given. If he can get a gig in ‘06 riding his Pappy’s Proton, he should take it. Developing the original two-smoke Proton is how his older brother earned the Suzuki ride that eventually took him to a championship. If Kurtis gets invited back under a Honda tent in ‘07 he better show up with a smile and ask what he can do to help build the bike into something that can run at the front even if that means testing forks springs for weeks on end or riding around in 12th place for every race. And primarily, no matter where he ends up, he better learn to zip it. This just means he’ll have to work doubly hard because, as we all know, *that* skill doesn’t run in the bloodline.

[image from the Team KR web site.]

Last weekend at the Magny Cours circuit in France the books were closed on the 2005 World Superbike season. I’ll do a full season review soon but here is my race review.

First of all, while this was the end of the season it was the start of better things for at least two riders: Chris Vermeulen and Lorenzo Lanzi.

Race 1: the Chris Vermeulen story. With rain at Imola ending any chance that the Australian had of bringing the World Superbike title to Honda this year the only thing left for the youngster to do was to win races. With the news out that Chris would be racing the last three MotoGP rounds in place of the injured Troy Bayliss it wasn’t really like he needed to impress anyone but that was clearly his goal at Magny Cours. Vermeulen absolutely destroyed all comers in Superpole to turn in a time nearly half a second faster than anyone else. When race time rolled around he did a repeat of that crushing performance. When the light went green in race one he simply checked out on everyone else. Suzuki mounted Kagayama ran fast enough trying to catch the Ten Kate Honda that he pulled away from the battle for third but was never a threat to Vermeulen out front. Therefore the focus of the race shifted back to a stellar fight between Toseland and Muggeridge. For the Ducati mounted Englishman it was an effort to convince the Italian company that he should be on their payroll in ‘06. For the Honda mounted Aussie, it was simply a chance to show everyone he is as talented as his spotlight grabbing teammate. Both proved their points but it was Toseland that made the last of the close passes shared by the two riders but even then the final outcome wasn’t clear until the last corner. Corser brought his Suzuki home in fifth, not exactly what he was looking for after claiming at Imola that he would win again at the final round to prove his championship wasn’t a fluke.

Race 2: the Lorenzo Lanzi story: In qualifying before the race, it was the up and coming Ducati star Lanzi who had been the fastest man on the circuit. He couldn’t quite match that performance in superpole but still found himself second on the grid. In race one, Lanzi had tire problems which held him back for an eventual ninth place finish. Race number two is actually two stories. The first, which only lasted to the first corner, is less about any particular rider and more about how dangerous motorcycle racing can be. When the lights went green the entire field stormed into turn one at around 90 miles per hour in third gear. Muggeridge had some sort of problem which sent him careening into the back of Pitt. This started a chain reaction that also took down Bussei, Martin and the French wildcard Da Costa. Muggeridge and Bussei were both transported with injuries. Pitt and Da Costa limped back to their pits and their backup bikes for the restart. Martin didn’t have a spare Foggy bike and was thus done for the day. The story of the second start was all Lanzi. In order to make up for his heartbreaking result in the first race, after building such high hopes in qualifying, Lanzi came out for the race two restart on a mission. Vermeulen got the holeshot at the light and actually pulled nearly a second gap over the rest of the field. Lanzi, however, was not to be denied. He used his factory Ducati motor loaned to his Caracchi team to its full potential and turned in a new lap record to close the gap back down. Lanzi’s speed also allowed him to pull away from the trailing scrap between Kagayama and Haga. They, in turn, pulled a gap over an equally fierce fight between Brits Toseland and Walker. After Lanzi closed the gap up front he seemed content to follow Vermeulen and look for a chance to strike near the end of the race. That opportunity was gifted to the Italian sooner than expected when the lead Honda’s chain jumped the sprocket on lap 18 and ended Vermeulen’s day. Lanzi, who now had a huge lead, maintained his pace and took his second win of the season. As the race wore on, Yagayama was able to break Haga to end the most spectacular tussle on the track and thus to secure a second place result. Haga held on for the final podium spot in third. ‘05 Superbike title holder Corser found some late race speed to pass the two Englishmen and nab a fourth place finish. The intra-country competition between Toseland and Walker was eventually won by the injured Kawasaki rider despite a spirited defense by the Ducati mounted ex-champ. Walker deserves that fifth place more than anyone given the amazing ride he put in despite still recovering from a broken elbow.

So it is the end of the year for Superbikes. As I said at the start of this article this weekend also marked two beginnings. For Vermeulen, this starts his internship in MotoGP as he will spend the couple of months racing the Camel Honda as a replacement for Bayliss. He’ll be racing at home in Australia this coming weekend, then at a track in Turkey that is new for all the riders and finally the season closer at Valencia. If Vermeulen can put in respectible performances aboard the RC211V then he will be assured of a MotoGP ride in ‘06. Its hard to get a better new beginning than that. For Lanzi, his win at Magny Cours has assuredly locked up his ‘06 ride on the factory Ducati. Having an Italian rider aboard the Italian bike is always a dream of both the company and it’s fans. Lanzi has put in some spectacular rides this season aboard a privateer Ducati and seemed to naturally fall into this position once Laconi was injured. His results speak for themselves in that regard. Whether the 999 can be competitive near year against the in-line fours is yet to be seen but they have a rider who is certain to add excitement to the series in 2006.

Congrats to both of these young riders for having such a strong finish for the season and best of luck to them as they take the next step in their respective careers.

[image from the motoring.co.za web site.]