The Brickyard Is Indianapolis, James
The reason this report is called what it is is because I heard an interview with James Toseland earlier this year and somebody sent in an email which read something like, “James, are you excited to be going to the Brickyard later this year”? There was a nervous pause before the guy doing the interview said, “I don’t know what the Brickyard is, do you James”? Toseland paused for a second before commentating “haven’t got a clue, so I’ll have to pass on that question”!
It’s been a while since a legitimate MotoGP report was published. The reasons for this are varied, but I suspect the main one is none of the reporters want to give out too much classified information. It’s dog-eat-dog around underSteer headquarters baby. Being the radical that I am I thought “screw it”, it’s time the world knew what is currently going on in MotoGP. So ladies and gentleman, boys and girls, the chocolate room... hold your breath, make a wish, count to three...
I suppose we better start with Dani Pedrosa’s shock decision to go to Bridgestone (whoops, there goes 98% of the readership for this report). Whilst being announced after the last race in Misano you’d have to think this has been in the pipeline for a while. The two signs which point to that are Shinya Nakano getting Dani’s 08 spec Honda from Brno onwards, this as a reward for his consistency, or so Honda say anyway. Of course it had nothing to do with Nakano riding for the Bridgestone-shod Honda Gresini team. For me the second sign happened before the Brno race when Pedrosa's Mr Miyagi, Alberto Puig was racing down the pits trying to get the Michelin boys to do an Indy 05 and come in after the formation race for “safety reasons”. Of course that was pie-in-the-sky stuff but as we all now know the Michelin boys got it horribly wrong for the third race in a row at Brno. Pedrosa ended up finishing last and he described this as his worst ever race, he also said he felt “impotent”. Honestly, he did say that - check yourself if you don't believe me! To rub salt in the womb Nakano, on exactly the same bike as Pedrosa but with Bridgestone tyres finished 4th. Enough was enough for Dani and Alberto. Sometime between Brno and Misano Dani, Alberto and Repsol went to Honda saying that wanted out of Michelin immediately or they were [Chris Richardson voice] out-of-here. HRC were left with no choice. So a few hours after the race the world finds out Dani is off to Bridgestone, as of now. Dani tested the very next day with the Bridgestone’s and recorded a time .8 quicker than his race time the day before on Michelin. Whether that was on a qualifying tyre only Honda and Bridgestone know. So on top of having new tyres for Indy Dani has also finally decided to throw all his chips in the middle of the table and use the much discussed pneumatic engine. On a brand new track all eyes will definitely be on the Pedrobot.
So from one end of the grid to the other and it seems the worst bike going around is the Kawasaki. The thing is clearly a pig to ride having chucked Hopper off numerous times and Westy looks like a beaten man whenever he is interviewed. Things don’t look to good for Westy in MotoGP beyond this year which is a shame. I heard Westy describe the Kwaka as a piece of shit, and with some of the bikes Westy has ridden in the 250cc class he should know. Finally back to Hopper, they reckon the reason he didn’t do Friday practise at Misano was because he arghh, had a disagreement with his wife (no, I didn’t read this in Sydney Confidential either). His wife also writes a blog on Hopper’s website. Well, she used to anyway - maybe she can work for underSteer now?
The race for the MotoGP title seems over for Casey after returning to his 'chucking it down the road' days. I hear people say Casey is chucking it again because Rossi has got into his head after their Laguna street fight a few races ago. I’m not so sure; I think Casey is just trying too hard to build a huge lead and when you are on the razors edge all the time these things happen. Casey didn’t seem to mind tangling with Rossi last year so I really don’t think he has been dealt some kind of Sete/Max spell. I wouldn’t be surprised if Casey went on to win every GP until the end of this year, he clearly has the pace. Just a side note I’d love somebody to ask that dickhead Max Markson what he thinks Casey is worth now. He’d probably say some bullshit but I bet he’d be backtracking on his 100 million dollar price tag from nearly 12 months ago.
In other paddock news Chris Vermeulen and Loris Capirossi have finally signed again for Suzuki, surely this will be Loris’ last contract. It seems Nicky Hayden will definitely be with Casey next year on the Duke leaving Andrea Dovizioso to take Hayden's spot on the factory Honda. This leaves Ben Spies to possibly take Dovi’s spot on the customer Honda JiR. It has already been announced that Marco Melandri has been released from the last year of his Duke contract leaving him free to take Westy's spot on the Kawasaki – good luck Marco! Sylvain Guintoli looks to be leaving the customer Duke team with Mika Kallio possibly moving up to MotoGP. I think that is it in 2009 team news, but the Michelin sponsored Tech 3 boys must be a tad nervous if there is a one tyre rule next year.
As mentioned the next race is in Indy. When Dorna announced this last year it was met with a huge thumbs up from none other than Matt LeBlanc. Yep, that’s the same guy you played Joey on Friends. Matt reckons they should have a MotoGP race in every state of America. The last time I checked the US had 50 states. Maybe our resident American punter Berrien County Racing could help us but I seriously doubt MotoGP has caught on in such states as Utah, Illinois and Alabama. But I do respect Matt Le Blanc, no really I do. I remember when he came out for the Logies a few years ago and immediately tried to win us over by proclaiming AUSTRALIAN TELEVISION ROCKS!! Now Matt, have you ever seen Pugwall, Let The Blood Run Free, Vidiot, and more recently Out Of The Question and Yum-Cha?
This Indy race is going to be hard to pick. Michelin are a bit of a basket-case at the moment and the last thing they would want is a race at the scene of their most embarrassing moment in motorsport, Indianapolis. If you don’t follow Formula One Google “Indy F1 2005”. No riders have tested on the track so it promises to be a bit of a lottery which is probably going to suck. Ben Spies is back racing for Suzuki and he has also been added into the underSteer rider list for reasons (and agendas) only Boss Hogg can answer! You’d have to think the race will be between Vale and Casey again but really until race day it is hard to be certain of these things.
In underSteer news we have the peoples champ David Hicks still leading but I predict this race will see him overtaken by TEAM K. Hicksie has a very, very, very, bad history at Indy events and for a while held the world record for lowest score ever in an underSteer event of just 20 points, set in 2003. If you throw MPR in the mix the title seems to be down to three, with team orders ruling out Bezzy Racing. If there were to be one from outside these three who could still do something it is the 2 time champ Adolf Warne. It would require a huge form reversal though as Adolf Warne hasn’t been on the podium for 15 races now. Adolf Warne hasn’t been on the podium for 15 races now. Adolf Warne hasn’t been on the podium for 15 races now. Shit sorry, sticky keyboard – just been watching a replay of Dell scoring three tries against the woeful Parramatta Eels from the other week.
Good luck in Indy everybody.