Cycle News In The Paddock
COLUMN
Tired and Emotional
It ought to be compulsory. Bad weather, that is. It would take some serious meteorological magic to rival the weather-stricken French GP. The racing was wonderfully unpredictable in all classes, with MotoGP particularly mental, and the reward of a second win in a row going to Jack Miller, the most marvelously mental of riders.
By this measure, climate-erratic Phillip Island and Silverstone join Le Mans as true classic circuits, where real-world conditions add authenticity to a real-World Championship.
But there is a weakness. Racing should break records, and Le Mans achieved that. But not in lap times, however, nor crowd attendance (unless you’re counting “lowest-ever”). It recorded its highest-ever number of crashes.
There were 117 recorded, this was an improvement on the mere 100 at the same circuit last year, and better also than the 109 recorded in the bumper year of 2018.
It’s still a long way short of weather-hit Valencia in 2019 (150) and Misano in 2017, where teeming rain combined with dodgy resurfacing to rack up no less than 140.
Each of those was a one-off. A high crash toll is normal at Le Mans.
As numbers on a list and dubbed “a crash fest” you can smile at the antics. Especially at some sterling efforts. At opposite ends of the scale, Marc Marquez and Indonesian Moto3 rookie Andi Farid Izdihar each had four crashes at Le Mans, Marquez twice in the race alone. Alex Rins also twice in the race; Vinales ridiculously fell at some 15 mph while leaving the pits.
Most falls, more than 50, were in Moto3, giving racing’s learners a valuable lesson—grounding is the art of slide-don’t-roll. And lots of merry quips about “the turn-three club.”
It’s less amusing for the victims, and rather miraculous that only two riders were injured badly enough to be ruled out for the weekend—Moto2 rookie Yari Montella, with a fractured wrist, and Moto3’s Yuki Kunii (collarbone).
There is still a cost to be considered.
Is the Bugatti circuit really fit for purpose? The answer to that needs to be a resounding, “yes,” although possibly the camber of the notorious turn three could be looked at.
Are the riders good enough? Again, it must be “yes.” The road to GP entry is well-controlled, the ability to qualify generally serves the purpose.
Then how about the equipment?
Here it is not so clear. What is certain is a high level of standardization, all aimed at cutting costs. Fresh regs announced last week mean that next year frames and swingarms join engines and electronics on the growing list of items with development frozen.
Most significant is the frozen development of control tires. Where once a variety of rubber was available to suit particlar tracks, temperatures and weather conditions, the range is now severely limited. Tires, dry or wet, are homologated for the year, and the Le Mans crash list is living proof that in this respect, one size most definitely does not fit all. Especially if the money saved on tire development is spent instead on crash repairs and medical bills.
While Mugello will have already happened by the time you read this, here are my thoughts going in, we’ll see what happens. Mugello is steeped in Rossi’s history. For more than 10 years, from 1997 to 2008, the sinuous swoops belonged to him. He won 10 out of 12 races and every one from 2002, with the arrival of MotoGP four-strokes.
This, in the way of history, was quite a long time ago. In the meanwhile, Mugello has also shown Rossi its teeth, inflicting in 2010 his only serious racing injury, when he snapped his leg in a vicious high-side in practice.
Given this back story, Valentino might arrive at Mugello in a reflective mood. The last 13 races have given him plenty to reflect upon: a string of seven DNFs and not one top-10.
Seeing him floundering breathless in a rising tide of youth is not edifying. He has often spoken about how he wants to carry on, as long as he is competitive, but it now seems he is ignoring the writing on the wall.
Not only on the wall. This and other columnists have several times said how his continued factory-team incumbency condemned promising new riders Quartararo and Morbidelli to lesser bikes and blocked other potential recruits. An unpopular view.
This year the syndrome remains: Quartararo has leapfrogged him, taking full benefit from a seemingly (finally) improved M1. But triple 2020 winner and title runner-up Morbidelli is chafing on a two-year-old bike.
Valentino’s VR46 Academy has done wonders developing new Italian talent. Including Morbidelli. But this achievement is undermined by now holding Morbidelli back.
Mugello would be the perfect place for Valentino to reaffirm his god-like status by handing his factory bike to the younger rider, to concentrate on his forthcoming new role as MotoGP team owner. CN
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