On-Track Off-Road Issue 188

MXGP

AND THEN THERE WERE...

The injury-hit MXGP series tackled another demanding and difficult circuit at the Grand Prix of Germany and it was Tim Gajser again who profited from the spacious gate to grab his fifth victory in a row.

This is a shot from the steep first climb at Teutschenthal; where Julien Lieber would crash and break his left elbow Photo by Ray Archer

MotoGP

SEE GOD AND...

The face says it all as Cal Crutchlow approaches the beginning of the braking zone to San Donato at Mugello close to 220mph.

MotoGP had two fast and tricky outings in Italy and Catalunya and now embrace some history this weekend with the kinks of Assen Photo by CormacGP

AMA MX

OH! FUN IN THE SAND Round five of twelve in the Lucas Oil AMA Pro National series dropped into WW Ranch in Florida for the first time and after a damp MXGP inauguration for the venue in 2017. Red Bull KTM’s Marvin Musquin dished up some cool action on the way to his first win of the series (the fourth different moto victor so far).

Photo by KTM/Cudby

ON REPEAT MXGP

MXGP GERMANY

GRAND PRIX OF GERMANY TEUTSCHENTHAL · JUNE 22-23 · Rnd 10 of 18

MXGP WINNER: TIM GAJSER, HONDA MX2 WINNER: JORGE PRADO, KTM Blogs by Adam Wheeler, Photos by Ray Archer

MXGP

MXGP GERMANY

MXGP FEATURE

MXGP GERMANY

MXGP FEATURE

MXGP GERMANY

MXGP FEATURE

MXGP GERMANY

MXGP FEATURE

MXGP GERMANY

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MXGP GERMANY

MXGP BLOG

COME TOGETHER ‘Safety’. A word that always carries such gravitas in motorsport, and particularly in motocross at a time when doctors’ waiting rooms are more crowded than usual.

In Germany last weekend for what was the first Grand Prix of the second half of the season and the sixth round in seven weeks, two more top ten factory-riding racers went under the x-ray machine.

There is very little discernible consistency when it comes to the different groups in the Grand Prix paddock – riders, teams, FIM, promoter, organiser - working and communicating together. Make no mistake, there is often due diligence. This is a world championship after all. There are FIM inspections of the track, guidelines for medical provisions and resources (although this came under scrutiny in Russia and Latvia) and the figure of former Grand Prix star (Portugal’s most successful ever racer) Rui Gonçalves with his acute knowledge and experience of what a rider can-and-cannot-do overseeing track maintenance. There are FIM jury meetings and logistical pres-

sure on local and national circuit organisers by promoters Youthstream to ensure the best possible conditions to stage a Grand Prix worthy of the label.

There are two areas that muddy the waters. An MXGP track will change and evolve to such an extent that it will also provoke a variety of reactions and opinions from riders. For some it will be took fast, too ‘sketchy’, too overwatered. While for others – typically those nearer the top of the final classification come Sunday – the course is mostly fine.

Compared to a more stable set of circumstances in a sport like MotoGP, where you’d imagine it is easier to find common ground on any safety concerns about fences, walls or track layout, MXGP can be a melting pot of conjecture.

The other facet is the lack of a ‘pooling’ resource for all these opinions and emotions. A rider

has every right to vent his concerns about a track or a section of terrain, after all it is his muscles, bones, ligaments and blood on the line. The problem is that those comments are usually aired at various members of the powers-that-be: either to Gonçalves himself, an FIM official, a member of Youthstream staff or a local volunteer who might be having an ice-cream while watering the soil in between the motos. It is haphazard and disjointed.

MXGP is unlikely to have factory teams from Kawasaki and KTM for round eleven in Indonesia in less than two weeks time, unless some satisfactory form of replacement rider can be found and Tony Cairoli’s right shoulder loses pain and miraculously gains strength.

Along with Suzuki’s continuing banishment (although rumours still circulate that the factory will return to motocross in 2021) it is a staggering situation, and feels

By Adam Wheeler

all the more harsh after what was a comparatively tranquil 2018 season for injury. In the wake of three costly Grands Prix for the entry list and the general sense of concern for the amount of saddles anyway with at least half a dozen riders aging out of MX2 for 2020 it’s only normal that fingers of blame start to be pointed. Some glare at track preparation, others at the circuits themselves (France, Russia and Germany are three of the more unforgiving hard-pack courses on the calendar and have been raced in the last four fixtures, but have each undergone measures to slow or increase the technical level of the surfaces) while others turn to look at the motorcycles themselves.

“There are not many injuries in MX2 compared to MXGP,” said Max Nagl, who did not even last one practice session in Germany after re-injuring his operated knee damaged in Argentina for the championship opener. “The tracks have not changed that much in the last few years but the bike development is unbelievable. The 450s go so fast because the suspension

means you can go right through the bumps and the acceleration is massive. There is a limit with the body. Everybody is trained like an athlete but there is still a limit… whereas there doesn’t appear to be one with the [bike] material.

The manufacturers cannot change the bikes to make them slower but in my opinion this is the problem: the 450s are too fast these days for the body to handle them on the rough tracks.”

Rather than blame look for solutions. Bending manufacturers away from 450cc engine capacity is unlikely and KTM at least tried with their 350 SX-F between 2010 and 2016. More electronics and therefore standardisation is a complicated and undesirable path.

So what else? Gonçalves’ almost thankless task is complicated by the resources he has to hand before and during a weekend, the lack of time and the pockets of feedback. Nevertheless his efforts have led to an improvement in the last eighteen months. Tracks are usually left rougher and in a condition with full awareness of what a Grand Prix rider will have to

face through both motos and with European support classes also having an impact.

He should be helped. If teams and riders could ape MotoGP and form a Safety Commission that would either include all riders, one representative from each brand or one nominated rep from each class then opinions could be aired or collected and fed straight back to officials from Youthstream, the FIM and the organiser. It might be possible for short-term fixes or advice on a Friday or Saturday night or long term solutions for the following year: such as adjusting a section or removing a split lane.

MXGP often has an easy and laidback atmosphere around the paddock and interaction between the stars but there is not much cohesiveness when important issues need to be addressed. It sounds a bit hokey but in a time of widespread concern the sport requires some of the older, more experienced riders to congeal what can be quite a wide age group of peers if there is to be any hope for change.

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FEATURE

to brace or not to brace NECK PROTECTION: THE DEBATE CONTINUES

By Adam Wheeler, Photos by Ray Archer

FEATURE

Ignored? Lost relevance? Or more crucial than ever with crashes and injuries coming fast in MXGP? We asked a selection of both past and current athletes to have used neck protection to find out why there are not more braces in the Grand Prix start gate. We also then quizzed the FIM about the chances of the hardware joining the homologated list of racing gear and finally sought the inventor of the concept, Dr Chris Leatt, for his own views…

BECOMING SCEPTICAL Ben Watson, Monster Energy Kemea Yamaha, MX2: Racing motocross you are always thinking about protection and how to compete in the fastest and safest way and I’m interested in new protection or technology to do that… but nothing has really opened my eyes or been put in front of me to test or to change my race gear.

Clement Desalle, Monster Energy Kawasaki, MXGP: I was happy with it and I was feeling comfortable in the past but when I had my crash at the end of ’17 that situation changed for me. I would not rule it out again if I could find one that fitted me well.

Ben Watson: When the neck brace first came out and it was a big thing I was using it. Then after two years I stopped because there was a rumour that the design I was using could cause a problem with the spine; the way it was shaped and sat on your back. So I took it off and that was that. You don’t see many people wearing them now and I feel like you don’t really know if they are proven. Some people feel a little bit more confident with extra protection but I don’t believe in the brace enough to have that sensation.

Tony Cairoli, Red Bull KTM, MXGP: In the beginning there were some riders using neck braces and me also but there were a lot of different opinions about it so we decided to skip it. It’s been ten years now. I don’t know exactly what it is the best.

Rene Hofer, KTM Junior team, EMX250: It seems like the kids are wearing them on 85s but when they move to 125s and 250s then they are leaving them behind. Maybe it is to do with moving more on the bike but I think it is mostly about parents pushing for a safe approach and when the kid gets older he takes more responsibility for himself.

Justin Barcia, Monster Energy Yamaha, AMA 450SX/MX: I started with one pretty much right away and I have, unfortunately, taken some really hard hits and that’s never fun. I believe in having as much protection as you

Jorge Prado, Red Bull KTM, MX2 World Champion: Right now I don’t want to change anything – not even the gloves I am using – I want to stay with the brands I have. I don’t want any changes in my mind.

NECK PROTECTION

can get and you hear people say that neck braces are not proven but I feel that I’ve proven it many times! Just watch some of my crashes and you’ll believe it. When it comes to protection I think you should wear as much as possible. Riders always want to feel like they are wearing nothing…but also want the protection. It is a fine line. I’m quite an animated rider I’d say but I’m still able to move around in all my stuff.

FEATURE Adam Sterry, F&H Kawasaki, MX2: I believe they are safer. Other people don’t, and that’s why we don’t see so many any more. Another factor is the extra price of the brace when you’ve probably spent thousands on your bike and kit: you’re hearing a 50-50 argument over whether it does something or it doesn’t and it means people end-up opting out of using one.

For me, I’ve worn a Leatt for years and I’ve never had a problem, never broken a collarbone and I’ve had some hard crashes on my head and never had a neck problem or injury.

Ben Watson: I never had any trouble with them but once I stopped then it was easy to get out of the habit.

Jeremy Seewer, Monster Energy Yamaha, MXGP: I have felt it help in a crash. I’ve crashed on my head and I even destroyed the brace once but was mostly injury-free. I cannot say ‘I would have been injured without it’ because I’m not 100% sure but there was some evidence there. How many people break their neck in motocross? It is not something that really happens a lot…but even just once is catastrophic.

Jago Geerts, Monster Energy Kemea Yamaha: I’ve been wearing one since I was on the 65s, so since I was nine or ten. I think it is really important to use it to protect your neck and I wanted all the protection possible. I feel comfortable riding with it and it’s not a problem.

Tim Gajser, Team HRC, MXGP: I’ve noticed that some others have stopped and it’s true that the more protection you have means less movement and the bikes are getting stronger and the speeds are getting higher. I feel safer with full protection: I also wear the full chest protector.

Tony Cairoli: It was not really easy to ride with but you got used to it. I had a different rid-

ing style back then. I haven’t thought about it since but it’s clear that it is a personal preference. A rider has to see if he can ride and race with it.

BECOMING ACCUSTOMED Jeremy Seewer: It is a very personal choice but I think neck braces benefitted from a big boom around five years ago and a lot of the top guys had them. That’s changing. I think there are only 4-5 guys in MXGP now. Even the kids, if you see the 125 class then there are not many around. Are there more injuries or less with them? Some say yes, some say no and it is the big opinion. My main comment is that the neck brace can be distracting if it is not set-up or fit properly. I have a special way of fixing it and if it couldn’t be like that then I’m not sure I could race with it as it would be touching the back of my helmet all the time.

Jorge Prado: When I started riding I had like a strip of foam…maybe it was because the helmet was so heavy! When I went onto the 65 I remember my father bought a neck protector and I could not ride with it. He told me I had to try but when I was riding down a hill I could not even look up properly, I was too small.

I tried again on the 85s and a few different brands but none of them felt comfortable and were too heavy.

Rene Hofer: I have never ridden without one.

My family wanted me to be safer as a kid and now it is such a part of my kit that it would seem really strange without it. In fact, I tried riding without it once and it wasn’t comfortable at all! Obviously that would change. It doesn’t affect my riding but I don’t know if it has helped me in a crash. I think you only have to see replays of crashes and what is happening with a rider’s head to realise something like this might help.

Shaun Simpson, RFX KTM, MXGP: I don’t even think about it. The brace folds up and goes into the kit bag in the same way that gloves or pants or a helmet does.

The design has really changed over the last ten years. It’s now so light and far less bulky. I think the separated back strut is also an improvement as much for packaging as for what it does! I know GP riders, like Evgeny Bobryshev, that tried one and were convinced right away. It’s a personal taste but I doubt so many would be wearing a neck brace if they stopped you performing.

NECK PROTECTION

Jago Geerts: Some riders think it is uncomfortable but I got used to it from the beginning. I can understand if someone has never worn it and then might find it restrictive at first.

FEATURE Julien Lieber: I prefer to be free. I used one when I was younger and you don’t have the same mobility. You see guys having the same accident or injury with and without the neck brace so it is not really clear if it helps or not. I have the same attitude to knee braces. I tried a few different brands but have still broken my ACL more than once. I question how much they help, and so now I go for more mobility.

Adam Sterry: It’s like if you’ve never worn knee braces before. If you start riding with them then it will feel horrible. If I didn’t have the neck brace now I’d feel like a bobble head. It would be uncomfortable. After a couple of weeks with a brace it will be normal. People don’t give it enough time.

Dr Dave McManus, FIM Medical Commission Director: The way the riders wear them is an important consideration in the discussion. At the moment of impact the device has to make contact with the riders helmet to transfer energy so if a rider does not wear it correctly [then it will be in ineffective]. Martin [FIM doctor Martin Syrucek] was wandering around a year or two ago with his camera at the starting gate and we could see that some riders wear the braces appropriately but the majority do not, so there would be no benefit in those case because the energy would have already been absorbed by the spine.

Tim Gajser: I think it is safer to wear one. I’d say you have a bit less mobility for moving the head but since I started in 2010 with the 85 I immediately felt good with it. Now, if I forget it for some reason when I’m practicing it is weird to ride without it.

Adam Sterry: People forget that the design is stress-related so you can almost snap it in your hands. When it reaches a certain point then it breaks. I’ve never had a problem with movement or weight and never noticed it. I’ll always wear one.

BECOMING HURT? Pauls Jonass, Rockstar Energy IceOne Husqvarna: I stopped using it because I hit my chin twice and opened it twice in two weeks! I think when it first showed up it was like a fashion thing and everyone wanted to try it. I think that’s the case for many things. I think it might come back. I know riders who have broken their collarbone and didn’t want it resting near the plate.

Jorge Prado: For sure it is something that helps prevent one type of injury but might also cause another. It is a risk we take but then comfort has to come into it. There are positives and negatives.

Jeremy Seewer: I’ve broken my collarbone only once! When I was on a 65 and I had a highside and landed on one of those big hammers they use to put in fence posts! I’ve never had any injury around the collarbone because of the brace but I also put some extra soft protection on that piece of bone.

Darian Sanayei, Bike It DRT Kawasaki, MX2: A few times I’ve crashed and really crunched it. I’ve hit my head and then looked at the brace and thought ‘I’m glad I had that’. I’ve never had it put any pressure on my collarbone.

Tim Gajser: I’ve broken vertebrae and a collarbone but I don’t think this was because of the brace. I had a massive crash in 2017 at Kegums when I fell on the waves and I honestly think it saved me because it was in four pieces and I went straight into the dirt with my head.

It did its job.

Pauls Jonass: If you do break your collarbone then maybe it was because it was really saving your neck. Maybe I will try again but right now I feel comfortable without it.

BECOMING OFFICIAL? Tim Gajser: I cannot see it becoming a rule.

There are only a handful of riders using it now.

Antonio Alia Portela, FIM CMS President: Anything connected with the safety of the riders has the full support of the CMS commission.

We are aware that some of the riders are uncomfortable with some of the items that they wear but once they get used to it then they will appreciate the extra safety. I cannot imagine any rider now saying they would not like a safer helmet or they would not wear goggles.

It is a mindset change that has to be put into

NECK PROTECTION

Jago Geerts: It might be easier to break your collarbone than without. I’ve had some big crashes and I’m sure it has saved me a few times.

FEATURE place. Research has already been carried out to allow us to be more certain about the effectiveness of neck protection. We have to put it in a balance.

Dr Martin Syrucek, FIM Doctor: We have been studying these types of protection for years. We look for new science and approaches regardless if it is a helmet or other type of brace but it is not easy to push for homologation.

Dr Dave McManus, Director FIM Medical Commission: The Medical Commission, and in keeping with the FIA who have the same issues with neck protection in Karting, allow the use of neck braces but we cannot recommend or mandate their use for a couple of reasons. The first is that there is not a lot of scientific evidence about, most is from the manufacturers of the device and we don’t have any independent, validated evidence.

There is also some evidence of potential harm from using them, so we need to bottom that out. The number of research papers published have been quite small but they have come to similar conclusions that there may be some mild-to-modest protection from the devices but that they transfer energy and cause injuries elsewhere. We also need to bottom that out before we can take a definitive position.

Another issue is the lack of standardisation and that’s important for medical teams for the way they are applied and removed. It’s another difficulty. There is also no European standard in the way there is for helmets so it is difficult to be definitive in their use. There is no body of significant independent data.

We’ve had presentations from Chris Leatt and we understand where he is coming from and the principle of it but we’ve yet to have that data validated. So our position is pretty neutral.

Darian Sanayei: I think it might be a bit of a fashion thing but there is also personal preference and sometimes other factors like gear sponsors having a say. I like it and I think if you can do something to have even a tiny bit more protection for your neck and back then it’s worth it and pretty important. I guess it just comes down to comfort and if riders see other people using them then their mind becomes a bit more open to it. It’s the same if riders stop using them…the trend also goes that way. Homologation is something they can look at. Back protection is already in the rules.

Dr Dave McManus: We have to leave it to the rider’s choice as we still have a lot that is under review or investigation. Even an industry standard would be helpful. In fact we are talking with the FIA about commissioning joint research to see if we can get something clear.

Adam Sterry: I believe it’s better to wear one that not. I’ve seen Leatt’s research and what can happen without one and for me that was good enough. I feel safer with it and even if it improved my chances by 2-3% - or even less then it’s worth it.

Dr Dave McManus: It is a bit like airbags in Motogp. If anybody comes up with anything that could be of potential benefit of enhancing protection and improving safety then it is to be welcomed. We have to be sure that it does that and, importantly, there are no unintended consequences that are harmful, and this applies to them all. A lot of people come up with alternative ideas and then unfortunately it turns out they are not as effective as thought.

We always have to take the right balance and stance. But, 100%, if we could get further evidence and validation and there was no harm elsewhere then we would embrace this.

we cannot take further steps. It is not easy to have evidence of serious crashes. With the back protector it was much easier and simpler for justification. Nobody can tell if in the seriousness of a crash the neck brace was able to help.

NECK PROTECTION

Dr Martin Syrucek: We made a study six years ago concerning how many riders were using neck braces across the classes. It was almost a ‘fashion’ at the time and it was interesting to see that the majority of users were in the Women’s World Championship class. We met Mr Leatt in the Medical Commission and he showed us some videos and explained the opinions on the brace. Until there is no hard scientific approach that it really helps then

FEATURE

THE CREATOR Surgeon Dr Chris Leatt is the founder of the Leatt company and famously produced prototypes of his first brace after the tragic accident to a friend, Alan Selby, while road racing in his native South Africa. The Leatt brace first became part of the off-road scene in 2006 and now has seven different versions of the protection that has progressed hugely in the last thirteen years. Leatt’s research and development from their lab near Cape Town has led onto a raft of other safety innovations when it comes to knee braces, helmets and body protection. We emailed him for some comments based on the collection of comments from riders in this article…

Is neck protection a victim of the times? Of being a ‘fad’? Why do you think it is not being embraced as much compared to ten years ago?

I think there are two elements at play here: one science, the other psychology. Considering the test data and significant accident statistics with & without a neck brace now available, it is difficult to argue against using a neck brace.

However, as it is not yet part of the rulebook for compulsory protection like helmets, boots and back protectors are, despite the benefit, riders still have choice. It is human nature to ignore the potential harm and rationalise it away. Misunderstanding the complex biomechanics at play has led to some very strong opinions on why we should

Some professional riders still question the effectiveness of the brace: does the message still need to be hammered home? Does the explanation on the advantages have to be stronger than ever? We continue to market and refine our marketing message. That being said, we have probably not done a great job at this until now but I believe this is changing.

Given that we have close to 800 000 neck braces on the market and with research concluded to date, I feel it is now appropriate that authorities fulfil the role of answering licensed rider’s questions and nominate a standard both we as the industry and riders can adopt as best practice.

Why do professional racers not know about the performance of neck protection? I don’t think ploughing through the voluminous research on the topic is a rider’s natural behaviour.

They will either inform themselves of the benefits or follow the rule maker’s lead. This is evidenced by the fact that we have for years published very compelling research and independent studies on our web site for all to see.

If you visit https://www.leatt.com/ company/leatt-lab/ you will be able to read about our research, BMWled testing, independent studies into the biomechanics of the brace and the now popularly cited EMS action sport’s study into the effects of using a brace on injury prevention in a

large study group during AMA events.

Fortunately this study also dispels what we at LEATT have known for a long time: that neck braces do not injure collarbones. In fact, collarbones are protected from helmet rim strikes.

Other data suggests that neck braces reduce head injury likelihood. There is a lot of great reading here!

In what ways have neck protection advanced? Some believe it will inhibit their riding and mobility on the bike…

Brace shapes have indeed changed in the last decade, where the balance I believe has now been struck between safe protection limits and the professional rider’s needs. Additionally, integration with other riding apparel like chest protectors and body armour is a lot better. If you look at the top athletes currently using the brace, I think it is evident that we have struck the mobility/usability/protection balance.

Do you think neck protection is sufficiently established on the racing scene to be considered as an obligatory safety measure in MXGP now?

Back protection is part of the rulebook and airbags in MotoGP… I don’t believe the clinical and test data can be ignored for much longer. In many ways there is now more test data available for neck protection than there is for back protectors or boots, both of which are mandatory.

Is neck protection still a priority for Leatt after all the diversification of the product portfolio in the last five years? Absolutely, it is still our flagship product and still enjoys research and constant upgrade efforts.

NECK PROTECTION

not be using neck braces. In my mind, it is therefore the role of the governing bodies to understand the science, ask the difficult questions and then if appropriate, write them into the rulebooks.

MXGP BLOG

COME TOGETHER [2] Motocross training tactics in MotoGP?! What’s that all about then?

It is unusual to find much being shared in the secretive, selfabsorbed and almost paranoid world of MotoGP. Sure there will be respect, solidarity, gossip and even friendship but the stakes are high for contracts and opportunities. There is also the knowledge that a steady stream of talent is waiting to sweep the carpet away at a moment’s notice. Everything feels slightly more cutthroat. It’s not hard to deduce this undercurrent through the distance between teams, the talk by managers and agents and the comments both on the record and off the record by the riders themselves.

In MXGP there is a similar (as you’d expect in any competitive environment) but softer element of this wariness. Perhaps it is the humbler roots of the sports and comparative lack of riches and ego (although Red Bull KTM’s Jeffrey Herlings remains one of the highest paid athletes on the roster) or maybe it is a greater degree of empathy among the

riders: they have mainly grown-up through the sport together, have suffered injury demons and then see each other through numerous training motos and non-world championship races. There could even be a weak parallel drawn to the F1 drivers of the sixties who – according to many accounts of the time – were a tight bunch; welded by the ever-present and frequent threat of death and a busy calendar that saw F1 shared with F2, Endurance and sports car racing.

It was interesting to hear former Grand Prix rider Talon Vohland talking on Zach Osborne’s Shifting Gears Podcast a couple of weeks ago. The American commented on the camaraderie of the world championship paddock compared to U.S. racing where there is more edginess between the riders. From my minimal experience working at select Supercross events in the last fifteen years it was possible to detect some of that, but it was an atmosphere born from the

competitiveness and scenes around some big names and personalities like Carmichael, Stewart, Reed, Villopoto as much as from the sheer frenzy of the scheduling that ensured everyone was always spread out and busy.

So, near the middle of the decade when famed trainer Aldon Baker began to draw his clients together for a regime in one area (Florida) and eventually one facility it was seen as an adventurous and potentially risky ploy. Can you really throw a bunch of Alpha males into the same pit? The answer was emphatic with a slew of titles. The idea that rivals pacing themselves through their mid-week work together which then fed into the races on Saturdays and Sundays produced a new level of intensity and it quickly became a model adopted by other brands and teams. The Baker’s Factory has been the subject of various reports around the world as people try to understand and tap into this notion that competitors can be

By Adam Wheeler

congenial and productive outside of a racing environment and still be poised to draw blood once the gate drops.

Riders training together is nothing new, particularly teammates, but the close proximity of ‘genuine threats’ was uncommon. Musquin, Dungey, Anderson, Osborne, Tickle and Webb together seemed like an unrealistic mix. But it worked.

In MotoGP the idea seems incomprehensible. Somebody like Cal Crutchlow will befriend and knockaround with Jack Miller. Marc Marquez will spend a lot of time riding and working with his brother Alex and there is a small group in Andorra that regularly cross paths but there is little collaboration (when I interviewed Maverick Viñales in Andorra two years ago we inadvertently bumped into Alex Rins and Jorge Lorenzo in the same little gym).

As keen readers of the last issue may have seen Mission Winnow Ducati’s Andrea Dovizioso is an avid motocrosser. He has an almost obsessive zeal to learn

and know about how the craft and the preparation. From my experience talking to riders from both disciplines over the years it’s clear that they classify motocross as more technical, more expressive and permits more freedom as a motorcyclist compared to road racing. So it’s not hard to imagine why Dovi has a fascination with MX (indeed a healthy majority of the MotoGP grid quietly harbour the same interest) and the lessons that might be gleaned from pushing technique, concentration and machinery to ridiculous lengths.

He will have watched the amazing influence of the Baker’s Factory alumni with curiosity.

When Danilo Petrucci, another MX fan and convert, finally joined the Ducati team last winter Dovizioso saw a possibility. He has raced in red for seven years and arguably never had a teammate in the same common space. In 2012 he signed for Tech3 and forged a bond with Crutchlow but the chance to cooperate was minimal. Since then Nicky Hayden (problems with injury), Andrea Iannone (personality), Jorge Lorenzo (another Alpha) did

not present viable prospects. With the enthusiastic, down to earth and likeminded Petrucci there was a chance for Dovizioso to try a fresh training approach that might just help him find the extra mileage to be able to compete with Marc Marquez; his nemesis for the last two seasons for the MotoGP crown. Dovizioso and Petrucci ride off-road together, analyse and confide in each other for a complicated and confidence-testing ‘day job’ where track time on race machinery is so little and so precious.

Even in Free Practice the Ducatis will exit pitlane together and start working through a set-up process.

It could be argued that Dovizioso does (or did) not see Petrucci as a championship contender. So he could be adopted almost like a protégé. While Marquez is arguably riding better than ever in MotoGP, Petrucci is the one who has profited most from the set-up: three podiums in a row and his first victory at the time of writing means he is closer than ever to the top of the standings while Dovizioso has to recover from the unlucky and blameless DNF in

MXGP BLOG

Barcelona. “I think Danilo improved this season because he believed more in himself and he understood his potential; in the past he didn’t really believe in that and really didn’t analyze and realize his good points,” Andrea said after his training-mate’s fantastic success at Mugello.

“To train together, yes, it is like Aldon Baker in a different way,” he added. “Unfortunately in our sport we can’t train on the MotoGP [bike]. We have to find something different. But every time we’re going [to do] flat track or motocross we push each other. This puts us on the limit. We take the risk, but it’s a part of our sport. I think it works because fortunately both we came from motocross, so we have this similar base. So in motocross we are quite fast.

Flat track we are similar. So every time we try to beat each other and this is good. Yes, the consequence is the risk but I think can help both because he’s really talented. I think it’s really positive.”

Petrucci might say that he and Dovizioso are “going for different things” (and Dovizioso, 33 compared to Petrucci’s 28, boasts ten more years of Grand Prix and 87 trophies) but the results would currently indicate otherwise.

Dovizioso is still asking for more of the Desmosedici and Ducati and is facing Marquez at his most formidable. The Catalan himself has the benefit of a fast younger family member who is not on the same level (Dovizioso resignedly admits that Petrucci is the quicker motocross at the moment) but is still an effective pacer. Marquez famously has little issue with riding and even racing motocross with other people but he keeps a level of superiority when it comes to status.

“When you train alone it’s not the same so if you train with somebody,” he says. “Also I go training because it’s my fun time. It’s not training; it’s my hobby. [It’s] Not only me and my brother. We have always three or four friends around us. One is Jose [Luis Martinez, former MX Spanish Champion].”

“We always find a very good level,” he insists. “We ride always like they did, like Valentino at the ranch. It’s the way to improve. Of course [there is the] risk you can injure [sic] but is the life.”

Valentino Rossi, the biggest dog of all, is another who has looked around for ‘the group effect’ and immersed himself in youthful energy of the VR46 Academy to elongate his own passion for racing and to sharpen his racecraft.

Now that two of his brood are competing in the MotoGP class as well, the dynamic of the Academy could be shifting and Rossi must be hearing the ticking clock more than ever as the structure pushes more towards a Baker’s Factory equilibrium. Still, that the Italian is still so fast at 40 is testament to the power of the pack.

FEATURE

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FEATURE

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AMA BLOG

SHOULD TEAM USA ENTER THE SAND? We’re getting near that point where the different countries have to start thinking about the upcoming Motocross des Nations, this year held in Holland.

It’s a very prestigious race, fans all over the world look forward to it and wrap themselves with their flag hoping that their countries three riders can perform the best and take home the trophy. It’s the closest thing we have to the Olympics and having been to the event twelve years in a row, I can attest to how cool it is.

However, things need to change in my opinion for this to be worth it for Team USA to keep showing up. Hey man, the race will be fine with no Team USA, the red, white and blue didn’t show up in 2004, they weren’t there in 2001 and for many years in the 1970’s, they didn’t field a team. The Motocross des Nations does not need the Americans there to be successful.

But it’s not the same race without them.

The Americans, even with seven straight years of defeat at this

race, are the main attraction for the European fans. They don’t get to see the stars over here at all while getting to see the MXGP regulars every year so there’s an attraction there to the riders they read and watch over here.

Here’s the thing though, despite Team USA being the biggest attraction (or at least co-headliners…you’ll give me that?), selling tickets, having the target on their back this race just doesn’t work out well for the teams/riders here. And it’s showing to be honest, just look at the teams results over the past few years.

The European riders have risen to a new level in the last decade and the days of USA showing up, mopping up and drinking at the A Stars hospitality are long gone.

With the NBC TV schedule needing to be wrapped up before the Labor Day in September, the USA MX calendar has been pushed up to end early and the MXGP series

has added four or five races to their schedule over the years and pushed their series deeper into the year. The two factors add up to Team USA having to wait five or six weeks after their season is over for the race. That’s valuable rest time, testing time for teams never mind the Monster Cup coming up a week or two after the MXDN. Team USA has to spend, according to one VIP I talk to, 50K to go for shipping two bikes, the parts and support crew, the riders have to spend money to fly their families there and it’s all for nothing but the honor of representing your country. I mean, that’s cool and all but could it at least not cost so dam much?

Hey AMA, thanks for the paying for the flight for the rider and the mechanic but don’t bother, it’s a drop in the bucket.

?

By Steve Matthes

Don’t even get me started with how the USA has to change their mufflers and fuel to conform to the MXGP rules. Maybe it’s time for Team USA to sit this one out?

At least until they can get some sort of help for the costs (they sell tickets) or rules or timing?

Oh and hey, before you say “Whatever Matthes, you’re just saying this because Team USA has lost so much” and to that I would say A- I don’t care how Team USA does, I’m Canadian and B- I’ve been saying this for years, even when Team USA was winning.

Think I’m crazy? Well we asked Mitch Payton from Pro Circuit about this very same stuff “We have a massive expense to get over there, and they’ll (MXGP people) say, “Well, it’s just a fly-away race like we do in the GP’s.” Well, we’re not used to that. It’s not the same fuel rule.

It’s not the same sound rule. It really is a pain in the butt, but you want to be patriotic and all that stuff but now we have so many races.

The 450 guys are tired by the end of that. They’re hurt. They need to get a surgery to fix something and all that, so we’ve got to work on the schedule or do something. If it’s two weeks before Monster Cup, we have obligations to go to Monster Cup because it’s a big race for our title sponsor, and it’s another event that we have to go do. So I would say the same thing.”

If Youthstream would offer the stars of the event something to help out? Shipping costs, help with flights for team (and yes, Team USA brings too many people to this race), maybe a promise that every third MXDN will be in the USA, adjustment of their calendar even, something, anything to help Team USA make this event a little more convenient for them might make a difference. I myself don’t get it, you’d think you would want to cater a bit to the ones that make a difference in the event.

I know Australia and New Zealand and even my beloved Canada show up and race this event with no help and some of the

same issues that USA has but not all of them…mainly 29 races all year long. And sorry, you guys aren’t selling tickets like Team USA and you don’t get the flack that Team USA does from the fans if you don’t win. Simply put, Team USA is trying to do it right because they have the most to lose. Unlike some of the other countries I listed above. “Maybe there’s something they can work out with the promoter to help fund that so we go, or else let’s just stay home,” Payton told us.

“Honestly, our guys will get flack if they don’t do good at Monster Cup. We got to get focused on what’s important to us and we’re supposed to - over here, our biggest importance of our manufacturer or our title sponsor wants us to be good at supercross.”

So if you want think I’m off my rocker for thinking that Team USA should bypass this race, maybe try telling Mitch Payton that. He’s on the same page as me for the most part. Team USA or not, I’ll be there but I’ll also completely understand if they didn’t show up. Why bring a knife to a gun fight?

FEATURE

WHEN BEN ME

A LONDON HOTEL, PHOTOSHOOTS, A CASUAL MEETING, AN MP3 RECORDER AND A FEW QUESTIONS: WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU THROW A MOTOCROSSOBSESSED FOUR-TIMES WORLDSBK WORLD CHAMPION TOGETHER WITH BRITAIN’S YOUNG, IMPRESSIONABLE AND BRIGHTEST MXGP TALENT?

By Adam Wheeler, Portraits & MXGP pics by Ray Archer, WorldSBK by MCH Photo

ET JONATHAN W

hether for their series, their manufacturer or their country, Jonathan Rea and Ben Watson are elite athletes in motorsport. On meeting each other in the towering confines of the Shangri La hotel in London’s Shard building there was a healthy degree of mutual curiosity. Subjects of their preparation, their bike set-up, personal fears, career hopes, admiration meant the insight and stories were soon rolling forth thanks to a couple of guiding questions on the way.

Here’s what was said…

Jonathan, you are pretty good on a motocross bike but how - and in what ways – do you think Ben is that much faster or better?

JR: I think you never stop learning in motocross because no track is the same. Even the same circuit changes day-today. You learn all the time and if you don’t ride so much then that rate of learning become less and, technically, when the track changes then guys like me who haven’t raced motocross for years and years lose speed. I have ridden with very fast motocrossers on a track that is not that technical and not been too far away from them but as soon as it roughens up and you are second-guessing whether to

hook-up a gear to go through a set of really deep ruts then these guys will have that decision as second-nature. In road racing you have an innate ‘a set of instructions’ but if it is not second-nature to you and you don’t have that confidence then you won’t have the speed.

BW: So why do you get on a motocross bike? Is it just for fun or to genuinely learn something?

JR: A bit of fun but I find that it is really good brain-training for me. You’ll have to make nanosecond decisions on the track as your bike is bucking and weaving left and right.

So it is mental, and about concentration. It is physical of course, but road racing is

FEATURE as physical because of the G-forces. You cannot train for Superbike racing because it is too expensive. It is 15,000 euros just to rent a track for a day. I bought myself a standard Superbike but it wasn’t much use riding that because it was so different from my race bike. I did that almost two years ago and went to Nurburgring and was 1.5 seconds slower on a bike from the shop! My team were not summer testing so I got paranoid, bought the bike, put it

in the van and went with two mechanics to Germany. I was as fast as the official Hondas and close to the Pata Yamahas with a bike I spent 13,000 pounds on. That 1.5 seconds was still miles though away so it made no sense…and it was expensive. So motocross remains the closest thing. For you what would you say is the biggest jump from considering a career in the sport to now fighting for Grand Prix podiums? Is it the bike or the preparation?

BW: It is not just about me. I went from being my own mechanic in the winter - and my parents taking me to practice during the week when they could - to receiving an opportunity from Yamaha where everything was there for me.

It was then down to myself and making sure that the bike was set-up up right – so doing a job through testing – but then just being able to fully focus on training and riding. And that was thanks to the team.

before I just had to make do with whatever was there.

Johnny, you have Fabien Foret as a coach at WorldSBK events but you don’t really have any guiding presence like Ben has with Jacky?

JR: No. We have thirteen race weekends and then six tests so if you calculate the days through the year I actually spend on the bike then it is not a lot.

BW: Is it the same for you as for the MotoGP guys where there is a testing ban in the winter?

REA: “YOU HAVE TO TAKING MAXIMUM RISK ALL THE TIME AND THAT’S F**KING SCARY. YOU ARE HOLDING YOUR BREATH A LOT AND THE G-FORCES UNDER BRAKING ARE TOUGH...”

JR: Yeah, but in the off-season you are only allowed to test for so many days and not outside of Europe. Then there’s a ban in December and January.

Honda went testing in Thailand and it meant they then have to base everything outside of Europe. Through the years they have tried to make WorldSBK and other road racing series more budgetfriendly so smaller teams can compete.

When it comes to ‘making it’ in motocross firstly you need a bag-load of talent, deter-

mination and everything that comes along with a good bike but it also sounds like you need an opportunityBW: The right package.

JR: And that’s what sets the top guys apart from the others.

BW: Yep, even now you see people who perhaps have more finances than talent and they are able to go quite far in the sportJR: Because they have the trainer and the back-upBW: They can even pay the 300,000 euros to be on a factory team. They will never make it to the very top because you need to be very talented and have the right character for that.

JR: It’s a bit of a shame because motocross has that grass roots feel. It has that fairy-tale element that someone can buy a bike from a dealer and the rider will make the difference but I guess at world championship levelBW: You need everything.

JR: It’s the same in World Superbike. I rode for another team for seven years and won fifteen races but the only year I really competed for a championship in that time I was third and eighty points back.

When I moved to Kawasaki there was a real ‘team’ feeling.

We have doctors and even a human performance manager there now who is looking after everyone’s needs and not just the riders, a nutritionist also.

JR & BW

JR: So what is different now to what you were doing three years ago?

BW: The biggest thing was to move to Belgium and live close to the team and five minutes from the workshop. I also had Jacky Vimond [former world champion] co-ordinating all my physical training and practicing on the bike. I had a training mechanic and a team van so I could ride and train where I wanted. Other details like having a 450cc bike available to use for one month: everything I wanted was in place whereas

FEATURE I feel the team is top level and the difference is that they invest in the rider instead of spending all the money they get on the bike and letting the rider do what he wants.

I have a question: you’ll obviously do all your testing and have your settings ready but what will you change on the race bike over a weekend?

What are the main go-to things?

BW: The main thing is the mix between a hard-pack track and the sand where you’ll have to adjust the position of the fork and having it ‘running through’ a bit more, sitting a bit higher for sand and changing the tyre to a scoop tread pattern.

JR: Electronics?

BW: Not really. Some people like a more aggressive power delivery…

JR: Ride heights? Chassis balance? Spring rates?

BW: Definitely no spring rates.

It will just be a few clicks here and there. Once you have your technical package then you just make minor changes and clicks for each track.

JR: You see, in road racing it is so ‘deep’ now with set-up and the amount of things you can change like head pipe angles, offsets, pivot points on the swing arm, rear springs, oil levels, preload compression and electronics.

BW: We’ll just play around with engine mappings to have a softer or more aggressive

option. We’ll have just one button on the bars to switch between one or another. Some people have a light system, which is an RPM reader, for the starts. I use it to set the throttle at a certain point for the gate. As soon as you go over a certain RPM it cuts off.

JR: It sounds technical but in road racing it can be a minefield and it is so easy to get lost and then your confidence can drop. You could be riding a garden gate but if you have the most confidence in the world then it will feel great!

seconds! That’s an extreme example: it is typically five seconds…but then the track is getting rougher.

JR: For us doing exactly the same lap-time over and over becomes the buzz. In motocross the buzz always came from jumping, which is the closest thing to a human flying. It’s quite cool because you are managing that horsepower through the air and everything feels nice. In road racing there isn’t that buzz.

Instead it comes from that search for perfection and repetition. In motocross I doubt Motocross is ultimately easier many riders in the world will for a rider to make the difhave a perfect lap and it is ference though. It is not as hard to do in road racing even restrictive as road racing… if the conditions are, comBW: Yes, I mean if you look at paratively, controlled…but you riding position alone then it is come close to it all the time. much more consistent.

The coolest thing about motoJR: In the second round of cross is line choice, and that’s the series in Thailand the top what makes it cool from the six in race one was the top outside. six in race two and then also BW: Yeah, in road racing, you race three and the gaps were normally just have one line. probably the same because JR: I guess in motocross there you are riding around and the is also just that ‘optimum’ lap-time range is not dropline. It must be frustrating if ping a lot. I know at the top of you are in ‘traffic’ and havmotocross the lap-time range ing to use the line that is not is not too big but it will still be so great. You have to plough bigger compared to road racthrough all thr lines to try and ing where if you are a couple overtake the guy who is going of tenths of a second away a tenth of a second slower. then you are not competing.

BW: In motocross you can BW: At Lommel [Belgian have an inside and outside Grand Prix and a deep sand line but the speed can detrack] the lap-time of the first pend. lap until the last one of the race can vary between ten

static position all the time you are not getting stretched out and able to open up.

BW: In motocross it can depend a lot from rider to rider.

You see some riders that stand up a lot so it will be legs and lower back. Some sit down a lot more. For me it is hard to say if I work one part of the body compared to all the others. It can also depend on the track and in sand you’ll need way-more strength in your legs than anything else because every part of the track is rough.

What about a condition like arm-pump?

BW: For me it is not about the strength in your arms. I think it comes down to your mind and your technique. If you are quite free on the bike then you know you’ll never get it.

JR: On a road race bike it is hard to be really ‘free’ when you are trying to stop 175 kilos or accelerate hard. You are in that ‘stuck’ position and trying to move a big heavy weight. It is hard to describe. You can go fast on a road race bike pretty easy…but to go really fast?

Some say the less you try the easier it is and that might

JR & BW

The physicality of both sports: what parts of the body are being worked most in you disciplines?

JR: Your neck and the upper muscles in your legs. As you can imagine we are sat in a squat position and then invert it left and right. Under hard acceleration you are in that stance but moving your bum further back or forward to get the weight over the front.

So it’s the legs for changing direction and your chest and core because you are trying to be as delicate on the bike as possible and coach it through the track. As you are in such a

FEATURE

WATSON: “IT WAS NOT A JUMP WHERE YOU COULD AFFORD TO GET IT WRONG OR COME SHORT. I HIT THE TAKE-OFF AND I COULDN’T EVEN SEE THE LANDING. IT WAS A STRANGE FEELING. IT’S A THRILL. WHEN YOU DO IT THEN YOU GET GOOSEBUMPS AND AFTERWARDS YOU FEEL THAT IT IS SO NICE TO GET THAT FEAR/THRILL FROM RIDING.”

work to a certain level but to be really fast you have to taking maximum risk all the time and that’s f**king scary. You are holding your breath a lot and the G-forces under braking are tough.

BW: Sometimes when I watch road racing I’ll see a rider come down the straight and outbrake another really easily and still make the corner in a good way. If you can brake that much later than someone and then still do the corner why

can’t the other guy do it as well? Is it just the risk of it?

JR: I don’t know! Sometimes it is how your bike is set-up.

Bike-to-bike they all have different attributes.

BW: One might be better for acceleration…

JR: Exactly and all bikes are different, even inside our Kawasaki team. My head pipe angle is so wide and I have so much stability but my bike doesn’t change direction any better.

I can stop the thing really well but turning is not the best whereas my teammate cannot stop as good so I can pass him on the brakes. It is a lot about set-up and that’s why you need a clever Crew Chief because

In motocross a form of ‘data’ is through the team having ‘spotters’ at around the track right?

BW: Yes, we’ll have people looking around the track.

Jacky will be out and the team

will all be connected with headsets. The main thing that goes on my pitboard will be the time and information coming from around the track and about changing lines.

Where is the fear in both of your jobs?

JR: I think the fear thing in my sport (and it is something that has cropped up a bit more in recent years) is when we do a track walk or be on a slow down lap I’ll be think ‘f**k, we really go fast here…’ and the barrier seems close or you know a crash at a particular corner will be a disaster. That has come into my head recently.

BW: I had the fear thing this week! Living in Belgium a lot of the tracks are deep sand,

and it was very windy. I was there on my own for a little bit. There was one massive jump – a triple – and I was thinking ‘I haven’t hit something this big in a long time’ maybe the second Grand Prix in Indonesia last summer was the last time I’ve done a lap and thought ‘OK, this time I’ll go for it’. You think about the jump the whole way around the lap until you come to it. So I got to this jump in the wind and I was 50-50. It was not a jump where you could afford to get it wrong or come short.

I hit the take-off and I couldn’t even see the landing. It was a strange feeling. It’s a thrill.

When you do it then you get goosebumps and afterwards you feel that it is so nice to get that fear/thrill from riding.

very physical and not many jumps, very technical and I had a reminder that you really need to get out and ride different places. I was at Max Anstie’s track in the UK, so hard-pack with a lot of jumps

And what gives the ultimate satisfaction? Are things like photographs or videos confirmation of what is a cool job?

BW: It is hard to say. You might see cool photos of yourself making a great scrub but during the race it is not what you are thinking about.

If you see the photos afterwards then it was just a sign or confirmation that you were having fun and feeling free with your riding. When I look at a photo I don’t think ‘oh, that looks cool’ I tend to look more at the detail about what I am doing, like where my feet are on the pegs or the position of my wrists and my shoulders

JR & BW

I can understand a lot about what the bike is doing but it can be hard to understand what to change to be better.

I can always describe a feeling to them and then trust them to work it out. We have so much data. I don’t know how many sensors are on our bike but they are everywhere and we can overlay about nine channels of information at one time and we’ll have all this data from every year. So if I know I was good somewhere the previous season we can check it. They can tell me ‘you are braking too late into that corner, carrying too much speed and you are losing 1.5 tenths on the next straight: brake there instead and work on your exit’.

FEATURE and where I am on the bike.

For me the satisfaction just comes from how much I enjoy it every day. It is not about the photos or what other people think. It’s doing things like this talk in this hotel and just being generally happy with what I do.

JR: I always get a lot of satisfaction from the Parc Ferme photos because when you look back you can really connect with the emotions you had then. You’ll be able to remember conversations you had with one person there after an amazing race. The actual riding part? I love it but it’s a job and the big benefit is winning and achieving goals.

There is so much else that comes along with it that is super-cool; things like seeing my country, Northern Ireland, really step-up and embrace me as a sporting hero and it brings communities together and gives them something to be proud of. It is always really special when young kids ask you for autographs.

BW: You are someone they look up to.

JR: Yeah and I know I used to be the same ten year old that was riding around and putting Carl Fogarty up there as some sort of god. You have these ten years olds now that are shaving a #65 in their head! There was a little kid in Thailand actually that had my number done like that in his hair! I always have a lot of

point is mad. The sacrifice you have to make to be even half-decent is mad.

BW: And the sacrifice some people make can mean nothing to others that have given so much more. I’d love to have a good on a road bike, Could you both swap what whether that’s a Superbike you do? Would you be interor something else. But racing ested? one…?

JR: No! JR: Don’t say that because I BW: Hahacan sell it to you! I don’t know JR: I enjoy motocross a lot be- why all these federations are cause it is so accessible. I can making all these schemes to put the bike in the van with a find the next young talent. lunchbox and go riding with If I was a Team Manager or my buddies. But I think at the worked for a brand I would top level the sacrifice in order just down to the tracks to to be successful…[is amazscout best of youth motocross ing]. I’m not old for my sport and encourage these kids on by any means but I am 32 and the cusp of making-it to try I’m starting to value ‘life’ and the road. When you are riding to make it as easy and normal a bike with gears and a clutch as I can. This racing life is not from the age of seven-eight normal: it is really tough when and then are tempted by road you talk about the actual racing at fifteen-sixteen then racing, the preparation, the you already have so much obligation. We’re not racing experience. I think the talent because we’re good guys and in road racing comes from the teams like us. We’re doing motocross. it to sell bikes and sponsors.

Superbike is the nicest niche for me now and something I’m good at but motocross is so tough. If I could swap the success I’ve had in Superbike for motocross then I probably would because it was my dream as a boy and I’d probably be more fulfilled. Road racing was my curveball and something I was more naturally good at but I think the life you have to live to get to that

JR & BW

time for kids over the weekend and if I can give them knee sliders or team hats then it’s pretty cool. I used to be a fan of the sport and now it is a job I see my old self in them.

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Is the championship over already?

Jorge Lorenzo’s overly optimistic attempt at a pass in Barcelona – his ambition temporarily outweighing his talent - took out Andrea Dovizioso, Marc Márquez’ main challenger for the 2019 crown, and Valentino Rossi and Maverick Viñales, two riders who looked fast enough to steal points from Márquez in the title chase.

The ensuing crash also broke the field just enough for Márquez to open up a gap too large for Danilo Petrucci to bridge, and it was plain sailing for the Repsol Honda rider from there. Márquez now leads by 37 points, and barring a catastrophe, looks well on his way to picking up his sixth MotoGP gold medal.

The result threw a spanner in the works of Dovizioso’s strategy to beat the Spaniard. “Very disappointed because this is what we don’t need for the championship,” the Italian said. “The really bad thing is Marc in this situation is smart, and normally races the second rider on the championship. So he will be not on the limit like now, and won’t have to

push 100% of the time. That is bad. Before this race, we were there to put him on the limit and everybody can make a mistake.”

Márquez can afford to relax, and won’t have to panic if he finds the odd Yamaha, Suzuki, or Ducati between himself and Andrea Dovizioso. It will be much harder for Dovizioso to force Márquez into a mistake.

With two more races until the summer break, it is hard to see Márquez’ lead in the championship dwindling significantly. Sure, he is open to attack at Assen, though he has always been strong there, but a week later we go to the Sachsenring, where he has won for the last nine years in a row, in 125s, Moto2, and MotoGP. Beating Márquez in Germany is not impossible, but only the foolish would bet against him making it ten.

And yet there is hope. First of all, the pack chasing Márquez is larger and more competitive than ever.

Dovizioso is there, as he has been for the past three seasons. The factory Monster Energy Yamahas are stronger than they were last year, and Valentino Rossi has won a lot at Assen. Fabio Quartararo has also targeted the Dutch round, deciding to have arm pump surgery after Mugello in order to be 100% ready for Assen, aiming to go one better than his second place in Barcelona.

Alex Rins felt he had the pace to match Márquez in Barcelona, were it not for a dodgy rear tyre.

And judging from the outside, there isn’t a bike better suited to the layout of Assen than the Suzuki GSX-RR. Rins should be pacey in Germany as well, the Sachsenring being all about corner speed. “It’s a strange championship,” Dovizioso said. “There are a lot of fast riders. This can create a lot of confusion.”

Output from the test on Monday after Barcelona could add to the confusion. Normally, mid-season tests are more about tweaking and fine-tuning, but the Barcelona session felt different.

By David Emmett

There was a lot of work going on in all of the factory garages and major components being tested.

There were frames, swingarms, new aero packages, exhausts. And that was just the stuff we could see. Three things caught my attention, all of them with potential to have a significant impact.

First, the factory Yamaha garage seemed extremely busy. There were a lot of people in the pitbox, and a lot of work going on behind screens. Engineers present included Kazuhisa Takano, the Japanese technician who worked on the M1’s chassis during the period in which Rossi and Lorenzo were dominating, and who has returned to MotoGP after playing an important role in designing Yamaha’s Leaning Multi-Wheel technology which formed the basis for the Niken three-wheeler. Both Viñales and Rossi were optimistic that the changes could help immediately, especially the electronics updates.

At Ducati, they were working on turning. Danilo Petrucci had a lightly modified frame, while Andrea Dovizioso had a completely new chassis to test.

Both riders were happy, Petrucci saying he felt that turning had improved, while Dovizioso was happy that corner entry was better. These are parts which they could air at Assen and which could influence the lap-times.

Marc Márquez also had a new frame to try, which was a small improvement. But he was wary of introducing a major chassis update while he had a comfortable lead in the championship. Why risk making a major change when you’re leading?

Will these updates make a difference to 2019 MotoGP? If they give Dovizioso the advantage he has been asking for, and help put the Yamahas among the Repsol Honda pigeons, they just might. Marc Márquez may have a 37-point lead but there is still a lot of racing left to go.

FEATURE

W

A FACTORY MotoGP BIKE:

WHERE DOES IT COME FROM? LCR HONDA CREW CHIEF CHRISTOPHE BOURGUIGNON EXPLAINS HOW - AND FROM WHERE - CAL CRUTCHLOW’S WORKS RCV COMES TOGETHER

By Adam Wheeler, Photos by CormacGP

FEATURE

O

rganised, cramped and functional: probably just some of the words that spring to mind for those fortunate to pay a visit to a MotoGP pitbox. For all the panelling, hidden storage areas (some of those really are impressive, you’d be forgiven for discovering a medieval priest cowering in some of the covert holes) and carpeting, teams have to squeeze and mould themselves into these zones that can vary wildly in terms of size and access.

Somehow, somewhere, technicians need desk space, tyre warmer racks have to blink away silently, spare fairings and a fuel deposit has to be placed and every tool and component that has to be close-to-hand requires its own home. Then the team has to hope that the principal race trailer is parked as close as possible to the back of the box for all important storage purposes.

When we spoke with ‘Beefy’ last year he mentioned that the LCR Honda team carry enough parts at each Grand Prix to build several more of Cal Crutchlow’s #35 motorcycle. Considering the complexity and the special hand-made nature of the RCV that means a lot of material and a hefty amount of haulage.

When does all that resource arrive from Japan? Does it all go back? How do the team keep account of all the hundreds and hundreds of ‘bits’?

“We don’t really have a parts guy,” the friendly Belgian says. “We all do a little bit but mainly I supervise and make the orders. After each weekend the mechanics are logging the parts they use and if they feel we are getting low then a note will be made to order more. When I get back home I’ll go through the log. I will sometimes make an order the day after a race.”

MotoGP is a long championship. Now at nineteen rounds with two pre-season tests, two post-season tests and four one-day IRTA sessions throughout the race calendar it’s easy for a fan to assume that the ‘blackout’ window in December and January means that teams drop their headsets and run for the beach. Not so.

“In December we receive a list from HRC of all the components they will send us.

So the following year that whole list has to be sent back to Japan,” Bourguignon explains. “It is a big job at the end of a season because we have to dissemble everything.

Stuff like the radiator has to be separated into parts like the rubber, the spacer…it is a week’s work.

“This takes place after the Jerez test at the beginning of December. At that moment I will have received the parts list for the following year’s bike and they’ll ask me to make a pre-order of maintenance parts, things like exhausts, fairings and thisand-that. So a general order is made in December and in January when we go to Japan for the ‘schooling’ - what we call the bike assembly – then we see the physical order!

Sometimes you might ask for an electric harness but it could be something that is 30m long! At that moment I readjust the order and perhaps add some things or take some away.”

“With each bike HRC also organise a set of parts that is independent to my order.

It’s own ‘kit’ that will at least cover the first tests. The level of organisation is such that if

there is a change to one part and I don’t already have it in my order then it will be place in the kit.”

Presumably you pack everything into special cases?

We have some of those big wooden crates that you see around and we keep the original packaging for everything.

We have stickers from Japan with the parts numbers ready to go and if some are missing then we have to write a comment where they have gone because some parts will go back to Japan even during the season for an update. It is all well organised with list of parts, stickers and notifications about parts that we can keep. We pack and dissemble engine parts, chassis parts and put them in boxes along with the bike. The bike returns as well but if we keep it then it’s on a carnet so it has to go back to Japan anyway to have a new carnet for the following year.

It sounds like quite an undertaking…

It is a nightmare! The names of the parts as well! They mean nothing at first; there is no relation to what the part actually is but the people in HRC are so used to it. They know that a ‘plate’ means a set of aerodynamic wings. It is tricky at first but now we know - even by looking at the part number – what is related

DELIVERING A MotoGP BIKE

The parts that go back are the ones that will not work for next season’s bike and that’s basically everything! HRC are always making improvements but you do have basic things like bolts, nuts, clips, rings that we keep. The universal and basic stuff; the service stuff. If the seat foam is the same shape or material then we’ll keep it. All electronics and engine parts must go back and everything is marked and well organised.”

FEATURE to an engine or electrical part or perhaps a suspension link. It’s like every job: once you work a lot with the same names and numbers then you get used to it.

So does all the order for the new season arrive at the workshop in San Marino?

From Japan all it is actually shipped to Sepang for the first test and then we arrive there almost with empty crates. We get some of the parts then because not everything arrives in one go as HRC also have delivery schedules. You start to separate what is for Cal and for Taka and then the common parts. They all get labelled because you don’t want to make any mistakes: that’s what we avoid in this job! You’ll then have your delivery of chains, of brakes, of wheels and suspension and it all comes together and while overseas! So you don’t have too much room. There are things that get sent straight back to Italy because you won’t need them until later in the season. It is a big task but I’ve been doing it since I arrived here so it becomes routine.

What percentage of the order is special for Cal? 99% of what we are using to go racing is supplied by HRC. We might adjust parts like handlebars and footrests and they allow us to make

Can you give an idea of quantity?

I would say each rider has between 8-10 fairings and for the seat maybe 5-6 sets. Then similar for front fender, rear fender…There is a lot of rotation. As you know Taka is using Cal’s 2018 bike so we are re-using parts and we keep organised with what we have

and what we can use. Each part has a life cycle and you don’t want to save 500 euros if it then means you have an issue on a race weekend. You have to balance the worth of things and you don’t want to take any chances. If you have a scratch on top of a triple clamp that is not bent or damaged then it won’t affect performance but a scratch on a wire loom? You don’t know what has happened inside and if a cable has been affected.

How do you request things from HRC? Do they have some online tool?

No, I need to make an official order by email to just one contact person at HRC. It’s a good system. Normally it arrives two weeks later or if it needs to be produced then it can take six weeks.

Is the system all-efficient?

Can it come the next day?

First of all in an emergency Repsol will help us. Then it depends on the situation.

DELIVERING A MotoGP BIKE

some small modifications or to produce small parts but nothing that has a big function because reliability is obviously very important. It is similar with carbon parts; at the beginning of the season we will order X amount of fairings and seats and so on and especially in our case we are changing sponsors every weekend sometimes so we need a big amount for rotation of painting and stickers.

They allow us to repair and repaint but we cannot reproduce any carbon parts, which is fine because it is their bike.

We had a good guy working on the repair and repainting and if there is just a scratch then it can be fixed. For a satellite team like us that is really good. A factory team like Repsol will just replace instead of repair. You can imagine having two riders that might crash more than 20 or 30 times during a season so it can be a fortune because the carbon pieces from Japan are really high quality and therefore expensive.

FEATURE

DELIVERING A MotoGP BIKE AS A TECHNICIAN I AM ALWAYS INTERESTED IN THINGS THAT MIGHT BE DIFFERENT TO OTHERS. BUT IF I WANT TO BE REALISTIC ABOUT PERFORMANCE AND WELL, NOT AN EASY LIFE, BUT A SIMPLE AND CONSISTENT ONE THEN IT’S BETTER TO STAY WITH A PRODUCT YOU KNOW WELL AND WHERE YOU CAN KEEP IN A WORKING ‘BUBBLE’.

FEATURE

So can the team take their own technical partners?

Our deal with Honda does not include the wheels, the brakes and the suspension and basically we make our own deal for wheels to HRC spec. We have to buy the brakes from Brembo – again on HRC spec – but we can choose our own master cylinder and it is a bit more rider related. We have the suspension on lease from Ohlins and this is a team issue, the same as all the painting.

Almost everyone uses the same brands on the MotoGP grid: Brembo, Ohlins and so on. Isn’t it tempting to use something else to find a tiny bit more performance?

It is always good to be different. I started working in suspension and was in Kayaba for seven years and then Ohlins and if you can have better product then why not? But it is also good to be the same as the others. Ohlins have the monopoly here and it’s good to know that everyone has the same product. You might change company and suddenly have much more rear grip but then soon everybody else will change! If it is something people can buy then at this level [other] people will take

it…unless you have a special deal. If you are different then it brings more questions if the rider is not confident or happy or the results don’t come.

He’ll then want to use the same as everyone else. You need really good organisation and preparation to decide to change suspension or brakes.

We have tried. When I joined Honda they were on Showa and because of my background with Ohlins we moved to their product and we were with Randy De Puniet and he had full confidence in me… but you could be in a situation with a rider that he’d want to revert to Showa like the others and your initial project is then dead after three months. We continued. Then HRC decided to try, got some good results and then they swapped. As a technician I am always interested in things that might be different to others and I’d jump directly onto a project

like that…but if I want to be realistic about performance and well, not an easy life, but a simple and consistent one then it’s better to stay with a product you know well and where you can keep in a working ‘bubble’.

With everything you need and you carry does it ever feel that it is now too much?

It has always been like this but ten years ago people didn’t really care about the panels in the box or whether it really looked good and presentable for TV. When you work with the same people every year then they remember the system in the pitbox and what worked. The box looks ‘busy’ but for us it is part of the overall job of building, assembling and disassembling!

DELIVERING A MotoGP BIKE

If it is a technical issue then they are really quick. I don’t want to say 48 hours but it is really fast.

BLOG

HOLDING ON FOR AN ANTI-HERO The World Superbike season has come alive over the last three rounds, with Jonathan Rea taking varying-sized chunks out of Alvaro Bautista’s championship lead to turn around his ailing title defence.

Bautista’s mistake in race 2 at Misano – a carbon-copy front-end lowside to the one that also saw him slide out of race 2 at Jerez – can now be considered a chink in his otherwise seemingly flawless armour, and the Spaniard will be forced to think twice about forcing the pace from the front at Donington Park.

As well as a decent dose of drama served up by the #19 Ducati, Superbike fans have also been treated in the last few races to the spectacular sight of Jonathan Rea riding on the ragged edge, a spectacle too often denied to us over the last four years as he cruised to the title with virtually one hand behind his back.

The beauty is that it’s not just Bautista pushing Rea to new limits, but other rivals in the shape of Yamaha pair Michael Van Der Mark and Alex Lowes – who could both have easily come away from Misano with a win if things had gone their way – and

Toprak Razgatlioglu, who came of age with an entertainingly impudent attempt to deny his Kawasaki colleague maximum points on Sunday afternoon.

So, with the title chase very much alive (16 points in it with just under half of the season to go) and the racing as good as it has been in a long time in World Superbikes, what I reckon we now need is a good old-fashioned feud.

I’m not talking about the handbags in pit-lane or the insults thrown around in race direction after the on-track collisions at Jerez. I’m talking right-hooks aimed at your team-mate’s jaw in nothing but a bathrobe in the team hospitality.

Isn’t that what the spirit of Superbikes is really all about?

It is hard to visit Misano and not think of the legendary Pierfrancesco Chilli, who now owns a restaurant on the beach nearby. At some point

during a weekend in Riccione – especially when sharing a dinner table with my esteemed Eurosport colleague Jamie Whitham - the conversation will turn to the flamboyant Italian, who famously tried to send Carl Fogarty sprawling over the canapés following their coming together at Assen in 1998.

Chili wasn’t the first person to be upset by Foggy, who always said that he needed to hate his rivals in order to beat them. Aaron Slight, Scott Russell and Colin Edwards – amongst others – will no doubt attest to that.

Yet somehow, as far as his army of fans were concerned, Foggy managed to turn all of those guys into the pantomime villains of the time - even though he was quite open about being the aggressor. It was a trick later mastered by Valentino Rossi with Max Biaggi, Sete Gibernau, Casey Stoner, Jorge Lorenzo and Marc Marquez.

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When Rossi punted Gibernau off in the final corner of the race at Jerez, or hustled Stoner for 32 laps around Laguna Seca, he shrugged his shoulders in parce fermé and laughed at them for overreacting.

I’m not even sure Foggy or Rossi did it on purpose but because they were honest and showed that they truly didn’t give a damn about their rivals’ feelings, nobody else did either. To millions of viewers around the world it didn’t matter who was in the right – Foggy and Rossi were heroes and anybody else was a sore losers, end of.

Nowadays we are entering different times, when riders seem more bothered about protecting the clean-cut image they think is best for their profile - appealing to all fans and appeasing their sponsors.

But they often end up projecting a dull, diluted version of their true self. You can never please everybody, so why try?

Don’t pretend to be upset because you have knocked another rider off.

Don’t play down your expectations to protect your reputation. Tell us what you really think.

By Matthew Roberts

Tell us the truth - that all you care about is winning and you will do anything to achieve it.

Only this weekend, Daniel Riccardo increased his reputation as the most interesting thing about Formula 1 in a post-race interview with Dutch television, when he was told that some other drivers had complained about his dangerous moves. “Fuck ‘em all, how does that sound?” he said, with a massive grin. Who wouldn’t love him for that?

Riders shouldn’t need to worry about boosting their social media numbers with lame videos of their training programme or their photos of their latest nutritional creations.

Race fans don’t worship vloggers, they worship racers.

So split opinions, create some rivalries and bike fans will vote with their feet rather than their fingers, showing their colours not on Instagram or twitter but in the grandstands.

Humans are tribal by nature and every pantomime needs a villain just as much as it needs hero.

A motorcycle racer shouldn’t be afraid to be either.

FEATURE

STITCHING THE SPORT

FLY RACING’S JASON THOMAS TALKS TESTING RIDING GEAR, ADVANCEMENTS AND THE DEPTH OF CHOICE

By Adam Wheeler, Photos by James Lissimore

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erhaps somewhat surprisingly Fly Racing have inched towards the position of vanguard when it comes to progressive helmet technology, thanks to their recently released Formula model. However for the last two decades the brand have also established their name and quality for riding and racing gear. Any regular readers of OTOR will have seen some of the range of items that Fly produce - both for off-road and street - but the depth of the catalogue (and the commitment that requires) does not mean they are ‘easing the throttle’ on finding new possibilities for that jersey-pantglove combo.

Putting Sales Manager, MX lynchpin and former racing star Jason Thomas on the spot, we decided to find out more about Fly Racing’s work and their priorities.

How do you go about testing new apparel?

It changes depending on the product. Our latest one was the Formula helmet and we have been pushing very hard in the media and trying to educate consumers and dealers alike on the technology we have developed. For something like that you are talking about multiple years of testing before it ends up in the consumer’s hands. We’ve learned that we needed multiple ‘levels’ of riders to test a product.

In the past we’ve depended on Pro level testing too much but we learned that what a Pro rider needs out of a product means his demands are quite different to the average consumer. We’ve instituted a programme where we’ll have our core guys testing but also ‘intermediate’ riders that are specifically contracted and then beginner and novice riders also because as the brand grows you are really engaging all of those people.

Riders who will be using entry level product and the type of wear they are generating is important; it’s because of those different demands. We have learned a lot along the way and building product only for Pros will not work with a

Is it risky to have such a disparate range? To have product for singular purposes or consumer groups?

Sure. I mean, if the gear for people at Blake Baggett and Zach Osborne’s level functioned great for twenty-two minutes in a Supercross Main Event and then fell apart then that would be OK: it would be something built for a specific purpose. A consumer buying a premium level product would expect it to last a season, so it is a delicate balance

and in the end you hope you are building a product at a high enough level so it caters perfectly for your supercross rider’s needs but also has durability. I believe to successfully reach that objective takes a lot of experience and creativity, and the team go through a lot of trial and error to get there but that is part of development for gear. We’re proud because we have introduced new materials and our Evolution DST line is a good example of that. It is durable stretch technology. Stretch materials have progressed in the last couple of years but the DST has that durability to last a season or appeal to the off-road or Enduro rider who is out in the woods or head-

ing through the mud and for whom a ‘one-ride’ pant will not work. It is challenging but I think we have accomplished that and we can offer that. We also have product that doesn’t have all the bells-and-whistles but if you want high performance or durability then there is this offering. We get good feedback that the gear fits a wide range of people and we pride ourselves on that. We want to be a consumer driven company.

Is the tech and performance on Pro level stuff sometimes overcooked? Do they really need all of it?

Some of it is. To have triple Kevlar stitching and all the reinforcements are probably

JT ON FLY RACING

different customer. It’s not an easy ‘ask’ of course – to produce something that will work for everyone – but I think that is why we are able to boast so many segments of gear.

FEATURE not necessary. We could perhaps minimise it and take out all of the weight and make it so that it’s not durable and it would fall apart at some point.

Will it make a performance difference for the rider? Probably not. But it’s possible. We really believe in racing what we sell. So if Blake Baggett or Zach Osborne are out there on Saturday afternoon or evening in a product then we want to be able to say to our customers that it is the same thing they might be holding in their hands. We are not custom-building anything. We can alter small things however. Usually most riders will have a small waist but big legs because they are cycling a lot and we can make alterations to accommodate individual shape, but down to the core and durability of the product then they wear what we sell.

Do you think consumers are aware of the complexities and materials of the gear?

Maybe. Even when I am talking with the creative team and request a small reorganisation of something on a pant then they will tell me about all the panels that have to be cut at certain angles and if you change one then in essence you are changing the entire pant. It is almost like a puzzle and a pant has to work together. You don’t want a part that cannot be easily moved by a stretch panel.

Your base materials at 900 or 600D do not ‘give’ and it creates a bind point: something you don’t want. So it all has to work together and the design team spends hours and hours drawing it out. It all has to be cohesive.

What about additions such at the BOA fit system? That was a big definer for Fly’s gear but is an example of how the apparel varies…

You want to create distinctive reasons for someone to buy a premium level pant. You could put BOA and stretch panels on an entry level pant but you wouldn’t get the price point you’d want and for the average rider who just wants to head into the woods then he won’t know the difference any more. For the person who has done the research and knows exactly what they want to buy then you need to give them reasons to want that premium level. It’s a fine line and it is a subject we debate constantly.

How far do you bring the value down in the line but also ensure a high level as well?

It feels like the industry has really stepped forward with new product. It’s about more than just new colours and designs now…

We have seen more innovation in the last five-six years than in the ten-fifteen before that: the introduction of all the stretch materials (that all the

brands are using now), the introduction of compression, the ideas for more athletic-type cuts of gear in general. The BOA system was exclusive for us and anyone who has tried it will tell you that is a very positive step forward. If you look through the 90-00s then there really wasn’t much progression. Even before that. There was the transition from cotton jerseys to polyester but that wasn’t too ground-breaking because it was still baggy and not performance-minded. Now I think the motocross industry is following in the footsteps of companies like Nike, Under Armour and fitting a range of consumers. It is the material and the fabric doing the hard work there.

Technology has finally caught up with motocross and everyone is benefitting.

What’s the market like in 2019?

It’s funny; some of our own problems are that the Fly Racing product lasts a long time. In your heart of hearts you’d want to produce gear that lasts enough to satisfy

JT ON FLY RACING XXXXXXXX XXXXXXXX XXXXXX XXXXX

the customer but would then encourage them to buy again. Obviously it is an impossible goal to meet and everyone is pushing to create better and better products. Some people will say to us “I’m wearing the same pants I bought four years ago” and that’s great to hear and it’s a good product reputation to have but you also know inside they

‘THERE WERE CONCERNS THAT THE 450S WERE TOO FAST, TOO HEAVY AND TOO MUCH FOR THE ATHLETES AND WERE LEADING TO A SPATE OF INJURIES... NEAR-CRISIS MEETINGS WERE BEING HELD.’

FEATURE

have been missing the latest and greatest every year. Everyone talks about the challenges of getting people to ride motorcycles but that transfers across to apparel as well, we need more people actively involved in the sport to create the next generation. I think it is a great time to be in the apparel industry because of the advances that are happening, and helmets are definitely at the forefront of that. Motocross helmets are heading development on a global scale and I think that is something we should be very proud of.

Obviously for motocross it goes hand-in-hand with the amount of crashes that people sustain and there is a need for it but whether its NFL, or hockey then they are looking at motocross and it’s a cool position to be in.

and their airbag coming more into moto. Rheon has been a big find for us and a lot of the long-term meetings have been about ‘how do we utilise this revolutionary material?’ We need to find way to insert it into the line as efficiently as we can.

Understandably you don’t want to say much but can you tease where it can go?

I think you will see pretty significant advances in protection technology. Our Formula helmet uses Rheon for next-level protection tech and I think you’ll see other products use this. The uses of it are endless as long as you find the right optimisation and I think you’ll see things like Alpinestars

Photo by Ray Archer

JT ON FLY RACING

PRODUCTS

www.flyracing.com

fly racing As highlighted by former racer Jason Thomas in our Fly Racing article this issue, the Evolution DST is another pace forward for the American firm with their unfailingly impressive gear line. This is cream of the crop stuff. The jersey features a full mesh back and integrated mesh in key areas. It is built from multi-direction lycra in the neck and shoulders and with other panelling hiking the stretch and durability performance. The armpit construction is seamless in a bid for more comfort and, of course, it comes with purpose fit and ergonomics as well as a silicone ‘tail’ to prevent it easily slipping out the seat of the pants.

Speaking of which, the Evolution DST pant is high-grade. Fly say its ‘exclusive four-way HEX-Stretch fabric construction is flexible and tough’ and the ‘leather heat shield panels come with DuPont Kevlar stitching’. A 900 denier build means tough wearing but the Hex stretch is the offset. Don’t forget the BOA adjustment system. The shirt is priced at 59.95 and the pants at 189.95. The gloves also have four-way stretch and lycra as well as a vented Clarino palm. They are shaped with a ‘comfortable fit’ in mind and a Clarino leather wrist closure there is also an added layer; the ‘soft-flex KUP adds protection and a clean look. KUP provides stronger logo adhesion and higher wear tolerance.’ The gloves will cost just under forty dollars.

TTH HRRIILL LL YOU R

MOTOGP BLOG

A REAL FIGHTBACK While the big talking point from last week in Montmeló was the Jorge Lorenzo collision that ultimately settled the race in Marc Marquez’s favour, there were notable performances right the way down the top ten...and a special one in particular Aside from what felt like a decisive victory for the reigning world champion, Fabio Quartararo’s debut top class podium rightly received a fair share of the plaudits.

Danilo Petrucci’s third place was a surprise and showed advancements in conditions that were so often his Achilles’ heel in the past.

Jack Miller was solid in fifth and Joan Mir was remarkable in sixth, 7 seconds back on the race winner, a performance that led Suzuki test rider Sylvain Guintoli to call him and team-mate Alex Rins “geniuses.”

But perhaps the most remarkable of all was three places behind the Majorcan rookie.

Tito Rabat’s ninth may not seem like a great deal. But consider where he’s come from and his first top ten finish since last April was remarkable. It came nine

months and 22 days on from that horror smash in FP4 at Silverstone that not only threatened his competitive career but came close to taking his life.

Rabat suffered three fractures in his right leg, a limb that was “twisted like an S” after Franco Morbidelli’s errant Honda RC213V collided into him at the end of the Hangar Straight, a consequence of the track’s inability to drain water away. Three riders crashed, with the 2014 Moto2 world champion easily the worst affected. At the scene there was so much blood, doctors initially feared he had severed his femoral artery.

It hasn’t been an easy road back.

I met with Rabat at Mugello to ask about his recovery. Quickly (and unsurprisingly) I discovered he was less concerned about his physical condition, and more

railing at an inability to find a setting that matches with Michelin’s 2019 rear tyre, altered slightly for this year.

“When I tested this bike [at Valencia last November] with just one leg I was very fast,” he said, all frustration. “Then when we put this new generation of [rear] tyres I lost this feeling. This is why the season has been so bad until here.

“I’m very sad, angry, frustrated…

Whatever you want to call it,” he said. “We have a good chassis, a good engine. We have to work for this. When you can’t attack you must defend. This is the biggest level category. We need to recover this. If you don’t have confidence you are f**ked.”

More than Europe’s largest MC store

You would be hard pressed to find someone unwilling to focus the horrific events of before.

But in MotoGP the demand for results never stops. And Rabat is aware he has a contract up for renewal at the close of 2019.

Avintia Ducati, his current squad, are talking with other riders for 2020. Looking back is of no use.

Essentially he’s riding for his job.

“I need some results soon,” he reminds me.

Rabat is still undergoing physio two or three times a week. That’s complimented by regular exercise to build strength in the right leg.

“Gym and bicycle every week,” he says. All of which has led him to claim he now has “100 percent power in the right leg,” even if that seems dubious.

Although he does admit his current performance is still somewhat blunted by his leg. “Especially when I change direction,” he says, “or when I have to change gears, to go up, I struggle a bit with the right leg, the knee and the ankle. There is still a bit of pain. Every time is better. But now the problem is not the leg.”

By Neil Morrison

But this is the man who was pictured standing upright thanks to a walking aid the day after his horrendous smash. It was then that Rabat’s reputation for being slightly eccentric in his sheer enthusiasm for riding again became apparent. “I was completely fucked,” he says of his condition when that photo was taken. “But the day after the crash I thought, ‘I’ll go to the next race at Misano!’

Then I realised it was not possible. Then it was Aragon. But the doctor said it was too dangerous.

So I went, ‘I’ll go to the next one!’

It was like this until the end of the season.”

Three months in bed were a timely reminder of what one can lose through injury. “We have a nice rhythm of life,” he says. “To stop this it’s quite hard.” But it has offered a sense of perspective: “We do what we do every day and we forget that we can lose our lives doing this. This I learned. Now maybe I pay more attention when I’m on track.” And does he ever think about the consequences of not jumping up and away from Morbidelli’s bike? “Better not to think too much,” he smiles.

“If you think, you stop.”

Rabat only gained seven points for his efforts in Barcelona. But this felt like a victory. This latest result was a timely reminder of his talents; and proof that right the way down the premier class top ten, talent and unflinching desire is evident in every corner.

FEATURE

LAST ACTION HERO THE ELBOWS ARE STILL SHARP AS SPIES SETS THE RECORD STRAIGHT

By Steve English, Photos by Scott Jones

Ben Spies was always a straight talking, no nonsense rider. He’s made no bones throughout his career of his thoughts on racing, rivals and his own career.

On Track Off Road catches up with one of the all-time Superbike greats

By Adam Wheeler, Photos by Ray Archer/KTM

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W

hat is the legacy of Ben Spies career?

That’s been a regular question over the years. With Jonathan Rea smashing records left right and centre, the Northern Irishman holds the record for titles, wins, points and podiums. He is now the undisputed greatest rider in WorldSBK history, but where does that leave the American?

Carl Fogarty, Colin Edwards, Troy Bayliss all are rightly regarded as Superbike royalty but Spies? He’s almost

seen as a one hit wonder to some. They discount his domestic dominance in the United States. On the back of his 2009 WorldSBK title he jumped to MotoGP and within four years his career was over.

Spies is a burning star who’s light was extinguished by injury.

That’s the legacy that many think of but it couldn’t be further from reality. The Texan achieved plenty by the time he lined up on the interna-

tional stage for his debut as a full-time rider. The confidence that he brought from the US was seen by some as arrogance but that wasn’t the case; he knew what he could achieve and he backed it up on track. Todate he is still the last American Grand Prix winner with that fantastic success at Assen in 2011; scene of the latest episode of MotoGP this weekend.

Here is Spies, in his own words, looking back at his career and the future for American racing.

Honestly, I liked riding Superbikes more than GP bikes.

MotoGP bikes are awesome: the technology, the money spent on them. It’s the premier class for a reason. But I preferred riding a Superbike because when it comes to having fun on a motorcycle - I don’t care who you are - it’s more fun to ride a Superbike.

If Marquez was riding a Superbike, he would have more

fun just because it moves around more. There’s more weight transfer. It’s more lively to ride. I loved my AMA days.

I loved the ’09 year in WorldSBK but the AMA days were a lot harder than people think.

Mat [Mladin] was a lot faster than people think. In ’09 we had a lot of little headaches through the year and a lot of things to learn but the level of competition in WorldSBK wasn’t what I was racing back home. Mat was faster than all those guys. I think we had pace on all those riders that year [09] and AMA was the reason for that.

“GP BIKES DON’T WORK LIKE ANY MOTORCYCLE ON THE PLANET. THEY HAVE NO WEIGHT TRANSFER. THEY’RE STIFF AS BOARDS. THEY’RE SUPER HEAVY CHANGING DIRECTIONS BUT THEY RIP THROUGH CORNERS.” I’d say that the fondest memories I have from racing, just because there was a huge rivalry with Mat, are from AMA. People will ask me which day was your best day, winning the world title, winning a Grand Prix or this or that? I’ve always said that the day I won the AMA title in ’07 was the best. It went to the last race at Laguna and whoever won the race won the title. That was probably the best day of my career.

I would have stayed in AMA without any regrets if the economy hadn’t crashed.

I’d probably never would have come over to Europe.

The whole reason I came to WorldSBK in ’09 was because the Suzuki boss in ’08 said that if I wanted to make money racing motorcycles, I’d have to go to Europe. That’s what forced me to go. I was never going to go to Europe otherwise because I hate flying.

RECORD BREAKING ROOKIE SHOCKS THE WORLD I enjoyed my time in Europe and I loved the ’09 year I did in WorldSBK. Racing in MotoGP had some good moments, some not-so-fun moments and it was definitely great for my whole career.

When you look back, basically I think I had one pretty shitty year in my career and that’s how my career ended. At the same time I raced a Superbike for five seasons and I won four titles. When it comes to Superbike rides, I’m pretty happy with what we did.

I had planned to come back to WorldSBK, that was with Ducati, and Ernesto Marrinelli wanted me here alongside Chaz Davies for 2014.

BEN SPIES & HIS CAREER

DOMESTIC BLISS IN THE AMA

FEATURE The plan in my head was to do one last year in MotoGP in ‘13 and then go to the Factory Ducati in WorldSBK. I wanted to win two more titles and then I was done. Then I’d go home. It just didn’t work out like that.

When I won my WorldSBK title I knew that I was one of the best riders in the world. For a rider there are no teams or no bikes. It’s just you and the other riders. It’s an individual sport. I was a top six rider going into my rookie MotoGP season. I didn’t have to make changes to the Superbike that year, and it’s the same for Bautista now, because all I’d say to the team was ‘let me be comfortable. Don’t mess with me.’ That’s where he’s at right now.

He’s just got that confidence. When you’ve got it like that, it’s awesome. I never felt like that on GP bikes. On a Superbike from ’06 onwards I didn’t feel like anybody in the world could beat me on a Superbike. That was the feeling I had at that time.

In my prime I felt like we were kind of the third-best there for a couple years. It’s not easy to deal with the lack of winning when you’ve had that confidence and feeling.

Now in WorldSBK with Alvaro you’re also seeing that there’s a difference to MotoGP again. The gap isn’t quite as big as we see but it’s there because he’s really gelled with the bike and everything is really good. Johnny Rea made the smartest decision for his career to stay here. He could have gone to MotoGP and he could have had a couple good races, but

If you’re a really good rider all you need are a lot of kilometres on those bikes. Someone like Valentino or Marquez would be very good on Superbikes. Their advantage on GP bikes is more because of the way the electronics and the chassis and the tyres are. But I really believe that if certain

riders were put on a Superbike, that they could struggle a lot. Jorge is such a Grand Prix rider. He carries so much corner speed, has the bike in line, all that classic Grand Prix style that he wouldn’t be as good on a Superbike as he is on a GP bike. I’m not saying he would be bad but he wouldn’t be as good.

The gap that Valentino would have on somebody else in Superbike wouldn’t be as big, because the bikes and tyres are different. At the end of the day the riding does the talking and you’ve got to finish it out.

But the GP bikes are like Formula 1. They don’t work like any motorcycle on the planet.

They have no weight transfer. They’re stiff as boards.

They have high corner speed.

They’re super heavy changing directions but they rip through corners. It’s just a different motorcycle when you get brought up in the old school era. It’s hard when you’ve not grown up the Moto3 and Moto2, or you haven’t had electronics from when you’re 13 years old. That’s the difference.

BEN SPIES & HIS CAREER

in the end I think he would have been more on the fifth to ninth places and then it’s just a matter of time until the Moto2 kid from Italy or Spain replaces you. That’s the politics of MotoGP, so I think he was right to stay in WorldSBK.

FEATURE

MAKING THE SWITCH TO MotoGP You always want to win. It’s not easy when you don’t. I won one race in GP. I felt like the trajectory we were on was good and everything was good. Then in 2012, which I felt was going to be one of my best years because of the change to 1000 cc engines, I got cut at Round 2.

Rossi was coming back and I got hurt at the end of the year and then it was done.

I look back at it and I feel like I didn’t do a whole bunch wrong. I was the only Yamaha WorldSBK champion ever, we were on a great path in ’10 and ’11. Then at the second race of 2012 they signed Valentino. It didn’t matter what I did and that sucks, but he’s Valentino and he does bring what he brings. I felt like I got replaced and having been beating him regularly on a satellite bike at the end of 2010, that was tough. But that’s racing.

That’s politics. Politics are everywhere over there but especially in MotoGP. I couldn’t stand the politics in MotoGP. That’s something that I’ll say, Casey will say it, Lorenzo will say it and we look like the bad guys. I’m not racing anymore and I can see that MotoGP is cutthroat.

I don’t care for it now and I didn’t then.

I make no bones about it. I’ve said it on Twitter and I said it in ’12 too. Sometimes the truth isn’t the popular opinion.

But I will say that it was great to be there. I wouldn’t take anything back at all. I wouldn’t have done it differently. I signed with Ducati for 2013 and the plan was that after the second year of Ducati I was coming back to WorldSBK. A lot of people don’t know that it was in my contract to come back to WorldSBK and I think it would have ended my career great. I could possibly have won a couple more titles and retired the way I wanted to retire. The cards were a bit stacked against me in 2013 though and it sucks that my career ended that way with an injury. The way I look at it is that it was one bad year out of how many. So I’m not upset now. It’s good.

There a lot of things that are different in MotoGP. The riding style, the way the bikes handle, how the tyres work, The 800’s weren’t good for me and then in 2012, when it changed to 1000’s I felt like I had the power to be up front. For me the ’12 and ’13 seasons were probably the best possibilities I had to do it. If I was healthy it’s possible I could have been winning. I can for sure say that Lorenzo, Marquez and Casey, those three guys, had more talent than I did.

Everybody else? No, I don’t think they had more talent than me at all. Valentino is the GOAT but was he better than me back then? No I don’t think so. He’s a great rider and I know it sounds crazy to think you’re as talented as the GOAT but, and you see it with Marquez now, that’s the way it is. At the end of ’10 we were close to each other and he beat me as much as I beat him and I was on a satellite bike. I have as much respect for what he’s done in his whole career but in my prime I don’t think he was better than me. I also don’t think I was a whole bunch better than him.

What makes them so good? That’s what’s funny because I was definitely good on a motorcycle and there were times I was following Casey and you’d think, ‘I don’t think I can do that, that consistently.’

That’s one of those things. Even with Rossi or Dovi or anybody else they could be two tenths faster but you can see

what’s going on. The way MotoGP bikes are, how the electronics are, something could be hurting you and you’re just not there. But you know what’s going on. You know that if you could ride through one section just a little bit differently that you could be right there no problem.

With Casey though you’d follow him and there’d be two or three moments where I’d just think, ‘I can’t do that.’ That’s pretty amazing at this level of racing. But if I can say that when I was in my prime I was one of the top five riders in the world, or top four, or top three, then I can live with that.

BEN SPIES & HIS CAREER

I was definitely on that level. Marquez, Lorenzo, and Casey though…they were definitely the best and they were the all-time three most talented riders I went up against. I still think Casey is the most talented.

FEATURE

WHERE ARE THE YOUNG AMERICANS? I jumped on big bikes early-I was 17 and riding a 200 horsepower GSXR-1000. I think that’s what has hurt America now because in general they keep kids on 600’s for too long. I learned a lot very early because I had no traction control, no electronics on that bike and I was probably last of the breed of young riders coming through without electronics.

I think that probably hurt me in GP a lot because my riding style was about how to slide the bike, to manage tyres and to manage situations.

At the end of races, even in MotoGP, I was faster compared to other riders and how I was at the start of the race.

I won more of the battles in Superbike at the end because of that. Then you get on the computer bikes in MotoGP and they’re cool because of the technology but it’s not fun because you’re not smoking the tyre. You don’t see any of that stuff like Garry McCoy sliding now. A lot of people would want like to see that.

I was on big bikes early. John Hopkins was on a 1000 when he was 17 years old. I started racing 600’s when I was 15 but on track days I was riding a 750. I was always riding big bikes and that made a huge

difference in my Superbike days. With that experience, and I’m not dogging MotoGP at all, but those bikes didn’t suit me.

I felt that I had I probably two Sundays in MotoGP that I had the same feeling as when I was riding a Superbike. Winning at Assen and another podium was all I had where I felt at home on GP bikes.

As for current Americans.

Cameron Baubier needs to be in WorldSBK. He’s similar to me when I was in AMA: you know you can get paid the same money and do a quarter of the schedule. Why would you move? The problem is that I don’t think that ride is going to exist four years from now.

He’s too young not to go to

Cam’s ready. Cam is the type of rider that if you send Johnny over to America and he bumps it up by eight tenths a lap, Cam mightn’t beat him but he’s the only one that can elevate his game that fast.

He’s a lot of natural talent.

I wish he came over to Europe three or four years ago.

He’d definitely be a top-eight rider right off the bat here. He showed that at Donington. He had never ridden a Superbike there and by the end of the race he was running the times of third place. First time on Pirelli’s to do that and no-one signed him? I thought it was ridiculous.

BEN SPIES & HIS CAREER

WorldSBK. I’ve told him. I said: any chance you get to come over here, you have to do it. I think he wants to go now. Three years ago, he was talking about how he was going to get paid the same in America and wasn’t interested in coming over. I hope he’ll go.

Gerloff is another that could do it. I think he needs one more year.

PRODUCTS

www.automobilist.com

automobilist The powerful creativity of modern day race event posters still doesn’t quite have the charm or artistry of the retro signs of old. Or perhaps that’s just personal nostalgia kicking-in. Art company Automobilist have a fantastic collection of designs for any home or office wall and, although most is F1 or car based, they recently added Mick Doohan 1999 lid to their helmet series. In recognition of the Australian’s 54th birthday earlier this month the five times world champion became the firm’s first MotoGP rider to make the selection.

It’s an officially licenced product and should cost just over 30 euros.

FEATURE

MEMORIES AND GHOSTS OF MONTJUIC

By Adam Wheeler, Photos thanks to Mat Oxley &

Penya Motorista Barcelona

RIDING AND RACING AT ONE OF EUROPE’S MOST SCENIC AND DEADLY STREET CIRCUITS

Montjuic Park

Barcelona’s towering, compact enclave of greenery and view, is a hallmark of Catalan culture itself: something contradictory and symbolic. The hilltop castle at the peak has both bombed and protected the citizens below, and housed and executed prisoners of a political standoff between Catalunya and central Spain that is still fervent today. The breathtaking panorama and tranquillity on the city side is offset by the presence of more than 150,000 graves – a mountain of dead – on the other and from the 1950s until the mid 1980s it was home to one of Spain’s best loved Grand Prix motorsports street-based circuits that was also perilous and unforgiving.

The Gran Premi Monster Energy de Catalunya recently took place at the Circuit de Barcelona-Cataluyna, built in 1991 and located around 20km north of the metropolis and where commemorations occurred to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the FIM Motorcycling World Championship. Spain have won eight of the last nine MotoGP titles and observers will have to trawl back to 2008 for the last time any of the three classes – MotoGP, Moto2 or Moto3 – were not stamped with the Rojigualda flag.

FEATURE The country’s increasing footprint on Grand Prix began around the curves and weaves of Montjuic back in 1968 thanks to Catalan Salvador Cañellas who triumphed in the 125cc event – some seventeen years after the roads had first been used as a world championship venue.

of cars,” says Cañellas, who also won the 50cc 1970 Grand Prix on a Derbi. “Bikes were not really seen as a something for sport. I think that came about only when people replaced them with cars and they saw the bike as more of a ‘play thing’.”

“I raced at Montjuic when all the races in Spain were streetbased; like annual festivals in towns and we’d all set off from the local plaza,” said the 74 year old speaking from the confines of the opulent Hotel Casa Fuster in Passeig de Gracia, and at an event to celebrate 50 years of petroleum giant Repsol’s involvement in motorsports from bikes to rally to F1. “Montjuic was beautiful and set in the park so there were a lot of trees and quite a bit of elevation as it went up and down the hill. It was a lot of fun.”

Montjuic was very much a place of its time. Grands Prix occurred from 1951 until 1976 (Cañellas: “I remember as a kid seeing the International races and watching bikes like the Nortons and Matchless, seeing riders like Flores compete with his coloured handkerchief. It made me want to race. And then there was the smell. The bikes used to run oil that gave a distinct odour of racing – it was like a special drug. You were addicted. It’s disappeared now but when you smelt it then you knew you were at a motorcycling event.”).

Cañellas prospered at a time when Spain and Catalunya were burgeoned with manufacturers like Bultaco, Derbi, Ossa, Montesa and just as Angel Nieto was beginning a thirteen world championship spree that would see the diminutive racer achieve pop star status in his homeland. “At the time using the motorcycle was a way of life for many people: to get around, to go to work and it was just at the beginning the mass emergence

The 1972 500cc World Championship – the premier class and the forerunner of ‘MotoGP’ – also had circuits that would now strike fear into any racer: Nurburgring (Germany), Spa (Belgium), Salzburgring (Austria), Isle of Man, Imatra (Finland) and Opatija (now Croatia). That year Chas Mortimer became the eighth and last British winner at Montjuic to join a roll call of names like Read, Ivy, Graham and Hailwood.

“The only 500 Grand Prix I ever won,” the 70 year old reflects today on the feat achieved with a Yamaha. “We never really thought about the safety thing in those days. It was just generally accepted that someone would get ‘knocked-off’ every month. I think one of most dangerous circuits we ever raced on was Opatija in the former Yugoslavia because there was a rock face around one of the corners!

Nobody ever battered an eyelid! It was so dangerous and two-three people were killed there.”

“I used to love Montjuic but then I always used to go well at the dangerous circuits,” he adds. “I won the TT a few times and Opatija as well.

Mortimer’s philosophy was emblematic of the times, a stoic view on the proximity of mortality. “Montjuic, although there was a fatality when a fireman [Salvador Font in 1974] was killed at the top of the hill; Takazuki Katayama came around the corner and hit him, it generally wasn’t a very dangerous circuit because they did protect it very well with straw bales and it wasn’t particularly fast,” he reasons. “There was a quick right-hander leading onto the start-finish straight but everything else was fairly slow, twisty corners.”

“The trees were only protected

MAT OXLEY: “I SEEM TO REMEMBER IT WAS ALWAYS WARM, LIGHT AND THE SUN WOULD SPARKLE THROUGH THE TREES; THERE IS SOMETHING SPECIAL ABOUT STREET RACING.”

by hay bales and in less frugal times there’d be less of them,” says Cañellas matter-of-factly.

“You knew a crash meant not only hitting the floor but also something else, some other obstacle. I loved it…”

Thanks to Nieto’s success, the surge of tourism, the relaxation of Franco’s dictatorship regime (that soon crumbled with the Generalissimo’s death at the end of 1975) motorcycle racing boomed and by the end of the 1970s circuits like Jarama and eventually Jerez would become purpose-built and safer homes for Grand Prix.

Until then Montjuic was the hub, and the location in a city that pulses and parties on the Mediterranean air was key to a special (and populated) ambience. “Montjuic’s advantage was the location in the city,” stresses Cañellas. “People would walk to the Park – there was nothing like the metro in those days – so there were always a lot of spectators. You could walk all the way around it and see the race all the time whether you were on the inside or the outside. It had a beautiful atmosphere.”

“Nieto was at the top of this game,” remembers Mortimer.

“There were a couple of other Spanish riders and obviously the crowd loved it when they – or one of the Spanish bikes like a Bultaco or Montesa – did well. They were very enthusiastic and so were the organisers: it was a lovely, lovely meeting to come to.”

Montjuic thrived as a motorcycling site thanks to the 24hr Endurance race that formed part of the world champion

MONTJUIC PARK CIRCUIT

Nurburgring twice. I don’t why; maybe my brain is not as big as some of the other guys.”

ship up until 1982. It was in this perilous but popular fixture that riders like Benjamin ‘Min’ Grau (who now owns a small pizzeria in the 1992 Olympic Village zone bedecked with racing memorabilia) achieved local fame.

Renowned journalist, author and former racer Mat Oxley barrelled around Montjuic for the 1983 and ’84 editions of the event. “I was very young, early twenties and had hardly been abroad and had never raced on a street circuit before,” the 60 year old remembered. “It was quite an eyeopener and before I did the TT. I was riding a CB1000R – a big bus of a thing.”

FEATURE “The track: wow. We used to do a Le Mans style-start at the bottom of the hill near Plaza España and it was just superfast sweeping up the hill.

Every racer loves fast corners but even at that young age I was looking around thinking ‘I really don’t want to crash here’. There was a right hand corner onto a small straight and there was where Tony Rutter – the father of Michael - had a big crash in the ’85 TT F1 race and he still isn’t ‘right’ now. I loved the fast bit but then it got a bit tight and wibbly on the downhill. In a 24 hour race and with a big bike it was really hard work.”

The 24hr was last run in 1986; an edition that saw local racer Domingo Parés perish on the first corner – La Pergola. The circuit lost its world championship status in ‘82 after riders boycotted the fixture over safety. Four years later and construction had begun on the Circuit de BarcelonaCatalunya and the stopwatch was on Montjuic itself. “Up the hill you knew you were going to hit something if you came off,” Oxley says. “With Street circuits you’d consciously (or subconsciously) decide ‘I’m not going to crash here’ so you are not on the absolute bloody limit. You are going as fast as you can without risking a crash. So I was aware of the dangers.”

“There is no comparison with the TT because it was fairly short and smooth and wide,” he adds. “But there is that element of needing to make choices all the time.”

If Montjuic was a questionable track for the surroundings and the 1980s superbikes that were starting to surge forward in terms of offering performance and speed to road users, then lapping the course through the Catalan night air added an extra

dimension. “They had road lamps so it wasn’t as dark as other places,” Oxley says of the challenge. “If you speak to most racers then they love racing at night because it is different and you have natural tunnel vision. The tyres are running cooler so they are not sliding around so much and the engine is running better because of the cool air so you have more RPM. I loved riding at night…but it was such a silly thing to do.”

“The drinking and carousing seemed as important as the racing in the early years,” smiles Oxley.

“There was probably nothing like it in the world – even then – when you were racing in a major city. It was always hot and so alien. The atmosphere made it so special and I haven’t found something like it again. I was so lucky to have raced in the middle of a carnival where people didn’t really seem to give a s**t.”

“It was a huge buzz when you are used to club races and very small crowds and suddenly there are thousands around you, and you are racing through this amazing CHAS MORTIMER: “EVEN ON THE BIKES WE HAD THEN WE WERE DOING 90-100MPH. ON THE RIGHT-HANDER YOU’D HAVE TO BE WILLIAM TELL TO HIT ONE OF THE STRAWBALES! THE CHANCES WERE THAT YOU’D HIT A TREE.” town. In the first year we blew the engine in the night and in the second year my Belgian teammate crashed going up the hill and luckily he was OK but he destroyed the bike. So we headed off for an all-nighter in Las Ramblas.”

Before the beer, Sangria and ‘pa amb tomaquet’ the Montjuic 24hr was a formidable prospect. “I rode a 250 Ducati with Paul Smart there for a guy called Vic Camp and we were going quite well, in the first two-three, and then

it started blowing headlights,” recalls Mortimer. “It was really dangerous because you’d be pitching into a corner and suddenly the light would go out! I did an hour and half on it, came in and said to Paul ‘this thing is lethal, the light keeps going’ and – I probably shouldn’t say this – we ended up trying to blow it up. But it just kept going! Paul went out and it was over-revving and popping lights and when he came back in it was so hot that it wouldn’t start again.

The bike went back to England and Bert Furness, Vic’s mechanic and a really nice guy, kickstarted it right away and said ‘no problem at all!

Why didn’t it start at the circuit’!”

“I remember in the 24hr I was going up the hill and close to the Poble Español,” says Cañellas who competed in the Endurance for thirteen years and won it three times.

“I was going fast and the rear tyre blew. Luckily I was able to control it and didn’t crash.

I was next to a row of trees so I’m afraid to think what would have happened. In my last year riding there I was on a Ducati 900 and it was down on top-speed compared to the Hondas and Kawasakis.

We could make up time in the corners and we were trying everything with the set-up to be able to get closer on what was very smooth tarmac.

MONTJUIC PARK CIRCUIT

In the latter years the Montjuic 24hr was alluring for the postrace activities as much as the thrill of the action itself. “We always used to enjoy Montjuic because you could walk down to Las Ramblas, have a few beers and meet some ladies if you were that way inclined,” says Mortimer. “It was a good meeting; the Spanish ones always were.”

FEATURE

A young and blond Barry Sheene in front of father Frank at Montjuic (photo by Gregorio Garcia)

We were fractions of a second away and I was using a new tyre – just two laps – when I came off on the St Jordi corner. I went into the haybales and broke the top of my spine. I broke my arm and it left me in a terrible state. It was the last time I raced.”

Formula One visited Montjuic four times.

The cars circulated the 2.3 mile anticlockwise layout split between the long, winding and fast climb that feeds onto the rapid ‘straight’ – now the approach to the Olympic Stadium constructed in 1927 – and the twisty drop back down to where the Magic fountains are located.

The Grands Prix were famous for Jackie Stewart’s wins in 1969 and ’71, and Graham Hill and Jochen Rindt’s overblown ‘wing’ failure on the Lotus 49 in 1969.

Infamy arrived with Rolf Stommelen’s crash in 1975 that killed two spectators, a fireman and a photographer on the first corner. F1 would never circulate the Catalan streets again.

“There comes a point where if someone gets killed or badly injured then you cannot justify it any more and there are very few places in the world that do that i.e. the Isle of Man, which is selfgoverning, Macau and Ireland – but there

“It was the norm for the circuits of those days but when they had that Formula One crash that went into the crowd…I think that’s what ended it,” believes Mortimer on Montjuic’s erosion as a world championship course.

“I didn’t consider it any more dangerous than the circuits we were racing on in those days. The average speed was quite low. The only place where you could really hurt yourself was on the fast left and right-hander onto the finish straight. Even on the bikes we had then we were doing 90-100mph, and on the right-hander you’d have to be William Tell to hit one of the strawbales! The chances were that you’d hit a tree.”

“It was very small but much nicer than Monaco that was just streets,” says Cañellas, who was born south of Barcelona near Tarragona.

“Montjuic had its own history and to be able to race at speed through there was something special. The layout was different: wide and fast and it produced some good racing, exciting scenes every lap because we could run close up the hill, and even if you were second or third then you could still get it won by the time you reached the finish line at the top.”

At the magnificent Mugello circuit in Italy several weeks ago Misson Winnow Ducati’s Andrea Dovizioso set a new high-speed mark for MotoGP at 221mph and the riders got close to this figure in Barcelona. It’s another world compared to the 76mph average speed that Mortimer recorded around 35 laps and 82 miles in 1972 under the Montjuic leaves as records wobbled at the end of the 1km main straight at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. As the second best-attended of the four Spanish rounds of MotoGP, it seems that the Catalans are still enamoured with their motorcycling.

MONTJUIC PARK CIRCUIT

is increasing pressure there,” opines Oxley on the reason for Montjuic’s sad passage of time. “It can be about insurance and running costs sometimes more than safety!

It’s a tricky thing to get your head around because what separates motorsports from other sports is the fact that it’s dangerous. How far can you reduce that danger before it gets too sanitised? But then you cannot ask for more danger! Although the Isle of Man is crazy I’m happy that it still goes on. If people want to do it then why not? I don’t think Montjuic will ever come back so I’m thankful I did it.”

WORLDSBK

MISANO · JUNE 22-23 · Rnd 7 of 13 Race one winner: Jeffrey Herlings, KTM Race two winner: Jorge Prado, KTM

Blog by Graeme Brown, Photos by GeeBee Images

L L O R ITH W T I

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PATA RIVIERA DI RIMINI ROUND

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SBK BLOG

DON’T LOOK AWAY I reckon this year’s WorldSBK championship is like a good crime drama. Just when you think you have worked out the ending, another plot twist gets thrown at you.

I had previously expressed my antipathy towards the Misano World Circuit as a boring track to photograph and a venue for me devoid of all la dolce vita that people effuse about. On a race weekend I go from a second rate tourist hotel, that resembles God’s waiting room, to the track and back each day (never once getting sand between my toes) before jumping on a plane to come home. Sometimes the racing is interesting but, in it’s mid season slot, it is the event that makes me feel that things can only get better from here for the remainder of the season. We are going to Laguna Seca in a few weeks after all.

This weekend, however, I think you would have had trouble to squeeze in any more intrigue if you tried. I was ready for throwing the towel in on the championship and putting all the chips I had left on red at lunchtime on Sunday. Just as well I didn’t.

Before we talk about anything else we have to talk about that crash/ save/recovery though.

I was shooting on the inside of the track at the exit of turn six in the Superpole race and noticed that JR had gone missing. It wasn’t until I moved round a couple of corners that I noticed him running ahead of Melandri in fifth place. I just assumed that he had made a mistake, run wide or something, and rejoined. It wasn’t until I was back in the press office and someone said that it was probably the best ‘save’ they had ever seen – “what happened?” – ‘oh he tucked the front but just picked it up and kept going.’ In my head he had just done a ‘Marquez’, but it was way more than that. I didn’t actually see it until Sunday night when we were back in the hotel and, yes, indeed, I have never seen anything like it.

If we get to Doha in October and JR grabs his fifth title that moment could itself be more pivotal than

what unfolded later in the day. It was just incredible. If you break it down, what happened reads like something from a circus act.

The rider falls over but holds onto the bike, does a barrel roll, still holding on, and as he comes out of the roll, picks the bike up, jumps on and rides away. Bravo!! Bring on the clowns!

It sounds ridiculous but that is exactly what happened.

Someone commented on the physical strength you would need to bear the weight of a 170kg Superbike on top of you and still be able to pick it up without a moment of hesitation. It reminded me of meeting Jonathan in the winter at home in Northern Ireland when he was doing repeated exercises pushing a steel sled, laden with weights, up and down the car park at his gym.

A car park that that morning had been cleared of snow and ice. I would guess the pain and

More than Europe’s largest MC store

By Graeme Brown

discomfort of that session evaporated in the face of five valuable championship points on Sunday morning.

It also highlights an oft overlooked fact that all of the top motorcycle racers today are supremely fit, highly trained athletes.

all weekend, in dry conditions, there was no predictable feeling with the tyres. AB19 was maybe just unlucky that he has suffered the same fate two weeks running but if it points to a deeper issue we could be in for a clichéd season of two halves.

Saturday’s race proceedings were interrupted by heavy downpours of rain, accompanied by frequent electrical storms. Sunday was warm and sunny but it didn’t stop lightning striking twice.

Bautista crashing out gave way to a three way Kawasaki battle between Toprak Razgatlioglu, Rea and Leon Haslam for the win. Haslam faded as the race went on, probably due to a very painful right hand, injured in a crash earlier in the weekend, and won out in a battle with Alex Lowes for third. Rea got the better of Razgatlioglu with four laps to go but the Turk mounted a challenge and treated us to an epic last lap battle with JR coming out on top. It meant that we had a Kawasaki lock out of the podium, the first time since Sugo 1993 when Kawasaki Muzzy team-mates Scott Russell and Aaron Slight sandwiched KRT wildcards Keiichi Kitagawa and Shoichi Tsukamoto to give Kawasaki the top four places. Significantly the podium from Sunday represented the KRT Suzuka 8Hr team for the prestigious endurance race at the end of July.

The Superpole race had actually seen Bautista dominating again and as I said, I had already skipped to the last chapter. In my mind he was going to do the same in race two, another 25 points, and I was working out in my head at what race he would clinch the title.

Hold your horses there GB. In a carbon copy of race two in Jerez, Bautista shot off into the lead in the first lap only to lose the front and go down at the start of the next. Like Jonathan’s moto gymnastics in the previous race I couldn’t believe it. It genuinely looked like a mistake but it was something that many riders commented about afterwards, that

One thing I was pleased to see was that Saturday’s race one took place in the rain. As the thunderstorms rolled through bringing periods of torrential rain the red flag came out twice, after the initial sighting lap and again after three racing laps.

I thought ‘here we go again’ and was waiting for the news that the race had been cancelled. However, once a couple of patches of standing water were cleared the race got back under way and, whilst it’s a bit miserable for me working in those conditions I was glad that racing went ahead.

The grip problems in the dry however may have been a large contributing factor in Michael van der Mark’s crash. Looking at slow motion footage he seems to have lost the rear at the apex of the corner, when the bike was most likely still off the throttle. To lose the rear in that situation is pretty unusual. It was a big get-off and it was that strange feeling of relief that comes over us in bike racing that he ‘only’ had a bang on the head and a few broken bones. I think it is a shame that it happened when it did as Michael seemed to have made a connection with the R1 and was fast again on

SBK BLOG

the weekend. I think he would have been a good shout for another win.

With Donington and Laguna coming up in quick succession we won’t see him back on the bike before Portimao in September but a strong end to the season will hopefully set him up for 2020 when a new R1 will be available.

The rumour mill is beginning to get up to speed but I am not sure there is going to be much movement on the rider market. The top seats in Kawasaki and Ducati have two year bums on them and I don’t see much shifting in that regard. For me the interesting developments will be in the race machine updates.

Kawasaki are still making noises that they will bring a new Ninja to the grid as a direct response to the performance gains of the Ducati Panigale V4R. I am not sure if they will bring a whole new ZX-10RR to the market or whether they will revise the current model using the homologation rules to develop a race inspired machine. Yamaha are at a similar fork in the road. I have heard from a few sources that the 2020

race machine will have the same chassis as the existing one but will have a heavily revised engine and new bodywork shape. Conversely I also heard that in Japan there is a desire for a complete ground up redesign. We will have to wait and see.

Honda are the ones that are most intriguing. It would seem that the dream of a V4 Fireblade is just that. The new bike will have an inline four cylinder power plant but talk coming out of Japan suggest that it will have the most powerful four cylinder 1000cc motorbike on the market. Mating that to a race winning chassis is where the real challenge lies but if anyone can solve that conundrum it surely has to be Honda and HRC. It’s a mouth watering prospect and as I have speculated before, 2020 may see a true renaissance in Superbike racing from a manufacturers point of view.

With the thrills and spills we have seen over the last two or three races the championship is certainly losing the boring and predictable tag and it might be that those things will bring the public back on side to start a full revival of the series.

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protaper ProTaper’s Profile Pro clutch lever (XPS) is the newest addition to the American company’s tempting portfolio of control parts. ProTaper say the hydraulic clutch lever is ‘taken our proven Profile Pro Clutch Perch and adapted it for use with current Husqvarna, Kawasaki, and KTM hydraulic clutch master cylinders.’ The Profile Pro XPS boasts tool-less reach adjustment and increases its worth with multi-directional folding capability. The lever is CNC-ed aluminium and with a slim, low-profile Cross Pivot System it ‘is virtually unbendable’.

For green, white or orange bike owners then this is a worthy upgrade. Expect to pay 70 dollars in the U.S.

www.protaper.com

Profile Pro brake lever XPS

Profile Pro clutch lever perch XPS

WILD RIDE 450F TEST

Words by Roland Brown Photos by Double Red

TEST

T

ransformations this dramatic normally only take place when Dr Jekyll drinks a potion, or Clark Kent puts on a cape. Minutes ago the WR450F was being mild-mannered and polite, obligingly helping me negotiate a muddy hill with its gentle power delivery, light weight and knobbly rubber.

Now I’m on a wide gravel fire-road, and the same bike is going ballistic – answering a tweak of throttle by simultaneously lifting its front wheel and shooting out stones with its rear tyre as it tears towards the horizon with shoulder-wrenching force.

The change is so striking that the WR feels like a different bike. And all I did, after turning onto the fire-road, was press the illuminated blue button on its left handlebar. This instantly changed the power map, restoring full performance to what is essentially an open-class enduro weapon, closely related to Yamaha’s YZ450F motocrosser.

Such performance would of course not remotely faze the riders frequently pictured launching motocross projectiles through the air on these pages. But as a motorcyclist who’s ridden off-road a fair bit but never competitively, I’d previously viewed big YZs and WRs as knobbly-tyred MotoGP bikes – fast, light, slightly mad and best left well alone.

A blast on the latest WR450F, borrowed from the excellent Yamaha Off Road Experience (www.yamaha-offroad-experience. co.uk) in central Wales, put me right.

Turns out the big blue single is as riderfriendly as it is rapid, partly due to the new power button that is among this year’s many changes.

The basic format remains: a dohc, fourvalve single engine with reversed cylinder head sits in a YZ250F-derived aluminium frame.

YAMAHA WR450F

TEST

Updates start with the engine, which has some tweaks to intake and exhaust systems that Yamaha claim add a few horsepower.

Maximum output is unquoted but somewhere north of 50bhp.

That’s in full-power A mode, but pressing the new button switches to a softer B map with reduced output. The WR previously allowed tuning of its fuel-injection and ignition via an external Power Tuner. This is now incorporated into the bike and operated by a smartphone app, via Wi-Fi, with the additional option of swapping instantly between the two modes.

Chassis updates include a revised aluminium frame that is slimmer and lighter than the old WR’s. Suspension was already serious kit from KYB, with 310mm of front wheel travel and 318mm at the rear. The forks get revised internals including longer springs; the shock has a lighter spring and larger reservoir for better cooling.

Bodywork is mostly new: slimmer, with the help of the new frame and more compact radiators, and featuring a lower headlamp surround and larger, 7.9-litre fuel tank. The seat is 20mm narrower and also lower, though at 965mm still mighty tall by most standards.

Starting it is easy – if you do it right. Apply a fraction of throttle before hitting the button, and the WR barks instantly into life, hot or cold. But keep the throttle shut or open it too far, and the engine churns over without firing. This was initially irritating but stopped being an issue once I’d learned the drill.

From then on the overriding impression was of how sweetly the Yamaha fuelled and how controllable it was with the softer B mode selected. On muddy Welsh tracks the flexible WR was happy to stay in third gear most of the time, occasionally needing a tap down through the reworked and sweet-shifting fivespeed gearbox (whose Wide Ratios, compared to the YZ450F’s box, give the WR its name).

YAMAHA WR450F In B mode the Yamaha wasn’t the scary-fast weapon I’d imagined, seeming almost as agile and easy to ride as the WR250F. But it sure was livelier after a press of that button.

Throttle response was immediately thrillingly sharp, sending the wheelie-happy Yam charging through the gears while I hung on tight.

Chassis performance was fantastic; good enough to impress some very capable offroad riders. At 123kg dripping wet it’s only five kilos heavier than the WR250F, which helped explain why it steered so effortlessly in response to pressure on the serrated and widely-spaced footpegs.

The long range of superbly well-controlled suspension movement was a huge benefit too, allowing the Yam to float over obstacles or land controllably from jumps.

And the small, wavy front and rear disc brakes were adequately powerful, at least on dirt.

TEST

“AS A NEWCOMER TO OPEN-CLASS ENDURO BIKES I GOT OFF THE WR450F BLOWN AWAY

BY BOTH ITS PERFORMANCE AND USERFRIENDLINESS...”

WORLDSBK POR

YAMAHA WR450F

TEST

As a newcomer to open-class enduro bikes I got off the WR450F blown away by both its performance and user-friendliness.

Better still, it’s very competitively priced, costing less than last year’s model (at £7599 in the UK) and only slightly more than the WR250F. That’s largely because it is no longer homologated for road use, so doesn’t come with parts including horn, mirrors and indicators that many buyers immediately removed. Riders in the UK wanting to take the WR on the road will need to get a few of those bits fitted, and register it as an enduro bike using a Certificate of Newness.

Other countries including Australia and the US present few problems but the homologation issue means the WR won’t be sold in some European markets. That’s a shame because this big blue bruiser is a tempting proposition – whether for serious enduro competition or merely for mucking around in the mud.

YAMAHA WR450F

BACK PAGE

Arnaud Tonus, by Ray Archer

ON TRACK OFF ROAD

‘On-track Off-road’ is a free, bi-weekly publication for the screen focussed on bringing the latest perspectives on events, blogs and some of the very finest photography from the three worlds of the FIM Motocross World Championship, the AMA Motocross and Supercross series’ and MotoGP. ‘On-track Off-road’ will be published online at www.ontrackoffroad.com every other Tuesday. To receive an email notification that a new issue available with a brief description of each edition’s contents simply enter an address in the box provided on the homepage. All email addresses will be kept strictly confidential and only used for purposes connected with OTOR. Adam Wheeler Editor and MXGP/MotoGP correspondent Ray Archer Photographer Steve Matthes AMA MX and SX correspondent Cormac Ryan-Meenan MotoGP Photographer www.cormacgp.com David Emmett MotoGP Blogger Neil Morrison MotoGP Blogger & Feature writer Sienna Wedes MotoGP Blogger Matthew Roberts Blogger Graeme Brown WSB Blogger and Photographer Roland Brown Tester Núria Garcia Cover Design Gabi Álvarez Web developer Hosting FireThumb7 - www.firethumb7.co.uk Thanks to www.mototribu.com PHOTO CREDITS Ray Archer, CormacGP, Monster Energy, Double Red, Scott Jones, KTM Cover shot: Arnaud Tonus by Ray Archer

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