These days our MotoGp riders seem to be spending as much time sniping at each other when they are off the bike as they do battling each other when they’re on. It started (this round of it anyway) way back at Laguna Seca a couple of years ago when Rossi executed (!!) “that” pass on Casey Stoner in the Corkscrew.
Hardly surprisingly, the war of words has continued centering around Rossi, the acknowledged master of psychological warfare, ever since. But it has expanded somewhat in the last coupe of months with a new “front” being opened on the Lorenzo/Simoncelli salient. Neither rider being the shrinking violet, the opportunities for hostility has been ever-present. Lorenzo, the incumbent, and Simo, the pretender, it really picks itself, doesn’t it?
Now the attention has shifted back to Rossi/Stoner with Rossi (apparently) complaining in the Italian media that Stoner “blocked” him while he was doing a quick lap at Estoril during testing on Monday. Quick to jump on any story where Rossi is a component, the Italian journos have jumped on it and ramped it up, of course. This time, however, instead of encouraging the story, both contenders have hosed it down, Stoner with an explanation that makes perfect sense and Rossi with an “it’s racing” line that basically finished with him saying, in effect, “Nothing to see here, move along, please”.
However, with the imminent closing of the 800cc ear, VR has waxed eloquent on the subject, drawing some less than flattering comparisons between the current crop of riders and those who had to battle the vicious beasts that were the 500cc Grand Prix bikes. Referring to the current crop of young riders as “pussies”, Rossi was always going to draw a lot of fire with a comment like that. Surprisingly, the Thursday Press Conference at Le Mans failed to fuel the fire with the exception of a question from Micheal Scott, asking Lorenzo if the “pussies” comment was aimed at him. Conjuring up his best stony face, the world champion replied, “It must be a shame to be beaten by kids every race.”
Might be time to put the handbags away, boys, and let the racing do the talking.
This weekend’s Le Mans, on the “Mickey Mouse” circuit, not the full-blown run that’s used in the 24 hour race. Chances are it will rain and chances are Dani Pedrosa will qualify well and will run away, though stats suggest that this is very much a Lorenzo/Yamaha track. Speaking of Pedrosa, if he does win on Sunday, he will go to the top of the list (with 13 wins) of the most successful riders who have never won the premier title, a fact that I’m sure he will be keen to ignore. Here’s the rest of the list of “winners”
1. Randy Mamola 13
Max Biaggi 13
Dani Pedrosa 13
4. Loris Capirossi 9
Sete Gibernau 9
6. Luca Cadalora 8
7. Alex Barros 7
8. Wil Hartog 5
Marco Melandri 5
50 – Reigning 125cc world champion Marc Marquez, will be making his 50th Grand Prix start at the French GP.
50 – At the Portuguese GP Dani Pedrosa became just the 11th rider to reach the milestone of 50 podium finishes in the premier-class.
50 years – On the day of qualifying in France, it will be exactly 50 years ago that Kunimitsu Takahashi (Honda) won the 250cc race at the West German Grand Prix at Hockenheim to become the first ever Japanese rider to win a GP. This was also the first win for Honda in the 250cc class.
23 – In addition to Jorge Lorenzo’s great winning record since the start of last year, he has also shown great consistency and has finished in the top four at the last 23 races, a sequence that started at the Malaysian Grand Prix in 2009. Since the world championship series started in 1949, only Valentino Rossi has had a longer sequence of successive podiums in the premier-class with 28 successive top three finishes.
23 – Le Mans has hosted a Grand Prix event on twenty three previous occasions, including the Grand Prix “Vitesse du Mans” in 1991, which is the only year that two Grand Prix events have been held in France in the same year.
17 – Jorge Lorenzo’s pole at the Portuguese Grand Prix was the 17th time he has started from pole in the MotoGP class – the same number of MotoGP poles as Dani Pedrosa.
10 – The Portuguese Grand Prix was the tenth time in the MotoGP class that Dani Pedrosa and Jorge Lorenzo have finished first and second together. Of these ten occasions, Jorge Lorenzo has come out on top on six occasions and Dani Pedrosa four times.
5 – Le Mans is one of just five current circuits at which Casey Stoner did not win during his time in the Ducati factory team; the others were Jerez, Estoril, Silverstone and Indianapolis.
4 – Since the introduction of the four-stroke MotoGP formula in 2002, both Honda and Yamaha have had four MotoGP wins at Le Mans, with Suzuki taking the other MotoGP win.
4 – Le Mans is one of just four circuits on this year’s calendar where Ducati have not had a MotoGP win. The others are Indianapolis, Estoril and Silverstone.
4 – There have been four GP wins at the Le Mans circuit by French riders: Jean Aureal won the 125cc race in 1969, Guy Bertin the 125cc race in 1979, Patrick Fernandez the 350cc race in 1979 and Mike di Meglio the 125cc race in 2008.
3 – The four riders who have had the most victories at the Le Mans circuit, all with three victories, are; Dani Pedrosa (2 x 250cc, 1 x 125cc), Freddie Spencer (2 x 500cc, 1 x 250cc), Valentino Rossi (3 x MotoGP) and Jorge Lorenzo (2 x MotoGP, 1 x 250cc)
3 – Championship leader Stefan Bradl has finished on the podium three times in the Moto2 class – and stood on the top step on all three occasions.
3 – Honda riders have had just three podium finishes at Le Mans since the introduction of the 800cc capacity limit to MotoGP; Marco Melandri was 2nd in 2007, Dani Pedrosa 3rd in 2009 and Andrea Dovizioso 3rd in 2010.
1 – Kenny Noyes was on pole last year at Le Mans for the Moto2 race, in his first ever race at the French circuit.