Photo courtesy of Red Bull
To absolutely nobody’s great surprise, Caramello Koala, the boss of DORNA, came out last night and said the the so-called “rookie rule” (that says that a new MotoGp rider can’t go into a “works” team in his first season) isn’t meant to be “rigid”. Read the article below for the full story.
Thanks to Autosport for this excellent contribution.
Of course, we all knew that, sooner or later, the creative minds behind MotoGp rule making and enforcing would find a way of ensuring that Spain’s favourite son (well, up and coming one, anyway) would get a “works” ride when the graduated to MotoGp next year. No languishing in a satellite team for Marc, oh no. Of course, the conspiracy theorists point out the fact that an exception is going to be made for Marquez where it wasn’t made for Spies is a further sign of how totally the Spanish “mafia” control the sport. And they are right, of course, although Marquez apologists do point to the fact that Rossi had a “works” in everything but name bike in his first year in 500cc racing even though it wasn’t supposed to be allowed.
Fact is that Marquez IS the next best thing and realists have already accepted the fact that it will serve no useful purpose having him pootling around on a satellite bike for a year anyway.
Out there on the left end of the field are the hopefuls who somehow believe that Honda will sack Pedrosa at the end of the year and start afresh with a new team altogether with Marquez and Rossi. Now I don’t know what these good people do with their recreational time apart from concocting absurd scenarios, but it doesn’t take a genius to figure out that no team worth its salt is going to start a season with two riders, neither of whom have ever ridden the bike before regardless of HOW good they are. It doesn’t make engineering, personnel or promotional sense, at all. And why would Honda hire Rossi when he burned his bridges with them back then and is in the twilight of his career? Like I said, it just doesn’t make any sense at all. There are far too many young luminaries waiting in the wings. “Works” teams look to the future, not the past, and none more ferociously than Honda. Look at the way they treated their superstars in the 60’s.
And, on the subject of Marquez (seems difficult to discuss anyone else these days, he’s in the news for all sorts of reasons, not all of them good) the Pons Team has submitted an appeal against the Steward’s decision at Catalunya and are still hopeful that the original penalty imposed on him after the collision with Espargaro will be reinstated. I have only one thing to say on this subject. It is the rule of racing that the overtaking rider must do so with safety, and that means Esparagaro, who came from way, way back to stick his bike in the gap between the edge of the track and Marquez’s bike did not obey that rule. It was he who torpedoed Marquez and it was he who triggered the accident that resulted in his DNF. Having said that, Marquez would do well to remember the adage, “Be nice to people you meet on the way up – they’re the people you’re going to meet again on the way down.” Lorenzo and Simoncelli were both loose cannons in the early part of their career (both being banned for a race or two for incidents far worse than last Sunday’s) and Marc would be advised to learn from their mistakes. He’s going to get there anyway, he shouldn’t be in quite so much of a hurry.
Away from racing, I am hugely grateful to my good mate, Dave Quinn who, on the weekend, gave me the old Maton 12 string guitar that has been sitting in the corner of the Fourth for a long while. I have long coveted this instrument as it is the same model and colour as my Maton 6 string and was made in the same year as mine (1970). It’s been sent to the repairers for a refurbishment and I can’t wait to get it back and have a pigeon pair of CW/80’s
Catch you next time.
