Final week of pre-season testing in Qatar. Above: Pedrosa, Below: Rossi.

After a crazy off-season, Moto GP will finally swing back into action this weekend. I know that everyone is talking about the NCAA tourney. But since Majeris left Utah, the team has kind of sucked and my interest in college hoops has waned significantly. I didn’t even do a bracket this year.

So, back to GP– I’m really excited because Rossi in on a Ducati this year. After all of the Qatar tests, it seems like the Repsol Hondas might be the fastest bikes this year, with Stoner now piloting one of them. Spies now has a factory bike, after landing several podiums last year on a Suzuki privateer bike. These are all very exciting things. If I would have been thinking straight, I would have planned our Europe trip to hit one of the races. Instead, we will be there right after the Le Mans race, and right before Catalunya. Such a bummer. Anyway, I’m pretty amped to watch some GP this weekend.

[Photos: MotoGP.com]

The long weekend was a lot more blah than I was hoping it to be. I did our taxes, confirming my suspicions that we owed a lot. The weather was cold, windy and gross. Then to top it off, we got more snow on Monday (above).  Don’t get me wrong, the visits with Piper were great. In fact, she did something that really made me proud. She totally dismantled a little toy piano (in the foreground, below) that Reagan got for her a few months ago.

Luckily, I was able to put it back together. Piper wanted to help, so bad. Reagan had to really restrain her. Hahahah.

Anyway, today I have decided to cast off the blah. I woke up super early and took Greta in for her 90 Day service. The poor girl was already starting to fall apart on us (slowly leaking tire and malfunctioning touch screen). So, she will likely be in the shop until Friday. Then I came into work super early and was able to get a jump on things. Even though the temps won’t break the 20′s today, it is supposed to get gradually warmer as the week wears on. I’m hoping to take advantage and put a few more km’s on my running shoes before our first race, coming up in March.

Things to look forward to: 1. Sam (my brother) will be back here in a week; 2. MotoGP 2011 season now starts in less than one month; 3. After we pay taxes (probably later this week), we can start planning a spring vacay.

I though this was kind of cool. I heard that Tissot had teamed up with Hayden for a campaign, but I had never actually seen any of the ads. This month in GQ, the image above was run as 2 page spread. Go Nicky! He has had rough run, since he won the GP world championship. I can’t help thinking that being Rossi’s teammate on the Ducati factory team, next season will give him the boost that he needs.  Part of me thinks that the new found Rossi connection will also help him with more Tissot-type endorsements. Either way, pretty cool.

I have been anticipating Sunday’s race, since the season ended, last year. The first race of the season did not disappoint. First of all, MotoGP, for the first time ever was broadcast in HD. Second, the first race of the season, under the lights of Qatar is the only night race of the season, which makes it that much more dramatic.  All of the big players from last year were back to represent. Stoner crashed out and handed Rossi a podium. Lorenzo came from behind to land a second place finish, with a broken hand. Hayden rode in second and third position, most of the race. He ended up finishing 4th by a fraction of a second, when his Ducati couldn’t quite out-muscle Dovizioso’s Respol Honda on the last straight. Also, Ben Spies made the jump from Superbike, this season, and is racing as a privateer. He finished 5th position. Super impressive. I hope that the rest of the season continues to be as good.

With such an anticlimactic Valentino Rossi world championship victory, this year, I almost stopped paying attention to the GP headlines. But, today Vito Ippolito, the president of FIM Confirmed the rumored change in engine specs for 2012. This should make things interesting. You may recall when the bikes changed from the first 4 stroke size of 990, to  800 ccs of displacement, Stoner and Ducati dominated. Ducati had not really even been on the radar before that. I mean sure, Stoner had something to do with it, but I’m just saying. Also Nicky Hayden, who had won the world championship on the 990 cc Honda Repsol, the previous year, had a tough time even finishing in the top 10, on the 800 cc bike. All I’m saying, is that the new specs could shake things up, a bit.

For 2012, the maximum displacement limit will jump from 800 ccs to 1000. There will also be a limit of 4 cylinders, with a maximum cylinder bore measurement of 81 mm. The 800 cc bikes are pushing 200 mph. I can’t wait to see what the factory teams will be able to do with the extra 200. According to MotoGP.com, Mr Ippolito said:

The main changes we have decided on are new rules for the MotoGP class. We will have four cylinder engines, 4-stroke of course, with a 1000cc maximum, and the bore of the cylinders will be 81mm. This base will give all the manufacturers the opportunity to start work. At the beginning of next year we will produce the new rules in a more complete format, but that is the basis; 2012 will be the year of a new era of MotoGP.

I’m curious to see if this will open the door for a new factory team to dominate the premier class of motorcycle racing.

[Photo: FIM/MotoGP.com]

I have been doing pretty well about fighting the urge to write about motorcycle racing lately. But today, I couldn’t resist. The British Grand Prix in Donington Park, Sunday was one for the books. The race was wet, but not super wet. It was just rainy enough to keep a steady flow of crashes going, but not wet enough to give an advantage to anyone who pitted and switched to wet weather tires. Lorenzo crashed out while leading. Tony Elias crashed out while leading. With inside of 10 laps to go, Rossi had opened up a 13 second gap between himself and the rider in 3rd. The rookie Andre Dovizioso was only a second or so off of Rossi’s time, following his lines.

With about 6 laps to go Rossi, lowsided into the grass. Since he has created such a large advantage at the front, he was able to pick up his bike and get back in the race, in 9th position. He finished 6th! What the crap?! Rossi never fails to entertain. And since the next guy down the order, as far as world championship points go, is Lorenzo (who crashed out), Rossi increased his point margin as well. Dovizioso went on to win his first GP race. DePuniet and Edwards joined him on the podium. Complete results here.

[photo: Motogp.com]

Last Sunday’s MotoGP race was one, that will no doubt go down as one of the all time best battles in GP history. Jorge Lorenzo got a great start, out of the grid, with Stoner following in second position for the first few laps. It did not take long for Rossi to work his way into second position, where he began an epic battle with Jorge Lorenzo for the podium. Lorenzo and Rossi, are teammates on the Fiat Yamaha factory team. In theory, they are riding the same bike. Rossi overtook Lorezno about half way through the race, and lead for several laps. With only a handful of laps to go, Lorenzo was able to steal the lead from Rossi. For the last few laps, the Yamaha teammates, put one of the most intensely hard fought battles ever witnessed in the premier class of motorcycle racing. Rossi was able to pull out the win, with an amazing overtaking maneuver rounding the corner into the finish straight. A more exciting finish could not have been scripted.

Stoner took third position in the race. Rossi moved back to the top of the points, in the World Championship standings. Lorenzo was bumped into second position, and Stoner remains in third position. Full results can be found here.

The next race will be at the Assen Circuit, in the Netherlands, on June 27.

Mugello, as the case at Le Mans, started with a wet track, though the rain had stopped. These conditions lead to a dry line forming on the track after several laps, necessitating tire change. Wet/dry of races are always sloppy. Those who change tires too soon, low side (Rossi, at Le Mans). Those who wait too long, lose their position, because the early changers are eating 4 seconds out of their lap times.

Sunday’s race was no different. With the wet tires, the unlikely her Melandri actually led the race for several laps in front of the Italian Crowd. After the entire field had pitted to change bikes (shod with race slicks), Stoner was on a mission. He was able to get in first position and make it stick. Melandri could not get his bike dialed in with the dry tires and started sinking like a stone, through the order. There was a bit of  a battle at the front between Dovizioso and the leaders. But Dovizioso, also, could not keep up the pace, and eventually dropped into fourth position, as he was overtaken by Rossi for the final podium spot, with 3 laps to go.

Lorenzo lowsided in the warm up lap, had a terrible start, on his back up bike, and still managed to end up finishing second. This phenominal effort on Lorenzo’s part, earned him the spot back at the top of the world championship points. Full results can be found here.

The podium order was Stoner, Lorenzo and  Rossi. Caprirossi finished right behind Dovizioso in 5th place, which was a phenomenal result for a Suzuki factory bike.

Pedrosa crashed out with a nasty highside, after his slicks were still warming up. He appears to have re-injured a pre-existing hip injury.

The next race is June 14, in Catalunya, hopefully on a dry track!

After a week off, GP was back in action racing at LeMans, this week in France. It was a crazy race, because of the wet track conditions. It was drizzling up until the warm-up lap, which caused all of the riders to start the race riding bikes shod with wet weather tires. Pedrosa, Lorenzo and Stoner got a great start. It only took a few laps for Lorenzo to jump out in front and open up a sizable gap. Rossi wormed his way up into second position, after a few short laps. It became pretty clear after 5 or 6 laps that there was a dry line forming on the track and that the riders were going to have to pit and switch to regular slick-shod bikes in order to finish the race. In a bold move, Rossi pitted first and subsequently low-sided in a wet corner, causing him to fall way back in the pack. Eventually, all of the rider’s switched bikes and finished on slicks. Lorenzo was one of the last riders to do so, after he had opened a 20 second gap. Even while he was getting his slick tires up to temperature, he maintained an impressive lead. Marco Melandri, riding a Kawasaki pulled out a second place finish. This goes to show that crazy conditions can lead to crazy results. Pedrosa was able to steal the last spot on the podium from Dovizioso on the very last lap. This shook up the world championship standings, putting Lorenzo on top. Rossi, who earned zero championship points today is now 1 point behind Lorenzo in second position. Stoner is one point behind Rossi, bringing up third position in the world championship standings. Full results here. The next race will be on the home turf of the Italian riders, at Mugello on May 31.

Sunday’s Jerez race was a banger. Pedrosa got out to an early lead, with Stoner in second position and Lorenzo in third. It didn’t take long for Rossi to throw on the afterburners and motor past all three riders. The only one that even gave battle, was Stoner. Stoner was able to pass Rossi back, at the bottom of the start/finish straight, before ultimately being overtaken by the Doctor. By that time, Pedrosa had opened up a gap of over a second, in the lead, which took several laps for Rossi to close. After overtaking Pedrosa, Rossi was able to smoothly sail onto the podium. Full results here. Pedrosa finished second, and Stoner earned the final podium spot. Lorenzo, despite having a fantastic start, low-sided out of the race with under 10 laps to go. With Lorenzo’s wreck, the world championship order was shaken up a bit. Rossi now leads the way, followed by Stoner, Lorenzo and Pedrosa, respectively. The riders will have a brief reprieve this weekend as the teams make their way to Le Mans course in France, for the next race on May 17.