Highside

A number of fairly reliable sources are reporting that World Superbike sensation Ben Spies has made up his mind for 2010: Elbows will be joining fellow Texan Colin Edwards in the Yamaha Tech 3 paddock for 2010.

The decision is set to be formally announced at the Imola World Superbike round, which should solidify yet another piece of the Silly Season puzzle. Spies’ decision to enter MotoGP means that the 2010 lineup will feature at least 4 rookies (Alvaro Bautista, Hector Barbera, Marco Simoncelli, and now Elbows), and the paddock is filling up really fast now. For the current riders who have yet to sign a contract for next year, things are looking scarier with the day, with the number of available bikes shrinking rapidly and no news yet from Honda if they’re going to provide Scot Honda and LCR one extra bike apiece.

Strangely, Spies decision has caused more speculation and excitement than any other 2010 rookie, and this might come from his 2008 wildcard success. Riding at Laguna Seca, Indianapolis and Donington, Spies captured 14th at the Great Britain circuit, and two top 10 finishes in the States. Spies has a lot of pressure on him to perform, but if his rookie year in WSBK has shown the world anything, it’s that Ben Spies is fully capable of standing up agains the toughest of competitions. 2010 will be a fascinating season, to be sure.

We speculated a few days ago that Niccolo Canepa had fewer days left in MotoGP than was expected, and today that speculation came true.  GPone.com reported today that Pramac Ducati’s manager, Paolo Campitoni, has announced that Aleix Espargaro will be riding for the satellite Ducati squad in Estoril.  With Casey Stoner slated to return at the Portugal round, Mika Kallio will be returning to Pramac, which means that for Espargaro to ride, Canepa will have to step aside.

The news has upset Canepa, and his manager is currently in talks with Pramac to ensure he gets paid for the rest of the season.  Canepa’s contract does not stipulate that he must ride, only that he must be paid, so Espargaro will most likely be filling in pro-bono.

The battle between Espargaro and Canepa is hardly finished, however; both are slated to be potential candidates for Pramac’s Moto2 project next year, and while Espargaro would certainly like to stay in the premier class, spending a year in Moto2 might be more beneficial for the surprise Spaniard.  If Espargaro continues to be successful, expect to see him riding somewhere for Pramac next year, while Canepa will most likely have to step back to World Superbike or World Superstock.

To continue with our goal of helping newer fans get involved and engaged with the sport, we here at Highside are starting a new, ongoing series explaining the rules of the race. We’ll start with the most fundamental rules and move into the more obscure as time progresses. To start, we’ll look at some fundamental rules on how the race is run.

Starting a race: MotoGP races are run from a standing start. What this means is that riders line up on the racetrack in a grid, in the order that they qualified. Riders will stand on their bikes and wait until a bright red light (or oftentimes, a series of lights) turns off. At this point, the race has begun and the riders take off as fast as they can. All of the riders are carefully monitored by MotoGP officials to ensure that none of them start moving before the light turns off. If a rider does so, they are called for a jumped start and must take a penalty. This kind of start is different from those used in Indy Car and NASCAR races, where they use what is called a ‘rolling’ start.

During the race: Riders jockey for position, taking turn after turn and trying to overtake the rider in front of them, all the while trying to keep their own position secure. There are a few maneuvers that are illegal: Riders cannot intentionally take shortcuts through other parts of the track, nor can they intentionally bump or hit another rider with their bikes or bodies. Riders who break these rules are either given time penalties, ride-through penalties, or are disqualified from the race altogether. Riders who accidentally crash are not penalized for coming into contact with another rider, though teams will often argue with each other and officials over whether or not a collision was intentional.

Finishing the race: Like in most races, the first rider to cross the line wins the race. Riders who are more than a lap behind the leader when the Chequered flag is waved finish in their current positions at the end of that lap, and do not race for an additional lap. An electronic timing system is used to determine which rider crosses the line first, with the option for review by the officials reserved for instances where riders finish so close to each other that there may be fault with the electronic timing.

Points: Riders accumulate points based off of their position at the end of a race. These points are tallied up at the end of the season to determine who is the World Champion. A rider must still be riding on the track at the end of the race to earn points. Points earned by position are as follows: 1st: 25 points 2nd: 20 points 3rd: 16 points 4th: 13 points 5th: 11 points. Riders finishing 6th through 15th earn one less point than the rider in front of them. Riders who finished 16th or lower do not earn points.

A new video surfaced yesterday of World Superbike sensation Ben Spies and the “Ben Spies method” of winning races. The video is much in the same vein of the “Day at the Office” skit Yamaha did with Rossi, Lorenzo, Edwards and Toseland shortly after Rossi’s 100th victory.

The new video from Yamaha improves even more off of the earlier one, losing the corny music and god-awful faux-acting from the Yamaha office employees in favor for Spies simply being Spies—something that makes the lanky, shy Texan adorable and lovable.  But more importantly, the video shows that Yamaha is still years ahead of the competition in PR, just as they are with their MotoGP bike.

(Video and more after the break) Read the rest of this entry »

Something is amiss in the Pramac paddock. With Mika Kallio set to return at Estoril as Casey Stoner makes his revival, the casual observer would think that all is said and done for Aleix Espargaro. And yet, his behavior after the race is a bit odd.

Espargaro flew back home to Spain to have an arm pump installed—surgery that was hardly time-sensitive for the replacement rider whose days in MotoGP this year would seem to be over. And yet, Espargaro appeared bright and early in Spain today—the day after the race—to undergo the surgery.

Then there’s Niccolo Canepa. The Italian has had a god-awful MotoGP debut, never finishing higher than 8th (in Great Britain, with all the hullabaloo that occurred there), and averaging around 13th. Silly Season rumors have the odds of Canepa leaving the series as remarkably high, and his last two performances have done nothing to change that.

Finally, there’s Pramac themselves. In a small, and quite possibly insignificant move, the satellite Ducati squad have changed the nature of their press releases; where at first they listed Canepa before the substitute rider, the entire Misano weekend has listed Espargaro before Canepa, who was riding in his home country (of sorts).

The nature of this speculation is wild observation, drawing lines between tiny, miniscule facts that could all paint a bigger picture, or could all be entirely unrelated. But the tiny pieces paint a compelling picture; why would Espargaro be so quick out of Misano unless he was worried about being fully recovered in time for Estoril? And why would the Pramac press releases give so much extra time and space to the Spaniard? Only time will tell, and with three weeks before Estoril, it could be a long time before the announcement—if there is going to be one—is made.

(hat tip to YooperBikeMike who first started pulling all these pieces together)

Yesterday’s 125cc race had all the drama we’ve come to expect and love from a 125cc race, with Pol Espargaro making a brilliant push to the front of the pack.  Espargaro the younger, who won his first race in Indianapolis last week, had a rough history of races being “stolen” away from him in the past.  Yet, the lost opportunity has never hurt as much as it did yesterday, when Andrea Iannone took Espargaro out on the final corner.

The crash came as Iannone made a desperate last-chance push to steal the lead from Espargaro on the final corner, and ended up losing the front end of his bike.  As he slid out into the gravel, his bike collided with Espargaro’s Derbi, and the rest is history.

Or it was, until Pol went to confront Ianonne in the gravel trap. A second altercation between the two riders occurred, though the events of this one are much muddier.  As the race officials ran out to secure the bike and ensure neither rider was injured, Espargaro was right in Iannone’s face.  It then appears that Iannone pushes, Espargaro away, who is immediately back in the Italian’s face, still shouting.  A second push from Iannone, and then what might have been a punch thrown from Espargaro, and finally the two are separated by race officials and led off the track.

There have been no press releases from either team, and no comments on either incident from FIM officials.  Yet, the effects of this confrontation are visible.  Espargaro the elder was visibly upset after the crash, while Iannone’s page on Wikipedia is now under a constant barrage of vandalism.

Few facts remain certain: Iannone made a rash and immature decision in taking that corner as fast as he did, guaranteeing he would lose his bike, and Pol—who was catapulted head-over-heels through the gravel trap—certainly had every right to be upset.  With the race over and done with, however, it remains doubtful that there will be any resolution to the issue—until the two meet on the track again, that is.

It had been said before in Brno, but now we can confirm it: Dani Pedrosa and Andrea Dovizioso have renewed their contracts with HRC, keeping the two men on board the Repsol Honda bikes for 2010.  The news was announced by the head of HRC, Tetsuo Suzuki, during a press conference this weekend in San Marino.

The main hitch in the agreement was the role that Pedrosa’s manager and mentor Alberto Puig would play in the garage.  HRC downplayed the previous rumors that they were seeking to bar the elder Spaniard from the pits, but firmly stated that while Puig might be Pedrosa’s manager, Mike Leitner was the team manager and would stay as such.  A cordial Suzuki went on to clarify that the relationship between Honda and Puig “is not bad, but we are not friends.”

The announcement marks a shift in Silly Season; with every factory ride now accounted for, the shuffle amongst the satellite rides will begin in earnest.  A big new piece has just come into play, however, as HRC has hinted that they might run 8 bikes in MotoGP next year, up from the current six.  The two additional bikes would be split between LCR Honda and Scot Honda.  This would not only allow current 250cc points leader Hiroshi Aoyama to move up, but would bring the total number of bikes on the grid to 20—a move that would certainly please Dorna.  The additional bikes would provide a little extra air for the furiously competitive satellite riders, as Alex de Angelis, Toni Elias, James Toseland, and others furiously battle for a spot on the grid in 2010.

With Saturday’s events at Misano in the books, it’s time to take a look at the starting grid for tomorrow’s race.

Home favorite Valentino Rossi will start from pole position, after leading every session this weekend.  Rossi has dominated every practice session this weekend, and posted a pole-setting lap of 1′34′338, over two tenths of a second faster than Dani Pedrosa, who starts at #2 on the grid.  Pedrosa set his fastest lap on his final run across the line, edging out Jorge Lorenzo, who clocked in another two tenths of a second down on his Spanish rival.

Nicky Hayden was the fastest Ducati on the grid, clocking in at 1′35:223, nearly nine tenths of a second behind Rossi, but just .039 seconds behind fellow American Colin Edwards.  Edwards continues his string of second row starts, behind Gresini Honda rider Toni Elias, who posted the fastest time on a satellite bike.  Elias will start in 4th position.

The other home favorite, Alex de Angelis, will start up the third row, ahead of Andrea Dovizioso, Mika Kallio, and both the factory Suzuki rides.  Substitute rider Aleix Espargaro finished in 15th, ahead of Niccolo Canepa and Gabor Talmasci.  Espargaro is looking to continue his remarkable debut, and will no doubtedly have his sights set on the rider placed just in front of him: James Toseland.  The British former Superbike star qualified 14th, and will have a long, tough battle ahead of him to earn a good chunk of points here in Misano.

A post-race interview from Misano reveals what we all suspected: Tech 3 Yamaha is on the verge of renewing Colin Edwards‘ contract for the 2010 season.  Edwards, who has been dominant on board his satellite Yamaha for much of the season, said that the Texas Tornado still has to come to a final agreement with team boss Herve Poncharal, but that the two are “pretty much there.”

Edwards also admitted that his teammates bike, currently piloted by James Toseland, is up for grabs, saying, “As regards for a team-mate, I don’t know yet, we’ll see what the scenario is there.”

Edwards’ position at Tech 3 is rumored to be a  place-holder for World Superbike star and fellow American Ben Spies, whose recently renewed contract with Yamaha has the younger Texan riding in WSB for 2010 before a probable move to Tech 3 in 2011.

Edwards also weighed in on the renewed battle between Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo, saying that “They look like they are both pretty focused on beating each other, which is great for the sport.  Not just for the end of this year, but next year too.”

Edwards finished 6th during Free Practice 1 in Misano.

Yamaha, Yamaha, Yamaha.  With the first session done in San Marino, it’s Yamaha who lead the way, and by a very sizeable margin.  Home favorite Valentino Rossi sits at the top of the order, having snuck past teammate Jorge Lorenzo in the final minutes of the session, while Lorenzo himself sits at #2, a full six tenths of a second ahead of the last remaining Immortal on the track, Dani Pedrosa.

Pedrosa suffered a bike mishap during the later parts of the session and had to retire early on.  Behind him is San Marino native Alex de Angelis, who’s riding hot off his debut MotoGP podium in Indianapolis.  de Angelis is just .016 behind the tiny Spaniard, and a good two tenths of a second ahead of Andrea Dovizioso.  de Angelis, who is undoubtedly riding for his future in MotoGP, is seemingly riding for his life, as his performance in Indy, and now in Misano, have been shockingly good.  de Angelis, on his satellite Honda, leads both the factory Ducati squad as well as both the Rizla Suzuki bikes, and if he continues this pace, we could see him strongly contend for a second podium this weekend.

Disappointing performances came from Nicky Hayden and Marco Meladri.  Hayden, who scored his first podium of the season last race, clocked in at 10th during the first free practice, while Marco Melandri finished 16th in the order, ahead of only Gabor Talmasci.  Melandri’s time is highly unusual for the veteran, and you should fully expect him to lift his times considerably during the next two sessions.

Extra praise goes to Aleix Espargaro, who finished 13th in his second time out on a MotoGP bike ever.  Espargaro, who finished in 13th in Indianapolis, is quickly taking to the MotoGP bike, outperforming current teammate Niccolo Canepa at every opportunity.  However, Espargaro’s performance is not quite at the caliber you’d expect for teams to consider signing him on for next season, and it’ll take a very surprising finish here in Misano for teams to start considering him as a candidate.