The world according to JB.

I don’t normally tune in right at the start of MotoGp broadcasts because I find the ignorance-pooling that goes on before the racing actually starts to be pretty tedious.

But my aversion to blathering jumped up and bit me last night because, by not turning the TV on until about 12 minutes past 8, I missed out on hearing some of the thoughts of OneHD’s guest commentator, someone who proved to be well and truly worth listening to. With Valentino Rossi sidelined, Ten had scored a huge coup by having his crew chief and all-round engineering genius, Jeremy Burgess filling the chair of the “expert” commentator.

And what he had to say, both before the race and during the breaks, was solid gold, as you would expect. As expected, much of the talk surrounded Rossi, his accident, his recovery and his return to the sport. JB said that Rossi is planning to return for the German GP at the Sachsenring, but he was if not dismissive then certainly concerned about this. In JB’s opinion, both the German track and the  following GP at Laguna Seca are not ideal places to be easing oneself back into racing after a major accident and major injury. Both are tight, technical and physically among the most demanding on the schedule. JB said he would much prefer that Vale wait till Brno, a sweeping and less physically-demanding track to make his return. In the end, though, he admitted that Rossi is a racer and will do what he wants to do.

Moto2 also drew some interesting comments. In JB’s opinion it’s too early to judge but he was pretty dismissive of the class for its lack of technical innovation, it’s overly controlled specifications and the lack of pace being shown. He admitted that the racing has been close and excellent, but pointed out that the bikes are only marginally quicker than the 125’s and considerably slower than the 250’s they replaced. Asked if he thought that Moto2 was a good “feeder” class for MotoGp, JB flatly said no, it wasn’t. As far as the ex-MotoGp riders presently running in Moto2, he didn’t believe any of them were likely to force their way back into the premier class and he felt that their presence in the class was possibly preventing younger, more talented riders from getting a ride.

He also commented on the “Rookie” rule and said that he basically agreed with it as it prevented the big-bucks teams from creaming off the best up-and-comers before anybody else could sign them and before they had had a chance to pay their dues. He remarked that the rookies were the ones who were likely to be “tearing the fairings off the bikes’ and that no factory teams wanted to be doing that on a regular basis. The downside of that, of course, was the fact that the smaller teams couldn’t AFFORD to have that happening whereas the factory teams, with bigger budgets, could.

JB had some very perceptive things to say about pre-race preparation. he said that, by the time morning warm-up was over, things were usually pretty settled and that he didn’t presume to offer Rossi too much advice about what to do. “With other riders that is sometimes necessary.” he concluded. He did liken race preparation to a jigsaw puzzle, though, an analogy that seems very appropriate, once it was pointed out. To begin with, you’re trying to assemble the pieces in some sort of order, but, as you get closer to race time, most of the pieces are in place and it’s usually morning warm-up that makes sense of the last fe pieces and slots them into place. Is it any wonder the man is revered for his analytical and innovative approach?

He had a lot to say about tyres and, like the rest of his comments, they were simple, direct, entirely free of PC, media-sensitive BS and down-to-earth Aussie in their inclination. He said that, amongst other things, Bridgestone had only brought two different types of tyres to Silverstone. “Perhaps, being a new circuit,”  he said, “They could have thought about bringing 3 just in case the other two didn’t work well.”

It was a pleasure to hear what the man had to say. let’s hope that OneHD can secure his services for the upcoming races until Vale returns. If they do, I’ll make sure I tune in right on time.