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.

Sunday’s race was very exciting. The first two days of practice and testing at Motegi was done in the rain. The weather finally broke for race day, leaving all of the teams scrambling to try to guess what the best dry weather setup would be for the bikes. Rossi started on pole and opened up a bit of a gap, right away. It only lasted a few laps, however, as Jorge Lorenzo worked his way up the chain. There was a brief battle of back and forth passing at the front, but ultimately Lorenzo made his pass stick and was able to open up a bit of a gap. Pedrosa had a great race, as well. After being passed by Lorenzo, Rossi had to contend with Pedrosa, late in the race. Pedroso traded passes in corners 2 or 3 times on Rossi, before the final lap. Rossi was able to maintain his position in second spot, when they came across the line on the last lap. This is Lorenzo’s second victory in the GP class, his first at Motegi. Stoner finished up barely off of the podium in 4th spot, after a less than ideal start and a hard battle. Here are the full results.

There was some drama early in the race. As you may recall, Nicky Hayden suffered a very messy high-side wreck before Qatar, which required minor surgery. He is still healing from that tumble. In fact, they haven’t even taken the stitches out yet. At fate would have it, the GP rookie, Takahashi plowed into the back of Hayden entering a turn, on the very first lap of the race, Sunday. It was a nasty spill. Takahashi walked away, Hayden was taken out on a stretcher. It is said that Hayden will be fully recovered in time to race next Sunday in Spain.

Holy crap! Waiting the couple of extra days to see the first race of the 2009 season, was worth it. Stoner won by a solid margin. Rossi finished second, and second year rookie Lorenzo, took the last podium spot. Once Rossi fought his way up through the pack, he was able to keep a consistent gap between himself and Stoner. At times, he was even able to close it, a bit. It was clear though, that Rossi’s abuse to the tires getting into second position, prevented him from closing on Stoner at the end of the race. Just judging from this race, it appears that the 2009 season will be a fierce battle between Rossi and Stoner for the championship.

It is hard to make that kind of prediction, given all of the injuries and the incoming rookies. Pedrosa was riding with an injured left knee. I’m sure that it didn’t help being slammed into by De Angelis after running wide in a left hand corner. It was amazing the Pedrosa was even able to keep his bike on 2 wheels after that one. Hayden, was riding with several injuries sustained in a very ugly high-side crash sustained during practice.

There were a couple of rookie riders that were shooting the lights out. Andrea Dovizioso, Pedrosa new teammate, rode the wheels off of is Factory Honda Monday night finishing fifth. De Angelis, crossed the line right behind Dovizioso in 6th. Both rookies had very impressive rides. Lorenzo was also looking very promising with his third place finish. He is looking strong agian, after a his first season in GP, last year was plagued with several serious injuries. Yuki Takahasi (pictured below), another rookie, earned 1 GP world championship point finishing 15th.

Other Veteran in this race had varied results. Caprirossi actually got a great start and mainted second place for several laps. His race ended early, however, after a walk-away low-side tumble. Edwards finished just off the podium in 4th. Returning veteran, and nemesis of Rossi, Sete Gibernau, had an unimpressive performance finishing 13th. Here is a link to the full results.

The next race is slated for April 26th at Motegi Japan.

[photo by motogp.com]

I would be lying if I said that I wasn’t totally freaking excited for this year’s round of MotoGP action. The season hasn’t even started yet, and there has already been drama. Pedrosa, who took a nasty tumble during pre-season testing, underwent surgery last week, but is still shooting to open the season next month in Qatar.

American, and former world champion, Nicky Hayden, will be back in the mix, after leaving Honda/Repsol. He claims to be feeling confident on his new Ducati. Stoner, also former world champion, and Hayden’s new teammate, has been putting up some impressive numbers during testing. Stoner will be coming into 2009 with a chip on his shoulder, after blowing a huge lead in last year’s world championship, letting Rossi run away with it.

Speaking of drama and chips on shoulders, Sete Gibernau is back in action this year. It would be an understatement to say that there is some bad blood between Gibernau and the Yamaha Fiat team, principally Valentino Rossi. It stems from an incident that occured at the same track hosting the 2009 opener.

Finally, the Losail circuit in Qatar is the only race currently in the GP lineup, which is held at night, under the lights. 2009 will be the second season for the night race.

I am also excited for this season, because Reagan and I are tentatively planning on travelling to see the Indianapolis race this year, in August. That is only if I can’t talk her into going to Laguna for the July 4th weekend.

Who knows, in a month we may even have a new sofa. Either way, I will be taking reservations for those who would like to join me in watching the season opener on April 12, which also happens to be Easter. Hahahah.

Yamaha released the specs of the 2009 YZR-M1 (Valentino Rossi’s bike) this week. It is all of the usual crap: >200 hp, >320 kmph, Ohlins, Marchesini, Brembo, etc., etc.. But the part worth noting, was not in the spec sheet. Rossi gave a Q and A, which was also released this week. Rossi spoke briefly about the testing he has been able to do on the new M1, stating, “I had the chance to try the 2009 prototype briefly after Valencia but more so in Jerez, when I was very fast. The bike seems better and I was faster than I was with the 2008 version.” Fast enough to hang with the Italian bikes on the straight? I guess we will find out, in April. One more part of the interview that I thought was great, is that Vale enjoys snowboarding. Of course he does. I swear, we should be homies.

In unrelated, yet equally good news, Beastie boys are releasing a 20th anniversary edition of the Paul’s Boutique album. I woke up with the following note in my inbox:

Celebrating the 20th anniversary of Paul’s Boutique we have digitally re-mastered and reissued the record. The reissue comes in five versions offering everything from a digital-only package with 320kbps MP3 downloads to an exclusive limited-edition V.I.P. Type package that includes a CD, 180-gram vinyl, a Paul’s Boutique t-shirt and a never seen before poster that’s 8 ft wide. (OH WHAT!?????!!!!!!???) Most items are available exclusively at beastieboys.com

Digital downloads are available in lossless formats (FLAC and Apple lossless). You’ll also find band commentaries, videos, original album art, and more.

Drop by http://paulsboutique.beastieboys.com for more info.

Sincerely,
Paul

Isn’t it great that they let Paul break the news? Hahahahaha. I’m totally on this thing, man. Finally, I can get a copy of “car thief” that is the same volume as the rest of the songs on the playlist.