MotoGP Rant: Make My Monogomme, Punk

MotoGP's fearless leaders have finally seen sense and brought in a one tyre rule, or monogomme as it is succinctly known in a couple of foreign languages. (Well, monogomma in Italian, but I prefer the Franglicized version of the word in honour of Michelin). This has resulted in various snobs and purists erupting into the kind of wailing and crying that you wouldn't normally see outside a South American funeral parade.

The trouble is, MotoGP is a championship for prototype machinery. It's on the ragged edge of technology, with things like pneumatic valve actuation and traction control packages that cost a lot more than your house. Surely, they wail, they should be allowed prototype tyres too? Isn't switching to a monogomme a travesty that will lead to the destruction of the sport? Well, every single other major motorsports championship in the world seems to be doing OK with their single tyre rules. Pretty much every minor championship too, come to think of it. (I mean, AMA Superbike had a tyre war this year, but the soul-destroyingly tedious AMA Superbike series has now been poisoned, shot, hanged and pushed off a bridge into an icy river.)

Wouldn't a single tyre rule in MotoGP just turn it into a glorified version of... whisper it... world superbikes? God forbid that you'd want to be more like a championship with unpredictable races, multiple winners, close racing, and from next year, factory or semi-factory teams from Aprilia, BMW, Ducati, Honda, Kawasaki, Suzuki and Yamaha! Presumably they would like MotoGP to be, as a certain arrogant, whoring aristocrat described Boremula One, like a game of chess.

Does a single tyre rule change the riders' talent, or the teams' ability to produce a great bike? No, of course not. What it changes is the gap between the haves and have nots. Let's get real, are all Bridgestone MotoGP tyres equal? Hell, no. Stoner and Rossi get what they ask for, and everyone else gets what they're given. If Suzuki and Kawasaki get equal treatment, then why did they just bring out significally altered chassis so they could try to use the tyres developed for Stoner and Rossi?

Tyre wars suck, and the tyre war in the last two years of MotoGP has been one of the suckiest in history. Again and again, Michelin runners, who make up a significant part of the grid, have struggled with rubbish tyres. I'm sure the purists have been juicing themselves with glee at the prototype competition, while the rest of us have been disgusted at having to snooze through yet another boring "race". Even Laguna Seca would have been a three-way battle between Rossi, Stoner and Hayden if it hadn't been for the tyre war. (Nicky kicked everyone's backside when the front runners were all on Michelins, don't tell me he would still have been 30 seconds behind the leader.)

At the end of the day, it's a big reality check for the whingeing purists. MotoGP isn't about prototypes. It's about entertainment. Companies don't spend fortunes plastering their logos on bikes because of prototypes, they do it because there are millions of potential customers watching. The hardcore, purist fans are sadly meaningless in all this, they simply aren't a big enough market to bother about. It's all about the average fan, who doesn't know or care about pneumatic valves or engine management units, but loves to see a damn good race.

If you want proof, look at Boremula One. Even they have changed rules to try and make their tedious parade of boring cheats look interesting. They have banned traction control (Gasp! But how will racing improve the breed now?) and force drivers to use both hard and soft compound monogomme tyres during the course of each "race" (Oh, won't somebody please think of the prototype competition?) Is MotoGP above this? Above commercial reality? No.

There's no point crowing about Laguna Seca. One race in the entire season has had a major battle. The rest haven't. One way to make the racing closer is to make everybody use the same tyres. Now it's going to happen. I'm looking forward to it. Rant over.

MotoGP Motegi: And Then There Were Eight

Valentino Rossi cemented his legend at Motegi, Japan with victory in the MotoGP race, securing his eighth world championship title. Casey Stoner took second place ahead of Dani Pedrosa in the cool weather conditions. Spanish rookie Jorge Lorenzo started from pole position, taking advantage of his grippy Michelin qualifying tyres.

When the red lights went out, Casey Stoner's Marlboro Ducati made its usual blistering launch off the line. Dani Pedrosa's tiny body weight helped him to fly into second position from the third row of the grid on his Repsol Honda, while the little Spaniard's American team-mate Nicky Hayden maintained his qualifying position of third place. Valentino Rossi needed to finish on the podium to guarantee him a sixth top-class world title to add to his two in the junior classes. He was in fourth place ahead of his FIAT Yamaha team-mate Jorge Lorenzo, but the crazy youngster overtook Rossi after just a few corners.

At the front, Stoner and Pedrosa were already starting to pull out a gap over Hayden, who was holding up Lorenzo and Rossi. The Doctor had no intention of letting the front runners escape, and nipped past his young team-mate on the second lap. Moments later, Dani Pedrosa used his low speed acceleration advantage to overtake Casey Stoner on a short straight and take the lead. Rossi soon passed Nicky Hayden for third place and set off after his two rivals. It immediately became obvious that Rossi was not going to settle for a podium spot, but was going all out for his first win at Motegi since the 500cc 2-stroke era. He set a series of fastest laps as he latched onto Stoner's back tyre.

Most of the action at the Motegi circuit was happening at the slow, downhill hairpin that turns right and leads into an underpass, where Motegi's separate tri-oval racetrack passes overhead. This was where Casey Stoner made his move on Pedrosa. It was a fair move that may have involved the slightest touch between the pair, but Stoner hates contact with other riders, and took his left hand off the bars to wave an apology to the diminutive Spaniard. Maybe if Rossi had waved apologies to Stoner as they repeatedly clashed at Laguna Seca, the Aussie would have been less of a huff after the race, but it seems a tad doubtful. Pedrosa was struggling to maintain the pace, and Rossi soon flashed past to steal second place...

Read the rest of my MotoGP Motegi Race Review at Motorbikesport.

BSB Silverstone: Shakey is Champion

Shane Byrne finally secured his second British Superbike title at Silverstone, while Leon Camier and Leon Haslam took the victories in a day of crashing on the flat, featureless track.

Race 1
Cal Crutchlow started from pole position, but it was his HM Plant Honda team-mate Leon Haslam who blasted off the grid and into the lead. Crutchlow slotted into second place in front of Rizla Suzuki rider Tom Sykes, while James Ellison came from nowhere to take fourth on his Bike Animal Honda, ahead of NW200's Michael Rutter in fifth.

Karl Harris was running well until he flew off the track across the grass, luckily finding some tarmac used by the F1 cars. He had already had a hair-raising moment as he launched past Ellison at the hairpin, hanging Rutter out to dry at the same time. Harris rejoined, but was a long way down the pack. In all the confusion, Michael Laverty took his Relentless Suzuki into fourth spot.

There was soon carnage at the idiotic chicane which leads into the final corner. This slow, slow left/right flick has no place on a major bike racing track, and this would become painfully obvious as Haslam turned left, only to be torpedoed by Tom Sykes. Haslam limped over to his bike, motioned to the marshals to pick it up, and rejoined the race. Tom Sykes also rejoined, but was delayed as he bump started his Suzuki. This collision was eerily reminiscent of the pair's crash at Oulton Park earlier this year, when Haslam was excluded from the race results for a kamikaze attack on Sykes. This time, with the roles reversed, Sykes was excluded from the results and suffered a swingeing 12 place penalty on the grid for race 2...

Read the rest of my British Superbike Silverstone race review at Motorbikesport.

WSBK: Corser to BMW, Finally!

At last, Troy Corser has officially signed to race the new BMW bike in the World Superbike championship next year. The rumours had been very strong for a very long time, but as the time passed and no announcement was made, people were starting to wonder whether the Aussie would stay at Yamaha. Corser is a double WSBK champion, well known as being the best development rider in the business, which is why BMW have snapped him up.

He will ride alongside Catalan hero Ruben Xaus, who is hugely popular due to being a raving lunatic, and is sometimes nicknamed Ruben Chaos due to his erratic riding and crashes. It's a great strategy from the German company. Hire one guy who will turn your new superbike into a winner, and another guy who is loved for his rostrum or straw bales riding style. No publicity is bad publicity, after all. Xaus will either be competing with the leaders or tumbling through gravel traps. Either way, the commentators will keep saying the words bee, emm and doubleyou, which is the name of the game.

This means that the race for the second Yamaha Italia seat alongside Englishman Tom Sykes is still as mystifying as ever. There doesn't appear to be anyone available with a lot of WSBK experience and race-winning talent. Well, there is current Kawasaki crasher Regis Laconi, but he's infuriatingly hit and miss. This led him to losing the WSBK title to his team-mate James Toseland when they were riding for the factory Ducati squad. The serious rumours are currently about Ben Spies and his amazing technicolour pay packet, although a couple of other guys have tried out the bike in testing. We'll have to wait and see.