A lot has been written in the magazines lately about the new Motoczysz bike (both Cycle World and Roadracing World have done recent articles) and the bike is also generating a lot of buzz on the blogs and motorcycle news web sites. Add in the recent magazine articles and books about John Britten’s bikes in the early ’90s and the buzz Kenny Roberts is generating with his KTM engined Proton MotoGP bike and you have full blown resurgence in underdog appreciation.

First, let me say that the MotoCzysz project is very cool. Any time someone goes into their garage and comes out with something that is new, interesting and more importantly that actually works, it is worth celebrating. That this team have put together something on their own is fantastic and I wish them all the best.

However, with that said, I think much of the buzz is more wishful thinking than honest appraisal. Everyone wants to see the underdog succeed. Lots of folks want to see someone stick it to the man. We grew up with fairy tales about the little people accomplishing the impossible. How can you not want to see Motoczysz come up with a viable MotoGP bike? Not to throw a wet blanket on the excitement but lets look at the three most recent examples with a critical eye…

First, I’ll commit the heresy of actually criticizing the Britten. The bike was many thing…innovative, beautiful, soulful sounding, creative and powerful. But as a race bike, it still needed a lot of refinement. I saw the thing race two different times: First in ‘92 at Daytona with Andrew Stroud and then again a year later at Road Atlanta with Nick Ienatsch. Both times the bike was stunningly fast but its handling characteristics were scary to watch. At Daytona, the bike had a high speed weave so pronounced it was visible from the pit area. Likewise, at Road Atlanta I talked with Nick in the pits and he mentioned the Britten he was riding had a head shake on the back straight which was causing him to roll off the throttle before the old “Gravity cavity”. To paraphrase Rob Muzzy “underpowered bikes always handle well”. Its getting them to handle well with power that is the trick. Additionally, the Britten suffered from reliability issues. The 1992 Dayonta Twins race came to an end with a failed electrical connector. Ienatsch’s Road Atlanta race ended even worse when one of the cam belts broke and wrecked the motor. The extreme of this is the 1994 Isle of Man disaster where a carbon fiber wheel came apart resulting in the death of rider Mark Farmer. The Britten was revolutionary but even after years of development was far from a finished product.

Second, the TeamKR Proton which hopes to start its ninth year of GP competition next season and has long been touted as the ultimate “David versus Goliath” story with Mr. Roberts and his gang taking on the might of Japan. While the image has a grand romantic story book quality too it, the analogy isn’t very accurate unless David’s main job was harassing Goliath with spit balls. The V3 version of the Proton had great promise but other than a few odd rain races or heroic qualifying sessions, the bike failed to live up to its lofty goals. The V5 four-stroke had an even more abysmal record despite having even more hype surrounding it. Initial reports of the new KTM motored version indicate their back sliding may have stopped but it has a long way to go in both reliability, power and rider results before the project can truly be considered an effective alternative to the power of Japan, Inc.

Finally, no Grand Prix underdog article can really be written without at least mentioning the WCM Grand Prix machine. So there, I’ve mentioned it. Nothing more really needs to be said…

I’m excited to see another person enter the fray that is roadracing competition with their own bike and I think the project may generate more interest in the Laguna Seca round of the 2005 MotoGP season since it is certain to continue to get more press. That is also a good thing. But I’m very skeptical that they’ll make the race or, if they do, that they’ll qualify. Its a long way from a garage in Portland to a garage in the big leagues of MotoGP. Still, skepticism be damned, I’ll keep my fingers crossed for them since I like to cheer for the underdog too…

[image from USA Superbike web page]

Fire one up, dude!

At the beginning of last year, things probably seemed pretty good for Michelin. They still had a virtual lock on MotoGP and were part of a full factory effort by Ducati to win the AMA Superbike series after a ten year shutout. I’m sure they were still hurting from World Superbike’s decision to become a Pirelli only series but at least that affected all the tire manufacturers equally. By March, they had taken pole at Daytona, Rossi had put the hammer down in South Africa and the lap times being turned by World Superbike riders were almost two seconds off those set by Michelin riders the previous year. 2004 was going to be a sweet year.

Now fast forward 10 months. With last month’s press release that the factory Ducati MotoGP team would run Bridgestones , this week’s announcement that the Austin Ducati AMA team would run Dunlops and the requirement that the Fila SBK squad use Pirellis, the long-standing image of Ducati’s rolling on Michelin tires has been obliterated.

In fact, with Aprilia seemingly out of MotoGP and Ducatis defection Michelin has lost four Grand Prix riders while only gaining Tamada whose Honda will apparently use the French tires. Another black eye for Michelin was the clear superiority of the Bridgestone qualifying tires in MotoGP as Tamada, Roberts, Hopkins and Nakano all had impressive qualifying times during the previous season. It was even rumored that the Bridgestone rain tires were better but its much harder to quantify that since rider skill, race strategy and bike setup are so much more difficult to separate out during a wet race. (Bridgestone’s highest achievement though was their win at Motegi where a Japanese rider Makoto Tamada on a Japanese Honda motorcycle won the race using the Japanese Bridgestone tires.)

In the AMA, the Michelin tires were a clearly less developed tire compared to the Dunlops which have ruled American road race tracks for almost a decade. It is likely that some of the factory supported teams, like Valvoline Suzuki, will continue to run Michelins in 2005 but none of the factory teams will be providing the much needed technical feedback so the tire R&D can catch up to Dunlop.

Even though the Pirellis were slower at every World Superbike round, the politics of that series mean that they are unlikely to return to the former rules allowing factory teams to run their own tires. Hopefully, with so many riders helping with development, the Pirellis will become a better tire so all those lap records set on Michelin tires will eventually fall as well. On the other hand, if the Pirellis don’t improve their grip then the vicious highsides caused by lots of power and hard tires will result in so many rider injuries that another brand may be brought in to replace them in the name of safety…

Is Michelin going up in smoke? Doubtful but it does appear they’ll have to work that much harder to regain some of the ground they’ve lost for 2005.

[image from www.superbikeplanet.com]

The name Honda is synonymous with winning. Not just winning but dominating. The names of Honda champions reads like a who’s who of the top riders across all disciplines of motorcycle racing: MotoGP: Hailwood, Spencer, Doohan, Rossi. World Superbike: Merkel, Edwards. AMA Superbike/Supersport: Merkel, Rainey, Duhamel, Hayden. Supercross/Motocross: Johnson, Stanton, McGrath, Carmichael. Honda’s might has even been felt in World Endurance (Polen), World Motocross (Everts) and World Trials (Lampkin).

So what went wrong in 2004? After years of dominating, 2004 was almost a complete wash for Honda. Even their star riders left for other factories with Rossi going to Yamaha and Carmichael going to Suzuki. Perhaps the most prestigious title for 2004 was their World Supersport championship with Karl Muggeridge. Certainly short of their previous MotoGP, World Superbike, AMA Supercross/Motocross titles.

Ultimately, I think the problem goes back nearly two decades and is fundamentally rooted in Honda corporate culture. They are a company that thrive on technical challenges and excel in their R&D. Honda’s innovation includes their multi-cylinder GP bikes of the ’60s, their CR series of off-road bikes, the oval piston road racers and it continues right up to their aluminum framed motocross bikes and their V-5 GP bikes. The success that Honda has found with their technology has lead to a justifiable corporate pride. The entire company puts forth the effort and the entire company shares in the spoils of victory.

The problem is that motorcycle racing is ultimately an individual sport. It is the talent, the determination and the bravery of one person that makes or breaks a motorcycle race. If the company puts forth the image that it’s equipment, rather than it’s rider, is the champion then the rider will ultimately look elsewhere. Additionally, when the equipment really is superior, a great rider will have to win on something else to prove that it takes more than yanking the throttle of a awesome bike to earn a championship.

Honda builds championship level riders, thanks to them having a championship budget. Smaller teams like Kawasaki (whose R&D budget is probably half what Honda’s Marketing budget is for a their cruiser line…) and Suzuki venture out and look for fresh talent. Once they are proven winners, Honda can sweep in with a big fat check and sign these diamonds in the rough. That same budget allows for intense R&D to build a bike that fits the rider. That same budget allows constant testing, allowing the rider to learn the bike and give more feedback to the R&D side. That same budget hires top wrenches. All that money buys a championship and builds a world class rider. Honda are truely the king builders of motorcycle racing.

But that same power, that same seemingly endless pool of money and that same history of dominance is ultimately their Achilles heel. As Honda pounds their chest and exclaims their superiority, their riders are secretly talking with Yamaha or Suzuki or Kawasaki or Ducati or someone else to see if they can return to underdog status. If they can then beat Honda, they’ll go down forever as a great.

What can Honda do? Well, giving their riders more credit would certainly help but I think they will always be a victim of their own success. As such, they just have to keep a steady stream of new talent coming up through the ranks so they have someone to step up each time a top level rider leaves. When Doohan left, they had Rossi waiting in the wings. When Jeremy McGrath left, they started building up Ricky Carmichael. It isn’t yet clear who Honda hopes will be their next champion but in MotoGP its a good bet that Nicky Hayden is on that short list. Whoever it is, you can be sure it won’t be long before Honda is on top again.

[image from Racer X Illustrated web site]

This year the FIM extended the mandatory MotoGP winter test ban to be a seven week window starting today December 1st and ending January 20th, 2005.

I’m afraid I don’t really understand this ban. I assume it was done to prevent the big factories from testing all winter long and having an advantage over privateer teams. However, at the MotoGP level (not including 250 and 125GP where there are substantial numbers of non-factory teams) this doesn’t seem to make much sense. The larger factories like Honda, Yamaha and Suzuki all have private tracks in Japan. (Honda owns Motegi and practically owns Suzuka as well. Yamaha has the Fukuroi track and Suzuki has their Ryuyo Proving Grounds facility.) It is possible a gentleman’s agreement will prevent them from privately testing at their factory tracks but would anyone know if they did test?

Second, the Japanese All-Japan Road Race series has a prototype class where some of the manufacturers have raced, most notably Honda and Kawasaki. Will the MotoGP winter test ban prevent non-MotoGP riders from testing bikes destined for that series? Wouldn’t having someone like Yanagawa, Ukawa or Abe turning laps on a AJRR bike on a private test track be an easy backdoor way to get in an additional seven weeks of development work for a big factory? This certainly isn’t a resource that Aprilia, Proton or WCM would have available.

Finally, it seems that smaller teams like TeamKR with their new KTM motor and the WCM Blata project need all the track time they can get in order to compete. Is a winter test ban really helping these teams? Granted, I doubt the Blata V-6 is complete enough to turn laps right now anyway but if Pramac buys the ex-Aprilia Cube they”ll want some run time on the thing ASAP. More immediately, the Proton/KTM bike could benefit from all the testing that TeamKR can afford. In the past, I know TeamKR have had to run their bikes on rented airport runways since they couldn’t get enough track time in England to properly test their prototypes before bringing them to the race track.

Two things I can say for the winter test ban is that it does give the riders a nice holiday break which I’m sure is appreciated and it may reduce the injuries from riders testing on cold tires in Japan in the middle of December. I’d be very interested to read the various teams opinions, especially the smaller teams, about the testing ban and see if they think it helps or hurts them.

[image from WCM website]

With silly season in MotoGP nearly over, here is my take on the riders for next year. I’ve had to make a few guesses, since some teams (D’Antin, Proton, WCM) haven’t finalized their line-ups yet.

• First, Yamaha, the reigning champions with the Rossi-revised M1 and Michelin tires:

1a) Valentino Rossi - Jeez, what really can be said. The guy is so freakin’ amazing. However, for the good of the sport, all the other riders should take up a collection and sponsor Rossi with an F1 car. Nothing short of him leaving will prevent another MotoGP title in 2005.

1b) Colin Edwards - I really want Colin to “come good” this year. 2005 was basically a disaster, made doubly so by the successes of his Movistar team-mate. The guy has got talent but with three other Hondas finishing ahead of him in the points, his complaints of defective bike design were wearing thin. Does he have the talent to race at the MotoGP level? Maybe the Yamaha can help him answer that question. I don’t see him fighting for the championship in 2005, unless he becomes less picky about setup or the Yamaha becomes much faster. Where Yamaha has scored is they’ve hired one of the best development riders away from Honda at a time when Honda desperately needs development focus for the RCV.

2a) Tony Elias - This will prove very interesting. Tony hasn’t won championships at the 125 or 250 level yet gets a coveted MotoGP ride for 2005. He’s young, very fast, knows all the tracks and he’s Spanish. All strong qualifications. He’s also big enough to fight a big 4-stroke, something his 250 rival Pedrosa may not have. I don’t see him being a factor in 2005 but he is a possible bright star for the future.

2b) Ruben Xaus - I think Ruben being released from his D’Antin contract and signing with Yamaha may be a desperate move by Ducati to keep Rossi from dominating in 2005. After all, with all the money Yamaha will now be spending on body work, they will be unable to develop the M1 further to Rossi’s liking. Having Xaus on track makes for good crash scenes but I don’t see him being a factor in the championship.

• Second, Honda, now second stringers for the first time since 2000 with the once all-conquering RC211V and the seemingly less dominant Michelins, need their riders to step up:

1a) Max Biaggi - I can’t say I’m a fan of Biaggi but I really do feel sorry for the guy. I mean Max really is a phenomenal rider. He won *four* 250cc GP championships and has finished second in 500/MotoGP something like four times. That is an incredible record. But you have to feel sorry for the guy. He was born in the era of dominant champions, having a premier class career that started in the Doohan era and is now dwarfed by the brilliance of Rossi. Still, the guy makes such a spectacle of himself that he is hard to pity. I think Biaggi will have another bridesmaids year and the FIM will eventually retire the number “2″ in his honor.

1b) Nicky Hayden - I’ve rubbed rabbit’s feet, I’ve tossed pennies in the wishing pond, I’ve burned incense and I’ve lit candles. I’m afraid there is nothing else I can do, so in 2005 It’ll be all up to him. I think he’s got the talent, the drive and the team to do it. I think he’s still learning every time he goes around a track and that is fantastic. But 2005 will be his shot. If he can’t do it in 2005, I’m afraid he’ll have reached his high water mark and will have the legacy of an “almost” champion. Sadly, he’ll be up against Rossi and I don’t see it happening, though secretly I hope he proves me an idiot. However, he does have a shot at ruining Biaggi’s bridesmaid streak. In the meantime, has he thought about donating money to the Rossi Ferrari fund?

2a) Sete Gibernau - Sete has been the revelation of 2003 and 2004. Coming from relative obscurity on the Suzuki to become Honda’s great hope. He was at his peak last year, so the question is can he maintain it? I think that 2004 was a crushing defeat for him and it will be particularly hard to come back from that, especially given the psychological whipping Rossi was giving him the last few races. Unless he can beat Rossi straight-up, early in the season, I think the fire will fade. Fourth in 2005?

2b) Marco Melandri - Melandri proved inconsistent and, at times, reckless aboard the Yamaha. I was a big fan when he raced to so many wins while injured in 250s but now that its a habit, its less gritty or brave and more stupid. His immense talent is being destroyed by bone fractures and torn ligaments. I think he’ll continue to ride (and crash) with his heart in 2005 rather than take top tens with his head. Melandri coming to Honda, after Xaus left Ducati for Yamaha shows just how devious Ducati’s plan to force bodywork expenditure among their competitors really is!

3a) Alex Barros - This guy is a sponsors dream. How else can he still be on a GP bike? He crashed more in 2004 than Xaus or Melandri but still gets an “A” seat ride. He’s been around GP since they chipped the bodywork from granite with stone axes and he’s taught every whippersnapper for three generations how to late brake. His reputation as a great rider is set in cement. But unless he’s sponsored by Geritol and the AARP, I don’t see why he’s back for another season. Money is the name of the game and the Repsol South American bankroll can buy a lot!

3b) Troy Bayliss - I’m openly thrilled to see Bayliss still in the MotoGP game but I think, like Sete, the wind in Bayliss’ sails died in 2004. The uncompetitive Ducati GP bike sucked the life out of Troy’s championship drive. I think he’ll ride well in 2005 but he made enough deposits into the gravel trap confidence piggy bank that he won’t have enough left to pay for winning rides in 2005.

4a) Makoto Tamada - Tamada has the drive but then again so have a long line of talented Japanese riders like Katoh, Ukawa and Ito. Honda will desperately want a Japanese MotoGP champion but, assuming they can find a grid spot, his “B team” status (thanks to the Repsol contract) will hold him back.

• Ducati was 9th in 2004, their Desmosedici the first of the “others” but now with Bridgestone tires in ‘05, have:

1a) Loris Capirossi - I’m not a Capirossi fan and haven’t been since the ugly 250 incident with Harada in 1998. In fact, I didn’t like Capirossi in 1997 due to some questionable accidents, so ‘98 just sealed the deal. I know how exciting it is to have an Italian on an Italian bike but I still cringe when I hear his name. Maybe he can spend 2005 changing tires on his buddy Rossi’s Ferrari?

1b) Carlos Checa - Checa brings lots of Spanish sponsorship money to the table. That’s it. He’s there to buy tires for Capirossi’s Ducati (and help repay the 2004 debt from Xaus’ bodywork purchases). He’ll sit in the track hospitality suite on Sunday night with Barros and talk about how nice it is to have friends in high places.

2a) Fonsi Nieto - Spanish? Check. Connection to historic Spanish motorcycle hero? Check. Lots of sponsorship money? Check. Okay, so we know how Mr. D’Antin is financing his 2005 racing effort, since he probably isn’t getting much money based on the ‘04 results. Fonsi showed flashes of brilliance but ultimately fell apart like a cheap paper sack to be beaten by Melandri in the 2002 250GP season. That defeat was apparently so crushing that he’s sucked for two straight years afterwards. Given his 2004 season, I’m amazed he got a MotoGP ride.

2b) Randy DePuniet - It seems D’Antin is going after either Roberto Rolfo or Randy DePuniet but I’m guessing the Frenchman will get the nod, based on their respective 2004 250GP results. Rolfo had an uncharacteristic crap year, while DePuniet was challenging for race wins nearly all season. I don’t think either is really ready for MotoGP but Randy showed he rides with a lot of heart last season. Now he has to get his head around riding the MotoGP monsters and get his heart around riding an uncompetitive, year-old Ducati.

• Kawasaki, their ZX-RR and their ‘Stones had an fantastic 2004 with a top ten finish, and for 2005 will again have:

1a) Shinya Nakano - Checa and Xaus get Yamaha rides. Barros and Melandri get Honda rides. Nakano has to serve another year at Kawasaki despite having a more memorable season in 2004 than any of them. Jeez, this guy should get another shot at Yamaha just as a reward from walking away from his Mugello crash last year. The kid is amazing and is the best thing to happen to Kawasaki since, well, people push started their Grand Prix bikes. Another top ten in 2005?

1b) Alex Hoffman - Someone has to race with the Suzuki and Aprilia boys. Seems like a talented guy and he put in some nice rides in 2005. More importantly, he crashed less in the season than the D’Antin bikes did in one practice session. Good on ‘ya.

• Suzuki wallowed in 2004 but comes back the same GSV-R, the same Bridgestone tires and same riders with:

1a) Kenny Roberts Jr. - KRJr showed he still has fast laps in him with strong qualifying runs in 2004 but I don’t think he’s got the fire, even if he had the bike. Like Biaggi, his bright light has been dwarfed by the brilliance of Doohan and Rossi, then snuffed by the under performing Suzuki. Its sad, really, because his talent deserved to shine longer than just the 2000 season.

1b) John Hopkins - What’s a guy got to do? Like Nakano, Hopkins regularly showed his stuff in 2004 but is still stuck in the purgatory that is the Suzuki GP team. Sure, there is lots of talk about the engine finally coming good in 2005 but that could just be echos from when they said that last year…or the year before. Hopkins has more experience dicing (thanks to a bike that consistently puts him in the 6th through 12th place gaggle instead of up front mano-a-mano with Rossi and can flat bust a move on qualifying tires. He doesn’t even crash the way he did in 2002 and 2003. Pity this guy’s parents were British and not Spanish…

1c) Nobuatsu Aoki - Suzuki hired Aoki as a test rider which was an ace decision and he’ll also get in a few wild card rides. The guy deserves the keys to the corporate wash room in Banbury after the dedication he’d shown Proton and that development experience should help him give Suzuki valuable input. Maybe Suzuki can contract him out to WCM to help develop their Blata engine, because after riding the Proton V5 Nobu should be able to diagnose every possible type of engine failure from the seat and probably has the fastest clutch hand in racing. However, like Proton, the Suzuki desperately needs more power so I doubt Aoki’s wild card rides will amount to much.

• Aprilia and their Cube may not be back at all. Or the under-performing Cube may be back but as a Pramac, not an Aprilia. If either are back, they’ll likely have the cheaper Dunlops and have:

1a) Shane Byrne - He either burned bridges with Ducati after his 2003 British Superbike championship or couldn’t get out of his Aprilia contract to go beg a ride on a D’Antin Ducati for 2005. Oh well, even if he isn’t getting a chance to learn all the tracks, he is learning about all their gravel traps…and may qualify for a pilot’s license if Aprilia folds their team.

1b) I doubt they’ll have second rider….

• KR Proton has their new KTM engine and new riders but probably no other option except soldiering on with the Dunlops:

1a) Jeremy McWilliams - This isn’t decided yet but what choice do either party have in the matter, unless Proton folds their team all together. Jeremy, like Barros, is considered ancient in racing circles and probably doesn’t have teams knocking down his door. KR can’t hire anyone without a budget in place, so he can’t really be picky. They’ve worked together in the past and McWilliams can probably help with continued development of the bike. That said, he doesn’t deal well with bike problems and having problems seems to be a real strength for the Proton. If Jeremy picks up where he left off in 2002, expect to hear the announcers saying “McWilliams into the pits” a lot this year. Still, I really hope the KTM engine is the silver bullet TeamKR has needed for the past, oh, nine years.

1b) Kurtis Roberts - Despite the persistent rumors of Kurtis returning to the US, I think he’ll sign for another year. The new KTM engine seems better, his Dad probably doesn’t care who his management firm is or isn’t and its better to play second string in the big game than try to be big fish in the AMA pond. Besides, the longer Kurtis stays in MotoGP and the more he learns, the better the chance he’ll move to an E ticket ride in the future.

• and WCM keeps Proton off the last row of the grid with an interesting Blata V-6 engine and something round and black, probably Dunlops. Their riders are:

1a) James Ellison - Dude, I think the World Superbike TV announcing gig was a better deal. WCM won’t likely have a new bike (tested or otherwise) until the mid-point of 2005 and won’t have any money for the whole year. You’ll split your time between a bike that was horribly uncompetitive in 2005 and a bizarre development mule made of cylinders from a toy bike. Trust me, not all press is good press…

1b) - Does it even matter? Maybe it will be Chris Burns. Maybe Michel Fabrizio. Maybe a shot for any number of ex-GP ghosts or a chance in the big circus for some national champion. The fact is the bike, not the rider, will determine the results. Personally, I’m glad WCM (and Proton and maybe Pramac/Aprilia) are around, since they are the privateer teams that keep bringing new blood into the series. If any of these guys (like Fabrizio in 2004) have great rides, maybe the bigger teams with better bikes will pay attention.

• Finally, Moriwaki won’t have their first full season but will run a few select races again in 2005 with their Honda V-5, probably on Michelins, and will have fill-in riders like:

1a) Olivier Jacque - Jacque never did it for me, even when he won the 250GP championship in 2000. I thought Nakano was the stronger racer that year and the best race Jacque road the whole season was the final race at Phillip Island. Anyway, whatever his skill as a 250 rider, he wasn’t able to translate that into success on the larger 500s. I don’t think he’ll adapt well to the MotoGP bikes either, even if he was riding a competitive bike. He isn’t and thus will be rubbing shoulders with Aprilia and Proton, hoping to make it into the tail end of the points.

1b) Syougo Moriwaki - Other than having a famous last name and blood ties to the team owner, I’ve never heard of him. Then again, with Rossi, Nieto, Gibernau and two Roberts on the grid, having a family tree that includes motorcycle racers can account for a lot. He’ll probably only race one or two races this year (Motegi, for example) and will probably struggle more than Jacque.

[image from SpeedTV website]

“I’m about to give you all of my money
And all I’m askin’ in return, honey
Is to give me my profits
when you get home (just a, just a, just a, just a)
yeah baby (just a, just a, just a, just a)
when you get home (just a little bit)
Yeah (just a little bit)”
– R.E.S.P.E.C.T., Aretha Franklin

Yamaha has been singing those words for about a year now and oh what a profit they have brought home. In a strategically delivered death blow, Yamaha found out about the tension between the three time MotoGP champ and monolithic Honda and swooped in for the kill. With a purchase price rumored to top $10,000,000, Yamaha took the risk of bringing the greatest motorcycle rider in history to the blue machines for 2004. Much has been said about the risk Rossi took but what about Yamaha? They where shelling out all that dosh to prove their bike wasn’t the pile it was reported to have been by ex-riders like Biaggi and Barros. Fortunately, they were also willing to spend the money to bring the most experienced crew in GP history in to support their star and waive the usual factory development process because they trusted the team’s direction.

If Rossi couldn’t put in another stellar year on the bike, surely Yamaha’s world wide rep was in for a major beating. In fact, even with Rossi’s unbelievable fourth MotoGP title, the result is mainly recognition of Rossi’s brilliance because the Yamaha was clearly not the equal to the Honda at fast tracks like Mugello and Catalunya but Rossi beat them anyway. Talk about R.E.S.P.E.C.T.!

I hate dominance. I hated it when Rainey ruled and I hated it when Doohan crushed everyone under foot. I’ve even been unhappy to see Rossi commanding the series, even when I was awed by his amazing riding exhibitions. But ultimately, both Yamaha and Rossi deserve all the respect they are getting and more. Both took a huge risk this season and both worked incredibly hard to put together a season which baffled even the most optimistic fans.

Kudos to Valentino Rossi, the 2004 MotoGP champion!

[image from Yamaha Racing web site]

I’ve exchanged email with a few different people where the question has distilled down to “what happened?”. After Nicky’s stellar freshman season in MotoGP being on the factory Honda squad, teammate to World Champ Rossi and nabbing Rookie of the Year in 2003, big things were surely expected in 2004. With Rossi expected to struggle in his first season on the Yamaha, the kid from Kentucky was tagged as one of the potential champs for 2004. …but it didn’t happen. Worse yet, this was the second of two years on his contract, in an industry where second chances (for American riders) aren’t extended very often.

Nicky showed some great riding at times this year but it seemed like Rossi, Biaggi and Gibernau were usually a little faster when it counted. Certainly his crash caused injuries which spoiled the second half of his season but I think there are two other issues.

First, Nicky still hasn’t learned to raise his qualifying performance to the same level as the other front runners. Nicky clearly has the speed but can’t ramp up to it fast enough to meet the pace in the last minutes of qualifying. Where the other guys cut 1 or 2 seconds off their lap time in just a few laps on their gumballs, Nicky usually doesn’t. When you’re on the second or third row, in a field this talented, you’ve already put yourself out of contention for the win.

Second, I don’t think Nicky has enough experience dicing at the speeds the MotoGP bikes can achieve. Late braking someone into a corner at 100mph on a $100,000 production- based superbike isn’t the same as sliding sideways at 200mph on a three million dollar factory Grand Prix bike. Riders like Rossi and Biaggi can make bold passes in the first or second lap at top speed. Hayden doesn’t seem able to stoke the fire that quickly and, when starting a few rows down, that means its sometimes the mid-point of the race before he can give chase.

In 2005, I hope that Nicky can continue to improve. He’s gotta learn the qualifying routine and then, step up his game in the early laps.

All this criticism and arm-chair coaching aside, I’m in awe of what Nicky has already accomplished and I’m thrilled at the prospects of what he will do as he grows. I’m also thrilled that Honda has realized his potential and signed him for another two years.

[image from nickyhayden.com]