MotoGP Review: A Busy Day

Don't play with fire

So there is lots of chit chat over what the new 250cc class is going to be, with a proposal coming forth at the weekend for 600cc four-cylinder, four-stroke engines to replace the 250cc twin cylinder two-strokes.

Many have thrown their arms up in horror at such a possibility, especially as many say it is pie in the sky to make a four-stroke engine for the outline figure of 200,000 euros - 300,000 euros a bike. Quite how this adds up against the 4.5 million euros that the Polaris World team are paying this year as a total budget figure, one cannot equate!

Gabor Talmasci wins a wild 125cc race at Assen for Aprilia © DPPI

But this is where people need to be careful and not have too much of a puffed-out chest attitude. I did say back in this column in April 2007 that if Aprilia were not able to lease out their bikes then things could get messy:

"The best one (quote) has to come from a man who may soon wield a great deal of power in the paddock. Giampiero Sacchi of Piaggio oversees the Aprilia, Gilera and Derbi brands in 125 and 250. That's 24 of the 34 runners (70 percent) in 125, and 16 of the 24 runners (66 percent) in 250.

"He has the power to not supply bikes to those classes, leaving a grid of ten 125s and eight 250 bikes to line up."

The reality of Sacchi pulling out of it all is remote, as he makes cash from leasing all those bikes, but you never know whether he might get a call from fellow Italian FG Sport to go and run a support race over there alongside World Superbike.

Dorna has a contract with the FIM to supply three classes of Grand Prix Motorcycle racing, and that could leave Madrid in a very difficult situation indeed.

This year KTM is supplying seven bikes with just three others on the grid, which are no-hopers. That leaves Piaggio with 23 bikes on the 125 grid and 17 on the 250 grid.

Now what is interesting of late is that the Superbike paddock has not said much. I wondered if there was actually some talk between Piaggio and KTM before the weekend got underway.

Word in the paddock says that there was ...

FG Sport (Dorna equivalent) over in the Superbike paddock does not have to run the 125 and the 250 classes as a world championship in order to dodge the apparent wording in the contract with the FIM that we believe stipulates they run production machinery. If it is run as a 'world challenge' or some such other terrible moniker, then it gets under the door legally.

But where are the basics of the sport going if the other rumours going around the place are true; that there is actually an engine deal already done for the the replacement class with a single engine coming from Japan. This would leave purists, such as me, astonished that it is sold up the river.

There are some manufacturers who are not happy with what is going on, having their income stream and world wide showcase being pulled from under their feet, almost overnight. Piaggio and KTM are not Honda with squillions of dollars of back up ...

One feels that the ease at which MotoGP went from 500cc two-stroke to 990cc four-stroke is going to be the opposite for the fight that may well be on the horizon.

There are difficult times approaching, let's hope they can be crossed quickly and easily, but I just have a horrible feeling that there is a scuffle ahead.

Valentino Rossi crashes into Randy de Puniet on the opening lap of TT Assen © DPPI

Rossi laughs when last

Valentino Rossi falling off on the first lap in Assen was his nightmare. His head was low and his voice a octave lower than normal when he spoke after the race, but he still had that sparkle in his eye as he wrung his hands and swayed from foot to foot, something he does subconsciously when standing talking to the press.

The guy is brilliant, and was even down in the dumps about having missed out on a potential fight - his words not mine - with Stoner. Twenty points could have been the harvest of the afternoon instead of the five points he took back home.

"The first thing I think when I crash is ... I think I am a dickhead. So I wanna restart and if the bike is too damaged then I finish the race running (on foot)," he said.

We fell about. The guy even laughs about losing the championship lead with a joke; and so it should be. No-one's died for heaven's sake!

"We missed a good opportunity to make a good race. I felt better already in the out lap ... I think it was possible for a 1m36s, but I did a 1m37.1s towards the end but my bike was very damaged; my handlebar was very bent and the gearshifter was difficult to use."

This is understated Rossi at his best. The gearshifter had lost the actual part that his foot touches, and then the arm going into the gearbox had been bent inwards, causing him to essentially be pigeon-toed in order to change gear for the entire race.

"It took a long time for the marshals to arrive. I had to lift the bike from the clutch because otherwise if I let go of the clutch, the bike would stop."

He did eventually get up but what is indicative is the cheer that went up as he came across the line 29.8 seconds down on Stoner, the leader. It was as if he had won the championship.

The jokes, the laughing and the crowd's encouragement for 42 minutes and his irrepressible nature are a sign of this guy's amazing character. Not for a long time will you see a guy like this. Enjoy it while you can!

Roberts and Rossi - Right

Rossi is one of the voices listened to by all whether fans, mates, journalists or the geekiest of technicians in the Yamaha garage.

Whenever he speaks, you listen, so it was interesting to ask his opinion about the future of the sport and it's direction technically.

James Toseland slides his Tech 3 Yamaha © Back Page Images

"For me this is a long story. I always say that all these electronics are not positive for our sport because it changes our sport, a lot, but especially the problem for the future because if nothing is happening (restrictions), the electronics are incredible. Incredible.

"The development of the electronic is ten times faster than the mechanical development. You have to just sit on the bike, then to adapt.

"What we do? For me my idea is to make a limit to understand in which way because inside the electronic system, it is like a secret.

"It is very important for the future to race with four-stroke engines, because all the bikes on the road are like this, but it is difficult to make a real race bike 600 four-stroke with less budget.

"So the two-stroke 250 is the cheapest way for not a lot of money, but I don't know exactly what is happening at the top (decision makers).

"I think it would be difficult for a younger rider to use a MotoGP bike. MotoGP is very similar to 250; maybe with 600 it's difficult. Maybe it is difficult to fix. If they arrive in MotoGP its like restart from zero with people thinking, 'F**k, what's happened."

As with many world sports in the 21st century, organisers are torn between commercialism and keeping a tradition thread through it. Cricket has successfully changed from five day to one day, football is endless with more leagues being invented every season, while rallying's big events have shrunk to smaller events and skeletal entries.

MotoGP's authorities need to be careful of being too heavy-handed with the decision made about a replacement for the 250cc class.

Kenny Roberts said in 2002 that electronics should be quelled, but no-one listened.

He was right; again.

Maybe we should ask Valentino Rossi what would be the best idea?