Highside

Overtake: A rider overtakes another rider when he passes the opponent in front of him.  An overtake is different from a simple pass, however, because a rider can pass another rider who is not in front of him, position-wise (known as lapping).

Lapping: When Rider A passes Rider B, and Rider B is already one or more laps behind Rider A, this is called lapping.  While neither rider changes in position, the faster rider has still passed the slower rider, and in short races like in MotoGP, this is considered to show a severe lack of skill, or equipment, for the slower racer.  However, in longer races, such as in NASCAR or Indy Car racing, lapping is much more common, and is a direct result of the riders varying speeds, usage of pit lanes, and the extended length of the race.

Ride-Through Penalty: When a rider breaks a rule during the race, he could be given a ride-through penalty as a result.  If a rider is called for this, they must drive through the pit lanes on their next lap, obeying the maximum speed that a rider can travel at while in the pits.  This speed is dramatically slower than the speeds at which the racers normally travel, and since the pit lanes often line up with some of the largest stretches of open track, it can dramatically hurt a rider’s position in the race.

After qualifying, it was assumed that the man to beat on the track today would be Dani Pedrosa.  As it turns out, only one man could beat the tiny Spaniard: Pedrosa.  The Repsol Honda star went down in the final corner of lap 4 out in the brickyard, but miraculously, managed to merely scrape the fairing and his leathers.  Perdosa went on to remount his bike and finish the lap down thirty seconds from Gabor Talmasci, yet Dani’s skill quickly returned as he began rising up the standings and challenging for points.  He finished in an astounding 10th place despite his early fall.

Valentino Rossi was less lucky, losing the front end of his bike as he drove through a dirtier portion of the track while chasing teammate and championship challenger Jorge Lorenzo.  Rossi’s rare crash was made even more rare by the fact that his crash damaged his bike and left him unable to finish the race.  Rossi’s fall was atypical and very costly—his large lead he had built up in the championships has been halved, and with 5 races left in the season, Lorenzo has had his championship aspirations restored for 2009.

Two riders joined Lorenzo on the podium: Alex de Angelis took his first MotoGP podium, and Nicky Hayden managed to hold off pressure from Andrea Dovizioso to claim his first podium on board the Ducati—and his first podium since Indianapolis last year.  Hayden’s finish is important for the American, but hardly surprising given how new the track is for most of the riders and how much time The Kentucky Kid has spent in The Brickyard during his life.  The true hero of the podium is de Angelis, who is fighting for his right to continue in MotoGP right now.  de Angelis has the lesser of the two Gresini Honda bikes, and took that satellite bike well beyond its perceived limits.  de Angelis started the weekend in his usual position, back in the middle of the pack, but during qualifying and the morning warmup found some magic to pour into the engine of that Honda, and the man from San Marino rode it beautifully.  As the MotoGP circus heads to the tiny nation that de Angelis calls home, look for him to capitalize on his Indy success with a top 5 finish.

Race MVP: Alex de Angelis

Highside is coming to you from Indianapolis this weekend, and with Qualifying in the books, let’s digest our notes and look at the three biggest players from Saturday’s Practice and Qualifying sessions.

The man to beat this weekend has been Dani Pedrosa, and that isn’t going to change when the red lights go out on Sunday.  Pedrosa led the first Free Practice in the rain, then today he led the second free practice by a full second.  And to top that, he qualified on pole, trouncing the #2 qualifying Jorge Lorenzo.  Pedrosa’s constantly-improving Honda seems to be finding its pace, which is great news for Pedrosa—and lousier news for Lorenzo.

Speaking of Jorge Lorenzo, The Janitor’s performance today has been hit-or-miss, but still surprisingly strong.  Lorenzo has been the only one who could challenge his Spanish rival, and every time Pedrosa upped the pace, Lorenzo would be the first to follow suit.  Lorenzo is out on the track sporting a Captain America helmet, which has earned him some good support from the local crowd.  Then again, Lorenzo had massive support in Jerez, and we all remember how that ended.

There’s one local name that’s been on everyone’s lips today, and it’s not The Kentucky Kid.  Colin Edwards has been a rising star in the last few races, and he’s continuing to shine here in Indianapolis.  Edwards has been pushing his Tech 3 Yamaha to the limits, and of late, he’s been the most consistant—and best—of all the satellite riders.  Keep an eye out for him to make a strong push tomorrow, and we might even see a second podium from Edwards if one of the Untouchables crashes out during the race.

The MotoGP circus has shown up Stateside once again, and Friday’s rainy practice session brought out a couple surprises.

Dani Pedrosa came out on top, posting a brilliant 1′51.507 on his sixth of 16 laps out in the wet.  Pedrosa has voiced his desire to repeat his surprise success at Laguna Seca earlier this year, and while his early performance might have won him a race in the wet, the weather forecasts here in Indianapolis show drier—albeit cooler—weather for qualifying and race day.  Still, Pedrosa has come out swinging here in Indianapolis, and tops the list of riders as we go into Saturday.

Nicky Hayden clocked in with the second fastest time of the session, showing once again that nobody knows Indianapolis quite like The Kentucky Kid.  Finishing higher than Rossi and Lorenzo, Hayden is poised to reach out and touch the Untouchables.  Hayden has remained cautiously optimistic of his chances this weekend, but a strong push performance on Sunday is well within his realm of skill.  If Hayden can continue this pace on the drier conditions, he could land his first podium of 2009—and a much-needed first podium on the Ducati.

After all the good performances, it’s only natural that some riders should disappoint.  Toni Elias is riding low off of his podium finish in Brno, ranking 14th during the first session.  But it was Niccolo Canepa whose performance came at the end of the list.  Canepa’s fastest lap clocked in at a slow 1′58.244, nearly 7 seconds down on pace-setter Pedrosa—and almost two seconds slower than the next fastest rider.  If that wasn’t enough hurt for the struggling Italian, Canepa’s temporary teammate, Aleix Espargaro finished two places above him on his first MotoGP ride *ever*.

As it has been widely rumored and expected, Suzuki announced today that they are re-signing Loris Capirossi for the 2010 season.  The Italian, who will be 37 years old at the start of next season, is being kept on to continue helping with the development of the GSV-R, which has failed to be competitive so far.  Despite this, Capirossi has proven his skill time and time again, riding a less-than-ideal bike to three 5th place finishes.

Capirossi will be joined by Alvaro Bautista, who had already announced his 2-year contract with Suzuki.  Bautista, currently in 2nd place in the 250cc runnings, will be hoping to prove himself worthy of stepping up to a more competitive factory team in 2012.

Of course, with the second spot on the Suzuki roster filled, that means that current Suzuki rider Chris Vermeulen has to find a new place to ride for 2010.  Vermeulen, whose popularity with the Australian fan base was not enough to offset his disappointing performance on the GSV-R, will most likely be moving to the World Superbike championship for 2010.

Hey readers,

I’m proud to say that Highside will be at the Red Bull Indianapolis Grand Prix this weekend.  If any of our readers are going to be there, we’d love to meet up and get your thoughts on the weekend as it unfolds.  Let us know in the comments here, tweet us at @Highsideblog, or just shoot us an email!  Thanks!

Erin

Editor, Highside

The big news of the day has been Jorge Lorenzo’s decision to stay at Yamaha for next season, but a recent interview in Visordown has put forward some other news worth mentioning: Valentino Rossi seems closer to making his dream switch to Ferrari in 2011.

The Doctor was set to make the switch after the 2006 season, but Rossi is quoted as saying, “I did not want to leave MotoGP after the fall in Valencia that cost me the title,” referencing Rossi’s fall in the last race of the 2006 season when Nicky Hayden unseated the reigning World Champion.  Now, Rossi seems to have his eyes set on a switch after the 2010 season, which would upset the balance of power within The Untouchables, and indeed the entire paddock.

The Doctor has test driven the Ferrari car on numerous occasions, and has had a successful—albeit short and sporaidic—career in rally car so far.

The news about Rossi’s possible retirement could explain Lorenzo’s decision to stay at Yamaha.  If The Doctor does retire, then The Janitor would be next in line to fill his spot as the #1 rider on the world’s best bike.  Lorenzo has expressed his desire to be #1 many times, and it’s possible he’s made the decision to wait a year before taking that spot.  The Mallorcan’s patience here could pay off with the lead position on the most coveted team in MotoGP, something his departure from Yamaha would surely prevent.

It’s over.  The endless series of rumors about where Jorge Lorenzo will be riding next year can all be put to rest, because MotoGP.com is reporting that Jorge Lorenzo has signed a new contract with the Yamaha factory team, keeping him alongside Valentino Rossi for the 2010 season.

The FIAT Yamaha press release quotes Lorenzo as saying “Today is a good day because I have decided to remain with the Yamaha Factory Team in 2010.”  Lorenzo’s signing puts to rest the many rumors being circulated by the less-than-reliable Spanish media that he had already signed with Ducati.

With Lorenzo’s contract issues resolved for 2010, Silly Season should be switching into overdrive, with the rest of the Paddock falling into place in short order.

Paul Kelly, one of the PR heads for the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, posed a question to former World Champion Kevin Schwantz during a teleconference a few days back.  The question: as an auto racing fan, why should you get excited, and engaged, with MotoGP?  Schwantz’s answer brilliantly explained what makes MotoGP so exciting, and we bring you the entirety of his comments below:

SCHWANTZ: I think, first and foremost, the speed of the bikes, the sound of the bikes; second of all, how exposed the rider is and how much the rider — how much of an input the rider has into what that bike does and how well it works. It seems to me from a four-wheel perspective, it’s one of those things, well, the car is just not right, we have to wait until they have an opportunity to come in the pits and work on it. Throughout the weekend you’ll watch the guys coming into the pits working on the MotoGP bikes or the 250 or 125cc bikes, but then once the race starts on Sunday, it’s man and machine and it’s do everything you can on that motorcycle; climb around on the top of it, you know, stay over the front, slide over the back if the conditions are less than ideal. So many things that a rider on a motorcycle can do to affect how well or how bad that motorcycle handles, whereas in a car I think you’re in a little more of a position to, you know, you’ve just got to drive it for what it’s worth right now and then when we get a chance, we’ll get to adjust on it and hopefully we make the right adjustments to put us in a place to win at the end of the race.

It’s a little bit shorter race, a little bit hopefully more exciting. Not beating up on four wheels, that’s for sure, but hopefully a couple guys pushing and shoving and leaning on each other a little bit throughout all the classes, both 125, 250 and MotoGP, and you know, over 200 miles an hour off the end of the front straightaway just like an Indianapolis car does here at the Speedway, and driving into a first turn that’s flat and lots of change of direction, good competition, that’s for sure.

Silly Season is in full swing in the MotoGP Paddock, and there seems to be one player whose indecision on signing a contract has many of the other players waiting behind him, scratching their heads and wondering what they’re going to do, and when.  The man in question has galvanized public opinion for and against him, and has certainly made this Silly Season one of the most remarkable on record.  That man is none other than Jorge Lorenzo.

Much has been written about what is ultimately Lorenzo’s first ambition: to be the number one rider at the team, to be the rider that the bike is built for.  Through this, Lorenzo believes he will finally have the last edge he needs to be the undisputed champion next year, and he makes a very strong case.  The question is, where can he get that top ride? (More after the break.)

Jorge Lorenzo

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