If you had put money on Bradley Smith being the fastest man at the end of the first day of practice at Le Mans, you would probably be a very happy camper this evening.
The Monster Tech 3 Yamaha rider does not often top a practice session – the last time was nearly a year ago, on the Friday at Barcelona – though he often shows plenty of speed.
But there has always been one thing or another to prevent him from converting speed through a particular sector into a really fast flying lap.
That’s where the Jerez test helped. At Jerez, Smith, along with several other riders, tested a new front fork setup that made a huge difference to his riding. The aim of the change had been to absorb more of the force in braking, and allow the front tire to retain its shape.
A good opening day for Jorge Lorenzo, who finished with the 2nd fastest time.
Marc Marquez suffered an electrical problem during FP1, and had to push his Honda RC213V back down pit lane.
Bradley Smith was the surprise package of the day finishing with the fastest time.
The Le Mans round of MotoGP is a truly schizophrenic event. The track sits just south of the charming old city of Le Mans, a combination of medieval center and 19th Century industrial outskirts. The surrounding area is lush, rolling hills, woods alternating with open green fields.
It is very much a provincial idyll…until you reach the Le Mans circuit, and its campsites, where visions of Dante unfold before your eyes, and disinterested guards look on as large drunken hordes set about recreating some of the more gruesome scenes from Lord of the Flies.
Some people love it, others hate it. Veteran journalist Dennis Noyes always says it reminds of going to Hockenheim in the 1990s, when the police would not enter the woods at the heart of the track until the Monday after the race.
Then they would go in “to pull the bodies out,” as he so colorfully put it. Outside the track, the atmosphere is one of quiet provincial charm. Inside, all is wild, free, and out of control. It is an event that should be experienced at least once, though to be honest, once was enough for me.
Dani Pedrosa is to return to racing at the Le Mans round of MotoGP. His return brings to an end an extended absence following surgery to cure a persistent arm pump problem. Pedrosa missed three rounds in total, skipping Austin and Argentina, then making a last-minute decision to withdraw from the Jerez round.
That decision was regarded with some suspicion. Jerez is a track where Pedrosa has performed very strongly in the past, and missing a home GP is a major wrench of any MotoGP rider.
However, after testing his forearm by riding a supermoto bike, Pedrosa was concerned that his arms were not recovering as hoped. Now, with two weeks more rest, Pedrosa believes his arms will be strong enough to withstand the stresses of racing a MotoGP bike.
Dani Pedrosa will not be racing at the Jerez round of MotoGP. Despite the optimism displayed by Repsol Honda team principal Livio Suppo earlier this week, a test ride on a supermoto bike showed that Pedrosa’s arm is not recovered sufficiently for him to be able to ride.
The Spaniard announced the news on his blog on the Repsol website. He wrote there that he had ridden a supermoto bike to test his arm, and that though the riding had gone well, it gave problems after riding, Pedrosa describing it as “not 100%”.
No, it’s not April Fools, but it does seem that motorsports in general is evolving into the 21st century. No sooner did A&R run an article about umbrella girls in the MotoGP Championship, then did the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) announce that it would do away with scantily clad girls at all its events, including at the historic 24 Hours of Le Mans.
It’s an interesting move by a major series in the four-wheeled world — the effects of which will undoubtedly be tracked by every major racing series around the world.
Will WEC see a drop in male attendance? An increase in female attendance? An influx of new advertisers? Younger viewers? These are all valid and interesting questions.
After releasing initially a five-round provisional calendar, with a sixth round yet to be confirmed, the FIM Endurance World Championship will actually go back to a four-round schedule for 2015.
The announcement coincides with Eurosport Events being named as the series’ promoter, and presumably Eurosport Events didn’t see the advantage of adding a 24-Hour Magny-Cours round to the schedule, along with one of three possibilities in Portual (Estoril), Belgium (Zolder), or Slovakia (Slovakia Ring).
HRC continues its bid for an FIM Endurance World Championship, and has reconfirmed its team of Julien Da Costa, Freddy Foray, and Sebastien Gimbert for the 2015 season.
Honda switched strategies in the EWC last year, dropping its “TT Legends” squad of venerable road racers for the current trio of endurance experts.
The plan worked, as HRC finished 7th in the 2014 Endurance World Championship, winning the Oschersleben 8-hour in the process. This was a marked improvement over the 2013 season, where the Honda TT Legends team finished a disappointing 18th overall.
The 2014 Endurance World Championship has finally come to an end, as this past weekend played host to the Le Man 24-Hour motorcycle race. Winning the 2014 title was the French team of Yamaha Racing GMT 94 Michelin, which also took second place at Le Mans (SERT finding its way to the top podium step).
Yamaha Racing GMT 94 Michelin’s team of David Checa, Kenny Foray, and Mathieu Gines have had a prominent position all season long in the EWC. Finishing second at Bol d’Or, ninth at Suzuka (second among the regular EWC entries), second at Oschersleben, and now second at Le Mans, Yamaha France’s position came about because of sheer consistency.
With Honda, Suzuki, and Kawasaki’s top teams having troubles at individual races (along with Yamaha’s YART squad), Yamaha Racing GMT 94 Michelin showed that true endurance racing is done over the long term. The full 2014 Endurance World Championship results are after the jump.
The FIM has announced that since no substitute round could be found to replace the Doha 8-Hour event this year, the 2014 Endurance World Championship will conclude with the Le Man 24 Hours.
This means that only two more rounds remain on the EWC calendar, Oschersleben & Le Mans, which will make the battle for the Championship that much more intense.