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Friday Summary at Catalunya: On Weather, Ducati Upgrades, And The Cost Of Monopolies

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After the fickle weather which has dogged the first three European rounds of MotoGP, the first day of practice at Barcelona weekend got off to a dry, warm and sunny start. It was just what the teams and riders needed, some dry track time to work on the issues they face: for Honda, the chatter which they have suffered since the introduction of the RCV213V in the middle of last year, for Ducati, the lack of rear grip and poor drive out of corners, and for Yamaha, well, nothing really, it’s a pretty good bike as it is.

Conditions were pretty near ideal, though the blazing afternoon sun made the track a little too hot to get the best out of the tires, and it showed in the times. In the MotoGP class, Jorge Lorenzo posted a time well inside the race lap record, while in Moto2, Thomas Luthi obliterated the outright lap record in the morning session. Only Moto3 lagged behind, the brand new four-stroke class still a way off the times set by the 125cc bikes which they replaced.

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Thursday Summary at Catalunya: Of Italian Earthquakes, Ducati’s Electronics, and MotoGP’s Backyard

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If MotoGP can be said to have a backyard, then the Montmelo circuit just outside Barcelona is surely it. Series organizer Dorna has its offices just south of the city, and the Catalunya region – and especially the dormitory towns surrounding Barcelona – has provide a rich seam of riding talent, a seam almost as rich as its Italian counterpart surrounding the Misano circuit, comprising Cattolica, Riccione and the immediate area. So this is a home race for everyone, almost literally for some people. Where normally, nearly everyone in the paddock stays in hotels or rented accommodation, Dorna staff and some team members are now commuting to work from their homes in Barcelona.

And there are plenty of riders in more or less the same boat. Jorge Lorenzo lives in the city, Dani Pedrosa is from Sabadell, the industrial town just south of the track, while the Espargaro brothers Aleix and Pol are from Granollers, the town just a stone’s throw from the Montmelo track. The pressure is enormous, as both Dani Pedrosa and Lorge Lorenzo acknowledged in the press conference today. Media appearances go through the roof, friends, family, sponsors, business contacts, everyone wants a piece of the Spanish riders, and they barely get a moments rest. Actually riding a MotoGP bike at the limit feels like a blessed relief.

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Photo of the Week: You Gave Everything

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At the inaugural GP of India for Formula One, a moment of silence was observed for Marco Simoncelli and Dan Wheldon, and while I wondered how many among the F1 audience had ever heard of Marco, it was a fine gesture and certainly appreciated by the MotoGP community.

This week has been largely about trying to move on after the accident at Sepang, but that has proved very difficult to do for me and my colleagues, friends, and as yet unmet fellow MotoGP fans. I continue to receive requests for Simoncelli photos from increasingly obscure connections, in addition to those from close friends who want something with which to remember Marco.

I ran across this image from Catalunya, which helps put the loss in a proper context. The translation, provided at the time by a linguistically gifted friend on the Dorna staff, was something like: You gave everything because you loved. Certainly a 58 will appear beside the numbers of Shoya Tomizawa and Daijiro Kato if this fellow redoes his banner next season. And in all three cases, we are left to wonder what excitements and triumphs we might have witnessed had fate allowed 74, 48, & 58 to contest more Grand Prix races.

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Photo of the Week: Paddock Etiquette

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Where do the MotoGP riders hang out when they aren’t on track, in the box, or in the team hospitality? Probably in their motor homes if the race is a European round. Most of the riders seem to own or lease their own vehicles, though some seem to rent per event. Like the hospitalities and other paddock amenities, RVs do not join the air freight for fly-away races. But for the rounds to which they can travel over land, they park together in a section of the paddock where the riders can escape the media and fans.

As I walked from the P1 parking area toward the media center I passed the paddock of riders’ RVs and saw this sign. I chose not to ask Cal about this as I did not want to get slammed for asking about a touchy subject, but I like the photo because it shows a seldom-seen side of the GP scene.

We tend to think of MotoGP riders as pampered, top-level athletes with entourages and handlers and so on. But it’s not impossible for one to be sitting in his RV, slowly going mad because people keep coming in and slamming the door. Neither is it impossible for someone to point out a misspelling in his warning, which is a nice reminder that in spite of their ungodly abilities on two wheels, they are still people, at least in some ways, just like the rest of us.

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The Perfect Lap with Andrea Dovizioso at 1,000 fps

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After showing us Casey Stoner at 40x slower than normal, the folks at Red Bull have taken their high-speed cameras to work on another Red Bull sponsored rider: Andrea Dovizioso. Filming the Italian also at the Catalan GP, Red Bull shows us a man at his craft with every gritty detail exposed. It’s really quite interesting to see all the movement that occurs on Dovi’s motorcycle as the camera zooms in on his front wheel.

Imagining how small that contact patch is, and contrast that with Andrea explaining the perfect lap and what cornering a MotoGP machine is like, and you have another compelling clip from the drink that gives you wings. Enough hyperbole, watch Andrea Dovizioso at 1,000 frames per second after the jump. Thanks for the tip Craig!

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Video: Casey Stoner at 1,000 Frames per Second

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Stand at any corner during a MotoGP session and in real time you’ll witness a variety of riding styles and lines, not to mention see plenty of body-english that tells you how a rider is coping with his machine. Slow all that down by about 50x speed, and you’ve got something. You’ve got art, and that’s what Red Bull has done here with its Red Bull Moments.

Shooting Casey stoner in 1,000 fps slow-motion video at the Catalan GP, Red Bull brings us every body panel flex, every exhaust pipe wag, and every wheel and dry clutch rotation…and oh, Casey also talks about racing in MotoGP. Bonus points to Red Bull for including the Karel Abraham “look back” shot as well (a personal pet-peev of Stoner’s).

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More Photos of the Honda NSF250R

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There was much ado at the Catalan GP regarding the Honda NSF250R Moto3 bike, likely because the Moto3 class is a big step in a larger movement currently unfolding in MotoGP, and the Spanish market is an important one when it comes to GP racing. With the 125GP class, which Moto3 is replacing next year, full of Spanish and Italian youths looking to become the next Jorge Lorenzos and Valentino Rossis, Honda no doubt wants to make a strong impression to its target market, even taking the NSF250R out for a parade lap with Alex Criville on-board. We doubt any other Moto3 manufacturer will get such a plug from Dorna, but nevertheless, find the photos the event after the jump.

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Photo of the Week: No Looking Back

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Valentino Rossi is not happy. His tone had clearly changed in Catalunya when speaking to the media about the state of the Ducati GP11’s development. Though probably not expecting a repeat of his debut success on the Yamaha at Welkom, Rossi was also probably not expecting to be as far off the pace as he is five races into the season. Word around the paddock is that Ducati has until Mugello to sort the bike out, and change it to a machine that Rossi can win with. If the mysteries of a carbon fiber chassis can’t be solved in time for Rossi’s home Grand Prix, the 2011 season is likely to become very interesting indeed.

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Dunlop to be Sole Tire Supplier for Moto3 Through 2014

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Dunlop, the IRTA, and Dorna inked a deal this weekend that sees the British tire manufacturer as the sole-supplier of tires for the upcoming Moto3 Championship, which will replace the 125GP series in 2012. With the deal good through the 2014 season, Moto3 teams will run Dunlops for the next three seasons, just as the Moto2 Championship has done. Speaking of Moto2, Dunlop saw its contract in that series extended to 2014 as well, and we wouldn’t be surprised if the two items were part of Dunlop’s ability to put together a more competitive bid than other tire manufacturers.

With Bridgestone set to supply tires in the 2012 season for MotoGP, Dunlop still only accounts for two of the three GP series, but we expect that a sole-supplier for Moto3, Moto2, and MotoGP will emerge in the coming years. Single-tire rules were put in place not only to help level the playing field between competitors, but also to help reduce development costs for manufacturers, and logistical costs for tire suppliers. If a single tire company provided all the grid’s tires, that overall cost would likely drop further, something Dorna has been keen on lately. Whether it makes for better racing though, we’ll let you decide in the comments.

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Catalunya Ends Colin Edwards’ 141 MotoGP Starting Streak

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If there’s a Cal Ripken Jr. of MotoGP, it would have to be the Texan Tornado himself, Colin Edwards III. For the past 141 MotoGP races, the American has been on the starting line come Sunday morning (and Saturday morning if it’s for the Dutch TT).

This weekend’s race at Catalunya would have been Edwards’ 142nd GP start, but medical officials were not too keen on Colin’s idea of gridding-up with the MotoGP field, and doing a single lap to maintain his streak (CEIII broke his collarbone on Friday). Thus, Edwards’ record for consecutive GP starts will have to stand at 141 races.

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