Monthly Archives: August 2024

We thought at the start of the 2010 MotoGP™ season we would be visiting a brand-new circuit in Hungary but ended up somewhere so very different. The long-awaited opening of the Balatonring in Hungary never happened, and it was the reserve circuit on the Calendar that took over. The problem was I really did not know where Aragon was but what a gem of a circuit it turned out to be.

We were accustomed to visiting and enjoying the likes of Barcelona, Jerez, and Valencia. Coastal areas and great circuits; finding out just where Aragon was came as a bit of a shock. A different, less populated inland area of Spain with the nearest major city of Zaragoza nearly 100 kms from the circuit. And what about the circuit itself that was going to stage the 13^th round of the Championship? Designed by the legendary Hermann Tike it looked great on paper. A tremendous variety of undulating fast and slow bends and a mighty long straight looked perfect for MotoGP™ and that’s exactly how it turned out.

Getting there and finding somewhere to stay was never going to be easy but any inconvenience was overcome with the magnificent location of the circuit. Fly to Barcelona, drive down the coast and then cut inland at Reus. Drive through a succession of hills, vineyards through provincial towns, past the imaginary Meridian line that joins the North and South poles into a desert-like region. It’s easy to understand why they filmed some of the Spaghetti Cowboy films in the area. The imposing castle overlooking the town of Alcaniz gave an indication of the history before arrival at MotorLand Aragon situated by the side of the lake. Alcañiz had been famous for its street circuit on which cars and bikes raced and the tradition continued, as it has at many venues with the construction of a man-made circuit

The riders loved the track carved in the hillside and especially Casey Stoner. Those fast-sweeping bends leading up to the reverse Corkscrew. The magnificent long left-hander, not that he had time to admire the fantastic views, was made for his sliding style. On the brakes for the tight left and right-hand bends, which Nicky Hayden described as riding in his backyard at home, with the impressive massive stone wall the perfect background. The tight left-hander onto that long straight before braking for the all-important uphill left-hand bend onto the start and finish straight.

Stoner won that opening Aragon Grand Prix in his final Ducati season in 2010. The Australian won again in 2011 on his debut and Championship season for Honda. Then the Spanish riders took over. Following a Moto2™ win Marc Marquez went on to win five MotoGP™ races. Jorge Lorenzo won twice with Dani Pedrosa and Alex Rins grabbing single wins. More recently the Italians have fought back in the Spanish heartland. Franco Morbidelli won the Teruel Grand Prix three years ago with Pecco Bagnaia the winner in 2021, and Enea Bastanini the last MotoGP™ winner in 2022.

So what about Sunday? Surely another Bagnaia/Jorge Martin clash but do not rule out Aragon winners Marquez and Bastanini. Martin a Moto3™ winner, podium finishes in both Moto2™ and MotoGP™, will be desperate to retake that Championship lead with the juicy part of the season about to commence.

It is great to see Aragon back on the MotoGP™ Schedule this weekend. A proper racing venue that is absolutely made for the very best of MotoGP™. Also, I now know how to get there!

Twenty-three-year-old Ai Ogura signed up to the toughest job in MotoGP™ last week – to become the first Japanese rider to win the premier class World Championship. Despite all their enormous success in the Constructors premier class Championship, plenty of World titles and Grands Prix wins in the smaller classes, the highest accolade in the sport still awaits a Japanese rider after 75 years.

Just three days after the Trackhouse team announced that Ogura was joining their MotoGP™ team next year, he crashed and broke his right hand during Saturday morning practice at the Red Bull Ring. The five-time Moto2™ winner has won twice this season and still holds second place in the Moto2™ World Championship despite missing Austria.

It’s a tough road ahead for Ogura who won three Moto2™ races in 2022 and finished second in the World Championship, before an injury-hit 2023 season. He steps up to a MotoGP™ World Championship that last witnessed a Japanese winner two decades ago when Makoto Tamada scored a home victory for Honda at Motegi in 2004. Earlier that season Tamada also won in Rio and finished sixth in the Championship. The last Japanese rider to finish on the MotoGP™ podium was Katsuyuki Nakasuga who brought Yamaha second place at Valencia in 2012. Takaaki Nakagami, who finished 14th in Austria on Sunday, was the last Japanese pole setter at Aragon in 2020

The closest a Japanese rider came to that elusive title came in 1997. Tadayuki Okada came along at just the wrong time, right in the middle of the Doohan domination years. He finished second in the 1997 500cc World Championship behind his Repsol Honda team-mate Doohan. Two years later Okada finished third behind Alex Criville and Kenny Roberts Junior. He finished on the 500cc podium 21 times including four Grands Prix wins. In another era that would have been enough for the World title.

Nobody will ever forget Norick Abe. With that long hair flowing from the back of his helmet, he won three 500cc Grands Prix for Yamaha. The two at Suzuka in 1996 and 2000 were so special, with that massive smile and celebrations on the podium in front of the home fans. One of the most underrated Japanese 500cc grand prix riders was Toru Ukawa. I remember him fighting off Honda team-mate World Champion Valentino Rossi to win the 2002 Grand Prix at Welkom in South Africa. He finished third in the Championship that year, but it was his only 500cc victory.

Without a doubt Japan and Honda had earmarked the brilliant Daijiro Kato to bring that World title home. He won 11 Grands Prix en route to the 2001 250cc World title. He took two podium finishes on both two-stroke and four-stroke Hondas on his debut MotoGP™ season, eventually finishing seventh in the 2002 Championship. The stage was set for the big push in 2003, but it ended in tragedy. Kato was killed at the opening round at Suzuka. The dream died that dreadful afternoon and all we can do is imagine what those battles between Valentino Rossi and Kato would have produced. One thing for certain, Kato would have been right up there with all those MotoGP™ stars.

So, a massive two years ahead for the latest Japanese star to emerge from the smaller classes. In those last 75 years it’s been rare for a Japanese rider to compete in the Premier class on European machinery. It’s Aprilia for Ogura and he can take an optimistic glance at history. The first Japanese rider to both start and score points in the 500cc class was Fumio Itoh. He finished sixth at the 1960 French Grand Prix at Clermont-Ferrand riding a BMW. A good omen for the 23-year-old as he embarks on his journey to re-write the history books.

Don’t you just love it when a rider arrives on the scene to ruffle the feathers of the established stars? Pedro Acosta did just that at the start of the MotoGP™ season, while another former Red Bull Rookies star is blowing them away in WorldSBK.

My friends and journalistic colleagues had only one topic of conversation when they returned from the British round of WorldSBK at Donington Park last month. They could not wait to tell me just how impressed and excited they had been watching Toprak Razgatliogu in action around the historic venue.

The 27-year-old Turkish BMW rider simply blew the opposition away. A week later he repeated the dose at Most in the Czech Republic – that was his tenth successive WorldSBK victory. This weekend he had another clean sweep in Portimao and has won a record-breaking 13 consecutive races. He now the leads the super-competitive Championship by a massive 92 points.

If and when the Championship leader moves to MotoGP™, those lucky to witness him in action at Donington believe he is the rider to rewrite the history books. No WorldSBK Champion has won the MotoGP™ World Championship. Indeed, only two have won premier class Grands Prix. Injuries, bad luck and circumstances mean that only Ben Spies and Troy Bayliss have taken the chequered flag in MotoGP™.

American Spies always looked the most likely. Just two years after being crowned WorldSBK Champion he won the 2011 Dutch TT. Spies finished fifth in the World Championship that year, but injuries wrecked his MotoGP™ prospects and brought about a premature retirement. Australian Troy Bayliss returned for a one-off MotoGP™ ride at Valencia in 2006. The reigning WorldSBK Champion replaced the injured Sete Gibernau at Ducati. While the world focused on the Hayden/Rossi battle for the title, Bayliss pulled off a historic victory. With Loris Capirossi in second place, Ducati achieved their first-ever 1-2 Grand Prix finish.

That was that, and with only Colin Edwards coming close. The double WorldSBK Champion switched to MotoGP™ in 2003. In a career that spanned 11 years, ‘The Texas Tornado’ finished on the MotoGP™ podium 12 times, finished fourth in the 2005 World Championship but never won a Grand Prix – scant reward for such a brilliant rider.

I remember interviewing Colin in 2004 when the 2003 WorldSBK Champion Neil Hodgson was contemplating a return to MotoGP™. Colin urged Neil to return as soon as possible because he realised he had left it too long before switching Championships. Double WorldSBK Champion James Toseland moved into MotoGP™ in 2008. After an encouraging start, unfortunately, he was beset by injuries and never finished on the podium.

Some great WorldSBK Champions never made the move. Carl Fogarty and Jonathan Rea would have surely flourished but lack of suitable opportunities and machinery prevented them. Their performances as wildcards showed just what a threat they would have been to the established stars, but only on competitive MotoGP™ machinery. Switching from a Championship where you are the King, making a very comfortable living, has to be the correct move into the unknown.

Five times 500cc World Champion Mick Doohan won a couple of WorldSBK rounds in Australia and Japan before embarking on his title-winning premier class career. Cal Crutchlow won the WorldSSP title and WorldSBK races before switching to MotoGP™ in 2011. He won three MotoGP Grands Prix before retiring three years ago. The likes of 250cc World Champions and MotoGP Grands Prix winners Max Biaggi and John Kocinski made the reverse trip to win WorldSBK titles.

It is so easy to get carried away and this season in both Championships still has a long journey ahead before conclusion. However, a little bit of dreaming never did any harm, records are there to be broken.

The man regarded by many as the greatest-ever Grand Prix rider over the last last 75 years would have loved every minute of race day at Silverstone. A rider winning the MotoGP™ race wearing his replica helmet, a rare British winner in Moto2™ and just over half a second separating seven riders in a classic Moto3™ encounter. Stanley Michael Bailey Hailwood would have approved.

This was such a special race day to celebrate 75 years of Grand Prix racing, and nobody would have appreciated it more than Mike Hailwood in his home country. A nine-time World Champion in 250, 350 and 500cc classes. A winner of 76 Grands Prix across the 125, 250, 350 and 500cc classes. Mike Hailwood, awarded the George Medal for extreme bravery, and Mike Hailwood aged 39-years-old returning to the TT on the Isle of Man to win for Ducati. You could go on and on. The winner of all classes at the British round of the World Championship around the Mountain circuit at the TT races in the Isle of Man. A rider who won three Grands Prix in one day at the Dutch TT in Assen. At the time, he was the youngest rider to win 250 and 500cc World titles, the youngest rider to win 250 and 500cc Grands Prix and the first rider to win four successive 500cc World titles.

He would so have appreciated the double by Enea Bastianini on the Lenovo Ducati. The Italian wearing with pride a replica Hailwood helmet delivered the comeback of all comebacks. Hailwood returning to the Isle of Man in 1978 and winning the main race on the F1 Ducati. Nineteen years earlier, Hailwood had won the very first Grand Prix of those 76, riding a Ducati to victory in the 125cc race at the Ulster Grand Prix.

In those days, British riders winning their home World Championship event at the TT was a common occurrence. When the British round switched to the permanent circuits at Silverstone and Donington, the winning habit disappeared down the same black hole as Grands Prix wins and World titles. Jake Dixon’s superb win in the Moto2™ race on Sunday was the first since Danny Kent won the Moto3™ race in 2015. Kent went on to win the World title. The last Moto2™ winner at Silverstone was Scott Redding two years earlier. Only one other British rider has won at Silverstone and Donington. Ian McConnachie winning the 80cc Grand Prix way back in 1986.

Hailwood would have loved being involved in that fantastic Moto3™ race on Sunday, with just over half a second separating the first seven riders. He won two 125cc Grands Prix for Ducati and Honda before moving onto the bigger classes.

Hailwood’s great strength, that stood him apart from most, was his ability to ride any machine on any type of circuit. He won Grands Prix in 125, 250, 350 and 500cc classes on Ducati, Honda, MZ, MV Agusta and Norton machinery. Those wins came on circuits as diverse as the Sachsenring and Isle of Man to Assen and Daytona.

Typically, he told nobody when he returned to the pits at Kyalami after pulling Clay Regazzoni from a burning car when they both crashed in the 1973 South African Formula One Grand Prix. Later he was awarded the George Medal for extreme bravery.

Tragically, Mike Hailwood and his daughter Michelle lost their lives in a road traffic accident in 1981. Not only did that fantastic day at Silverstone celebrate 75 years of Grand Prix racing but also the life of Mike Hailwood. Thank you Enea, Jake and those seven Moto3™ riders for giving us the opportunity to remember a true great of our sport but my own personal hero.

Every picture tells a story and no more so than in the 75-year history of Grand Prix racing. Just one look sparks such personal memories of people, friends and history in the making over those seven decades of our lives. The different liveries of the bikes and riders reflect the contrasting eras in those 75 years and personal memories of our lives, both past and present.