07. October 2009: Rossi’s lead cut down to just 18 points !

“Every time that I write one of these columns, I try to come to a definite conclusion. And every time that I do, it seems, I’m immediately proved completely wrong! After Misano, a month ago – a meeting which Valentino Rossi utterly dominated, from start to finish – I thought that ‘The Doctor’ had comfortably wrapped up 2009’s Moto GP World Championship. And, one race on, his title lead has been cut down to just 18 points…

Rossi was furious about his fourth-place finish at Estoril on Sunday, I can tell you that. One of the many things which makes him such a great character is the fact that he usually makes himself so available to TV interviewers like me. But, this time, he stormed straight off his bike into his team’s garage without stopping, slamming the door behind him. And I think that was partially a display of anger against his team, because they’d spent three days together trying to make the Yamaha work to his liking on this circuit – making big set-up changes as late as Sunday morning – and never once made it happen. His team-mate, meanwhile – and only World Championship challenger – Jorge Lorenzo simply rode off into the distance and won as he pleased.

Rossi’s career has been blessed with good fortune throughout its course, though, and such was the case again on Sunday. Because here Valentino produced a flat, out-of-character performance, got uncharacteristically angry about it, afterwards…and an awful lot of people didn’t notice! Because the ‘story’ of this year’s Portugese Moto GP was ultimately all about Casey Stoner’s return to form.

Sometimes, if you’re fortunate enough, like me, to be a TV interviewer working at track-side, you can tell an awful lot about a rider’s mental state and physical health just by looking in his eyes on Friday morning. And, right upon his first arrival at Estoril, I was convinced – and delighted to see! – that Ducati’s Casey Stoner, absent for a full couple of months, was now fully restored to health.

More importantly, the stop-watch also told us that all his old speed had been fully repaired, too; right from Friday’s first practice and qualifying sessions. Ducati can be rightly pleased with a number of their managerial decisions as a result, because, whilst it was undoubtedly a controversial judgment call at the time, they’ve ultimately been shown to be absolutely correct in what they chose to do. And whilst Casey was understandably tired at the end of Sunday’s race, he looked and sounded nothing like the physically struggling man he was earlier this season. Plus, had one of his foot-rests not fallen off in the Moto GP’s early laps, he might well have pushed Lorenzo hard to the flag.

What’s more, Casey’s impressive performance – arguably one of the greatest ‘comeback’ rides in the history of the sport – makes him a hot favourite for his home Grand Prix, at Australia, in a fortnight’s time. To say that his return to front-running will put thousands extra on the gate at Phillip Island is just about the understatement of the season!

There have been some ‘tweaks’ made to the Ducati bike, too – most specifically an aerodynamic ‘re-think’ of the machine’s rear end – and if both it and Stoner really ‘click’ at his home race, the rest of the field may not seem him for dust. Which would all bode very nicely indeed for another tilt for the Moto GP title in 2010.

That’s a season that it’s still possible might begin with Jorge Lorenzo wearing the grid’s ‘Number 1’ plate. Because he’s now 18 only points behind Valentino Rossi, and I think that it’s entirely possible that the Moto GP championship chase will now go all the way down until the final Grand Prix of the season. As I’ve often said, it’s much easier to be the hunter than the hunted, and Jorge now has absolutely nothing to lose in just riding every lap absolutely flat-out between now and the end of the season. The pressure is now all on his more experienced – and more famous! – Yamaha team-mate, Valentino Rossi.

Abiding memories of this weekend at Estoril, then, will be of Rossi’s limp performance, Stoner’s amazing comeback…and Lorenzo winning as he pleased, whilst apparently dressed as an astronaut, complete with NASA-retro crash-helmet. In fact, there was a 1960s feel to the whole weekend, I felt. Because this season’s Moto GP championship story continues to be so tense, unpredictable and exciting that it feels to me as if it might well have been directed by Alfred Hitchcock…”

 

Off to overseas and see you soon again on Alex66.com amigos ...

 

Alex # 66

 

 

07. September 2009: Victory for ‘the donkey’ as Rossi roars clear !

To say that Misano is Valentino Rossi’s home track is just about the understatement of the Century. And, on a Moto GP race weekend there, practically the whole area from about 15km out, is a sea of yellow flags and ‘number 46′ stickers. Which, to mere mortals, might have meant a huge amount of added pressure to perform – to an almost unbearable degree, especially on the back of a silly mistake only the previous weekend which halved the World Championship points lead…

….but there’s a reason why Valentino Rossi is one of the biggest super-stars in all world sport. And also why he’s so loved as such a likeable, crazy character, all over the planet. Because who else would have called himself ‘a donkey’ in media interviews for having made such an out-of-character error in Indianapolis…and then had a special crash-helmet designed for the weekend with a braying donkey staring out from its top? At a stroke, the whole situation had been defused by humour.

He made an even greater statement out on the track, too. Proving that he was no mere practical joker, Rossi was fastest in every single practice and qualifying session at Misano, took Pole position with mere seconds to go, and then rode out a brilliantly-realised tactical race to Grand Prix victory. The net result? The fact that when I attempted to interview second and third-placed men Lorenzo and Pedrosa in the parc ferme after the race, they were absolutely speechless. Both had been out-psyched and out-ridden, and knew it.

Ducati’s American ex-World Champion Nicky Hayden might well have finished fourth here, in a race so psychologically important to the Italian marque because it takes place so close to their home base and factory. But Nicky was punted out of the race at the first corner by an over-excited Alex De Angelis, and it was no wonder that he got so angry about it all. After that lovely tribute to the sadly absent Casey Stoner – when an entire grandstand manufactured a display reading ‘We miss you, number 27′ – Hayden would have badly wanted to send Ducati on the short trip home with a smile. Particularly after yet another impressive qualifying performance, which showed that the American has truly now got to grips with the tricky Italian machine.

Stoner’s temporary substitute, Flying Finn Mika Kallio, rode well too, taking advantage of the first-corner carnage – three well-placed riders were eliminated, in total – but overtaking several others in order to finish in a fine seventh place. Kallio has stepped up to the plate of the increase in standards and expectations when riding for a full works team.

It was a particular shame that Casey Stoner couldn’t have been at Sunday’s San Marino Moto GP, though, because his fellow countryman – and PUMA-clad Red Bull F1 racer, Mark Webber – fulfilled a long-standing invitation in attending. I was fortunate enough to complete an interview for German TV with Mark, and it was fascinating to learn that he’s always been equally mad about speed on two wheels. In particular, I hadn’t known before that his Dad had spent ten years in Australia as the owner and manager of a motor-cycle dealership.

Webber is also friendly, I now understand, with yet another sporting countryman – speedway star Jason Crump – and actually paid for his own executive box at this year’s British speedway Grand Prix. Which, all things considered, makes it all the more ironic that he suffered that nasty injury over the winter whilst riding nothing more powerful than a mountain-bike…

But, all weekend, Rossi made riding a 200mph Moto GP bike look easy, and has built up a massive psychological advantage – whilst also increasing his Championship points lead – into the four-week-long break which the series is about to take.

It will be fascinating to see how his rivals react at Portugal on October 4th, and I’m hoping that Ducati’s Casey Stoner will be one of them – because that’s the scheduled date of his return to the track. And he should be heartened by Mark Webber’s analysis of his physical condition, which I thought was absolutely correct; that, even at mid-summer, when Stoner’s illness was at its worst, he’d only ever lost his powers of physical endurance, but never any of his natural speed.

 

Now we have the longest brake off the season. Stoner will be back in Estoril and I can't wait to see what Moto GP action will bring us next ...

 

Stay tuned and seeya soon everybody ...

 

Alex # 66

 

 

31. August 2009: Rossi’s fall throws title chase wide open !

I should have known that it was dangerous to predict anything about Moto GP, 2009! But I wasn’t the only one, after our last race in Brno, to think that – now armed with a 50-point lead – it was almost impossible for the great Valentino Rossi to throw away this year’s rider’s World Championship.

But that didn’t account for the unique and unusual circuit at Indianapolis, which seemed to catch almost everyone out at one time or another. The riders were effectively asked to ride the ‘wrong’ way around Indy’s F1 track, with a couple of extra chicanes thrown in, for good measure. That made the entries into these corners seem ‘un-natural’ to the riders, there were several changes of track surface en route…and it was bumpy, too. Put that all together, and perhaps we shouldn’t be surprised that so many people fell off.

But, judging by Valentino’s body language, he was still amazed at his own accident, because he just didn’t seem to understand it. The greatest motor-cycle rider of all-time immediately raced to his pit and asked to see an action-replay of the incident, because he just couldn’t psychologically get to grips with what had just happened. The consequences of his mistake – however it actually occurred – were simple, though. Because, by the time that the chequered flag flew, his points lead had been halved from 50 to 25. And it was nearest rival – and Yamaha team-mate – Jorge Lorenzo who had triumphed.

By rights, however, it should have been Honda’s Dani Pedrosa who won Indianpolis’s race; he dominated qualifying, and then was half a second faster than anyone else during the race morning’s ‘warm-up’. When the lights turned to green, he blasted off into the lead… and then, under no pressure at all, fell down after only a few laps. Ironically, Honda’s number one rider proved that he was still the fastest man on the track by setting a series of fastest laps whilst carving his way up through the field back to 10th.

I won’t pretend that Sunday’s race was a thrilling TV event to watch, though, and I think that fact proves just how much that the Moto GP series as a whole is missing Casey Stoner. On his regular, illness-free form, Ducati’s top rider would undoubtedly have been right up there, and very possibly challenging Jorge Lorenzo in a thrilling battle for the lead. Everyone in the Paddock hopes that the ace Australian will have made a full recovery by the time that he is scheduled to return to the series at Portugal in early October.

His Ducati team-mate Nicky Hayden made a major breakthrough at Indianapolis, though – qualifying sixth and then finishing on the podium in third place. I don’t quite know what the Italian team have recently done with his bike, but the American ex-World Champion certainly seems much happier with it now, and it was wonderful for him to be seen as the ‘home-town’ hero in front of the patriotic U.S. crowd as he raced back to form…whilst wearing his ‘Captain America’ leathers!

Our next stop is in a very different place…Misano in Italy, in just a week’s time. This is very much Valentino Rossi’s home track, and it’s a place which he’ll arrive at expecting to win. He’ll need to, if he’s to regain his grip on the World Championship, because, believe me, it’s a much psychologically easier position to be the hunter (Jorge Lorenzo), rather than the hunted (Rossi). There really is no pressure now, on Lorenzo…but, in turn, there’s a lot on Valentino. Almost everyone will expect him to just turn up and dominate, so it’s going to make for fascinating viewing. And there’s now also every chance that the title race will go down to the very last race of the season, which is great for fans, spectators and TV viewers.

And, finally…2009 has seen so many wet-dry races that it really wouldn’t surprise me if Misano was yet another one. I know that I’ve proved many times this year that my predictions are absolutely useless, but…I’ll never forget racing at Misano in 2007, having only brought my shorts and flip-flops with me. Friends had described it to me as a place for holidays and getting a sun-tan. And, all weekend, we got absolutely flooded! The track was like a river. A repeat performance would make this year’s re-ignited Moto GP title chase even more interesting.

 

Misano is next - what will it bring ????

 

Alex # 66

 

 

19. August 2009: Lorenzo gifts the title to Rossi ?

“Motor-sport – like everything else in life – is unpredictable by its nature, but I’d be amazed if anyone other than Valentino Rossi was now crowned as 2009’s Moto GP World Champion.

Sunday’s Czech Republic Grand Prix came down to another private duel between the two works Yamaha riders – Rossi and Lorenzo – and, yet again, it was ‘The Doctor’ who finally came out on top. It just seemed to me that, for the umpteenth time, Rossi proved that he was the one man on the grid with the magical mixture of speed, skill and nerve to come out on top.

Having said that, though, maybe he could afford to sit back and watch during Sunday’s race – being 25 points out in front, in the Championship chase – whilst Jorge absolutely had to go for it. It was no good to him finishing second at Brno, so he had to go all out for the win. It all ended for him, of course, in the gravel-bed and the tire-barrier, but I was impressed by his attitude afterwards.

I interviewed Lorenzo live on German TV, you see, shortly after the race had finished, and he couldn’t have been more honest. Jorge said “I made a mistake, and it was all my fault, so now I’m going home. And I know that I’m fast, but I’m not physically strong enough, so I’m going to go straight to the gym and train like crazy.” So, take it from me, the guy is an animal!

Lorenzo’s contract for 2010 hasn’t been signed yet, but everybody expects that he’ll stay with Yamaha for next year, and as team-mate to Valentino Rossi. Which is great news for the rest of us, as it means that we’ve got another season of this duelling to look forward to, next season. Some people might doubt the wisdom of Jorge’s decision, but I know that he listens to people like Kevin Schwantz, who tell him that the greatest opportunity to beat the very best comes when you’re given the same tires, mechanics and equipment that they have…

…and the only reason that Lorenzo’s plans for next year haven’t been officially announced yet is because, as I understand it, they haven’t agreed on the ‘numbers’. So Jorge’s crash on Sunday may well end up costing him a few Euros, too!

Who knows what a fully-fit Casey Stoner might have been able to do, aboard his Ducati, up against the Yamaha twins, at Brno? Unfortunately, we were denied that prospect after he was forced to withdraw, as a result of his ongoing physical illness. And I think that was a smart move by the Ducati team.

After their gamble on tire choice at Donington unfortunately backfired – although, had there been a sudden downpour, it could well have proved a very clever move – Casey’s chance of winning this year’s rider’s World title had unfortunately disappeared. So, I think that somebody in Ducati’s senior management made the very smart decision to say “Hey, the kid’s not well, let’s give him a break.” Casey’s now back home Down Under, and I speak from experience when I say that he’s now concentrating on chilling out and recovering. Because his mobile phone’s not even switched to voice-mail, at the moment; it’s completely turned off!

There’s possibly a bigger picture behind Casey’s illness than even the most detailed medical diagnosis, because it’s worth remembering that, in his mid-teens, he made the big decision to leave Australia, move to Europe and concentrate totally on living his dream as a Moto GP rider. So, really, he’s been away from home for 11 or 12 years, permanently on the go, travelling constantly and always riding under pressure. I’m no medical man, but maybe everything has just caught up with him?

Make no mistake, though, that Casey Stoner will be back, because motor-cycle racing is his life. I hope that he’s back on form for his scheduled return at Portugal in September. And it would great for him, for Ducati and for the series as a whole if Casey could win his home Grand Prix in Australia, later in the year.”

 

The circus is already getting ready for the Red Bull US GP at Inadianapolis next week. Expect the battle to go on every race, even when the title is out of reach for the Rossi rivals ...

 

Ride on and stay tuned !

 

Alex # 66

 

 

27. July 2009: Dovizioso wins a Moto GP as crazy as Britain’s summer weather!

That race was almost as unbelievable as England’s summer weather! Believe me when I tell you that, even though Sunday’s British Moto GP was officially a ‘dry’ race; it was still raining on our commentary box’s windows, all the way through.

On almost every lap, the world championship situation seemed to change. From the very start, each and every one of the four Moto GP title contenders were involved. Because, firstly, there was Casey Stoner’s decision to opt for wet tires on a dry-ish track, which ruled him out of the running. Then Jorge Lorenzo looked to be leading comfortably, before making a mistake and suddenly crashing out. During the middle stages of the race, Valentino Rossi looked to have everything under control, but suddenly he was over the handle-bars and off his bike. That looked to leave the way clear for Dani Pedrosa to take full advantage, but he only tip-toed aound the track when it started to get really damp…and eventually Rossi overtook him again. Amazing!

Lorenzo’s accident was one of the few times that I’ve ever seen a Moto GP rider fall off his bike when riding his motor-cycle in a straight line. But the reason for that was quite clear, in the action-replays, because he just put one wheel – or one part of his wheel – onto a white line and was gone… And it should have been obvious to him, really, because paint is very differently-constructed to tarmac. Especially when it’s got freshly-fallen water on it.

At least Lorenzo was at the front when he fell off, though. Ducati’s riders both made it safely to the end of the race, but in 14th and 15th places, having both been lapped. When the fact-sheets were handed out just before the start of the race, telling us which riders were starting on which tire compounds, I honestly thought that there must have been a mis-print. It just didn’t make any sense to me; especially for Casey, who was chasing the World Championship. World title contenders tend to be conservative, you see. The golden rule under these sorts of circumstances is normally to just do the same thing as everyone else – because, that way, if everybody makes the same mistake (on tire types, for instance) at least everyone remains in the same boat and on a level playing field.

Amidst all the accidents and controversy, though, it shouldn’t be forgotten that this race was also Antonio Dovizioso’s first-ever Moto GP win. He’s been fast all season for Honda, and he was the only guy amongst the whole of the ‘usual suspects’ up front who did everything right, at Donington. And it wasn’t an easy win, either, because he told me in the Parc Ferme after the race that he’d only chosen a ‘medium’ visor, so was having visibility problems, all the way through the race. In fact, he said, he was finding it difficult to tell the difference between the wet and dry pieces of road, which must have been scary.

The two stars of the race, though, were undoubtedly Colin Edwards and Randy de Puniet. Riders who sign contracts with non-works teams do so knowing that there might be one or two ‘freak’ races every season where they can run with the leaders and chalk up a shock result. This one was undoubtedly it, and didn’t those two guys make the most of it? Edwards eventually finished second – and only a fraction behind the race-winner – but ended the first lap 15th.

Our next race at Brno in the Czech Republic will be just as interesting as for what goes on behind-the-scenes in the Paddock as much for what happens on the track. Because, traditionally, it’s the time and place of the year where deals for the following season are struck, if not signed. And Jorge Lorenzo will be the centre of attention, because his decisions will affect the rest of the riders involved in the mix. Lorenzo doesn’t want to be known as Rossi and Yamaha’s ‘number two’, but may possibly decide that a Yamaha more suits his style at this point in his career than a Honda.

After Brno, everyone involved with Moto GP then has a summer break to enjoy, and I think that’s something which is going to be to the benefit of everyone. Let’s not forget, for instance, that Lorenzo and Pedrosa are still both recovering from injury, whilst Stoner’s virus has still not yet been resolved. Our upcoming summer holiday, therefore, is going to provide ‘healing time’ for minds as well as bodies. Particularly after crazy races like Sunday’s at Donington!

 

I hope the summer will be back for the next round at Brno / Czech Republic ...

 

Alex # 66

 

 

20. July 2009: Rossi wins again… but the title race is still a four-way fight!

Well, that might not have been quite as dramatic as Barcelona, but Sunday’s German Moto Grand Prix was still a nail-biting battle for the lead between the two Yamahas of Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo. As in Catalunya, it was Rossi who ultimately won out, though, and he’s clearly continuing to send a very powerful message to his younger team-mate, I think – ‘You’re good and quick, Jorge…but I’m still the Big Mama!’…

And that’s all the more powerful a statement for the fact that Lorenzo is, without doubt, in my mind, the toughest team-mate that Rossi has ever had. You could see from his riding on the very last lap, in particular, that Jorge was trying his absolute maximum, but it just wasn’t quite enough.

Rossi now leads the Moto GP riders’ Championship table by 14 points, but this year generally has been so close that it only really needs one unlucky weekend for Valentino for the whole title race to be blown wide open, again. And it’s still fairly close, as it is!

I thought that it was great to see all this year’s ‘top 4′ – Casey Stoner and Dani Pedrosa are the other two - circulating in a race of their own at the front of the race, because that really is the story of the year. And any or all of them would make for worthy Moto GP World Champions. Stoner – and Ducati – perhaps provide the most interesting story of all, though.

Because if Sunday’s Grand Prix had been 15 rather than 30 laps long, Stoner may well have won it. Ducati’s Australian ace was certainly in the lead at that point, having cleanly passed Rossi during a scintillating ride. But, unfortunately, in the second half of the event, his mysterious, ongoing illness caught up with him, and he slowly dropped down the field from then on, only just holding on to fourth place, at the flag.

It’s a lovely idea to imagine that he could suddenly receive a correct diagnosis and a miraculous injection, but I’m afraid that I can’t see it happening. His illness has now gone on for too long for a quick recovery to soon occur, I fear. His lack of total race fitness is just something that he’s going to have to manage, I think…which makes it all the more remarkable that he’s still in with a real chance of becoming this year’s World Champion rider.

After examining this race’s form on a twisting Saschenring with plenty of swooping, medium-speed corners, it’s tempting to imagine what might happen next week at Great Britain’s Donington Park – a similar circuit, in some ways. However, the reality is that whichever type of track we travel to over the ’09 season’s remaining eight races, the ‘top 4’ will still remain the same.

And, if you forced me to put money on this year’s ultimate victor, it would probably have to be Valentino Rossi. Yes, he made a terrible error at Le Mans – and effectively threw that race away – but he hasn’t made too many mistakes, since. That’s the sign, to me, of a brilliant sportsman; one who learns from his aberrations and doesn’t commit the same sin, again. Generally speaking, he doesn’t fall off an awful lot, does he?

But there are two random factors which could still possibly trip him up, at Donington. The first is the British weather, which I hear has this year been as unpredictable as ever, and the second is the fact that there seems to be a different rider this year who comes from nowhere to become a factor, up front. At Laguna Seca, it was Nicky Hayden; at the Saschenring it was Alex De Angelis. Who might it be in the Midlands? James Toseland, perhaps?

Either way, next Sunday’s race is definitely going to be one to watch. And there’s every chance that, as with the German Grand Prix, the difference at the finish-line between winning and losing might well be by less than a second!

 

Off to Donington Park now - talk to you next week ...

 

Alex # 66

 

 

08. Juli 2009: Pedrosa’s unexpected win keeps the title chase open.

Well, that was a bit different, wasn’t it? And even Valentino Rossi told me after yesterday’s race that whilst he might have expected Jorge Lorenzo and Casey Stoner to battle with him for victory in America…the last thing he’d expected was to see Dani Pedrosa’s Honda rocket past him from the grid and disappear off into the distance.

And Sunday’s Laguna Seca surprise just displayed, once again, how unpredictable Moto GP racing can be, and how many potential winners exist in the 2009 field. The weekend’s events also showed that the world’s top motorcyclists are made of enormously strong stuff. Because both Lorenzo and Stoner suffered enormous accidents during qualifying, either of which could quite easily have left them both horribly injured. But, fewer than 24 hours later, here they both were in the race, battling it out for the lead.

In fact, I could barely believe my eyes on the race’s second lap when Casey Stoner – now battling a badly swollen shoulder and arm in addition to his debilitating virus – powered his Ducati up the inside of Valentino Rossi. That maneuver was only ever going to be a fleeting moment of glory, but the Australian hard-man had still made his point. And Stoner may now well be fifteen points behind Rossi in the riders’ World Championship table, but there are still ten rounds to go (the final event of the season isn’t until the second week in November) and hundreds of points up for grabs.

Yamaha’s riders came perilously close to earning no points between them, when Lorenzo made the crazy move on Rossi with just a few laps to go. He was totally out of control as he entered Laguna’s final hair-pin…and only missed hitting Valentino by inches. Lorenzo’s on-board ‘body language’ during the race I found fascinating. Having started gingerly, he then began to feel more and more comfortable on his bike as the race progressed, and by the Grand Prix’s later stages was the fastest rider on the track.

He did very nearly crash for the third time this weekend during the race, though! And the number of near-misses that he and his Yamaha team-mate Rossi does have now racked up does make me wonder whether they might not wipe each other out during at least one upcoming race in the near future? Should that ever happen, it would knock the riders’ World Championship wide open.

And that, in turn, might possibly let Pedrosa back into the world title hunt. That might sound an incredible thing to say about a man currently fifty points behind the leader in the points standings, but he cracked a big psychological breakthrough in scoring up both his and Honda’s first win in over a year. Plus, in contrast to his rivals’ newly-sustained injuries, Dani now appears to be almost totally recovered from his. The proof of that was the fact that he won as he pleased on Moto GP’s most physically demanding circuit. And in some of the series’ warmest weather conditions, too.

Pedrosa’s win was a ‘good news’ story which pleased almost everyone in the Moto GP paddock. And, equally, so was Nicky Hayden’s fine fifth place aboard the second Ducati. Nicky is such a nice guy – and a great rider – that most people were delighted to see him on such good form again. He’s also proving that it’s not just Casey Stoner who can successfully master a ‘Duke’; and his upturn has coincided with the Italian team having made a concerted effort to try and build a specifically-tailored new bike around him.

Nicky was undoubtedly helped along by his local knowledge of the Laguna Seca circuit, but the American track is similar in length and elevation change to the Saschenring, the next stop on the Moto GP calendar. Perhaps, then, Hayden might be able to carry his momentum back into Europe, and for the remainder of the season?

Ducati’s American rider won’t be able to wait, then, until the German Moto GP, in a fortnight’s time. Neither will I, because it’s my home circuit, in front of a crazily passionate crowd when my countrymen give themselves a good excuse to let themselves off the leash! For Stoner and Lorenzo, though, the upcoming two week break will, more than anything else, provide a precious opportunity to sit, rest and try to heal.

 

So much for now ! I am back home for a while before I will leave to Sachsenring - expect big crowds and passion pure there ...

 

Ride on ...

 

Alex # 66

 

 

30. June 2009: Rossi clocks up win 100… but Stoner stays well in touch.

Those of you watching on TV might well have thought that Saturday’s Dutch Moto GP looked like a walk in the park for Valentino Rossi…but, from where I was watching in the TV commentary box, it seemed anything but.

We’re fortunate enough to have all the official timing screens on hand up there, and Rossi put in an astonishing mid-race charge to get away from his Yamaha team-mate, Jorge Lorenzo. ‘The Doctor’ pumped in a series of laps up to half a second per time quicker than even his qualifying efforts, and Lorenzo was going faster and faster, too. That meant that the two were at war with each other again – just like they were in Barcelona – but two or three seconds apart this time, rather than bashing fairings into corners, like they were a fortnight ago.

Maybe it might have been a very different job if Lorenzo had enjoyed a good start, but he really made a mess of it, unfortunately. And in the laps that it took him to overtake other rivals and get his team-mate Rossi back within sight again, the Italian was too far gone into the distance. Valentino has now made two separate points to his fast young team-mate inside the last two races; I can either overtake at the final corner or simply ride away from you all the way to the chequered flag. And didn’t ‘The Doctor’ enjoy celebrating his 100th Moto GP victory, as a result!

It was the same old story again for Casey Stoner, aboard the Ducati, in that he again hustled a difficult-looking machine to a good third place. He may well have been ill again, too, as he was very breathless immediately afterwards. Either way, though, he’d just scored a whole stack more World Championship points to stay well in touch with the leaders at the top of the Moto GP riders’ table. There are awful lot of points still up for grabs between now and the end of the season; and Casey could easily still win it.

Just what Stoner and Ducati achieved, under trying circumstances, can be measured against the disastrous performance of the Honda team at Assen. I’d be prepared to bet that both Pedrosa and Dovizioso crashed on the same centimetre of tarmac when they each, in separate accidents, fell off at Turn 1.

Ideally, as at Yamaha, you’d have two riders pushing each other harder and faster than ever before, with a consequent knock-on effect in terms of effort, concentration and morale to the mechanics and every other member of the team. Unfortunately, that doesn’t seem to be happening at Honda, at the moment…but it’s still hard to see two riders around at the moment who might be better than who they’ve already got.

Honda’s hierarchy may well have looked on enviously at the performance of their former rider Nicky Hayden aboard the second Ducati, who turned in easily his best performance yet. He showed everyone in the Moto GP paddock that he’s still a great rider, and that he hasn’t shirked away from the challenge of trying to re-build his career.

In fact, Nicky looked like he was having a great time in amongst that fantastic, multi-bike battle for sixth place, and might have done even better than his eventual ninth spot had he not felt his handlebars come loose half-way through the race. That six-bike train was easily the best fight of the whole Moto GP, and it illustrated, once again, just how well off this series is for quality, right the way down the field.

Looking ahead to the next race in Laguna Seca, this looks as if it may well be an American Moto GP to remember, not least because the Californian venue seems to be one of Casey Stoner’s favourites. The hilly American circuit – particularly its world-famous ‘corkscrew’ section – is one where a truly brave rider can make a real difference in terms of lap-time. In fact, I’d personally regard it – and I speak from experience, here - as being just about the most challenging on the entire Moto GP calendar, not least because it’s the only track on the tour with no straights on it at all. Even the start/finish straight is more of a long curve!

The smart money will be on the sweet-handling Yamaha to succeed there, but a fully-fit Casey Stoner will surely take the fight to them. In fact, Ducati’s number one rider may well have revenge on his mind, after he was just edged out by Valentino Rossi at Laguna last season, after a ferocious, race-long battle. But there may well be other wild cards, too; Suzuki’s Chris Vermeulen, for instance, seems to be a real specialist at this Californian circuit.

All in all, we look set for more thrills and excitement, and I can’t wait. It’s certainly going to be worth staying up late next Sunday evening to see!

 

Before that I will be testing in Brno two days with the boys - can't wait so stay tuned and ride on ...

 

Alex # 66

 

 

16. June 2009: Rossi’s best-ever win… Moto GP’s greatest-ever last lap !

I still haven’t got my breath back, yet! Because that was the most amazing last lap in any form of motor-sport that I think I’ve ever seen. Some people have been questioning Valentino Rossi’s reputation as being the greatest motor-cycle rider of all-time over the past few weeks and months. But ‘The Doctor’s amazing victory at Sunday’s Catalan Grand Prix made his point spectacularly; he’s still the boss.

For those of you who haven’t seen it yet, have a look on the internet today for Rossi’s incredible last-corner pass on his Yamaha team-mate, Jorge Lorenzo. Because, by all logical standards, it really shouldn’t have been possible. Rossi aimed his bike up the inside of Lorenzo on the dirty, non-racing-line part of a bumpy, uphill 130mph left-hand corner. And the reason why Lorenzo didn’t defend himself is that it ought to be impossible to pass there.

The two rival Yamaha riders’ attitudes were telling when I interviewed them afterwards. Rossi was practically bouncing up and down on the ground; I’ve never seen him looking so obviously delighted, before. He told me, with a wide smile on his face, “That was the hardest and best overtaking maneuver that I’ve ever pulled off!” Lorenzo, meanwhile, still looked absolutely stunned. He simply didn’t understand what and how Rossi had just done to him. He kept repeating his compunction that “I put my bike in the right place…I was on the right line.”

That astonishing last lap - in which the lead must have changed four or five times, at least - was a contrast to the rest of Barcelona’s race, which wasn’t truly thrilling. But that just concentrated all the drama onto the Catalan Grand Prix’s final act. It was easy to forget, too, that there was a race going on behind the two Yamahas. And a very interesting one, too..

Because Casey Stoner’s fine third place may well prove crucial to him, later in the year. And only in the parc ferme, later, did we in the media discover just how good a ride it was. It rapidly emerged that Stoner was almost on the verge of passing out, couldn’t speak and was by no means a well man. In fact, Ducati confirmed afterwards - they’d kept this understandably quiet in the lead-up to the race - that their number-one rider had been taken ill the previous night, hadn’t slept the previous night and had even considered pulling out.

For that reason, Stoner’s success in staving off Honda’s Dovizioso on the final lap - they finished a tenth of a second apart - was particularly praiseworthy, especially considering how well that the powerful Hondas were performing on this ‘high-end’ Barcelona circuit. And the Ducati man’s success in reaching the podium has left us with the incredible situation of all three major Moto GP title contenders now each being equal on 106 Championship points.

All of which leaves me counting down the days and hours until our next Moto GP race in Holland, in a fortnight’s time. The legendary Assen circuit is a track which rewards a bike which puts its power down smoothly onto the tarmac and handles nicely. In theory, that should make it another Yamaha circuit, but absolutely anything seems possible, this year! And bear in mind that both Stoner and Ducati should both be restored to full health by then.

 

I am back home and won't move for a while - talk to you soon and ride on ...

 

Alex # 66

 

 

05. June 2009: Alex for Puma: Stoner scores Ducati’s most-important-ever win !

If you saw Casey Stoner being interviewed on TV in the aftermath of his win in Sunday’s Italian Moto GP, you’ll know that he was grinning from ear to ear and looking almost unable to believe his luck. But when I spoke to him on Saturday evening after qualifying, it was a very different story; he was edgy and unhappy, and not at all confident that he’d be able to get a competitive race-day performance out of his bike. And then it rained, on Sunday morning, and everything changed.

And what a fantastic race that the change of weather created! Up in the commentary box for German TV, we literally lost count of how many lead-changes there were, or the number of different riders who had been out in front. So much was going on, right through the field, that it was a tough job to keep up with it all, and our heart rates were going at 200mph - the same speed as the bikes out on the track! This might have been a terrible year so far for race-day weather, but it’s making 2009 an absolutely classic season for Moto GP racing.

And, as I say, this was such an important win for Ducati, as the Mugello circuit is within easy reach of their factory near Bologna, and to lose here would have been a terrible blow to their morale. It may also have affected the future form of Casey Stoner; who encapsulates the whole team effort, and who they depend on for real success. As it was though, Stoner ended the race a delighted man, and looked to me a rider who is now motivated to fight tooth-and-nail all season to re-gain his Moto GP crown.

This was also the race, both for the Australian and Ducati, which finally answered the critics who said that he could only ever win Moto GPs by qualifying on pole position and then riding away from the rest of the field. Because this was a victory which Stoner won with a truly fighting ride; carving his way back through the field after changing bikes mid-race and changing to slick tires as the track quickly dried.

In some ways, Stoner undoubtedly enjoyed good fortune. Because this was an unusually sober, circumspect performance from Valentino Rossi. At Le Mans, just a couple of weeks ago, let’s remember - and under very similar wet/dry conditions - Rossi threw the race away by crashing out after gambling too quickly on dry tires. Here, his focus almost seemed as much on staying aboard his bike, rather than fighting like a tiger for the lead. It made me wonder whether he’d figured out that one unforced error could be viewed as an aberration, but two on the trot might begin to affect his reputation as the world’s best.

In fairness to him, he was also hindered by a hard choice of front-tire which made it difficult for him to have enough confidence in his Yamaha to really throw it into corners, and also that he was possibly riding with Championship points in mind, this time. Because despite finishing his home Grand Prix in a good third place, he still remains nine points off the top spot, at the moment.

One former Moto GP World Champion who endured a much more disappointing race was Dani Pedrosa, who fell and injured himself just when it appeared that he was coming into something approaching his old form. The word from the Paddock on Sunday evening was that he wasn’t, thankfully, badly injured, but he still seems to suffer particularly poorly from accidents, which is unusual in such a little guy. It’s usually the taller ones - myself included - who end up having the most trouble from falling.

One of the mysteries in motorcycle racing is just how it can be that some riders seemingly fall off all the time, bounce off the tarmac and get up again, whilst others seem to break something vital every time that they come off. There are a number of different theories; that it’s in the way that a rider crashes or falls off, whether it’s pure bad luck or even down to genes in that exactly the same bones in the same type of falls seem to break on some riders and not on others, but it all remains a mystery. In my own case, I seem to have glass bones! Every time that I fall off at high speed, something seems to shatter!

Everyone in the Moto GP Paddock hopes that Pedrosa will recover in time to compete in his home Grand Prix at Barcelona, in a fortnight from now. And one of the great things - injuries aside - about this 2009 season is that nobody now knows what to predict, there - not even the weather, despite the fact that it’s going to be Spain in mid-June! I’ve given up trying to forecast that (just like everything else!) and will be taking both short and long trousers with me, together with both tee-shirts and a rain-proof jacket!

One of the many unexpected sights in Mugello was of Loris Capirossi and Suzuki roaring into the lead, and that image marked them out, too, as now being genuine contenders for a Moto GP race win. So, whilst we can quite safely predict who’s going to be in the first eight places - or two rows - of the Catalonian Grand Prix grid, what we can’t forecast is in which order. It all adds up to the most hotly-contested and unpredictable Moto GP season that I can ever remember…and I can’t wait for the next round!

 

 

I am now finally back home, after a little trip through Italy with Romina. We had a great time, but with all the traveling I am doing I enjoy to be home much more ...

 

Off to Valencia on Sunday - so talk to you soon amigos ...

 

Alex # 66

 

 

20. May 2009: The race which proved Rossi is human, after all!

Well, what a fantastic race that was! And what a year this is proving to be for Moto GP and its many millions of television viewers! The weather gods may not have treated the ‘09 season very kindly so far, but it’s making for some fantastic action.

And it’s helping to spark some real debate too, because I’d have to put Sunday’s wet/dry race at Le Mans down as being just about the strangest of Valentino Rossi’s entire Moto GP career. I was co-commentating on the event, as usual for German TV, and, shortly after the race started, my producer asked me ‘How many laps before they start coming in to change tires? Can we fit in a commercial break?’ I replied ‘Yes, I think so, because there’s no way that anyone can come in for another four or five laps; the track’s just too wet.’ Sure enough, the adverts were on when Rossi came in for his early pit-stop.

And just before we went back on air, I said to myself, ‘He must know something I don’t, because that track still looks far too wet, for me.’ As soon as we went ‘live’ again, the first thing that German TV viewers then saw was Rossi’s bike in a gravel-trap and him trying to lift it back the right way up! In fact, he had only lasted about two corners out of the pits, and came off at the very first left-right ‘S’ bend. Amazing.

Because this was Valentino Rossi, the guy who never makes silly mistakes and hardly ever crashes; the man that the entire Moto GP paddock is in awe of. And, like I say, maybe this race was the proof that he is actually human, after all!

One of the reasons for the race being so exciting was the fact that, all the way through practice and qualifying, there hadn’t been a single drop of rain around Le Mans for the riders to negotiate. So when the race started, everyone was on guessed settings, and some probably still on their dry ’set-up’. And, these days, that isn’t just a question of changing one spring for another, or giving something one more turn than usual with a screwdriver. It’s about electronic engine mapping and all the rest of it.

That phenomenon of new technology, indeed, may help to explain Casey Stoner’s mysterious performance; and, especially, that baffling moment when he slowed down as he passed his pit, then speeded back up again shortly afterwards. I think that he may have either been receiving instruction from his pit-box or changing some of his electronic settings, or both. If you’re lucky enough to take a close look at the handlebars of Moto GP bikes these days, you’ll see that they look more like PlayStation hand-controllers than anything you might see on a road bike.

And that also possibly explains why Rossi compounded his initial error by then speeding in the pit lane. Because that particular button or setting was very probably smashed or broken by his accident. And he must be hoping that his inability to score even one or two points at Le Mans - a race which he would have expected to win - doesn’t come back to haunt him in the final riders’ table, at the very end of the season. The Stoner situation is less easy to clarify, and he wasn’t in the mood to help explain it by stopping and chatting in the paddock, afterwards!

Jorge Lorenzo was happy to talk, unsurprisingly, though. And delighted to make up for the embarrassment of Jerez when he crashed, very late in the race, in front of his adoring home crowds. He felt pretty sore about that, he told me, when I interviewed him, and was absolutely determined to make up for it at Le Mans. The same scenario will apply, I’m sure, to Valentino at Mugello in a fortnight, which is effectively his home circuit.

But it’s Ducati’s test track, effectively, too, and Stoner will badly want a win there to get his season back on track. However, the fact that it has a couple of very long straights could possibly most benefit Honda, who still have the fastest Moto GP bike in the world, in a straight line. And there are are plenty of medium and low-speed corners there, too, which could play into the hands of the sweet-handling Yamaha.

All of which means that I’m going to offer absolutely no predictions on the possible winner of that event, at all! Because all my early-season prophecies proved to be wrong, and if you listen to my commentaries on German TV recently, you’ll be aware that I’ve now stopped making them. But I’m delighted about that, because it means that the racing this year has been so unpredictable. And there’s every chance that Mugello will be must-see TV, too, in what’s turning out to be a classic season of Moto GP racing.

 

 

I am having a weekend off and will be back in the saddle of my RSV4 on monday in Valencia. What a Bday on the race track that will be :-) !

 

All the best and ride on amigos ...

 

Alex # 66

 

 

09. May 2009: Alex says “I’m supposed to be the expert…but I’m so glad that I got it wrong!”

Let’s start with a confession. It looked, for all the world over Moto GP testing last winter that the 2009 season was going to be all about Rossi versus Stoner. After all, they were the two fastest guys everywhere, and usually by some distance too. But what this first European race of the new season showed, and the first ‘regular’ Grand Prix with no rain or delays, was that ‘09 is going to be a whole lot more competitive than that; with many more potential winners than just those two. And, I’ve got to say it - I’m so glad that I was wrong!

But maybe I’m not the only member of the Moto GP media pack to have made a mistake. Because I hear that several pundits have already been offering their verdicts on Sunday’s race, and stating it proved that Honda’s Dani Pedrosa is still only half-fit, and that’s not the way that I saw things, at all. It is true that his performance faded from around the half-distance mark, allowing Valentino Rossi to easily catch and pass him for victory, but that looked very much to me like a bike-related issue rather than a rider-focused one. Because, if you’re able to look again at the race on TV, just examine Pedrosa’s physical movement and body language aboard his Honda. It still screamed maximum attack from where I was looking, and his race’s deterioration was much more likely caused by fading tires and an imperfect bike set-up.

In fact, I’d argue that one of the stories of the weekend was just how competitive that he and his bike were. On circuits with long straights where he’s able to take full advantage of the Honda’s superb top-end power, I can see Dani winning Moto GPs again. And I wouldn’t have predicted that in February!

But it would be wrong to take any of the Jerez glory away from Valentino Rossi, whose performance in the Spanish Moto GP showed why some fans call him ‘God’; because it really was absolutely perfect stuff. And shortly after the Grand Prix had finished, Dani Pedrosa offered a further perspective on its excellence, when I interviewed him for German TV. Honda’s number one rider told me that he thought Rossi may even have been holding back during Saturday’s qualifying, purely so that he could then have the pleasure of winning this Jerez race, in front of Lorenzo’s and Pedrosa’s thousands of adoring fans, by overtaking them and squarely beating both of them on their own home turf.

If that sounds a bit far-fetched, then maybe we should consider two more things. Firstly, that Valentino’s bike was very quick out of the box on Friday, and that he then surprised nearly everyone in the paddock by failing to take pole position with it. And secondly, that Rossi is one of the most talented and flamboyant performers in all of world sport.

Lorenzo, in particular, ended up making a rider error possibly as a result, which saw him lose a whole bundle of World Championship points. Possibly confused as to what his team-mate Rossi had done to be so much faster than him on race-day, and then definitely over-excited in his late-race pursuit of Stoner for third, he ended up crashing out in front of his home crowd. And Jorge’s whole performance definitely looked to me like a rider who was totally over excited.

When I spoke to Stoner shortly after his race had finished, he seemed absolutely delighted with his third position and place on the podium. It’s no secret in the Moto GP paddock that there are certain circuits where Casey, the Ducati or a mixture of both just don’t seem absolutely competitive and for whatever reason, Jerez is one of them. I’m absolutely sure that, even this early in the season, he’s already riding with World Championship points in mind, and his body language spelt mission accomplished to me when I talked to him. By the time that the Moto GP circus rolls on into Mugello and Barcelona, I’m sure that he’ll back towards looking for race wins.

Because the next race at Le Mans is one which looks to me made-to-measure for Yamaha and Rossi. It’s a stop-start circuit, with no really long straights, which rewards a well-handling machine, rather than an out-and-out powerful one. And’s that a combination tailor-made for this year’s Yamaha, I think. But, having got so many of my 2009 Moto GP predictions off to an incorrect start, already, I’d be delighted to be proved wrong once again!

 

Courtesy of www.pumamotorsport.com

 

See you next race ...

 

Alex # 66

 

 

03. May 2009: Alex # 66 for PUMA Motorsport !

To all english fans of my website. Since the Japan GP I joined forces with Puma. We will have a race report after all Moto GP events on www.pumamotorsport.com. I am trying to give my view of the race weekend. All facts, inside information and latest news ...

 

www.pumamotorsport.com

 

So join the Puma Website once in a while and here is what we made out of the Motegi Race weekend:

 

Alex Hofmann says ‘All looks fine for an action-packed 2009!’

After what happened at Qatar, a lot of people inside the Moto GP paddock seemed scared that this was going to be another year where Casey Stoner and Ducati just disappeared into the distance every other Sunday, but the Japanese Grand Prix showed that 2009 is going to be a lot more exciting than that, I think!

Take a close look at the race results, and you’ll see that the top five actually finished within only five seconds of each other. And that those riders were on three different types of machine - Yamaha, Ducati and Honda. Even though I think Sunday’s event was a little bit of a strange race, and I’ll tell you more about that in a minute, what it did show was that an awful lot of this year’s bikes and riders seem very evenly matched. And that’s enough to make me think that we might all be all set for a season of classic Moto GP action to look forward to.

A lot of TV viewers who just tuned in for Sunday’s race might not be aware of the fact that in a reverse scenario of what happened in Qatar, it rained non-stop for many of the Japanese GP’s practice and qualifying sessions and only just dried up in time for the race. What that meant was that the entire field had only had 45 minutes of ‘dry’ running-time for the whole meeting, and as a result, everyone then had to guess on settings and tire types for the race.

For instance, the track temperature for most of Saturday’s running was only 8 or 9 degrees, but on race-day we were up to 30! That might help explain, considering the amount of guess-work involved on ’set-up’ and tyre choice - as to why some riders, like Valentino Rossi, were much stronger at the start and the end of the race, but faded away badly in the middle.

During mid-race, of course, Rossi was squarely overtaken by his new team-mate Jorge Lorenzo, and I think that we’ve already seen enough between those two to know that there aren’t going to be any team orders at Yamaha this season! We also saw Stoner score good, solid Championship points out of a race he never threatened to win, and that Honda still seems to have a bike and an engine which is the fastest of all in a straight line.

One of the reasons why I thought that Motegi might have been a bit of a freak race was the fact that, when I interviewed Jorge Lorenzo just after its finish for German TV, he seemed surprised at how easy that it had been for him to win. I asked him why he’d been so quick, and he told me that he didn’t really know! That suggests to me that either he or his engineers had just guessed right on something, and it may well be a different story in Spain next Sunday.

Because at Jerez next week, we might just see the first normal Moto GP of the year, and I think that it’s going to be fascinating. During recent testing there, Casey Stoner and the Ducati Team were the class of the field by an absolute mile - he was toying with the rest of the guys it seemed in terms of setting lap-times. But testing and racing are always two very different things and, with a bit of luck, everyone will have three full days on the same track, in the same good conditions, to all gets things absolutely right. And as I said, I think that the results are going to be very interesting, and probably very close.

Another thing that Lorenzo won’t have to worry about there, hopefully, will be Japanese track marshals accidentally switching his bike’s engine off! It’s important to celebrate your first victory of a new season, and he does like to christen at least one gravel-trap as ‘Lorenzo land’, that’s his thing. But it doesn’t look quite so good when you can’t ride triumphantly back to victory lane because somebody else has pressed the wrong button and ‘killed’ your bike!

 

The Jerez report will follow soon .....

 

Ride on !

 

Alex # 66

 

 

28. April 2009: Follow the # 66 on Twitter !

Since I am not racing all over the world at the moment, my english website is falling asleep. Sorry for that but I was too lazy to translate all the latest German News into english - shame on me ...

 

Through my good buddies Brian Lopes, Hans Rey and Richey Schley I got to know Twitter.com ! An easy way to follow your friends all over the planet. I was doubtful in the beginning but I have to confess that it is a cool way to keep in touch and let people know what you are up to ...

 

So please hit the link on the left to see what is going in my life. I write frequently about my testing with the Aprilia RSV4 and my TV job at german television !

 

Right now I am home but on thursday I will take a plane to the third round of Moto GP in Jerez / Spain ...

 

Seeya there amigos ...

 

Alex # 66

 

 

 

17. February 2009: Fanclub NEWS from Veit !

Hello everybody!

 

We recently decided that we won`t create a fanpackage and we won`t collect fanclub fees for 2009.

But this does not mean that the fanclub is cancelled - quite the opposite is the case! Due to the difficult current situation it is hard for us to organise meetings far in advance.

We will try to go on keeping you up to date, as soon as we have concrete meeting dates (e.g. Sachsenring or Brno). You are more than welcome to offer us new ideas if you already decided to go to an event and want to meet the fanclub - just let me know, by writing an e-mail or publish it online (fanclub forum).

Next to that we now have access to the fanclub homepage and we are still thinking about ideas how to update our homepage untill maybe the middle of the year.

 

See you soon ...

 

Veit

 

PS: Alex66 has been testing a lot of new technical features for the brandnew Aprilia RSV in Valencia last week and Shinya Nakano has been fastest rider today!! Very Well done Alex66!! We hope you`ll get the chance for some wild card rides in 2009!