From time to time, when I stray from talking about motorcycle racing to share something political on Twitter, I am told by some random Twitter user to “stick to bikes”.
What they mean, of course, is that I should not share political opinions or articles they do not agree with, but that’s a different question.
Talking about politics is, of course, still “sticking to bikes.” Circuits have to be built somewhere.
Episode 265 of the Paddock Pass Podcast is out, and this one sees us gearing up for the start of the 2022 MotoGP Championship season.
To get us ready for the weekend’s season-opener, we have the usual crew of Steve English, David Emmett, Neil Morrison, and Adam Wheeler on the mics, as they look at their picks not only for the Qatar GP, but also the 2022 season as a whole.
It is dangerous to draw too many lessons from the results of the Sepang test.
In the ten years between 2011 and 2020, the rider who set the fastest time at Sepang has only gone on to win the MotoGP title twice: Casey Stoner in 2011, and Marc Marquez in 2014.
That stat is complicated by the fact that between 2011 and 2015, there used to be two Sepang tests – I’ve taken the fastest time from both tests in those years.
It is a slightly different run up to the start of winter testing for the 2022 season.
For the past few decades, testing for the following season began a couple of days after the end of the current season, riders taking to the track on the Tuesday at Valencia after the final race.
Dorna, the FIM, and IRTA had already decided to make a change before COVID-19 struck in 2020, but the global pandemic meant there was no testing at all at the end of last year.
So this year is the start of the new normal. The season ends at Valencia, everyone gets a few days off, and then the paddock heads south to Jerez for two days of testing.
It is a strange weekend, the last race of the season. For all intents and purposes the season is already over, the championship is done, officially in MotoGP and Moto3, and as good as in Moto2 – Raul Fernandez can’t afford to throw in the towel, but he has to win the race, and the chances of Remy Gardner finishing lower than 13th are pretty small. But not zero, of course, which is why they will line up on Sunday.
The constructors’ championship was settled at Portimão last week, and the odds of Fabio Quartararo and Franco Morbidelli outscoring Pecco Bagnaia and Jack Miller by a combined 28 points on Sunday is pretty low (but again, not zero), which will hand the team title to the factory Ducati Lenovo squad.
So why are we bothering to race at Valencia? Well, apart from the contractual obligation – Dorna has promised TV broadcasters 18 races, Valencia has a contract to host a grand prix, and sponsors have backed teams on the basis of a full season, not knocking off early just because the title is wrapped up.
We have been fortunate this year compared to 2020. Last year, we had repeat-races at five circuits, making up ten of the fourteen MotoGP rounds held.
In 2021, the situation with the COVID-19 pandemic has improved to the point that MotoGP managed to visit three different continents, needing to return to the same circuit only three times.
Six races out of eighteen is far from perfect, but much better than the situation in 2020.
Of necessity, the past two MotoGP seasons have seen races repeatedly run on the same race track. 2020 was a succession of back-to-back races at the same track: Jerez 1 and 2, Austria 1 and 2, Misano 1 and 2, Aragon 1 and 2, Valencia 1 and 2.
With a better grip on the Covid-19 pandemic, 2021 was much better: the first 15 races have been at 13 different tracks. So far we have only had Qatar 1 and 2 and Austria 1 and 2.
The next three rounds will see MotoGP visit just one new circuit. We have the Gran Premio Nolan del Made in Italy e dell’Emilia-Romagna, or Misano 2, the Grande Prémio do Algarve, or Portimão 2, and then Valencia.
Episode 245 of the Paddock Pass Podcast is out, and this show is a preview of the MotoGP action that is coming this weekend at the Emilia-Romagna GP at the Misano World Circuit.
On the mics, we have Steve English, Neil Morrison, and Adam Wheeler, as they gear us up for MotoGP’s second race of the season at Misano, and Valentino Rossi’s final goodbye to his home circuit.
For the first time in two years, MotoGP is headed for a flyaway race which isn’t in Qatar.
After a long period of uncertainty, and facing a certain amount of opposition from inside the Grand Prix paddock, the series is heading to the Circuit of The Americas in Austin, Texas.
After having 12 of the first 14 races all inside the same timezone (give or take an hour), a flyaway race feels like something of a novelty.
The novelty will not be quite as great as hoped for all those traveling to Austin.
Episode 241 of the Paddock Pass Podcast is out, and this show is a preview of the MotoGP action that is coming this weekend at the Americas GP at the Circuit of the Americas.
On the mics, we have Adam Wheeler and David Emmett, as they gear us up for MotoGP’s first race back on US soil in two years.