MotoGP: Stoner Sizzles at Sepang Test

The 3 day MotoGP test at Sepang ended with Casey Stoner top of the heap, even though his wrist is still recovering from an operation, which limited him to 3-lap runs. Pretty impressive stuff from the Aussie, although he really could have done with some long runs and race simulations to help him understand how the new Bridgestone control tyres will perform as a race goes on.

Valentino Rossi was second, and he too was riding crocked after sustaining injuries to his left hand and foot after supposedly falling through a glass coffee table when closing the curtains. The Italian superstar isn't going to let a comedy slapstick injury and dubious cover story slow him down.

Little Dani Pedrosa headed for the airport a day early because he too is injured, this time with a sore knee. He'll be tucked up in bed with his teddy bear, resting up for the next test.

Loris Capirossi was suspiciously fast on the Suzuki. It seems that Suzuki are always suspiciously fast in testing at Sepang. Of course, Loris is genuinely quick on that track, but it's always hard to tell how fast anyone will really be when the testing stops and the season starts. In other words, I think Suzuki won't be winning many races this year. Hopefully they can carry on this form though, because I'm a fan of the little Italian nutter.

Chris Vermeulen was also quick on the second Suzuki, which points to the bike being quick at Sepang. However, ultimate lap times can be deceiving due to the nature of the track. Some guy on a Ducati can hold you up as he fights the thing round corners, then disappear into the distance on the long straights.

Colin Edwards did well, finishing 4th on the final day. It's a very impressive performance on Bridgestone tyres for the Texan, considering he's been with Michelin for donkeys' years. Of course, Colin's another rider who tests well and races not so well, in MotoGP anyway.

James Toseland make the rookie error of pushing too hard on a cold, hard-compound tyre. The Bridgestone rubber responded to this mistreatment by flipping the Englishman over the high side at 125mph, which Toseland called the biggest crash of his life, even bigger than the one in British Superbike that shattered his femur. Luckily for him, the Sepang track is very modern, and has acres upon acres of tarmac and gravel. Basically, if you fall off at Sepang and there are no other bikes around, there's nothing to hit, so you'll just tumble along for a while then come to a halt. Still, the ground gave JT a good solid whack on the head that left him feeling dazed for the rest of the test, and also hurt some arm muscles that are used particularly under braking (triceps). It was a stupid mistake that cost him valuable testing time, but the lad didn't win 2 WSBK titles by being daft, so he shouldn't do it again. Maybe there's something about Sepang, where he fell off during the race last year for no good reason except pushing too hard.

Toni Elias was quick on the semi-factory Honda, and Andrea Dovizioso was respectably quick on the factory machine, which was pretty good going as the Italian is getting used to the Bridgestone rubber.

Nicky Hayden is another Michelin refugee and a newcomer to Ducati. He was a lot slower than Stoner, though not embarrassingly so (a la Melandri). He is still trying to get used to the Bologna Bullet. Personally, I'm not at all convinced that the current Duke will suit the Kentucky Kid. It's well known that Stoner trusts the electronics and slams the throttle open (now that's what I call confidence), whereas Capirossi and Melandri both hated it as they didn't trust the computers. Hayden is known for his dislike of traction control. I think he would've suited the early 990cc Ducati, which Capirossi wrestled to victories as it bucked and weaved under him. Here's hoping the Kentuckian can get used to the systems of the space age 800cc machine.

Sete Gibernau was slower than Hayden on his Onde 2000 Ducati with its murderous dictator sponsorship package. Boo hoo.

MotoGP: Rossi Stars at Sepang

Valentino Rossi won his ninth MotoGP race of the season at Sepang, Malaysia. Dani Pedrosa was second, while Andrea Dovizioso finished third for his debut visit to the MotoGP podium.

The qualifying session had been an amazing spectacle, with the track starting out wet but becoming fully dry by the final few minutes. This resulted in a mad dash for pole position in the last moments of the session, with Repsol Honda's Dani Pedrosa snatching top spot ahead of FIAT Yamaha team-mates Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo. Casey Stoner could only manage seventh position on the grid after failing to exit the pits in time for his last run.

Pedrosa made his usual rocketship start to the race, pulling out several bike lengths by the end of the start/finish straight. Scot Honda rider Andrea Dovizioso battled through to second place by the time the field had passed through the first right-left complex, just ahead of Valentino Rossi, Nicky Hayden on the second Repsol Honda, and Casey Stoner on the Ducati. Rossi was immediately all over the back of Dovizioso's silver bike, but the younger Italian was in the mood for a good result. The Doctor passed his countryman in the final hairpin, but ran wide, and Dovi grabbed the place back. However, Rossi's Yamaha eased past the underpowered satellite Honda machine down the start/finish straight to take second place and set off after Pedrosa's quicker factory Honda.

Casey Stoner was now battling to overtake Nicky Hayden for fourth place. The Kentucky Kid was already sliding his Repsol Honda, but Stoner was unable to use the Ducati's top speed to pass the American. The Australian soon to be ex-champion was not looking like his usual self, and had admitted that he had not found a good setup for his Bologna Bullet.

Englishman James Toseland only lasted four laps before lowsiding out of the race unhurt, blaming a hard compound tyre which he was struggling to bring up to temperature. Alice Ducati rider Toni Elias was given a jump start penalty.

At the front, Pedrosa was not breaking away from Rossi. The miniature matador's lightly loaded Honda was firing out of the corners and leaping onto the straights, but Rossi's tightly turning Yamaha was clearly faster through the swooping corners at the back of the Sepang track. The eight-times world champion was trying very hard, as evidenced by his left foot flapping in the breeze under heavy braking, the usual sign that Rossi is in a determined mood...

Read the rest of my report on the Sepang round of MotoGP at Motorbikesport.

MotoGP Testing: Sepang Again

If you're looking for biassed and offhand analysis of the final Sepang test, you've come to the right place. (If you're looking for a detailed and professional analysis of the Phillip Island test, check out Dennis Noyes at the SpeedTV site.)

FIAT Yamaha showed up to this test, having missed Phillip Island. Nicky Hayden was there for the first couple of days. Pedrosa is still injured, but has cheered himself up by changing his race number. He will now be number 2, which sums up his remarks about Hayden's bike development abilities. Most of the other teams either weren't there or just sent a test team.

Valentino Rossi is now getting used to the Bridgestone tyres and getting his bike dialled into their characteristics. This isn't too surprising, considering the combined brainpower of race engineer Jeremy Burgess (IQ 395) and Valentino Rossi (race IQ 180, falling to 27 when filling in tax forms). Rossi has supposedly reached a settlement with the Italian tax authorities. He will keep the race number 46 because that's how many Euros are left in his bank account. Yamaha's test team has switched to Bridgestone tyres, although The Doctor reckons the test riders are so slow that he doesn't really give a monkey's.

The Doctor put in some outstanding laps, which will have Ducati pausing for thought and the rest of us rubbing our hands and looking forward to the first real head-to-head between all the top guys at the upcoming IRTA test, where somebody will walk off with the keys to a BMW for posting fastest time in a dummy qualifying session.

Rossi's cocky partial team-mate Jorge Lorenzo did well on qualifiers (which hide a multitude of sins), but is struggling with front-end feel on the Yamaha. He was a good few tenths adrift of Valentino on race tyres. Apparently his riding style may have to change, which does make a mockery of the idea that 800cc bikes are custom designed for 250cc riders. Casey Stoner did once say that he and Pedrosa don't really have classical 250cc riding styles, but tend to pick the bike up much earlier than expected. Lorenzo's style in 250GP was noticeably different to his rival Andrea Dovizioso, who took much tighter lines and is doing brilliantly on an 800cc MotoGP machine. It could be a tough year for the comically arrogant Lorenzo.

Having said that, all talk of riding styles should be taken with a pinch of salt. After all, Max Biaggi has a 250cc riding style worthy of painting on the Sistine Chapel, and he didn't do too badly last year on a heavy, squishy, point-and-shoot WSBK machine.

Nicky Hayden did a million and four laps on the first 2 days of the test, mostly involving an out lap, flying lap, in lap and some tinkering with the bike. Repeat as required (i.e. lots). HRC's main problem is that the new pneumatic valve engine is rubbish compared to the new steel-spring engine, which is rubbish compared to last year's steel-spring engine. Hopefully Honda will sort the pneumatic valve system so we can talk about Dani Pedrosa's air-sprung dwarf technique...

MotoGP Testing: Sepang Summary

The first test of the year is over, so here's a brief analysis of what went on at Sepang.

Nicky Hayden finished fastest, with a blistering lap. On qualifiers. Nicky has always been quick on qualifying rubber, and the sticky stuff has always masked the innate rubbishness of the 800cc Honda chassis. He did his fastest lap with the old steel-sprung engine, saying that the new engine, whose valves boing back pneumatically, was rubbish. OK, he said it needed a lot of work, but that's about as close as the Kentuckian gets to calling things rubbish. Things are looking surprisingly mediocre for Honda at this stage on race tyres.

Dani Pedrosa was crocked when the bike chucked him down the road and broke his wrist. He has undergone microsurgery (well it'd have to be, wouldn't it?) and is on the mend. However, he made underhand remarks about Hayden's ability to develop a bike. People who ram their team mate into a gravel trap shouldn't throw stones...

Casey Stoner was ominously fast, once the Ducati's trick electronics had been fixed. Marco Melandri wasn't.

Valentino Rossi wasn't all that fast at all, but seemed to like the Bridgestones. Except when they caught him out on one of his outlaps and nearly chucked him over the perimeter fence, anyway.

Kawasaki weren't very good, but distracted everybody from this by having the test riders try a "screamer" engine, which won't be used on the race bikes in the near future. Everyone said it sounded cool, which meant they weren't talking about how slow Ant West was. He was probably looking for his grid spot.

Suzuki were kind of OK on race tyres.

Jorge Lorenzo was very quick, Colin Edwards was very quick (as usual, when it doesn't count for anything) and James Toseland is getting ever closer to his Yamaha buddies (something that James Ellison never did).

MotoGP: Sepang Testing Roundup

The 3-day test at Sepang is over, and has produced one or two surprises. Not everyone was present. Ducati skipped the Malaysian test, as they did last year. Dani Pedrosa didn't come as he tested at Valencia after the season ended and the improvements he asked for weren't ready yet. Valentino Rossi is still crocked after his bike viciously spat him off in qualifying for the final GP, breaking his hand.

Of those who did show up, Li'l Nicky Hayden was fastest, y'all. However, his best times were on the 2007 Honda. The 2008 model was slower. It has a new chassis and air-sprung engine, so HRC have gone back to the drawing board, pretty much admitting that their first attempt at an 800cc bike was a dog. Hopefully the new chassis, engine and tyres will suit the Kentucky Kid next year.

The big surprises were with the other Honda riders present. Andrea Dovizioso took to the 4-stroke machine like a duck to water, and even complained that the MotoGP bikes have too many electronic aids. Dovi is well used to holding corner speed, as his 250cc Honda was dog slow down the straights, and it looks like this will serve him well in the top class.

Randy de Puniet was the other Honda surprise, in that he was pretty quick and didn't chuck the bike at the scenery all the time. At least the customer Honda teams will receive the same model of bike that Dani Pedrosa won the Valencia GP on, which was a pretty decent machine.

John Hopkins was kwik on the Kwaka, impressed that improvements he had requested at the Valencia test were already on the bike. He comfortably out-paced Ant West, but that doesn't necessarily mean much as they may have been testing different parts. For instance, one rider might be testing the engine mapping and leave the suspension unchanged, while the other will do the opposite. The green team will use the same bike rather than producing an all new one for next year. This means that it will constantly evolve through the winter. It looks like Hopper's decision to hop over to Kawasaki might have been a good one.

Loris Capirossi got close to the pace of his new team-mate Chris Vermeulen. The little Italian was actually quicker on the Suzuki than he had been on the Ducati at the Malaysian GP, which is an excellent start.

Colin Edwards did well on the Yamaha, but is he just flattering to deceive yet again? At least he was a help to his new oppo James Toseland, who got steadily closer to the pace of his fellow 800cc Yam newcomer Jorge Lorenzo. The Spanish 250GP champion, who is either amusingly arrogant or obnoxiously arrogant depending on your viewpoint, wasn't a great deal faster than Toseland on race tyres. The gutsy Englishman doesn't have Lorenzo's knowledge of Sepang, making his progress all the more impressive.

All in all, the test doesn't tell us that much about the season ahead. The really interesting stuff starts when we see Rossi on Bridgestones, and Marco Melandri on the Ducati. Can The Doctor get close to the Bologna Bullets when he has the same tyres? Can Marco "Tough as Old Boots" Melandri burst Stoner's bubble? We'll find out as testing season trundles on.

MotoGP Sepang: Stoner Again

Oh, somebody wake me up when the racing starts again.
Stoner won at Sepang. Nothing to do with the tyres or the Ducati, no sirree Bob. He even made his first mistake of the season by running wide in the last corner on lap one, but nobody managed to dive through to take the lead.
Marco Melandri on the 4th-rate Honda beat Dani Pedrosa on the cutting edge version with loads more horsepower and handling improvements. Valentino Rossi could only finish 4th on his Yamaha, which he now thoroughly hates.
Ant West managed to jump the start again, blowing a 5th place starting position. Settle down, mate.
Nicky Hayden missed his braking point and ran way off the track.
There was mild bickering between the evenly-matched Suzuki boys.
All in all, a rubbish race. Nothing much to say about it, really. There's no point giving a blow by blow account of nothing happening for three quarters of an hour. Here's a picture of Stoner at Sepang I found on Flickr. It's from the pre-season testing, but who cares?

Photo: Jaggat Images

MotoGP: Sepang Test Day 3

The final day of the Sepang MotoGP test saw the table shaken up a bit, with Rossi leading from Hopkins, Capirossi and Pedrosa. However, most teams were using qualifying tyres, so it's hard to draw any conclusions.
The main stories from this test seem to be that the Suzuki machines are still quick, Rossi is unsurprisingly still quick, and the Hondas are surprisingly still slow. Michelin tried out a new tyre construction, which Rossi and Edwards were especially happy with.
The next test is at Phillip Island, Australia. It will be crunch time for Suzuki, who will be desperate to carry on their excellent testing performance to the Island. Honda will be hoping that the track suits their bikes better than Sepang, where they have struggled horribly.
It will be interesting to see how the bikes perform on such a different circuit to Sepang.

MotoGP: Suzuki Still Red Hot at 2nd Sepang Test

After the 2nd of 3 days at Sepang, Suzuki have shown that their testing speed at the end of last year was no fluke. The light blue team are once again leading the field on their second Malaysian visit of the testing season.
John "Hopper" Hopkins has topped the timesheets for both of the first two days. Part of this has to be down to the Bridgestone tyres, which always perform well at Sepang, but it's clear that the new 800cc Suzuki is a wickedly fast machine. Last year, Hopper struggled valiantly in his attempts to finish on the podium. This year, he looks like a likely race winner.
Mixed in with the Suzukis were the two Yamahas of Rossi and Edwards, with the Texan beating The Doctor to a faster time. However, Matthew Birt reports that Rossi rode the fastest race simulation.
Birt also reveals that the Hondas are still woefully down on top speed compared to Ducati and Suzuki. This is amazing, considering that HRC have had nearly 2 months since the last test to wring more power out of the brand new V4. Nicky Hayden has reeled off some respectable times, and surprisingly has been faster than Honda's former 250cc World Champions, Pedrosa and Melandri, who were supposed to have an advantage over The Kentucky Kid on the new 800cc machines.
The d'Antin Ducatis are also very quick. It seems that Ducati are still struggling with the fancy electronics on the factory bikes, while the simpler customer machines are working beautifully.
It will be interesting to see if Honda can find any performance on the final day of the test.

MotoGP Sepang Test - Suzuki Still Fast

Boy, these 800cc MotoGP machines are quick.
The MotoGP test at Sepang, Malaysia is over, and the times from Day 3 have been posted on Crash.net. Suzuki topped the time sheets, showing that their impressive pace from Valencia wasn't a one-off. John Hopkins put in the fastest time with a 2:01.64 on experimental race tyres. (Apparently he did a 5-lap stint on these tyres, so they were definitely not qualifiers.) Incredibly, this is more than 9 tenths of a second faster than he managed in the Sepang race a few months ago, and just 4 tenths slower than the fastest race lap set by Capirossi.
Day 1 of the test had been a washout, with one corner being literally several feet underwater, but Colin Edwards set the fastest time in the limited running. Day 2 belonged to the Suzukis, as did day 3.
Journalist Matthew Birt, who was at the test, has blogged that the Suzukis were fastest through the speed traps on day 2, at 187.65mph (302km/h). It seems that Suzuki have produced an 800cc engine which is greatly more impressive than their 990. Birt also reports that the 800s are much kinder to their tyres. This could make an interesting twist to the Michelin - Bridgestone tyre war next season.
Ducati were not at the test, and other top riders missing included Melandri and Pedrosa, who are both recovering from surgery, and Valentino Rossi, who is busy driving in Rally New Zealand.
However, Colin Edwards and Nicky Hayden were both testing their factory machines (on Michelin tyres), and both were comfortably outpaced by the Suzuki boys. How much of this is down to tyres and how much to bikes is an open question, but the straight line speeds don't really lie. It will be interesting to see the Suzuki go up against the new Ducati on a fast track. Yamaha and Honda will of course do a massive amount of work on the new 800cc bikes, but Suzuki have really hit the ground running for next season. Let's hope they can keep it up, so that we can have 4 different race-winning manufacturers next year.