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Jeremy Burgess Will Not Be Valentino Rossi’s Crew Chief for the 2014 MotoGP Season

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Announced at the pre-event press conference today at the Valencian GP, Valentino Rossi dropped the bombshell that he would not be having Jeremy Burgess as his crew chief for the 2014 MotoGP season. Rossi reportedly told Yamaha Racing about his decision last week, with Burgess himself learning of the news just before the press conference.

The announcement is a huge move for the nine-time World Champion, as Burgess and his team of mechanics have been an integral part to Rossi’s racing success. However, one has to wonder if Rossi’s current troubles braking on the Yamaha YZR-M1 , and his horrible two years chasing setups at Ducati Corse didn’t play a factor in his ultimate decision.

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Bikes

Honda RCV1000R — HRC’s “Open Class” Racer for MotoGP

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On Monday, the new Honda RCV1000R production racer from HRC will take to the Circuit Ricardo Tormo in Valencia, Spain for its first public testing session. HRC couldn’t wait to show off its machine though, and held a press conference today at the Valencian GP for the MotoGP press pool.

Based closely off the Honda RC213V that Dani Pedrosa, Marc Marquez, Stefan Bradl, and Alvaro Bautista are racing with this season, the Honda RCV1000R will fit under the “Open Class” set of rules, and be campaigned by Nicky Hayden, Scott Redding, and Karel Abraham, with further riders expected to be added to that list.

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MotoGP

Preview of Valencia: In the Pressure Cooker at Cheste

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Mixed emotions greet the final race of most MotoGP seasons. There is sadness at the prospect of four months or more without racing. There is interest and expectation, as fans look past the race weekend to the test which immediately follows, when the bikes for next year appear and the riders switching teams get their first shot at a new ride.

And there is excitement of course, at the prospect of a race to wrap up the season. But with the title usually already decided in advance, there is only pride at stake, and not much more to play for.

This year, it’s different. Yes, the test on Monday is a big deal, with Cal Crutchlow’s debut on the Ducati, the Honda production racer making its first appearance, with Nicky Hayden on board, and the Aleix Espargaro giving the Yamaha production racer its first run out. But for the first time since 2006, the Valencia race really matters, and will decide who gets to crown themselves champion.

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MotoGP

Aprilia Racing Making a Return to MotoGP for the 2016 Season — Just in Time for a Rule Change?

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There is a lot of fascinating news coming out of this week’s EICMA motorcycle show in Milan: the boom in smaller capacity motorcycles, an upgraded Fireblade, a massive push from MV Agusta, but the show is also making headlines which will affect motorcycle racing as well.

Today at the EICMA, during a presentation on Aprilia’s future plans, Piaggio CEO Roberto Colaninno announced that the Italian manufacturer is aiming to make a return to the MotoGP class as a factory entry in 2016.

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MotoGP

Monday MotoGP Mathematics: All the Permutations for the MotoGP and Moto3 Titles at Valencia

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For the first time in a long time, the MotoGP circus heads to the final race of the year at Valencia with not one, but two championships still undecided (and if there hadn’t been that first-lap incident in the Moto2 race at Motegi, it could even have been three).

The title is still to be decided in both the MotoGP and Moto3 championships, and the possible mathematical permutations are having race fans and followers racking  their brains trying to work out who needs to finish where for either Marc Marquez or Jorge Lorenzo to win the MotoGP title — or Luis Salom, Maverick Viñales or Alex Rins to lift the Moto3 crown.

To assist with this computation, we have drawn up two tables with all of the possible permutations, one for the MotoGP class, and one for the Moto3 class. Using the tables below, you can see all of the possibilities the two MotoGP men and three Moto3 riders have to win the title in their respective classes.

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Racing

Michael Jordan Motorsports Leaves AMA Pro Racing — Headed to World Superbike? MotoGP?

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News has dropped that the Michael Jordan Motorsports (MJM) team will not be returning to AMA Pro Racing next season due to the fact that the National Guard would also be ceasing its involvement with the domestic motorcycle racing series (the Army National Guard was the chief sponsor of Michael Jordan Motorsports, and was also the title sponsor of the AMA Pro SuperBike class).

Talking to RoadRacingWorld on Tuesday, MJM’s Kreig Robinson confirmed that the National Guard’s lack of renewal with DMG stemmed from AMA Pro Racing’s waning TV viewership and dwindling event crowds.

With sponsoring AMA Pro Racing no longer making smart business sense for the National Guard, Robinson said he had little to argue with in regards to the National Guard’s decision.

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MotoGP

Video: Kazutoshi Seki, The Man Behind Rossi’s Electronics

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The role that electronics plays in MotoGP cannot be underestimated. Every aspect of bike performance depends on how well the the systems monitoring the bikes read the data, interpret it, and then modulate the power as it is applied to the road through the rear tire.

Despite their performance, the systems which provide that control are kept carefully hidden from the public, and the people behind those systems remain anonymous.

Yamaha has sought to change this, producing a video spotlighting the work of Kazutoshi Seki, the engine control engineer for Valentino Rossi. The two have worked together at Yamaha since 2004, when Rossi first joined the factory, and again since Rossi’s return after his two-year hiatus at Ducati.

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MotoGP

Sunday Summary at Motegi: On the Unpredictability of Racing & Why You Should Never Trust Pundits

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There have been occasions over the past few years when I have asked Nicky Hayden how he manages to find the motivation to keep racing every Sunday. His answer is always the same, whether I have asked him after a surprise podium, or after coming in tenth: “You never know what can happen in the race. That’s why we line up.”

Hayden is living testament to his own deeply driven mixture of ambition, hope, and determination. His 2006 championship was won against the odds, and against the greatest rider of the period at the height of his powers.

Sunday’s races at Motegi – indeed, the races at all three of the flyaways – have been a shining example of the vicissitudes of racing. In all three classes, the presupposed script was torn up and thrown away.

In Moto3, young men facing pressure made major mistakes. In Moto2, one astounding comeback met with disaster, another astounding comeback met with triumph, and a championship. And in MotoGP, the champion-elect as of a couple of races ago is finding himself having to fight for his title. The season is only over once everyone crosses the line for the last time at Valencia.

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MotoGP

Saturday Summary at Motegi: An Impressive Lorenzo, A Determined Redding, & Cultural Sensitivities

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At the post-qualifying press conference at Motegi, Jorge Lorenzo reminded his audience of the last two times he had ridden in the wet. At Le Mans, he had had his worst race finish since his rookie season in 2008. Then at Assen, his growing confidence saw him get launched off the bike at over 250 km/h, and break a collarbone in his fall.

So when the MotoGP riders took to the track at a rain-soaked Motegi, Jorge Lorenzo had every reason to be cautious. He worked carefully building his rhythm for the first 20 minutes or so of the extended practice/qualifying session, before pushing on hard, eventually destroying the opposition with a lap just under 8 seconds off the dry race lap record. It was a testament to just how quickly Lorenzo can recover his confidence.

It was good just to have any action at the Japanese circuit. After fog had prevented the medical helicopter from arriving at the circuit on Friday, making practice impossible, teams and riders headed to the Motegi Twin Ring with hope in their hearts on Saturday morning. The fog was gone, and when the medical helicopter arrived at the track, a cheer went up in the media center. Practice was on.

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MotoGP

Vittoriano Guareschi Leaving Ducati for VR46 Moto3 Team

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Ducati team boss Vitto Guareschi is to leave Ducati at the end of this season and to manage the new Sky Moto3 team being run with the backing of Valentino Rossi’s VR46 merchandising franchise. Guareschi is to assume the role of team manager in the project, which has been set up with the express aim of developing new young Italian talent.

The team will field two riders, with Romano Fenati already having been signed for 2014, and a second rider yet to be announced. That rider will not be Rossi’s half-brother Luca Marini, as Marini has already signed a contract to race in the Spanish championship in 2014.

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