Max Biaggi is to make a surprise return to riding a MotoGP machine. The former 250 and World Superbike champion will take a seat on Ben Spies’ Ignite Pramac Ducati as part of a one-day test at Mugello, as part of Ducati’s testing program, according to Italian site GPOne.
Spies was scheduled to stay on at Mugello to take part in a two-day test, but after the first day of practice at last weekend’s Italian Grand Prix, it was clear to both Spies and Ducati that his shoulder was still too weak to ride a MotoGP machine. With work continuing on the Desmosedici, it was important for Ducati to get as much data as possible on their bike, and so Biaggi was offered the chance to ride the machine.
Marc Marquez would almost certainly like to forget this past weekend at Mugello for the Italian GP. Heads up to the spoiler alert, but not only did he make an unforced error during the race, crashing out of second place all by his lonesome (with a comfortable margin fore and aft, we might add), but the young Spanish rider also had one of the fastest crashes ever in the MotoGP Championship during Friday’s Free Practice 2 session.
Losing control of his Repsol Honda RC213V at 209.9 mph as he approached the San Donato corner during the race, Marquez had to jump away from his race bike, at roughly 170 mph, in order to avoid the rapidly approaching wall barrier. Escaping with a battered chin, a small fissure to his humerus bone, as well as minor soft-tissue injuries to his shoulder, Marquez came out of the incident in FP2 rather well, all things considered.
Now that Marquez has gotten a clean bill of health from doctors in Barcelona (he will have to undergo some physio the next few days though), Repsol and others in the paddock can breathe a sigh of relief, and begin to analyze the crash in more detail. Helping add insight to the crash, Alpinestars has released the telemetry from Marquez’s Tech Air race suit, which shows the g-forces involved during the crash, as well as the deployment time of the suit’s airbag.
Qualifying doesn’t tell you the whole story. Which is a good thing, as otherwise they could just hand out the trophies after qualifying and be done with it. A lot of things change in the 24 hours between qualifying and the race – weather, temperature, set up – but most of all, qualifying is just a couple of laps, while the race means spending a long time on the track. Mugello turned out to be a perfect example of this.
Dani Pedrosa had been getting faster every session, especially as the temperatures rose and the grip of the track improved. The Repsol Honda man blasted to pole, just pipping Jorge Lorenzo at the end of qualifying and setting a new lap record in the process. With race day looking warmer, and the track cleaning up every session, Pedrosa looked the hot favorite to dominate at the Italian track.
It looks like we may have a race on Sunday at Mugello. In fact, it looks like we might have two races, looking at the times set in MotoGP and Moto2. The last two races of the day at Mugello promise to have battles for the lead and for the podium, and could well provide some top flight entertainment.
There won’t be much of a race in Moto3, however. Mugello’s artisans are probably already engraving Maverick Vinales’s name into the winner’s trophy to save some time, such is the advantage of the young Spaniard. Vinales is basically four tenths a lap faster than anyone else in Moto3, with nobody capable of matching his pace.
Ben Spies has decided to pull out of the Mugello round of MotoGP, after struggling on the first day of practice at the track. The Texan continues to have problems with a weak shoulder, as he recovers slowly from the surgery performed to correct the damage done in his crash at Sepang last October.
This is the second time that Spies has been forced to withdraw after returning to action too early. After a short period of physical rehabilitation, Spies went straight into winter testing, and then participated in the first race at Qatar, in which he struggled.
He tried again at Austin, but was forced to withdraw from that race after developing severe strain in his pectoral muscles as they struggled to compensate for the lack of strength. Spies then decided to skip both Jerez and Le Mans, to recover from both the chest strain and the shoulder surgery, before coming back at Mugello.
Another Italian GP at Mugello, and another special AGV helmet for Valentino Rossi. A wink to his new non-alien status, Rossi’s AGV Pista GP lid is obviously painted up like a turtleshell, implying the Italian’s pace to his rivals (note the colored figures running along the chin bar of the helmet).
Whether you are a fan of The Doctor or not, you have to admit the G.O.A.T. is taking his new place in MotoGP in stride (at least publicly)…though don’t count him out just yet. Second-fastest in FP1 & FP2 on his 2013 Yamaha YZR-M1, Rossi was also fourth-quickest in this morning’s FP3 session — counting him out of a podium, and even a race win, at Mugello would be unwise.