photo courtesy of crash.net
An unexpected consequence of the Bautista/Lorenzo accident last weekend at Assen was the cloud of white smoke that enveloped Lorenzo’s M1 as it came to rest in the gravel trap. The full gravity of the situation became apparent at the Thursday Press Conference at the Sachsenring yesterday. Lorenzo, who entered the conference venue on crutches, revealed that the motor that expired last Sunday was a brand new one, less than 150kms old. Given that the engine rule says that each rider is limited to six engines per season for the riders on manufacturer’s teams, the loss of an engine, and a brand new one at that, could have serious ramifications later in the season. It could result in him having to start some later races from pit lane with the attendant time and position penalty that this could bring, or being forced to use a lower rev limit on the remaining engines in order to make them last. Given that wringing the neck of every engine is what MotoGp riders do best, it’s hard to see that he could, or would, do this.
Sachsenring is the slowest and tightest of the tracks that the circus visits and some are seeing this as the best opportunity for the Ducati to shine. However, both Rossi and Hayden have poured a bucket of cold water on the idea saying, separately, that the best chance that they have is to wait until the “major” upgrade occurs after Laguna Seca. However, even this straw now looks to be one not worth grasping for as Hayden, during the week, stated that people should not expect too much as the upgrade, though it is due, will not be a significant one.
So, where does this leave Rossi? Well, in an interview with Yamaha boss, Lyn Jarvis during the week, it seems that Yamaha is not on the radar. Jarvis pretty much scuppered any talk of Rossi returning to the tuning fork in any scenario. Jarvis did say that Honda COULD be a chance, but, given that Honda have too many riders already, it’s hard to see any place there either.
In other GP news, the new technical regulations ratified during the week will require, amongst other things, that the bore of MotoGP engines for each manufacturer’s bikes, remain the same as it is right now until the end of the 2014 season. Given that, as many suspect, the Ducati is running a motor which is nowhere near the full 1000cc this season, this could seriously affect their chance of a dramatic improvement in engine performance any time soon. In any event, it’s not more power that the Ducati needs, it’s more USEABLE power.
Staying with Ducati for the moment, the team has announced that Franco Battaini, one of the scuderia’s two test riders, will be subbing for Karel Abraham this weekend as the Czech rider has not yet recovered from his injury.
MotoGp returns to “normal” format this weekend with racing taking place on (our) Sunday night. Check your local guides for details.