Recent comments

This guy seems to have a habit of cruising for tows in testing - there's a video on youtube of him and Stoner having a good shout at one another in pit lane over a very similar situation at another test.
I seem to remember Stoner saying he couldn't understand the point of getting a tow at a test - it doesn't really achieve anything, does it?

"The reasons for this are simple: Michelin feel the knowledge gained from using a standard size used in road tires will transfer more directly into production. Though the tire sizes are different, the outer diameter is exactly the same, the difference coming in the height of the sidewall."

They should get into the manure business. They'll never run out of product. As if the production market couldn't use 16.5" diameter tires just as easily as 17's. The relationship between the tire size and the inner diameter affects all manner of performance characteristics.

That is close to the situation. First, these bikes are being ridden with a Bridgestone set up, where the front has all the grip and they are trying to find grip at the rear. That means moving weight to the rear (as an aside, Jerry Burgess and the crew spent the first half of 2008, afer Valentino Rossi had switched from Michelin to Bridgestone, moving weight further back to accommodate the front grip). The Michelins have the grip the other way round, less at the front, a lot at the rear. That means that the front is more likely to wash out anyway.

What is happening, as I understand it, is that the riders are trying to exploit the grip they have at the rear by opening the gas earlier and earlier. As highside specialist says, this means opening the gas when the bike is still very leaned over. Do that on a Bridgestone, and the rear washes out, or worse, slips and grips and tosses you over the highside. With the Michelins, the front is pushing through the corners anyway, because the bike balance is wrong. Opening the gas early at full lean pushes the front further and further, the bike runs wide, and eventually the front lets go.

Normally, getting on the gas is a good remedy for most problems, but the problem the riders are describing is happening at the limits of their ability, which is far beyond anything normal riders (even normal racers) can manage. They are getting into problems on the gas, not using the gas to get themselves out of problems. 

Not interested in being anyones fan, I respect all the MotoGP pilots for their skill and big kahunas; so can it be argued that both Dovi and Bautista have ridden satellite bikes better?

Points make prizes, so surely the results determine who rode what well, to level it off, I only looked at time spent on a MotoGP satellite machines, factory rides are not relevant to the sample.

Cruthlow
Satellite rides;
2011 Tech 3 Yamaha satellite - 11th
2012 Tech 3 Yamaha satellite - 7th
2013 Tech 3 Yamaha satellite - 5th

Dovi
2008 Scot Honda Satellite - 5th
2012 Tech 3 Yamaha - 4th

Bautista
2012 Honda Gresini - 5th
2013 Honda Gresini - 6th
2014 Honda Gresini - 11th

Both Dovi and Bautista were both factory riders when Crutchlow joined as a rookie in 2011, whilst Dovi's class shines through even on a satellite machine its reasonable to say Crutclow's record is at least comparable with Bautista.

So to the second part, its far to say Aleix Espargaró is a fantastic rider who hasn't always had the best available kit, however Aleix was a 'full' satellite rider in 2010 on the Pramac Ducati when he finished the season 14th.

Pol finished 6th in his rookie year on a Tech 3 Yamaha which was a brilliant achievement and marks him out as a special talent. Worth noting though in Crutchlow's rookie season he was Yamaha's No 4 rider and bottom of the pile, Pol is a factory employee and getting treated as such. This takes nothing away from Pol's achievement though, well deserved plaudits for a great debut.

My assessment is simple
Pol has had a better start to his MotoGP career than his brother, Dovi is a world class rider, Crutchlow is generally no better and definitely not any worse than those he is being compared too;- as a satellite rider.

Remember his 2nd win was stolen from him by Stoner/HRC at Valencia. Nothing Ben could do about it. Also, only a select few GP riders are head & shoulders above the best WSB riders. WSB champs have almost always been in the top 6-8 in gp. So take away your top 3 established GP gods who are always there and throw in your Brit, Aussie or Yank whom the gp team won't listen to for a year. By the time the WSB champ knows what's going on he is on a B-team.

Had Hayden not been US Honda's golden child he would never have survived his early career in Gp. Look what happened to Edwards. A better rider with a deeper resume. It is more about the system in GP.

..."nobody ever lost the front on the gas"???

I think the explanation of *why* riders crashed, in paragraph 7, is not entirely accurate.

Well...Bayliss, is just Bayliss. ;)

For him to come in and win that one race after being off the Motogp bike for awhile just shows that he always had the speed there. He said that Ducati would not listen to him. But with the crew he used for that race he was able to get what he was asking for.

Still feel something happened in the background with Ben. Dont' know if it was in his personal life or on the team. His luck was not just him jacking up, there were alot of MYSTERIOUS failures happening with him. He had more raw talent than Crutchlow to me. But Crutchlow at the Motogp level seems to have a little more "F*ck you!" in him than I saw with Spies which is surprising because Spies had the about the worst teammate you could ever deal with in AMA. He was fast AND talked mess about Spies every race and interview.

To me I do not think rider styles matter as much. When Lorenzo started winning everyone said tires in line works. Now Marquez is dominating real hard and making veterans look like rookies riding like he is at a dirt track. Really does seem it is whatever works for the rider with the speed. Everyone else has to emulate to catch up.

Indeed, Cal made a silly mistake, but I guess from ‘his point of view’ he had little or no other options, I would say…
When he was at Tech 3 and Rossi decided to continue, he saw his ultimate dream, a factory Yamaha ride, go up in smoke…
At Ducati, he never felt at home, not only on the bike, but more importantly, in the ‘communication’ with the Italians. Dall’Igna never kept it secret that he preferred working with Dovi. Cal, such a social guy, never felt taken seriously and accepted among the Italians…
On top of that, last year he was put in the shade by the better results ànd the positive approach (which is not the least important from a factory's viewpoint!) of yet another Italian, Iannone. So in the end, I guess Cal felt him left with almost no other option than to leave Ducati…
Hope I got it all wrong, but I guess Cal's chances to ever throw his leg over a championship winning factory MotoGP bike are all gone now. But who knows, perhaps this year we will see him shine again in its 'good old' role, thumbs up ;-) Go for it Cal !!!!

But... in the old michelin days Lorenzo was not adverse to launching himself into orbit on a relatively frequent basis. Sure he might have improved in consistency since then, but only on bridgestones.

So the smart money is on things settling into the same order we have now? It seems rather wasteful to spend so much money for such a result although it will be interesting to see who does a better job of adapting. And, of course, that expenditure keeps an army of engineers, technicians, designers, riders and team management in jobs doesn't it.

Agreed Whorida. I can speak from experience that is somewhat applicable, at least in the sense that I have had a revelation of sorts in the last yr re electronics as apply to technology trickling down to production bikes.

Just spent (blissful) time canyon carving for a few days on a newish CBR1000rr and it was...mixed. 160hp is all it has cooking under the fairings and it is much different than my old 130hp R1. Honestly lots less rideable and manageable. And less fun than the 2007 CBR600rr I now wish I hadn't sold.

A dear friend of mine, expert racer team mate, was almost taken by the "widow maker" 2007 Kawasaki ZX10 on a free practice day. He was trying to sort suspension to make the power rideable. I have always said that it was down to bike geometry primarily and his adjusting to the monster engine second. And been a avid anti-electronics crusader of sorts re GP rules AND on production bikes. My limited frame of reference and eager temperament are to blame. I intentionally bought the 07 CBR600RR to avoid ABS. Why? It adds a bunch of weight, and I didn't want anything between my right hand and front rotors but fluid, stainless lines, and great pads. I had experienced front end slides controlled in rain races, and floating the rear braking in the dry. So I know everything! (Yeah, right).

The 07 ZX10 and 08 CBR1000rr were amazing bikes. More power. Size of a 600. Give me MORE! When can we get 180hp and in a 250GP little carving knife? Oh yeah? Try and ride it! I can only imagine (and believe me I do) what it must be like to be on a teeny little 225hp MotoGP bike with only wheelie control and minimal engine management for rear wheel spin. I need to be careful what I wish for! It sounds awful.

The next wave of production bikes is upon us. The BMW1000rr and now R1m have opened the next war - not for more power with less weight. For more refinement of electronics packages.

The 2015 Open Honda customers have a great bike. That is slow. And if you dropped your $200,000 for one and I could ride it on a track day I sure would love it (happy to share my email for all those interested of course). Until I stopped loving it and wanted to go back to enjoying putting down similar lap times on a 130hp middleweight Supersport like I should be.

The comment above a bit sounds wise - we are 99.9% sure to not see a satellite win in 2015. Electronics are a big deal. Let's watch what the 2015 Open Honda can do relative to its main rivals. Which include the 2014 Open times, the Aprilia, and...not any of the satellites. For 2016 I agree with the other poster above that the top Factory teams will still have an advantage with their more full use of the Championship electronics package. And the more functionality that is included the more likely it is to make this more pronounced. In 2016 we may have a 95% chance of not seeing a satellite win. And that sounds like a huge improvement to me.

And who will the greatest threat be? Top satellite that is grabbing podiums? I am still betting P.Espargaro or Crutchlow. Or some wild newcomer on a satellite Ducati maybe even, which is a joy to even have in consideration. (Side note - ever notice that criticism of the paddock whipping post rider, currently Cal, tends to entail less wisdom and more personal attacks? Ironically addressed at Cal's intelligence or character?).

2015 is here and I eagerly await the perfect storm of a low grip low temperature track that suits the super soft rear tire closer to race distance, #29 or #4 and the GP15 coming into their own together, and a podium that was not granted by attrition or a bike swap. It is coming at some point. And top satellite may be in tow.

CC35 although very fast is still of a dying breed a (superbike) rider...
Since the 4-stroke era of gp only a very select few have been successfull: Hayden, Spies, and somewhat Bayliss. Hayden only has 3 wins in his 12 seasons of racing in gp and won the title in '06 through consistency. Spies was supposed to be the next big thing coming out of the U.S. He was probably the only superbike racer that could have given the aliens a run. He did win a race in the "hard to ride" 800cc era in the dry against Stoner/Lorenzo/Pedrosa. Then there's Bayliss who won a race as a wildcard for Ducati in the last 990cc race ever. That's it. I don't see gp factory teams recruiting any superbike racers in the near future. Most superbike racers try gp and end up going back to production derived racing. CC35 is "topped out" I don't see him moving anywhere higher. Couldn't do it with Yamaha, Decided to leave factory Ducati, and he won't move up to factory HRC. He'll probably do ok with LCR Honda and then have an opportunity to move down to open machinery or MAYBE Gresini Aprilia and help them develop the rs gp and by the time that machine gets sorted he will have been past his "shelf life" in the top class. For whatever reason superbike racing doesn't transfer over to well in gp racing...Possibly a combination of stiffer chassis and stickier tires that provide deeper lean angles not really seen in sbk idk.