Magoo’s View: SPEED’s Kevin Magee previews a massive weekend of MotoGP and World Superbikes
THE new 2014 rules mean we’re in for a cracking weekend of bike racing, with MotoGP in the USA and World Superbikes in Spain.
IF you love your bike racing, have we got a bumper weekend for you! MotoGP heads to the great state of Texas for the second round of the world championship, while after a long break the World Superbikes are back in action in Spain.
SPEED’s resident two-wheel maestro, Kevin Magee, gives us his take on the massive weekend ahead.
MOTOGP ROUND 2: CIRCUIT OF THE AMERICAS
Watch every moment LIVE on SPEED (Foxtel channel 512). Scroll down for broadcast times.
WHAT DID QATAR TEACH US?
The new technical and tyre rules bode well for good racing based on Qatar, which could have been a three-way battle had Jorge Lorenzo not thrown himself down the road on the first lap.
Marc Marquez won the first hit-out of the season even though he broke his right leg just four weeks before. Making it more impressive is that he won on a clockwise circuit, which is harder on his injured right leg.
The Circuit of The Americas is anticlockwise and Marquez has had almost three weeks since his win at the season opener to get back to 100 per cent physical fitness for round two, his return to the circuit where he took his first MotoGP win 12 months ago.
Valentino Rossi had another strong start to his season, fighting for the win down to the chequered flag. Maybe his change of engineer has made a difference, as well as solving those braking problems from last year in off-season testing.
COLIN EDWARDS TO RETIRE AT END OF 2014
We all knew the day would come, we just didn’t want it to because he is such a character. He was probably born laughing!
We first met at Mount Fuji Raceway in Japan, late 1991. He was riding a TZ 250 for Yamaha Factory, and we got on like a house on fire off the bat.
Whenever you come across Col, you’re guaranteed a laugh. A stellar career over two decades from one of the funniest guys in World Road Racing.
MotoGP needs guys like Col.
FASTER AND FASTER, BUT STILL SLOWER
Alvaro Bautista set the fastest lap of the race at Qatar while Marquez started from pole position, but neither broke Stoner’s race or Lorenzo’s qualifying lap records.
Those times were set way back in 2008 on the 800cc bikes. Even though the 1000s have a higher top speed — Bautista 7.3 km/h and Marquez a whopping 18.2km/h over the top speeds set on Stoner and Lorenzo’s laps.
UNDER PRESSURE
Pressure at Qatar saw Lorenzo, Andrea Iannone, Stefan Bradl, Bradley Smith and Bautista all bite the dust at Qatar, therefore they all head to the Lone Star State with no points on the board yet.
Lorenzo is definitely a championship challenger but has put himself behind the Eight ball by effectively giving Marquez a 25-point headstart.
Dani Pedrosa had a solid third place start to his season, he couldn’t go with Marc ‘the Master and the Apprentice’ Marquez, but can he win the MotoGP Championship that has eluded him since 2005?
WHAT IF ...
Had Lorenzo stayed on and Marquez caught him they would have got into a battle, losing a little time tripping over each other. Rossi catches then them, throws in his two-bobs worth, Pedrosa gets onto them too and makes it a four-way battle to the flag! Bring on Texas!
MOTO3: WILL IT BE MILLER TIME IN AUSTIN?
Australia’s Jack Miller leads the Moto3 championship after winning in Qatar and on his KTM, chased by the Hondas of Alex Marquez and Efren Vazquez, and Miguel Olivera on the Mahindra.
How times change. Last year Jack was getting his Honda’s “doors” blown off on the straights by the super-fast KTMs. The top speeds charts at COTA last year were headed by no less than 12 KTMs, topping out at 237.7 km/h; the first Honda was 13th doing 230.1km/h and ‘slip streaming Jack’ just 225.6 km/h.
Remember how I said ‘how times change?’
At Qatar, the new-for-2014 Hondas had the acid on Jack’s KTM down the straight, but only just. The speed charts had were Marquez (Honda) doing 237.9, Alexis Masbou (Honda) doing 237.1, and Hafiq Azmi rounding out the fastest three on the quickest of the KTM with 236.1. Jack was ninth fastest, topping out at 234.5 in a mix of five KTMs and four Hondas.
Last year Jack’s season started with 21st to 16th at Qatar (no points) and a massive turn around of 4th to 6th in Texas to be 10th in the championship on 10 points. This year he goes to Texas leading the title on 25 points. Let those little screamers at it!
BROADCAST TIMES (All times LIVE AEST)
MOTOGP
SAT 12:45am — Free Practice 1
SAT 04:55am — Free Practice 2
SUN 12:45am — Free Practice 3
SUN 04:20am — Qualifying (Rpy 2:00pm)
MON 12:30am — Warm Up
MON 04:30am — Race (Rpy 8:30pm)
MOTO2
SAT 06:00am — Free Practice 2
SUN 06:00am — Qualifying (Rpy 3:00pm)
MON 03:05am — Race (Rpy 7:30pm)
MOTO3
SAT 04:00am — Free Practice 2
SUN 03:30am — Qualifying (Rpy 1:00pm)
MON 01:45am — Race (Rpy 6:30pm)
WORLD SUPERBIKES ROUND 2: ARAGON
Watch every moment LIVE on SPEED (Foxtel channel 512). Scroll down for broadcast times.
NEW RULES, NEW WORLD ORDER?
There are new technical and tyre rules here too, making it a race within a race. Pirelli will be introducing a fourth tyre option at Aragon for all 20 Superpole riders/participants. Three are common for everybody, while both the SBK and EVO class runners will each also have specific rear tyre at their disposal.
As for the two races on Sunday, Pirelli have designed a new rear tyre option specifically for the EVO runners. The new rubber aims to close their gap to the Superbikes with a tyre that performs more consistently with less wear over a race distance.
Bimota will finally be starting their WSBK campaign this weekend, making it nine manufacturers on the grid. If that’s not a record, it’s certainly the most we’ve seen in a very, very long time.
HITS AND NEAR MISSES ON THE ISLAND
Crashes, injuries and engine blow-ups played a major role in the pre-race testing and season opener at ‘The Island’. Michel Fabrizio crashed the Grillini team’s Kawasaki EVO on the first day of testing fracturing his pelvis and taking no further part in the race meeting. The Italian had a run at Imola last week to check his physical condition for what will now be his season debut at Aragon this weekend.
Frenchman Sylvain Barrier has had even worse luck. He busted himself up in testing too, also fracturing his pelvis and missing the season opener. Then, while preparing to return for Aragon, he was seriously injured in a car accident in France. Stepping onto BMW Italia’s EVO-spec bike will be three-time WSBK race winner Leon Camier.
Race 1 crashers included Sam Lowes (his second of the weekend), Toni Elias, Leon Haslam and Alessandro Andreozzi, all escaping injury, while there were no crashes in Race 2 before the red flags came out when Eugene Laverty’s GSX-R dropped it’s guts.
Since the field came back from Australia, Kawasaki EVO rider David Salom injured his right hand in testing at Jerez last week. X-rays at the track proved inconclusive because he has broken it so many times before ...
TOM’S TERRIBLE STRUGGLES
Current WSBK champion Tom Sykes must be the only rider on the planet not to enjoy Phillip Island. Two podiums from a dozen starts seems an unlikely statistic for the current champ! It wasn’t a great start to 2014 either for the Yorkshireman, with a massive crash over the top of Lukey Heights ending his Superpole session early.
Starting eighth on the grid, he finished seventh and then third, leaving the Island sixth on the ladder with 25 points to his name.
Frenchman Sylvan Guintoli leads the championship battle with 41 points, having started his Aprilia from pole and run third in Race 1 and winning Race 2. His compatriot Loris Baz sits in second on 31 points, starting his Kawasaki from seventh he managed fifth and second: the first time Baz has been in front of teammate Sykes in the championship points.
From third on the grid Marco Melandri went second and eighth for 28 points and third on ladder. Davide Giugliano had a ‘good’ weekend on Ducati’s troublesome Panigale to manage a pair of fourths from second on the grid at the fast and flowing circuit. Eugene Laverty headlined Suzuki’s comeback from fourth on the grid by winning the season opener, to the surprise of most, only to blow-up while challenging for the lead in the second.
Jonny Rea is seventh in points after a 6—6—5 for his efforts in the opener, and with some improvements to the chassis and electronics of his Ten Kate Honda Fireblade in recent testing they are eyeing the podium at Aragon.
Chaz Davies sits eighth after his Ducati debut from Salom, Niccolo Canepa on the EVO Panigale, Haslam, Fabien Foret, Elias, and Australian Glenn Allerton, who sits 14th in points for now after a last-minute call-up to replace Barrier.
Rounding out the top 15 is Suzuki’s Alex Lowes. He made the headlines by topping testing at PI, but his weekend went downhill after he crashed and hurt his ankle on Saturday morning. He crashed again in Race 1, then ran off at Turn 4 in Race 2, rejoined, climbed up to within sight of the leaders before going off again, recovering to 13th for three championship points.
SPEED THRILLS IN SPAIN
Last year at Aragon, Laverty on the Aprilia was the fastest combo at 331 km/h, Sykes/Kawasaki & Guintoli/Aprilia managed 330, Melandri on the BMW 329 while then-teammate Davies (won both races last year) posted a 328, Giuliano on the Red Devils Roma Aprilia 324, Baz/Kawasaki and Rea/Honda 323, Cluzel/Suzuki and Fabrizio/Aprilia 322, with Haslam’s Honda on 319.
Tellingly, Carlos Checa was the quickest of the Panigales 313, Ducati’s big twin getting smashed by their lacking of the brute horsepower needed down Aragon’s straight.
With two 20-lappers headed for the satellite on Sunday night, strap yourself in!
BROADCAST TIMES (All times LIVE AEST)
SAT 10:45pm — WSBK Superpole
SUN 06:00pm — WSBK Race 1
SUN 07:20pm — WSS Race
SUN 10:40pm — WSBK Race 2
SUN 10:05pm — FIM Superstock 1000 Cup
SUN 11:00pm — Superbikes: When Britain Ruled the World