Nick’s Blog

Rip up those record books Pecco

What an explosive start to the season by the World Champion. The most points ever scored in a Grand Prix weekend and the chance to rip up the record books for Pecco Bagnaia.

Not for the last nine years has the winner of the opening Grand Prix of the season gone on to win the MotoGP™ World Championship. It was back in 2014 that reigning World Champion Marc Marquez riding the Repsol Honda won the opening race of the 18 round World Championship in Qatar. Since then that opening Grand Prix winner has not gone on to grab the ultimate prize. In 74 years of Grand Prix racing the opening race Premier class winner has only gone on to win the World title on 35 separate occasions. Twelve of those belong to just two riders

For the last three years the rider commencing his World MotoGP Championship campaign has not even finished on the podium at the opening round. Both Joan Mir in 2020 and Bagnaia last year did not finish their first races while Fabio Quartararo was fifth in 2021.

It surely comes as no great surprise that two Italian legends who dominated their respective decades of Grand Prix racing lead the charts. Both of them also started successful World Championship campaigns by winning the opening race on different makes of machines. Giacomo Agostini did it six times on the MV Agusta and then brought Yamaha their first ever Premier class title in 1975. His modern day counterpart Valentino Rossi split his five opening day Championship campaigns between Honda and Yamaha.

Harold Daniell won that first ever Premier class Grand Prix at the 1949 TT races on the Isle of Man, but it was Les Graham who became the first ever World Champion. It was another seven years before the winner of the opening race became World Champion. John Surtees brought MV Agusta success at the TT and then the World title in 1956. The only man to win World titles on two and four wheels went on to do it three more times.

Mike Hailwood did it three times for the all-conquering MV team, not surprisingly at the TT but also twice at Daytona in America in 1964/65. Barry Sheene won the opening round twice to kick-start successful 500cc campaigns at his beloved San Carlos in Venezuela and Le Mans. Surprisingly multi–World Champions Kenny Roberts, Freddie Spencer, Wayne Rainey and Eddie Lawson only did it once while five times World Champion Mick Doohan only twice at home in Eastern Creek and Shah Alam in Malaysia. Fellow Australian Casey Stoner won the opening round in Qatar twice and then brought World titles to both Ducati and Honda in 2007/11. Jorge Lorenzo brought Yamaha success in Qatar in 2012 leading on to his second MotoGP™ title. Two years later the reigning World Champion Marquez won the opening round under Losail floodlights and went on to retain his title

Also, what a ride by Maverick Vinales on the factory  Aprilia at Portimao. At one point I thought he was going join a very exclusive club. A rider who has won a premier class Grand Prix on three different makes of machines. Four times World Champion Eddie Lawson won Grands Prix for Yamaha, Honda and Cagiva. Mike Hailwood brought Grand Prix victories to Norton, MV Augusta and Honda but the other two in the club never won a premier class title. Randy Mamola brought Grands Prix success to Suzuki, Yamaha and Honda while Loris Capirossi’s nine 500cc/MotoGP™ wins came on Yamaha, Honda and Ducati machinery.

Records are up there to be matched or beaten. Both Pecco and Maverick have every chance and intention of doing just that after a breathtaking start to their campaigns. It would take a brave person to bet against them.

 

By |2023-03-31T07:45:20+00:00March 31st, 2023|Nick's Blog, Uncategorised|Comments Off on Rip up those record books Pecco

No snow forecast for Portugal

After the opening round in Jerez Loris Capirossi led the MotoGP™ World Championship for the first time. Ducati, who led the Constructors Championship for the first time, together with Bridgestone won their first race at the Spanish circuit. Capirossi for only the second time in his MotoGP™ career grabbed pole and won the race. Dani Pedrosa made his MotoGP™ debut and finished second. The late great Nicky Hayden was crowned World Champion at the end of the season and Italy won the World Cup.

The year was 2006. The last time the opening round of the MotoGP™ World Championship officially started in Europe. 17 long and eventful years later the curtain raises on the MotoGP™ stage back in Europe at Portimao in Portugal

That opening round is always long awaited and so special. For those 17 years it was the Losail International Circuit in Qatar that had the privilege to raise the curtain and switch on the lights although in 2020 the MotoGP™ class had to start in Jerez because of Covid restrictions. The season officially started in Qatar with just Moto3™ and Moto2™.

The 2020 season with those Covid restrictions was a nightmare and brought back memories of my first year as a Grand Prix reporter in 1980. Both opening rounds were cancelled for very different reasons. Lack of money brought the demise of the Venezuelan Grand Prix as I was about to book my tickets to San Carlos. I had booked my flights for the new opening round at the Salzburgring in Austria. Only a phone call from Barry Sheene telling me you could not even get into the snowbound paddock let alone race 500cc Grand Prix motorcycles kept me at home. We did get to Austria a year later for the opening round although the first day of practice was cancelled because of snow.

Then MotoGP™ spread its wings and took on the world with some incredible opening round venues. In 1982 Kenny Roberts won a classic battle with Barry Sheene and a young Freddie Spencer at Buenos Aires in Argentina just three days before the start of the Falkland’s war. A year later we pricked our conscience by going to Apartheid-ridden South Africa. We returned to Kyalami for the next two years happy that we had continually broken the Apartheid laws and restrictions. In 1986 Jarama was the last European circuit to host the opening round for 19 years as the spotlight settled on Suzuka in Japan. For many of us the 1987 Grand Prix was our first ever trip to Japan. We soon got used to it with the Suzuka circuit staging the opening round for the next six years. I think with Japanese bikes dominating, it was the perfect venue to start the proceedings.

The globetrotting continued at now-forgotten venues such as Eastern Creek in Australia and Shah Alam in Malaysia, plus brand new Sepang and Welkom in South Africa. Who will ever forget that opening round at Welkom in 2004 when Valentino Rossi and Max Biaggi locked horns in such a personal Yamaha/Honda confrontation that set the tone for the season and beyond?

Qatar took over the mantle in 2007 and a year later produced the first ever Grand Prix to be staged under floodlights. It was a truly amazing spectacle that was a pioneer in World Championship motorsport racing under floodlights. I remember flying into Doha over the dark desert that was suddenly a blaze of light with 3600 bulbs illuminating an area the size of 70 football pitches below. What an introduction to the new season when the big red sun dropped beneath the desert skyline and the lights slowly came to life to illuminate  the sky accompanied by the symphony of sound from a booming four-stroke engines orchestra

So, surely no snow in Portugal this weekend and no Covid restrictions or financial problems, as MotoGP starts its latest chapter in Europe where it all started on the Isle of Man 74 years ago.

 

By |2023-03-24T10:03:07+00:00March 24th, 2023|Nick's Blog, Uncategorised|Comments Off on No snow forecast for Portugal

Rather a good way to earn a living

I am sure those exhausted global MotoGP™ travellers spending their first proper weekend at home for many a month would not agree now, but it will not be long before they start getting itchy feet. Enjoy and overindulge over Christmas and the New Year with family and friends but then your mind wanders. Whether you are a gladiator, team manager, mechanic, journalist, commentator, circuit builder, cook or doctor you will be thinking, and then planning, 2023.

You see whatever your role, circumnavigating the globe supporting such a fantastic World Championship is a rather good way to earn a living. Of course, there is the racing, after all, that is why you are there but there is so much more. Discovering new countries and cultures in places and areas you would never dream of going to. Next season is a prime example with two new countries staging MotoGP™ races for the very first time. Kazakhstan and India are included in the 21 Grands Prix schedule that visits 18 countries in a frantic eight months. In July the central Asian Sokol International circuit in Kazakhstan stages its first Grand Prix. Over two months later the Buddh circuit becomes the 75th circuit to stage a Grand Prix when India becomes the 31st country to stage a World Championship race

My first Grand Prix outside Europe was in Argentina in 1982. The record books will illustrate a fantastic 500cc race between two great World Champions Kenny Roberts and Barry Sheene with a young Freddie Spencer spearheading the return of Honda in third place. Equally, I remember so much more. Our 1500km Che Guevara style motorcycle trip across the Pampas to the border of Chile high in the Andes. Stumbling across thousands of mothers in a Buenos Aires square protesting about the disappearance of their sons, – Los Desaparecidos. Two days after we flew back to London war was declared between Britain and Argentina.

Five years later the first Brazilian Grand Prix was held at Goiania. I was dispatched by the BBC to the City, where just two weeks before, the Grand Prix had made world headlines because of a radiation leak. What a trip. Wayne Gardner became the first Australian to win the 500cc World Championship. I persuaded the Chief of Police to provide Wayne with an armed escort to my commentary position for the first interview. The Zoom Zoom club, where the owner fired a gun into the ceiling to open the proceedings proved the perfect place to celebrate.

Early in 1987, I travelled to Japan for the first time for the opening round of the World Championship at Suzuka. It was the first ever 500cc Grand Prix in Japan and how I loved reporting on Niall Mackenzie’s pole position, but it was the meeting of Mr Fax in the media centre that proved the highlight. For years we had spent so many late Sunday nights and early Monday mornings typing out reports and results often from six World Championship races and then telexing and phoning them back to London. We just would not believe Mr Fax when he put the results and reports into his machine and magically, they arrived in London. Life in the media centre was revolutionized with the press of a button.

Those first Grands Prix visits to America were fantastic. Admitting that Kenny Roberts had been right, not something you ever wanted to do, about the fearsome Corkscrew bend at Laguna Seca. Stunned by the sheer size and history when driving through the tunnel into the towering Indianapolis Speedway. Smiling when the circuit dog escaped and delayed practice at the Circuit of the Americas.

So, what a way to earn a living. I promise you it can and often did take over your complete life and that is where the most important part of the whole equation comes in. While you are circumnavigating the globe doing something you love so much spare a thought for those left a home. No meals out every night. No great rushes of adrenaline, no such fulfilment and enjoyment at what you are doing. Instead, taking the kids to school, checking all the bills are paid and constantly apologising for your absence at so many weddings, funerals, and birthday parties. Preparing the washing machine for a bumper load of dirty clothes on your return to name but a few of the ‘highlights’ in your absence.

We are the lucky ones. Those back at home are the real heroes. They have probably already bought their loved ones the Lonely Planet Guides for Kazakhstan and India to fill their Christmas stockings.

 

By |2022-11-17T13:51:12+00:00November 17th, 2022|Nick's Blog, Uncategorised|Comments Off on Rather a good way to earn a living

Pecco’s half century record that evaded Vale

World Champion Pecco Bagnaia and Ducati joined a very exclusive club on Sunday. A club that even Valentino Rossi is not a member of. A club that boasts members from just two countries since it was founded 74 years ago. A club that boasted just five riders until Valencia on Sunday.

That Italian passion and pride just flows like a gushing overflowing river when it comes to sport. Anybody in that sell-out crowd at Valencia on Sunday would endorse just what Bagnaia’s world title meant to a nation. A country starved of a MotoGP™ title for 13 long dark years. A country still reeling from Rossi’s retirement. A country that has not celebrated a World Champion riding an Italian motorcycle for 15 years and the longest wait of them all, an Italian rider riding an Italian motorcycle to a premier class title

How appropriate it was to see both Italian legends Giacomo Agostini and Rossi in the Ducati garage at the Ricardo Tormo circuit. Vale, the last Italian MotoGP™ World Champion back in 2009. Ago, the last Italian rider to win the premier class on an Italian machine 50 years ago. Yes, half a century ago way back in 1972. Vale tried but failed in his two seasons with Ducati. Stoner won Ducati’s only other MotoGP™ Championship riding the 800cc machine but of course, he is Australian. It is an amazing fact that just two countries have produced premier class World Champions riding machinery built in their country. Since Grand Prix racing began in 1949 only Italy and Great Britain have achieved such a feat. Others and especially Japan have tried but still wait to join the exclusive double club.

It will be no great surprise that Italy leads the way. The combination of superb innovative engineering and brilliant riders had brought them that unique double ten times before Sunday. The Italian membership of the club opened in 1950, just the second year of the World Championship, when Umberto Masetti brought Gilera the 500cc title. He was crowned Champion again two years later riding the magnificent four-cylinder 500cc Gilera. It was Gilera in 1957 with Libero Liberati taking the title.

Nine years later Ago and MV Agusta simply took over. For seven years between 1966 -1972, they dominated the 500cc Championship. His former team-mate Mike Hailwood and Honda tried to knock them off their perch but failed. MV continued to win but with Phil Read in the saddle. Ago went to Yamaha and brought them the first two-stroke 500cc title. The only rider to come close to the double during those 50 years before Sunday was Loris Capirossi. In 2006 the 125 and 250cc World Champion led the Championship going into the seventh round riding the Ducati in Barcelona. His Championship lead disappeared in a multi-bike first-bend crash and Loris eventually finished third in the title race behind Nicky Hayden and Rossi.

British success came a long time ago. The very first 500cc World Champion Les Graham won the 1949 title riding a British-built single cylinder AJS. Two years later Geoff Duke won on Norton before switching to Gilera and that was that.

When the two-strokes arrived and when the Championship returned to the four-strokes two decades ago it is Japanese machinery that have ruled the roost. Only Ducati broke the sequence in 2007 until Valencia on Sunday. The Japanese manufacturers have been desperate to find the Japanese rider who could match their engineers’ brilliance but they are still waiting. Tadayuki Okada came the closest in 1997 when he finished second behind Honda team-mate Mick Doohan. He was third two years later behind Alex Criville and Kenny Roberts. Hideo Kanaya was the first Japanese 500cc Grand Prix winner when he won the 1975 Austrian Grand Prix for Yamaha. Norick Abe, Makoto Tamada and Tohru Ukawa won 500cc Grands Prix but never really challenged for the title. Tragically Honda’s title challenger 250cc World Champion Daijiro Kato lost his life at the opening 2003 round at Suzuka.

So, can anybody join Italy and Great Britain next season? Looking at the 2023 entry list that was revealed last week the answer is no. As I said at the start Pecco Bagnaia and Ducati joined a very exclusive club on Sunday. Membership is extremely limited.

 

By |2022-11-10T09:22:35+00:00November 10th, 2022|Nick's Blog, Uncategorised|Comments Off on Pecco’s half century record that evaded Vale

Swinging sixties – not always that simple

I would never pretend to be a mathematician, but it does not take a rocket scientist to work out how the MotoGP™ World Championship will be decided on Sunday. Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) must score at least two points to be crowned World Champion. Even if Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP™) wins the 27-lap race at Valencia, a 14th place finish for Pecco will be enough because, if they tied on points, the Italian has won more Grands Prix this year.  If Pecco does not finish the race, Fabio must win to retain his title. It has not always been that easy to work out.

The swinging sixties may have been an exciting time for music lovers and English football fans, but it could be more than a little complicated if you were involved in Grand Prix motorcycle racing. Actually, working out who was the World Champion at the end of the season could test those mathematical skills. The problem was not all Grands Prix results counted towards the final Championship tally. Two world title deciders at the final round were perfect examples of just how complicated it could be for everybody involved.

In 1967 the only Grand Prix staged in Canada was held at the 3.956 km Mosport circuit. The 40-lap 158.240 km 500cc race was the final round of the Championship. In those days, only the riders’ best six results in the ten-round Championship counted towards their final total. Mike Hailwood was desperate to give Honda their first 500cc world title before they withdrew from the Championship. He won the race from World Champion Giacomo Agostini riding the MV Agusta. Adding up their best six results gave them both 46 points. Then the fun and games started. The Championship would be awarded to the rider who had won the most Grands Prix in the season. The problem was that Agostini and Hailwood had won five apiece. The title finally went to current Champion Agostini because he’d finished second on three occasions, one better than Hailwood. Honda had to wait 16 years for a certain Freddie Spencer, and a two-stroke before that 500cc title came their way

A year later the 250cc World Championship faced a similar conundrum. After the final round at Monza Yamaha team-mates, in name only, Phil Read and Bill Ivy ended up with 46 points apiece. Only their best six results in the ten-round Championship counted toward their final tally. Like Agostini and Hailwood the previous year both had won five Grands Prix apiece but then it became more complicated. Both had finished second on two occasions but never third. The title was finally awarded to Read after adding up their respective race times in Grands Prix they had completed.

On Sunday it will only be the 19th time the Premier class at the World Championship has been decided at the final round in 74 years. In hindsight, a couple of those races could come off the list. In 1957 Libero Liberati riding the Gilera won the final race at Monza to take the title from team-mate Bob McIntyre. Earlier in the year Liberati had crossed the line in first place at the Belgium Grand Prix but was disqualified for changing his machine without notifying the officials. After the end of the season, Liberati was re-instated as the winner in Belgium, meaning he had in retrospect won the title before that nerve-wracking final round

Strictly speaking, the last time the 500cc World Championship was decided at the final round was in 1993. Kevin Schwantz led Wayne Rainey by 18 points going into the final round at Jarama. However, Kevin had won the title two Grands Prix earlier when Wayne was seriously injured after crashing during the Italian GP at Misano.

It’s a massive ask for Fabio to retain his title on Sunday. Only on three occasions in those 18 final race deciders has the rider on the start line with less points taken the title. The Frenchman would join Rainey, Nicky Hayden and Jorge Lorenzo if he pulled it off at Valencia. A trio of iconic World Champions who never gave up the fight.

 

By |2022-11-02T20:01:52+00:00November 2nd, 2022|Nick's Blog, Uncategorised|Comments Off on Swinging sixties – not always that simple

The waiting game

They shook hands on the slowing down lap like true warriors. Respectful and appreciative of their rival’s outstanding performances at Sepang. Pecco Bagnaia and Fabio Quartararo now face the waiting game. Fourteen long days until the outcome is finally decided in Valencia. Fly home from Malaysia and prepare for the final showdown to decide who will be crowned the 2022 MotoGP™ World Champion

Over the last 74 years many riders have faced that dreaded wait. In all, 18 premier class world titles have been decided at the final race. Only three times has the rider not leading on points going into the final round did not win the title. The biggest turnaround was in 2006 when Nicky Hayden turned over Valentino Rossi’s eight-point advantage to take the title. The first last race decider came in 1950 with Umberto Masetti’s second place at Monza bringing him the title by a single point from Geoff Duke who won the race. The last was in 2017 when Marc Marquez arrived at Valencia with a 21-point lead over Andrea Dovizioso.

So what do riders do while waiting for that final showdown. How long have some had to wait and a couple of true champions prepared for that final round even before it came along. In 1983 Freddie Spencer and Kenny Roberts had to wait a whole month after a fractious last lap encounter in the penultimate round at Anderstorp in Sweden. Freddie left the circuit, that doubled up as the local aerodrome with a five-point advantage after an overtaking manoeuvre, a couple of bends from the finish, that did not impress the three times World Champion. They both flew home to the States for the long wait before the final round in Imola. Freddie spent time with his family in Shreveport and Kenny at his Californian ranch playing golf. They returned to Italy and Freddie clinched his first 500 cc title after a canny ride to second place behind Kenny who tried every trick in the book to unsettle him.

Nine years later Mick Doohan could have done with those four weeks. Instead, the Australian had just two to try and find some extra strength and flexibility to his battered body. He had returned to the action in 1992 at the Interlagos circuit in Brazil for the penultimate round after missing four Grands Prix after severe complications to the leg he broke in an Assen crash. The Honda rider still held a 22-point lead in the Championship over Wayne Rainey. He could hardly walk yet alone ride a 500cc motorcycle. Somehow Mick finished 12th after 121 km of pure agony but scored no World Championship points. Rainey’s win and 20 World Championship points placed him just two points adrift going into the final round at Kyalami in South Africa. That 14 days gave Mick’s body hours of medical treatment, but his sixth place was not enough. Rainey grabbed the title by two points after finishing third.

Great World Champions look ahead and plan. You will not be surprised Roberts and Barry Sheene realised before the final showdown that the 1978 World 500cc Championship would be decided at the aging 22.835 kms Nürburgring road circuit. Kenny rode a Yamaha Road bike round the ‘Ring’ on public track days. Barry of course had to be different. Between the Dutch and Belgian Grands Prix somehow the double World Champion persuaded Rolls Royce to loan him one of their top of the range luxurious saloon cars for what Barry had described as a holiday trip to Europe. Instead with his great mate Steve Parrish in the passenger’s seat they blasted the Rolls to a standstill round the Nürburgring for two days to the amazement of the other sports car drivers. I do not think even Barry persuaded Rolls Royce to loan him a car again. Despite the two days of ‘practice’ Barry lost his World title to Kenny after finishing fourth two seconds behind the first American World Champion in third place.

I cannot imagine Pecco or Fabio persuading Rolls Royce for a test drive or playing golf before the final show down in Valencia. Those 14 days may help the Frenchman work on a broken finger. I’m sure both will just be relieved when the waiting game is finally over.

 

By |2022-10-26T21:04:16+00:00October 26th, 2022|Nick's Blog, Uncategorised|Comments Off on The waiting game

Island of dreams the Glastonbury of MotoGP™

It is only when you return you realise just how much you have missed somewhere special so much. The global spread of the Covid pandemic wrecked our enjoyment, excitement and in many cases absolute amazement of witnessing world class performers at legendary venues. The music at Glastonbury, tennis at Wimbledon, football at the Nou Camp, Wembley or the San Siro, Formula One at Monaco, Indy Cars at Indianapolis and road racing on the Isle of Man disappeared overnight. Their return has done so much to lift everybody’s spirits and make us all realise just how much we have missed them. Phillip Island is right up there with them all. On Sunday the Australian circuit perched high above that crashing surf put on a show that we had waited three long painful years to explode before our eyes. We knew the Island would not let us down and it did not

Just where do you start. The highlight for me is the MotoGP™ win by Alex Rins for the Ecstar Suzuki team. We have all been there. Working through the last few months of a job. The nightmare of knowing you will not return the next year. Nobody would blame the Suzuki team, worried about their futures, their families and finances, if they lost both concentration and heart. Instead pride and dignity shone through that dark cloud of uncertainty to produce a Grand Prix winning machine superbly ridden by Alex Rins, who has also had such a tough year. Surely a company with such principles will return to the fray one day. They have done it before.

Just over eight tenths of one second separating the first seven finishers. Marc Marquez’s 100th podium finish. Pecco Bagnaia grabbing the lead in the World Championship. Jack Miller being brought down at the corner that had just been named after him. The crowning of Izan Guevara as the new Moto3™ World Champion in the earlier race. The 40,000 patriotic crowd giving six times Island winner Casey Stoner such a rousing reception. It was a typical day at the office for Phillip Island.

I was actually in Australia filming a documentary about World Champion Wayne Gardner when it was announced that a certain Island off the coast in Victoria was going to stage the very first Australian Grand Prix. I do not think many people had the faintest idea where it was and further investigation revealed it was famous for its penguins, big sharks and surfing. That all changed dramatically a year later with the 1989 Australian Grand Prix. Gardner’s win at that first Grand Prix brought Australia to a halt. We realised that weekend this was somewhere so special. Designed for motorcycle racing by Bob Barnard, a ribbon of tarmac that had no equal.

It was just the start of an incredible journey for the iconic venue. The Mick Doohan Gardner duel in 1990. Loris Capirossi becoming the youngest ever World Champion the same year. Doohan clinching the 1998 world title. The last lap decider for the 2000 250cc World title between Olivier Jacque and Shinya Nakano. Valentino Rossi winning his first premier class world title in 2001. The MotoGP™ battle in 2015 that led to the Marquez/Rossi war and Cal Crutchlow’s 2016 victory. Throw in Stoner’s six successive MotoGP™ wins and Rossi’s victory celebrations with the number 7 emblazoned on a special flag following the death of the double World Champion Barry Sheene.

Phillip Island is a little more Glastonbury than any of those other legendary venues. Worries about the weather, traffic and camping totally obliterated when the action begins. Welcome back, we have missed you so much and the penguins, big sharks and surf are all still thriving.

So many memories, hopefully many more to come.

 

By |2022-10-19T17:28:14+00:00October 19th, 2022|Nick's Blog, Uncategorised|Comments Off on Island of dreams the Glastonbury of MotoGP™

Such a long way from home

How ironic that the Kiwi emblazoned on Hugh Anderson’s iconic pudding basin helmet represented a flightless bird from his native New Zealand. Flightless is the very last word to describe Anderson and his fellow countryman’s globe spanning journeys in search of World Championship glory in Europe.

Of course, Anderson is the best known and his induction into the MotoGP™ Hall Of Fame was not only to celebrate his considerable achievements but to all of those New Zealand riders who sacrificed so much to make such a long journey.

Anderson was not the first or the last but his impact was enormous. He was the true talisman who brought success to a proud country a long way from Europe. He is the only New Zealand rider to win a World title with those two 125 a two 50cc Championships for Suzuki. Anderson scored 25 of the 31 Grands Prix wins by New Zealand riders and no other rider has achieved more Grands Prix wins for Suzuki. Those 25 wins for the Japanese factory have only been equalled by 500cc World Champion Kevin Schwantz.

A decade earlier those pioneering globe trotters arrived from the other side of the World and won Grands Prix. The first New Zealand winner was Ken Mudford who gave Norton success in the 350cc 1953 Ulster Grand Prix. A year later Rod Coleman brought AJS their last Grand Prix with victory in the 350cc race at the TT on route to third place in the World Championship. Ginger Molloy was rewarded for his tireless pursuit of the multi-cylinder Japanese machine with a win at the 1966 Ulster Grand Prix on the 250cc Bultaco. Thirteen years later Dennis Ireland took advantage of the top riders’ boycott of the re-surfaced Spa Francorchamps circuit to win the 500cc Belgium Grand Prix. Current Dorna pit lane reporter Simon Crafer dominated the 500cc race at the 1998 British Grand Prix to bring Yamaha their only win of the season and the last premier class victory on Dunlop tyres.

Some who made the journey paid the ultimate price and none more so than Kim Newcombe. A brilliant rider and engineer Newcombe produced a two-stroke 500cc engine from a West German flat-four König outboard boat engine. He lay second in the 1973 World Championship after winning in Yugoslavia on the Opatija road circuit. To fund his considerable Grand Prix efforts, he raced at a non-championship international event at Silverstone. In the race Newcombe hit an unprotected post at Stowe corner and died in hospital three days later.

I think being so far from home encouraged riders from Australia and even more so New Zealand to enjoy and make the most of paddock life. Two of them Stu Avant and Graeme Crosby were so typical to make the most of their adventure and I was happy to join in with them. I arrived to report on my first ever race at Misano in 1976. I was wandering round the paddock a lost, nervous soul when Stu Avant stopped me to tell his story. He’d arrived for his first race outside New Zealand with his friend Mike Sinclair. At last I was up and running with the story. I became great friends with Stu especially when he was based in England, although as an Oxford boy I could never agree of his support of our great football rivals from Reading.

Finally, while we celebrated with Hugh Anderson last week we also mourned the loss of another true great World Champion. Phil Read is surely the most underrated rider in the 74-year history of our sport. Seven World titles, 52 Grands Prix wins and the first rider to win 125, 250 and 500cc World titles.

 A true Prince of Speed.

By |2022-10-13T08:35:34+00:00October 13th, 2022|Nick's Blog, Uncategorised|Comments Off on Such a long way from home

All in the same boat

Jack Miller (Ducati Lenovo Team) summed up the situation perfectly before the start of the Grand Prix in Thailand. The good thing is we are all in the same boat the Australian told the cameras as the rain hammered down on the empty grid and the thunder rolled ominously around the Buriram circuit.

You may all be in the same boat Jack, but some including yourself and, in particular, winner Miguel Olivera (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) were pulling the oars a lot harder than others. It is so easy sitting at home watching events unfold on the television early on a Sunday morning.

When the Moto2™ race was stopped after just eight laps as the riders aquaplaned down the main straight, there was a real danger that the MotoGP™ race may not even start as the monsoon-like rain hammered down. While my only worry was, to enjoy one or two boiled eggs for breakfast, the decision if the race should go ahead, how many laps or awarding half World Championship points, like in Moto2™, had to be made.

It was only the fourth time in the 74-year history of Grand Prix racing that half points had been awarded. When the rain abated it was obviously safe to race and only reduced by one lap. It was tricky, to say the least, but rideable.

It was ironic that the monsoon-like rain had been forecast for most of the weekend but hardly touched the MotoGP™ riders in practice and qualifying. So, no real wet time until those warm-up laps before the start of the race. It’s not that the teams and riders are not prepared for these types of conditions when they travel to Asia. There have been plenty of monsoon-like rain falling causing delays and cancellation of practice and qualifying sessions in Sepang, Motegi and what about the race at Mandalika this year? What catches everybody out is when it rains in a country where we are told there will never be a wet track

I remember thinking that somebody must be cleaning the windows of our commentary box at the Lusail International Circuit in Qatar. It just did not cross my mind that it could be rain because I had never seen or heard of rain in Qatar. It was 2009, the second year of the amazing floodlights at the circuit. As the 125cc race started to get underway spots of water appeared on the commentary box window. You could see first the drizzle and then heavier rain falling on the unwetted tarmac through the glare of the floodlights.

The race was stopped after just four laps. Surely this was just a rogue shower but it was like being back home as the rain continued. Andrea Iannone was declared the winner of the 125cc race with half World Championship points being awarded. The rain stopped and the 250cc race, reduced to 13 laps, was won by Hector Barbera who just scrambled through before the drizzle in the glare returned to the middle of the desert. The MotoGP™ race was postponed for a day causing a long night of flight changes and travel plans. Of course, it was dry the next day and Casey Stoner brought Ducati victory in the 22 lap race watched only by marshals and probably a few camels from a safe distance.

It rains in Italy and England but not in the same epic quantity as those Asian venues apart from when MotoGP™ arrives. The long-awaited return to the World Championship for the Misano circuit on the Italian Adriatic coast in 2007 after a 14 year absence hit problems. The first day of practice for the San Marino Grand Prix was scrapped when the circuit, running the opposite direction from its last Grand Prix in 1993, was flooded. We have witnessed plenty of wet races at Silverstone, but it rained so hard four years ago that race day had to be completely cancelled.

Of course, Jack Miller wanted to race in the rain on Sunday especially after his Motegi victory seven days earlier, but he also had an equally important or in some people’s mind even more important reason. Jack admitted he would be in for some real strife if he could not stick to his original travel plans because he was getting married next weekend before Phillip Island in two weeks’ time. Sounds like the Australian just about got it right on both counts. Hopefully, the sun will shine on his wedding day but on Phillip Island, no promises.

 

By |2022-10-05T16:19:22+00:00October 5th, 2022|Nick's Blog, Uncategorised|Comments Off on All in the same boat

Team orders or no team orders – That is the question

There may have been no MotoGP™ around when William Shakespeare famously enquired, ‘To be or not to be that is the question,’ but it’s a similar question being asked on the MotoGP™ stage over 400 years later. As the season prepares for the final curtain at Valencia next month, team orders or no team orders is the question that dominates paddock discussions and beyond.

They may not have come into play at a dramatic Motegi but Francesco Bagnaia’s (Ducati Lenovo Team) demise in Japan will just increase the pressure on the Ducati riders to help his cause. It is a tough one, with examples and answers to all arguments. Surely with Ducati closing in on Fabio Quartararo’s (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP™) seemingly untouchable lead in the Championship, Bagnaia deserves all the help he needs from the Italian clan. The question is what you understand as help. The key factor is for team managers to be crystal clear when talking to their riders about what they expect from them. It is when the grey areas appear the problems start, and the mistrust starts.

The classic example of mistrust came a long time ago when Phil Read and Bill Ivy were teammates at Yamaha. After Honda departed in 1967 Yamaha dominated the 250 and 125cc World Championships on those magnificent four-cylinder two-stroke machines. It was decided before the 1968 season by Yamaha and the riders that 125cc World Champion Ivy would win the 250cc title and the former 250cc Champion Read the 125cc. All was going to plan before Read, never known as your best teammate, reneged on the original arrangement.

The seven times World Champion duly clinched the 125cc title in Brno and then told his teammate he wanted to make it a double. The new agreement came to a head at the final round horrible round at Monza, full of anger and accusations. Read beat Ivy in the twenty-two lap 250cc race. Incredibly they ended up on equal points in the Championship but Read was crowned World Champion after their respective race times from each Grand Prix were added together. Ivy, totally crushed by the turn around retired to go car racing a very disillusioned rider. He returned to finance his car racing before passing away in 1969. Read continued to win world titles and upset teammates.

Bagnaia and Bastianini may not have exactly tread on eggshells in their last lap Ducati duels at Misano and Aragon, but they showed ample respect for each other. Teammates may not receive orders but do not wreck their Championship ambitions by doing something stupid at a vital moment – just ask Dani Pedrosa. Nobody will forget and especially the Repsol Honda team that afternoon at Estoril in 2006. It was the penultimate round of the World Championship. Leader Nicky Hayden arrived with a 12 point lead over Valentino Rossi and was comfortably placed third in the race behind the Yamahas of Rossi and team-mate Colin Edwards. His Repsol Honda team-mate Pedrosa was right behind as they raced into that tricky left hand at the end of the back straight with twenty-three laps remaining. The 250cc World Champion Pedrosa left his braking too late, ran onto the kerb, locked the front wheel, with his sliding Honda skittling down teammate Hayden.

That 12 point Championship lead disappeared in a cloud of sparks, Portuguese gravel, and American expletives. Rossi led the Championship by eight points going into that final round in Valencia. I do not know who the happier person in Valencia was. Hayden was crowned World Champion after finishing third while Rossi crashed. Pedrosa followed and protected his teammate in fourth place the whole 30 lap distance but never getting too close.

Orders or no orders, some teammates are never going to help each other. Can you imagine Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo offering a helping hand in those tempestuous Yamaha days. It is not only teammates but compatriots who can help you win world titles. There is no doubt the Italian ‘mafia’ ganged up on Dutchman Hans Spaan to enable Loris Capirossi to become the youngest World Champion when he clinched the final round of the 1990 125cc World Championship with victory at the final round at Phillip Island. Seven years ago, the Rossi/ Marquez war started when Rossi accused Marquez of slowing the pace again at Phillip Island to help fellow Spaniard Jorge Lorenzo in his successful title bid.

So, four races to go including all that intrigue, plots and subplots. William Shakespeare would have loved every minute of it.

By |2022-09-29T10:56:16+00:00September 29th, 2022|Nick's Blog, Uncategorised|Comments Off on Team orders or no team orders – That is the question
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