Car Parts 2011

The MotoGP silly season is officially over and the riders have concluded their first day of testing in Malaysia.  For those interested, the times can be found here.  If you just want to hear about highlights and analysis, read on.

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First and foremost before any thoughts go into this, remember the 2011 rules will be thrown out the window after this season.  For 2012, the premiere class is going back to 1000cc from its current 800cc format (Hallelujah!).  With that being said, it can be assumed that these bikes are highly modified versions of last year's bike and not clean sheet designs.  Sadly, the majority of the changes probably deal with the electronics for traction control and anti-wheelie.  It would just be a waste of money and resources to build new bikes from the ground up for a single year.

That being said, the factory teams are still willing to throw around a lot of money.  Look no further than the biggest motorcycle manufacturer in the world to prove this.  Honda, contrary to recent MotoGP practice, is running a three rider factory squad with Dani Pedrosa, Casey Stoner, and Andrea Dovizioso.  It seems to have paid off for Honda in these preliminary stages.  Stoner topped the time sheets today just like he did during the test at the end of the 2010 season.

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This isn't terribly surprising as Honda makes very competent machines.  Add in the fact that Casey just spent the last four seasons riding a bucking bronco in the form of Ducati's Motogp contender and you can see why he can ride something as smooth as a Honda so effectively.

Casey was followed by Jorge Lorenzo (Factory Yamaha), Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda), Marco Simoncelli (Gresini Honda), and Ben Spies (Factory Yamaha).  No surprises here. They all rode for those manufacturers last year.  The news that everyone wants to hear about is down in twelfth position.

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Down there sits Valentino Rossi aboard his new-to-him Ducati Desmosedici GP11.  Many of the Rossi faithful are a bit worried about this.  Last time he switched teams was back in 2004 to the uncompetitive Yamaha.  He won his debut race on the M1, went on to take the crown, and we all know the rest.  Well, these days Vale is a bit older and still recovering from shoulder surgery.  Trying to tame the GP11 is a monumental task for anyone.  Consider the fact that Nicky Hayden is entering his third year with the Ducati and was a position lower than Rossi and it becomes understandable that the Desmosedici is a beast.

History has shown that Rossi along with Crew Chief Jeremy Burgess have been a dynamic duo.  Just look at the seven Motogp titles.  They've had the Midas touch with just about everything they've raced.  Can they do it again even with Rossi in poor fitness?  The answers will come after the curtain closes on the season opener on March 20.

This is what happens when the reigning world champion and the current points leader meet on the track.  This is the last few laps of the Motogp race at Motegi from today.  All rights belong to Dorna.

-Danny Choy-

Motogp has announced recently that bikes will return to 1000cc and four cylinders for the 2012 season. This is seen as a hugely important change to the rule. Many riders, including Valentino Rossi, have said that the switch to 800cc in 2007 was the biggest mistake in the history of the premier class because the bikes all need to be ridden the same way. There isn't enough excess power to allow the bikes to take different lines through a corner and make up time.

Valentino Rossi is the biggest revenue source of income for Motogp and its management company, Dorna. Is it a coincidence that he has spoken up and the sanctioning bodies have listened? That may be part of the reason but many other riders have voiced their dismay also. Let's dive a little deeper.

The new rules state that the engines in Motogp can be full prototypes (like in F1) or production based. The displacement will be 1000cc and have four or less cylinders. There are also rules regarding the bore which will probably have an effect on how many rpm the motor can turn.

The significance in the rules lies in the fact that the motors will have four or less cylinders. When Motogp originally switched to its 990cc four stroke era in 2002, Honda was the only company to use a V5 motor. Rossi won the championship with this in 2002. After a falling out with Honda, he went on to win the championship for 3 consecutive seasons on a Yamaha. The only people that could compete with Rossi would be Honda mounted riders. Nicky Hayden won the title in 2006 on a factory Honda.

Ok, enough with the history. What am I getting at? Rossi is Motogp's cash cow. It would be wise to keep him happy especially since he is getting old for Motogp and retirement could be around the corner. With a switch back to 1000cc and four cylinders, all the manufacturers could return to their engine architecture from the 990 days. All the manufacturers except Honda. This would keep "Big Red" from blowing everyone out of the water like they did in 2002 because they'd be behind on their development. It all seems to be too much of a coincidence to me

-Danny Chin-
picture courtesy of Motogp.com