The erudite and insightful Julian Ryder published his half-yearly report on superbikeplanet this morning. This is what he had to say.
“It’s Summer break for the last 800cc MotoGP championship, with three weeks until Brno it’s time to take stock of the state of the GP Nation.
The Aliens:
Only three of them nowadays. Stoner, Lorenzo and Pedrosa are so obviously a class apart that the appearance of any other rider on the rostrum constitutes a shock. At Laguna, Stoner showed what a thinking racer he’s become. The tyre overheating worries of the previous two races were obviated as he waited before making two of the best passes you’ll see this year to win. Which is something I thought I wouldn’t say again after the two passes Lorenzo made to win Mugello. After a worrying start to the year, the factory Yamahas’ reversion to the 2010 chassis gave Jorge the feel he needed. He’s riding like the world champ he is and Casey will not have an easy ride to the title.
Dani Pedrosa has gone through a personal injury hell and emerged as fast as ever. Entertainingly, he has also started to speak his mind—especially where Marco Simoncelli is concerned.
The Wannabe Aliens:
By which I mean Spies, Simoncelli and Dovizioso. Only Ben’s won one, but Dovi is the form horse. Super Sic is in trouble; passed by Ben on the last corner of consecutive races and yet to beat Dovi in a race. Laguna was a case in point, Marco has crashed out of four races and has a best finish of fifth; not the record you want to go on holiday contemplating, especially when there are likely to be only four Hondas on the grid next year.
The Ducatis:
Everything that’s happened with the Desmosedici has underlined just how good Casey Stoner was on the thing. Watching Nicky Hayden struggling to put a positive spin on fighting for sixth place at the circuit where he has won twice in front of his home fans was particularly painful. Rossi has clearly decided that developing the 11.1 with an eye on next season is the only way to go. Unless something very weird transpires we will go through a season without Vale winning for the first time since 1996. After ten races it almost feels normal to watch Valentino finishing 30 seconds behind the winner—almost.
The Rest:
Alvaro Bautista and the Suzuki’s ability to run with the Ducatis in the last three races gives me hope that there will be blue bikes on the grid next year. The presence of a restored and revived John Hopkins on a second bike at Brno is further encouragement. The form of Karel Abraham, widely derided as just a rich kid when he got the ride, has been a pleasant surprise. He is currently in front of the only other rookie, Cal Crutchlow, by seven points. It would be nice to see Cal recover his lost confidence in the second half of the year.
I won’t comment on Toni Elias and LCR, it would feel like intruding on private grief.”
I don’t think I could have said it better.