Two weeks ago, the international MotoGP and the domestic AMA series were racing on the same track. Now, two weeks later, things could hardly be more different.

The MotoGP series is visiting Donington Park in England. The track is a great layout and is blessed with fresh pavement thanks to a repaving job last year. The 2.5 mile long circuit is highlighted by four fantastic right hand turns, all taken at 70+ miles per hour and two different straights with speeds topping out over 150. Unfortunately, this high speed ballet is interrupted by a “S” shaped section which has the riders bogging in first gear. The bikes have to be set up for the high speed stability and fast transitions required in the sweeping stuff while also being able to handle the hard braking and acceleration that come with the stop-n-go section. Achieving a setup compromise will be crucial but, as with Assen, expect the Yamahas to be strong any time handling is more key than outright power. This is made even more likely since Rossi has historically dominated at the English track, having won here four times (five if you count his 2003 win which was later nullified because he passed under a waving yellow during the race). If Rossi isn’t in front this weekend, it will probably be because Melandri, Gibernau and Biaggi aren’t either. Rossi is close enough to a fifth championship that he doesn’t need to risk a crash while fighting with those out of title contention. The riders I’ll be watching the most closely are Marco Melandri, Nicky Hayden and Max Biaggi. Melandri is probably the only rider with any chance of catching Rossi for the #1 plate and he needs to quickly rebound from a lousy round at Laguna Seca. Hayden, just the opposite, needs to continue the momentum from his USGP victory if he wants to prove that wasn’t a Yankee version of the Rising Sun Syndrome (in which Japanese riders can dominate in their homeland but then struggle when it comes to putting together a championship run). Finally, Honda officially announced this weekend that Dani Pedrosa will be graduating from the 250s to MotoGP next year with a full factory contract. That probably means Repsol and that probably means either Biaggi or Hayden are getting the boot at the end of this season. With Hayden both young and still improving, that puts a tremendous amount of pressure on the Roman Emperor…and history tends to show that Max never does well under pressure.

Meanwhile, the AMA racers are at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. Like Donington, serious effort was put forth last year to improve the track. Unfortunately, the bulk of that work was grinding down the sharp edges from the concrete patches used in the turns to prevent cars from breaking the asphalt. While the grinding helped with the transitions to and from the concrete it created an amazingly slippery surface in some of the turns which resulted in a record number of crashes last year. The 2.4 mile long road race course is perhaps the twistiest track on the AMA calendar and thus the worst (except perhaps the high speed stuff at Rd. America and the NASCAR ovals) in which to have questionable traction. However, there are some similarities between the MotoGP and AMA weekends. First, rain is threatening both which could play a huge role, especially at Mid-Ohio which doesn’t normally race in wet conditions. Both races also have championship leaders who hold a significant points advantage over their competitors. Mladin, like Rossi, can afford to play it conservative in Ohio. Moreso because Mladin has perhaps a more strategic view of racing than his Italian GP counterpart who may well get the red mist just to have the satisfaction of beating everyone else at any given track. Expect Mladin to hang it out, if the conditions allow it, for one more victory to consolidate his championship lead, if not this weekend then the next, then play the points game until he wraps up title #6. The riders to watch in Superbike are Ben Spies, Eric Bostrom and Neil Hodgson. Spies still needs to beat Mladin straight up in order to cover one of his goals for this year and the chances for doing that are rapidly dwindling. He also still has a long shot at the title and has to gain points in a big way this weekend if he’s to win his first superbike title this year. Eric Bostrom seems to have returned to his ways of old but has to continue running at the front (finishing 3rd while 20 seconds down doesn’t count as running at the front) to prove it. Finally, Neil Hodgson’s fortunes have changed dramatically since he showed up at Pikes Peak with crashes and DNFs seeming to be the norm. He needs to create a reversal of his luck this weekend since race wins (and a renewal of his contract) are all he has left to shoot for this year.

Finally, silly season is upon us. Expect every racer to put in a little extra effort for the next few months to prove their value and to justify their ride. I’ll try to put together a silly season web page over the next month to track who ends up where.

[image from the MIVEC web page.]