Yesterday’s MotoGp test at Brno was interesting for a number of reasons.
Test Times:
1. Casey Stoner AUS Ducati Marlboro Team (B) 1min 56.261 secs
2. Valentino Rossi ITA Fiat Yamaha Team (B) 1min 57.332 secs
3. Toni Elias SPA Alice Team (B) 1min 57.457 secs
4. Shinya Nakano JPN San Carlo Honda Gresini (B) 1min 57.652 secs
5. Chris Vermeulen AUS Rizla Suzuki MotoGP (B) 1min 57.742 secs
6. Colin Edwards USA Tech 3 Yamaha (M) 1min 57.756 secs
7. Alex de Angelis RSM San Carlo Honda Gresini (B) 1min 57.826 secs
8. Sylvain Guintoli FRA Alice Team (B) 1min 57.859 secs
9. Jorge Lorenzo SPA Fiat Yamaha Team (M) 1min 57.979 secs
10. Loris Capirossi ITA Rizla Suzuki MotoGP (B) 1min 58.177 secs
11. Niccolo Canepa ITA Bridgestone/Ducati Test Rider (B) 1min 58.2040 secs
12. Marco Melandri ITA Ducati Marlboro Team (B) 1min 58.325 secs
13. Randy de Puniet FRA LCR Honda MotoGP (M) 1min 58.568 secs
14. Dani Pedrosa SPA Repsol Honda Team (M) 1min 59.067 secs
15. Andrea Dovizioso ITA JiR Team Scot MotoGP (M) 1min 59.130 secs
16. Olivier Jacque FRA Kawasaki Test Rider (B) 1min 59.130 secs
17. James Toseland GBR Tech 3 Yamaha (M) 1min 59.228 secs
18. John Hopkins USA Kawasaki Racing Team (B) 2min 0.414 secs
19. Tady Okada JPN Honda Test Rider (M) 2min 0.735 secs
See those little letters in brackets after the team name? The “B” and “M” indicates Bridgestone and Michelin. Colin Edwards 1.5 seconds slower than Stoner. Dani Pedrosa over 2.5 seconds slower than Stoner. And Senor Pedrosa packed up and left after 11 laps of the test declaring that the Michelin tyres that the French factory brought to the track on Monday were WORSE than the ones that he had hated and finished last on on Sunday.
My guess is that we are seeing the end of Michelin’s involvement in MotoGp. We will have a “control” tyre in 2009 and it won’t be because Dorna and the FIM have forced it on the teams. It will be because Michelin will pull out of the sport voluntarily at the end of 2008.
And that is just the thin end of the wedge. Having achieved by accident what they failed to achieve by force, Dorna and the FIM will forge ahead with the other “improvements” that they want to make to the sport we love. Stand by for “control” ECU’s and other “cost saving” and “safety” measures.
Remember, you read it here first.
