Highside

Hello dear readers!

Sadly, Highside will be on a temporary hiatus while I wait for the internet to be installed in my new house.  For any and all news that you need in the meantime, keep an eye out for stuff on Rubb3r, MotoGPtalk, or stay tuned into Jared Earle on twitter.

We’ll be back soon!

Erin

Jorge Martinez, second from left, is welcomed into the MotoGP family.

Stepping in to replace the now-defunct Grupo Fransisco Hernando in the MotoGP class, the Aspar racing team will field one rider in the premier class ins 2010.

Jorge Martinez’s Aspar has been a dominant force in the 125s and 250s for the last few years, and is especially strong right now with their three 125 riders standing 1-2-3 in the standings, and Alvaro Bautista in second in the 250s.

The new Aspar team will field one Ducati rider in 2010.  Depending on the team’s success that year, Martinez has said that he is open to the idea of fielding a second rider in 2011.

The identity of the first Aspar MotoGP rider has not yet been revealed, but many bets are on Bautista taking the slot.  Bautista, who won with Aspar in the 125s before moving to the 250s with the same team, is poised to graduate up to the premier class in the next few years.

Joining him for sure in the premier class will be Marco Simoncelli, who has a confirmed ride for the Gresini Honda team.  Also looking to graduate in the next year or two is Hiroshi Aoyama, who currently leads the 250cc class and is poised to step in to fill the shoes of Yuki Takahashi as an (ideally) dominant rider in the premier class.

Jorge Martinez said he hopes to announce the identity of the team’s first MotoGP rider at Brno in August.

Qualifying has ended over at Donington Park, and for the first time since 2005, Valentino Rossi will stand at the front in Pole Position.  Dani Pedrosa will start at number 2 on the grid, with a fastest time less than one tenth of a second slower than The Doctor.  Jorge Lorenzo starts third on the grid, continuing his perfect record of front row starts this season.

Casey Stoner suffered his second fall of the day, taking a lowside during the earlier part of qualifying.  James Toseland, Nicky Hayden, and Mika Kallio also had disappointing qualifying runs.  Toseland, the only British rider in the premier class, starts on the outside of the third row in 9th position, while Hayden starts all the way back in 15th.

125cc title contender and local Bradley Smith took pole in the smallest class, setting himself up for a great performance coming hot off the heels of his disappointing showing out in Germany.

Despite his showing during qualifying today, having Rossi on top of the podium when the checkered flag is waved seems unlikely.  Then again, The Doctor has never been one for simply meeting expectations. Dani Pedrosa’s dominance out on the circuit could mean another top finish for the Spaniard, while Jorge Lorenzo’s times during FP2 and QP lead one to believe The Janitor could possibly rise above.  Casey Stoner will have to beat whatever has been causing these crashes out on the dry track today, but his dominance on the track gives me faith that he will still contend for the podium.

A lot of this will depend on the track conditions come race time.  Weather forecasts put the chance of rain tomorrow at about 70%, which means we’ll probably be contending with a wet race.  This would bode particularly well for Dani Pedrosa, whose excellence in wet weather is unmatched by any of the other podium contenders.  However, if the track should dry out  mid race and we’re left with a flag-to-flag race, keep an eye out for Jorge Lorenzo, whose brilliant decision to stay out on wets for longer in Le Mans won him the race.

Friday’s events at Donington Park are coming to a close, and with the final times for FP1 posted, let’s take a look at who rose above the wet, and who couldn’t quite find their groove.

Casey Stoner

The Australian posted the second fastest time on the circuit despite running 11 fewer laps than the fastest rider, Dani Pedrosa. Stoner put out an amazing performance out in Donington, and looks poised to take his second hat trick of the season.  That will all depend on how well he has his anemia under control, but all signs seem to show that he’s got it beat for now.

Dani Pedrosa

The tiny Spaniard is back in action, and showing remarkably good form in the first practice session of the day.  Posting the fastest time of the session on the last lap is impressive, but the extra time to run, and for the circuit to dry out, leaves me wondering whether he can keep the pace up during the actual race.  Regardless, I fully expend Pedrosa to contend for the podium here in Donnington, possibly even pushing Lorenzo or Rossi off into 4th place.

Valentino Rossi

The man with the most premier class wins at Donington hasn’t won in England since 2005, and if his Free Practice times today were any indication, The Doctor won’t be on top of the podium this weekend.  There’s still another practice and qualifying to come, and even then these times can have very little bearing on the race itself, but Rossi looks to be losing something on this circuit every year, and I don’t see that changing for his last walk in the Park.

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Casey Stoner reaches the crest of a hill during the 2009 German Grand Prix

Casey Stoner has been racing since he was a young lad growing up in Australia. Racing dirtbikes from the age of four, Stoner quickly became a dominant force in the youth dirtbike scene in Australia, winning almost 50 titles in 5 years. Once he turned 14, his family moved to England so he could start road racing (you have to be 16 to road race in Australia).

He made his debut in MotoGP back in 2001, racing in the 125s for 4 years before making the jump up to the 250cc class. His one year in the intermediate class was impressive, taking 2nd overall. However, when he made the switch over to MotoGP in 2006, he had never won a title in any MotoGP class.

That would soon change. After a decent rookie year, Stoner moved to the Ducati Marlboro team in 2007, taking the world championship title in dominant force, finishing over 100 points above second place Dani Pedrosa in the standings. This dominant tour de force established Stoner as a heavy contender for years to come; in 2008, he finished 2nd behind Valentino Rossi, and has at times led the standings in this year’s championship.

Stoner has further asserted his skill through his mastery of the Ducati Desmosedici, a bike that has in recent years established itself as a career ender. Stoner’s performance on the powerhouse of a bike shows his skills as a rider and as a competitor, and you can expect to see him pushing the envelope for seasons to come.

Stoner’s personal life has always been at least partially in the spotlight. The Australian met his wife, Adriana, during the Australian Grand Prix back in 2003. The two are now married, and can frequently be seen together in the paddock or on the starting grid. The couple now reside in Switzerland during the off-season.

Twitter has been all a-buzz with people linking to this video over and over again, so for your enjoyment, here’s Marco Melandri’s amazing one-handed slide through the wet to win the 2006 Phillip Island Grand Prix.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=huKVVNU4V3s&hl=en&fs=1&rel=0&color1=0x3a3a3a&color2=0x999999]

This weekend, MotoGP comes to Donington Park for the last time, bringing along with it the fierce competition this season has provided. Let’s take a look at three things to keep an eye on this weekend.

Andrea Dovizioso
After his third straight DNF in a race, Dovizioso has a lot of pressure on him when the lights go out. The Italian finished in first two years ago in the 250cc class, and 5th last year. Can the second Repsol Honda rider pull through and finally take a podium? Will he continue his streak of retirings? Or is Dovizioso doomed to never rise past #4? While answers set at Donington won’t be set in stone, the race will give even more insight into his future in MotoGP.

Nicky Hayden
The Kentucky Kid is back on track, delivering a phenomenal and, frankly, surprising showing during FP1 and QP in Germany. However, an overzealous start took Hayden’s podium chances away. Can he turn this around in Donington, a track that has a less than favorable track record for Ducati? For the sake of his future, I can only hope so.

Jorge Lorenzo
Speculation is beginning to build over The Janitor’s future as Rossi’s teammate. Lorenzo’s one small sentence has been brewing many different theories, over just how much money he’s worth. Despite the overwhelming success he’s had on the Yamaha, is being #1 on a team worth the switch over to Honda? And if so, what does that mean in terms of other team switches. Only time can tell, and it’ll start telling this weekend in England.

Nicky Hayden reviews his performance after the German Grand Prix

In honor of last weekend’s crazy weather, we bring you four terms and phrases that were repeated over and over again during the race.

Flag to Flag

When the weather changes in the middle of a race, races in the MotoGP class will often get called as a flag to flag race, meaning that the race will not be halted for riders to change the tyres on their bikes. Flag to flag races are exciting in a much different way than the average race; racers have to figure out when the best time is to come in and switch bikes, and there’s never a correct answer.  However, flag to flag races often lack the close, edgy battles that we see in a dry race.

Slicks

When racers head out onto the track, the weather plays a large role in their choice of tyres. If the race looks to be dry through and through, riders will set out with Slick tyres.  Slicks are completely smooth, much like the traditional racing tyres using in F1 and NASCAR.

Wets

By contrast to slicks, wet weather tires (or wets for short) are used when it is either raining, or the track is damp. Because water can get between the tyres and the track and cause riders to lose control, wets are specifically designed, like normal car tyres, to move the water away from the tyre, which lets it grip the circuit a lot better.  However, these tyres are a lot more fragile; run with them on a dry track, and your tyre will start to shred really quickly.

Contact patch

The area where the tyre touches the ground, the stability of the contact patch is something that riders worry about a lot.  The smaller the contact patch, the harder it is to control the bike, and the more likely you are to lose control and crash. As tyres deteriorate during a race, the best riders start to shine; those who can work with less of a contact patch can continue to contend, while those who haven’t mastered it yet begin to struggle with their tyres.

What an unbelievable race out in Germany today.  There’s a lot to talk about, so narrowing it down to the top 3 talking points is going to be a challenge.  Nevertheless, here are the three most memorable performances of the day.

Valentino Rossi

The Doctor hit another milestone today; two races after hitting his 100th victory, he takes his 159th podium, tying Giacomo Agostini’s record.  Rossi is now poised to shatter another legendary standard and catapult himself even farther into contention as the best motorcycle rider in history.  Rossi’s work out at the ‘Ring today showed he was still on top of his game; arguably letting Lorenzo pass him so that when he overtook the Spaniard again, he could resounding state ‘I am still the best.’ Leave it to The Doctor to drive home such a damaging blow to Jorge Lorenzo’s morale.

Jorge Lorenzo

The Janitor has show that he is certainly a force to be reckoned with, performing so well despite his injuries sustained two weeks ago in Laguna.  With rumors abound as to where he will end up next year, Lorenzo still has his eye on what matters most: winning.  And there’s much to be said about his post-race antics with Rossi.  The fun, goofy way the two attacked each other with their bottles of champagne says that even though they are bitter rivals, they still have great respect for each other. And losing by .099 seconds, while still losing, is a loss to be proud of.

Casey Stoner

Sure, he didn’t finish on the podium.  But the Aussie is back in form, contending strongly throughout the entire race and dropping off in the end for reasons more obvious (and less controllable): tyres.  Stoner now has a chance to come back hard in this championship.  It’ll take some supreme riding from the former World Champion to reclaim the title, but he’s far from out at this point.  One fateful crash from Lorenzo or Rossi and we could see a Ducati back on top of the standings again.

Tip of the hat to Dani Pedrosa, who finished on the podium despite some severe tyre wear towards the end of the race.  We all go into Donnington Park next weekend with the expectation of another huge battle, and chances are we wont be disappointed.