As per my title this morning, the repercussions of the Simo/Pedrosa incident on Sunday have not died down yet. Here’s the state of play this morning.
1. Pedrosa has been diagnosed as having a clean break of the right collarbone. Immediately he got up out of the gravel, Dani was pointing to his right shoulder, and, having recently broken his left one, it was clear that he knew already what the damage was. The question now is whether he will have it plated, as he did the left one, or let it heal naturally. The answer isn’t quite as simple as it sounds. The obvious answer is, get it plated and be sure of riding at Catalunya, his home race, in 3 weeks’ time. But, remember, it was the plating of the left collarbone and the attendant problems that it caused that severely compromised Dani’s racing in the first two rounds of the championship this year. Being operated on again so soon (it’s only 16 days since his last one to correct the above problem) could be a big risk. The down side is that, if he allows it to heal naturally, he will almost certainly miss Catalunya, or, if he does ride, have seriously compromised strength. It’s a no-brainer, really. He lost a bag full of points on Sunday, Stoner’s running hot, Lorenzo’s on the back foot and he can’t afford to let the points drain away. He’ll get it plated and run the risk.
On the subject of Pedrobot, much is being made in the media since the weekend about how “fragile” he is. The suggestion is that, being small of stature and light n weight, means that he is more likely to break bones in falls, which every rider has. Not being a medical man, I can’t comment, but I can tell you this. Pedrosa more than makes up for any possible physical fragility by a fearsome amount of mental toughness. Don’t count the “bot” out just yet.
2. While Race Direction was dealing with the Pedrosa/Simomcelli kerfuffle it seems they missed something else. Rossi passing Dovizioso under the waved yellow at the scene of the accident.
Before the long straight leading to the chicane were Simoncelli hit Pedrosa, Rossi passed Dovi into Garage Vert before running wide, remincisent of the battle between the former pair, Rossi then passed Dovi under braking for the Chemin Aux Boeufs chicane, where the yellow flags were waving as can be seen from this picture. (thanks to visordown for the shot, by the way). Now, given that Rossi has had a history of doing this before, you’d have to think that Race Direction should have had a hard look at this incident and taken an appropriate action (a ride-through as per Simoncelli and as per Phillip Island in 2003 when Rossi was pinged for the same offence). Rossi apologists, of course, point out the fact that Dovi passed Rossi again and kept his 2nd place to the end of the race, but that’s scarcely the point. If the rules are for everybody, why wasn’t Rossi penalised?
3. Arguments about the rights and wrongs in the Simo/Pedro incident haven’t subsided at all, superbikeplanet even running a reader poll this morning, seeking opinions as to who was right and who was wrong. And, being soup, they couldn’t resist throwing in a “ringer” into the poll in the form of the last question “Hey, what about Rossi, eh?” Love the way those guys think.
Outside of racing (there is life outside of racing?????) yesterday I stripped both of the wheels on the Shadowfax, removed bearings and associated hardware in preparation for having them cleaned and any dodgy spokes replaced. Letting my fingers do the walking, I found out that the best people to do the job are a business called Chivos, in Granville, NSW. Mmm, where have I heard that before? Yep, the very same Doug Chivas with a long and distinguished racing pedigree. Former sidecar competitor and brother of solo rider, Neil, the Chivas name is famous in Australian motorsport. It was their dad, Doug Chivas Sr who featured in that famous incident at Bathurst in 1973 where the then 50 year-old pushed the out of fuel Torana XU-1 uphill into pit lane while the rest of the crew, and his co-driver, Peter Brock, stood by and shouted encouragement. The old man passed away in 2004 but his legacy lives on in his two famous sons. So, I picked up the phone, rang the number and got straight on to the man himself! So, in a week or so, the two wheels will be taken up to Granville and another small part of the job will be done.
Mayhem at the PCRA round at Wakefield Park on the weekend highlighted a warning for all riders. Apparently many of the accidents on Saturday and Sunday were caused by competitors pushing too hard on cold tyres (and these guys use tyre warmers, too). A street rider from Canberra also reported an accident on the weekend due to the same thing. SO, the warning is out there. If you’re riding on the street this Winter (and Winter appears to have arrived) make sure you warm up your tyres before putting the same degree of trust in them that you would in the Summer time.
