Damn, where do I start?
Well, let’s get this one out of the way first. In the wake of the tragic death of Dan Wheldon in the Indycar race at Las Vegas on the weekend, 5 times NASCAR champion, Jimmie Johnson has come out with the idea that the Indycars should no longer run on oval tracks due to safety concerns. He does have a point. Throwing a half-tonne projectile at a wall at over 300 MILES per hour doesn’t really make much sense on the face of things. Johnson maintains that the cars are now too fast for the tracks, that they are too prone to get airborne at speed and that the cars themselves do not provide enough driver protection in the event of an accident like that which occurred on Sunday. Supporters of the series have jumped to their defence (obviously) saying that Johnson is trying to destroy the open-wheel series and so boost his own. I don’t agree. My only concern would be that, if the oval track races were taken away, are there enough proper racing tracks in the USA on which the series could compete a proper road racing series for open-wheel cars? One thing is certain, the repercussions of the 15-car accident on Sunday are going to be felt for quite a long time to come.
Now, bikes.
1. The FIM has announced overnight the teams in both the Moto2 and Moto3 category for 2012. Since they are only the team NAMES and do not have rider names attached to them, only the true MotoGp anoraks will be able to determine what this actually means. Moto2 HAS been pruned, however, to a field of just 32 riders representing 20 teams. Maybe this might put a stop to the first-corner carnage that has been a feature of the class (though, I must say, much less of late). Most notable in the Moto2 list, however, is that the team for whom Marc Marquez rides currently is NOT mentioned, strengthening the rumour that Marquez IS MotoGp-bound in 2012 (more on this later). The Moto3 grid is also being restricted to 20 teams and 32 riders, a notable omission in this list is the Bluesens by Paris Hilton team, leading some to suggest that Maverick Vinales is Moto2-bound (some are even suggesting he will pop up in MotoGp on a CRT bike.) We’ll watch that one with interest.
2. Just when you thought it was safe to consign the yet-to-be-realised CRT class to the dustbin comes news that the FIM has accepted an entry from a team that wasn’t even on their initial list! The Ioda team has submitted an entry with rider Dainelo Petrucci, the runner-up in this year’s Superstock 1000 class. It suddenly seems that CRT is the buzz-word of the day with more and more potential teams expressing an interest. Despite the fact that I think the idea of running these production-based bikes against the pukka machines is a crock, many are now feeling that, with the grid of “real” MotoGp bikes shrinking rapidly, the time may soon come where there are only a handful of them actually competing and that the CRT bikes could have a legitimate claim to being the backbone of the class. 1987 World Champion, Wayne Gardner, certainly believes so and makes a compelling case.
3. Lorenzo update. Jorge Lorenzo has returned to Spain to recuperate and has congratulated Casey Stoner on his championship win in what is a very gracious press release.
“Casey has had an incredible season with very few mistakes. He has always been very strong and consistent so it has been very difficult to beat him. Congratulations to him, he has been the best this year and deserves his second title, a huge achievement as it comes with a different manufacturer. I would have liked to have fought until the end, maybe until Valencia but the accident on Sunday made it impossible. I am very proud of my team for all the hard work they have put in to take second place in the championship. Now we have to think about next year and work as hard as possible to win again.”
He also updated his health status and is sounding very positive indeed. Good thing this happened here where the medical care is top-notch!
“After the crash I was very worried that I would not have full feeling in my finger again, after the excellent treatment I received, I have been assured that I will have complete feeling in my nerves and tendons. This gives me good confidence; I can’t wait to get back on my M1 again!”
4. 1000cc testing. Honda will test the 1000cc bike at Sepang on the Monday following the GP. At this stage it looks like only Casey Stoner will ride this test. Significantly, Andrea Dovizioso won’t be there!
5. In WSBK, Eugene Laverty has had his first test on the Aprilia and Marco Melandri has had his first ride on the BMW.
6. Tributes are pouring in after the news of Troy Corser’s retirement, as expected.
7. Now, the man of the moment (if you don’t include Casey Stoner). Marc Marquez. Marquez’s manager, the enigmatic Emilio Alzamora, has said that an announcement about Marquez’s future will be made this Friday at Sepang. Now, if he is going to continue in Moto2, I don’t really see the need for an announcement at all, but Alzamora has telegraphed the punch somewhat by publicly stating that he doesn’t think Marquez can learn anything more than what he already has in Moto2. I’m not sure that I agree with that, but Emilio is closer to the rider than me so I guess we take his word. I’d have thought that any announcement should have been left till later to allow Marqez to concentrate on trying to win the Moto2 championship without the distractions of reporters asking how he feels about going to MotoGp next year, but…as we have seen above, his team do not appear in the list of acceptances in Moto2 for 2012 so I guess it’s a done deal.
BUT, where will he go? He has 3 choices. The first is with the LCR outfit but with his own, factory-spec bike as a phantom “satellite” entry. The second is with a brand new team fully supported by the factory but not under the banner of HRC and so avoiding the ban on “rookies” going straight to a factory squad. The third is a CRT team, but I think you can safely discount that. Davide Emmett of motomatters.com is suggesting that the decision has to be made and announced this weekend because Honda is presently tooling up to build the required number of 213′s for next year right now and they need to know if they need to build bikes for Marquez as well.
So, it looks like we WILL see Marquez in MotoGp next year after all, and on a factory-spec bike in a non-works team of some sort, a little like the 500cc team built around Rossi in his first year in the premier class. The fascinating news also is that Marquez has a younger brother, Alex, who is racing in the Spanish series and many observers say that he is an even more talented rider than Marc. God help us! One thing certain is that, should we see Marquez in MotoGp on a quasi-works bike the reliable and likeable Andrea Dovizioso can rightly feel pretty aggrieved at the way he has been treated by Honda.
Now, finally, a Youtube video that deserves to go straight to the top of the hit parade…
