The "Joy" Of Being Right ...

Two years into the aero era, and MotoGP appears to be ready to come to its senses.

KTM has come to the MSMA, the organization that represented GP manufacturers, with an engineering report that contains about the least surprising conclusion in racing history. The report says that the aerodynamic structures, or wings, that have sprouted on MotoGP bikes in the past two seasons represent a vast waste of money spent on developing products that have no relevance for street-going motorcycles.

Credible? You bet. KTM is allied with Red Bull, which spends obscene amounts of money on aero research in Formula One car racing. Red Bull knows how much money is burned at the altar of the wind tunnel and computer aero modeling. Proof? This season, Formula One has mandated the Halo, a structure around the cockpit to protect the driver's head from injury or debris. Every front-running team has stuck a wing on their Halo. How much time in the wind tunnel did that cost?

You've read here before about how I predicted that the aero arms race for bikes was a waste of money. I'll repeat the most important point: Terrified that the series was going to turn into a runaway for Marquez, series organizers were happy to let Ducati keep its aero advantage, because it looked like that might be the only way to hold Honda at bay. It worked for a bit last season. It ain't working anymore.

I'll leave it at this: I'd rather have a bike with a torque-ductor than wings any day.

Superbikes: Images And Reflections

For Immediate Release

Contact: Michael Gougis

626.221.7466

morbidelli17@yahoo.com

“Superbikes: Images and Reflections” Now Available

A collection of images from the 2017 motorcycle road racing season, “Superbikes: Images and Reflections” features photographs from events in North America and Europe. Motojournalist Michael Gougis photographed the preseason MotoAmerica test at Circuit of The Americas and the MotoAmerican event at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, the British Superbike round at Brands Hatch and the World Superbike races at Laguna Seca, Lausitzring in Germany and Jerez in Spain. Full-color, 73 pages, with an introduction by four-time AMA Superbike Champion Josh Hayes. Retail price $29.95 plus shipping.

Available at www.thebookpatch.com, or by following the link below:

http://thebp.site/139731

For more information, contact the author at morbidelli17@yahoo.comor at 626.221.7466.

The Unfair Disadvantage, Or The Magic Of The Marquez

Arguments over the greatest rider of all time are essentially entertaining-yet-pointless exercises. Barring the invention of a time machine, it is impossible to objectively judge how a rider on any given machine on a particular tire in one year compares against the skills of another rider on a different machine (or that same machine) on different tires in a different year. It's impossible to say at the end of a given race which rider was better on a given day, regardless of who won. It's entirely possible to argue that the rider who came from a horrible qualifying spot on the grid to fourth was the best rider of the day.

It is entirely possible, however, to make an absolutely objective, unassailable argument about the relative advantages and disadvantages a given rider had during their careers. During certain periods, some riders are given such immense advantages that, win records aside, it's hard to argue that it is their skill that earned them their domination. It is the nature of the sport that introduces this variable - a talented rider will be given, by a factory and supporting companies determined to win above all else, every single advantage they can muster. Yes, it helps guarantee the success that the companies crave. But it also reduces the ability to truly judge the rider's skill in comparison to other racers.

The central idea here is simple: No other multi-time World Champion has raced with fewer of the equipment advantages of the epoch-definers of modern motorcycle road racing than Marc Marquez. I've long marvelled at his sheer talent and speed - what he did to the lower classes bordered on criminal - but I've been pondering during my morning runs why I'm so impressed with what he's done in MotoGP.

And this is why: In every other period, the defining Champion had an Unfair Advantage (phrase gleefully stolen from the autobiography of car racer, engineer and racing genius Mark Donohue, a must-read for any race fan). Marquez has raced during a period when MotoGP's rulemakers have - in a very literal sense - stripped him of the advantages that his predecessors enjoyed.

Consider:

Giacomo Agostini is legendary, with 122 GP wins to his name. And his talent is legendary, as he proved in titanic battles with full factory efforts by Honda-mounted Mike Hailwood in 1967. But Honda left the sport the following year, and Ago literally raced the factory-backed multi-cylinder MV Agusta against a field of privateer and single-cylinder machines. His win total is impressive, but ... after battling to the 500cc titles in 1966 and 1967, Ago on essentially the sole factory machine in the field won every 500cc and 350cc race in 1968, all but one of the 350cc races in 1969, every race in those categories in 1970 ... you get the idea. Such was the mechanical dominance of the MV Agusta that, as Colin MacKellar writes in his history of Yamaha GP machines, the 1973 season finally showed enough competition from the emerging Yamaha two-strokes that "there was the forgotten sight of MV engine blocks being opened in the grass fields accurately called 'paddocks' at the GP circuits. For the previous five years, the MV's had been taken out of the truck, dusted off, filled with oil and fuel, raced, garlanded and loaded back onto the truck." The advanced MV Agusta, and a virtual lack of factory competition, was Ago's Unfair Advantage.

Mick Doohan's era - five straight 500cc titles - started as Honda introduced the "big-bang" firing order for its four-cylinder NSR500. It was such a clear advantage that the other factories tried to copy, but Honda had gotten the technology and the application right first. As the other factories caught up, Doohan was racking up wins and titles. Then, just as every other rider on the grid was coming to terms with the "big-bang" motors, Doohan tried the old, even-firing-interval engine again and found it faster, easier to handle, easier on tires and a motor configuration no other rider wanted to try! "The bike to me feels better. The other guys are not used to this style engine. They have grown up with the "big bang" ... This is better for me, and I think the others have been scared off by the rumours of how the old ones used to be," Doohan says in MacKellar's awesome book on Honda's GP racers.

Valentino Rossi inherited Doohan's winning team at Honda, including legendary crew chief Jeremy Burgess. When the Rossi era started, he took the dominant Honda to title after title, then took Burgess with him to Yamaha, where the two of them revamped the Yamaha into a title-winner. Rossi had Burgess, and one other Unfair Advantage - tires. Michelin were the hot property during this period, and Rossi had access to the company's "overnight specials." These were, literally, tires that Rossi could test on the Friday of a race weekend, give feedback to the company, who would cook a new, specially honed for the track and conditions tire and fly it into the track for race day. Rossi was not the only rider who had these "overnight specials," but the majority of the field didn't. And as Rossi was one of the winningest riders in the series at the time, Michelin likely would have paid more attention to what he wanted in a race tire. The extent of this Unfair Advantage was made clear when the "overnight specials" were banned, and Rossi's results nose-dived so dramatically that after Casey Stoner took the 2007 title, Rossi switched to Bridgestones, and a year later MotoGP adopted the spec tire rule.

What's noteworthy here is that this was the first step in "leveling the playing field" moves that have led to the current MotoGP machines.

Fast-forward a bit to the Marquez era. Winner in his first crack at a MotoGP title, he humiliated the field in his second season. Arguments raged that Honda's superior machine was ruining the racing. Never has Marquez had access to special tires; his entire MotoGP career has taken place on spec tires, at first Bridgestone, then Michelin. No advantage there. Testing restrictions never have been tighter. During his career, first the electronics hardware was standardized, then the software was standardized for the entire field - no advantage there anymore. Engine limits were introduced, with engine specifications "frozen" for long periods during the season. Fuel consumption was restricted. Teams and factories that performed poorly got extra engines, extra testing, to help them catch up. And MotoGP execs spoke openly about making sure they had a "show" to sell - which is another way of saying that they weren't going to allow another Doohan-esque period to manifest itself if they had anything to do about it.

It is in this era that Marquez' accomplishments have to be seen. Marquez has 34 wins and 60 podiums in 86 starts during an era where the rules are stacked against anyone winning that much. It's unlike any era before in racing, an era designed to prevent the emergence of a superstar, yet Marquez has done just that.

I'll wrap this up with a hypothetical question: If the rules were the same as they were in 2014 for the machine (no spec electronics), Marquez had a legendary crew chief in his garage and Michelin would cook special tires for him for specific tracks for specific race weekends ... would he ever lose a race again?

Words With P.J. Jacobsen: “It's Time To Move Up To Superbike ...”

Preseason testing marked P.J. Jacobsen as one of the favorites to take the Supersport World Championship in 2017. But in hindsight, the Phillip Island round may have been a harbinger of things to come. Undeniably fast, Jacobsen's season has not gone to plan.

In a wide-ranging conversation in the paddock at Lausitzring in Germany, Jacobsen reflected on his career, his season to date, and his desire to move into the premier class of the series.

"It's been up and down. It started off pretty good at Phillip Island, with the testing and all, and a silly mistake from myself. I should have had a win. Truthfully, I feel bad, it was an easy win,” Jacobsen says.

“I've had a lot of pole positions this year. On the down side, we've had a couple of DNFs which have affected us in the Championship. It's just been up and down. The team's trying really hard. I'm working really hard. It's a new bike for me. But also new teams have come in and stepped up the level a bit. So it's right now a bit hard to compete. But I'm trying to do my best, keep pushing, and Sunday's what counts. We keep trying to get as many points and keep the flow going and try to click off podiums."

Jacobsen broke through in 2015 after his team collapsed mid-season. The New Yorker jumped onto a different team, immediately put his Honda CBR600RR onto the podium first race out and ran off two wins and two more seconds to close out the season second in the Championship. It was an amazing accomplishment after an insane season, and much was expected in 2016, especially after Jacobsen joined the immensely successful Ten Kate team.

But 2016 was a struggle, and four podiums were not the results Jacobsen expected. Jumping to the factory-backed MV Agusta squad to race its F3 675 seemed like an excellent move, as competitive as the MV had been in 2016.

The landscape for 2017 has changed, however. Yamaha, eager to demonstrate the superiority of its new YZF-R6, hired the reigning Endurance World Champion and a host of other supremely talented riders and put them on full factory-backed bikes.

"In the past couple of years, it's been me, Jules (Cluzel) and Kenan (Sofuoglu, the five-time and defending Supersport World Champion). Since the new teams and other riders have come in, and the new YZF-R6 has come out, I think it's had a big impact on the class," Jacobsen says. "It's a very good bike. Everyone knows that it's a really good bike. I was teammates with a couple of riders who are in front of me in the championship, and um ... It's hard to race against them right now. It's a very competitive bike."

And Jacobsen has had to adapt, after a year and a half on the Honda, to the demands of the MV Agusta.

"You have ride them differently. The Honda's a more aggressive bike to ride,” he says. “The MV is more like a 250 GP bike - you have to be more relaxed on the bike, real corner speed and flow, not so aggressive with the bike. I notice that when I get more aggressive with the bike I start going backward with my lap times. You relax more, the lap times come easily."

Jacobsen has raced literbikes in the Endurance World Championship, and has impressed. He's happy with his riding style on the bigger machines, and is looking to move up to Superbike.

“I'm not here to just make up the numbers. I've been four years in the Supersport class. I'm trying to move up to Superbike. Obviously, you need to be challenging for the Championship to move up,” Jacobsen says. “I've been second in the Championship before. Last year didn't quite go as planned. Hopefully this year I can continue to show people I can move up. The ultimate goal is to be in Superbike and ride in front of American fans. I think it would be cool to be up there one day.

"I'm getting older - I'm 24 now - and I've been in the class four years. The class has changed so much, with different rules, and 600s aren't such a big thing right now, as manufacturers seem like they're not focusing on it right now. Yamaha is, but ... I don't know. A lot of things are changing, I'm getting older, and it's time to move up to Superbike.”

Jacobsen was among the front-runners every time he got on the Endurance bike, demonstrating that he could race literbikes and do it well. In the past, Jacobsen has raced for a front-line Superbike team in the British Superbike series and has won in Superstock 1000 in that series.

"I rode for Honda in Suzuka and I did very well there. I came from British Superbike. I like the Superbike. I like riding the Superbike better, and I think I ride it better,” Jacobsen says. "Every time I did an endurance race we were in the podium positions, and we always had a mechanical. I was the fastest Honda rider in Suzuka last year, and we were always in the top three - we just needed the bike to last."

With MV Agusta reportedly considering adding a second bike to its one-rider Superbike effort, a move up to the premier class and the manufacturer's F4 1000 would seem to be a natural step for Jacobsen. He's interested, but there has been nothing settled.

"I'd like to stay with a manufacturer and be loyal. That's one thing I believe in. Hopefully they have a Superbike spot open,” Jacobsen says.

In Praise Of Elias, Or It's Not Easy To Tame A Tiger

It is fashionable to cite the success of Toni Elias as proof of the dearth of talent in U.S. road racing. The mantra goes that Elias, a washed-up has-been, showed up on a MotoAmerica Superbike ride for Yoshimura Suzuki and casually beat the best of the U.S.

Toni Elias, MotoAmerica preseason testing, Circuit of the Americas, 2017.

This assessment is based on a short-sighted view of history and a lack of understanding as to how the business of racing works. Fact is that beating Toni on any given day is a challenge for anyone, not just in the U.S. but anywhere in the world.

Elias' speed is indisputable. Not only is he one of the few racers to beat a top-of-his-form Valentino Rossi, but he did so on a satellite machine. And Elias adapted to the new Moto2 series quickly, winning the first championship in that category. Speed is not the question.

Elias' reputation took a serious hit the following year when he went to MotoGP. Faced with the entirely different Bridgestone MotoGP tire after a season on the Moto2 spec Dunlop, Elias struggled to make the tires work. On his best days, he was mid-pack. On his worst, he was like Dani Pedrosa trying to get heat into the current spec Michelins - the tires simply gave him no grip, no feedback, and he struggled to get into the top 10. 

Switching back to Moto2 didn't help, and the underdeveloped Honda production MotoGP racer wasn't any friendlier. In racing, all you have are the results from last season, and Elias' results were literally nothing you wanted on your resume, especially given the heights he had ascended to. The top-level machinery that gets you wins simply wasn't made available to him.

In addition, Elias is a professional, with more than a decade of GP experience. In the post-economic-meltdown world, there were a lot of teams who could overlook Elias' speed, experience and talent and opt for a racer who would bring cash and sponsorship, rather than demand a paycheck. After earning a living doing something, it's hard to do it for free. It's a harsh-but-true estimate that on most grids, a third of the riders are getting paid, a third are doing it for free, and a third are paying for the privilege of racing. With no offers of paid rides, Elias sat, in his words, watching racing from the couch.

Many mistook this as European teams dismissing Elias' skills. Not true. They were dismissing his demands to be paid as a professional, compared to the extra value he could bring. Could Elias have scored mid-field or top 10 results in Moto2? Certainly. But why pay a rider for a 10th-place finish if you can have a rider bring the team money and finish 15th?

When Yoshimura Suzuki called, Elias was motivated. Yoshimura was a paying gig. Elias rewarded them with wins right off the bat on one of the oldest machines on the MotoAmerica grid - although, it must be said, a very well-sorted motor racing bike!

And that led to the 2017 season, with a very motivated Elias riding a brand-new GSX-R1000 that Suzuki had tested extensively in the off-season. Elias and teammate Roger Hayden both were more competitive than they had been, and Elias in particular gelled with the machine. Elias pushed hard; note the scuffed left hip of the leathers in the picture above. Elias dug deep into his well of experience and skill to earn the results he did.

The fact that Elias is the 2017 MotoAmerica Superbike champion isn't a damning indictment of the talent in the U.S. Rather, it could be viewed as the opposite. It took a rider who could win at the MotoGP level to defeat the U.S. riders, and even Elias had to push as hard as he could to make it happen.

Factory Proximity

Dan Linfoot, Honda Racing British Superbike Team, Druids Hairpin, British Superbikes, 2017. The flames erupting from the exhaust aren't just spectacular to look at. They hint at something deeper, something that is relevant to the very core of professional racing.


Linfoot, like most other professional racers on the new 2017 Honda CBR1000RR Fireblade, had struggled, with little in the way of help coming from Japan. At this round, he qualified third, led Race One and took his first podium of the season.

After the qualifying news conference, we spoke about a comment he'd made - that he'd gone to Japan to ride the Honda Fireblade put together by Moriwaki Motul Racing for the Suzuka 8 Hours. Linfoot had just gotten back from testing the bike, and he said he'd tried to get his team to make the BSB bike react like the Suzuka bike.

Linfoot said what he got most from the Suzuka test was a feeling that he wanted replicated in the BSB machine. Specifically, he wanted a smoother, more direct response to the throttle, which would make it easier for him to dial in the power and get out of turns more quickly. It is an axiom of racing of any sort: The pilota who gets on the power earliest wins.

"I told the team, the feel of the Suzuka bike - that's what I want this bike to feel like," Linfoot said.

The flame coming from the exhaust could be an indication that the team, unable to use electronics to dial in throttle response, had resorted to some old-time tuning techniques like richening the mixture to avoid lean on-off throttle response. It's crude and inefficient, but when you're banned from using more sophisticated techniques, you use what you've got.

Linfoot isn't the only Superbike rider who went to Japan and came back impressed by the machinery they rode, even though in some cases the spec of the Suzuka 8 Hours bikes were nearly identical to the spec of the machine they rode in series like World Superbike.

It is the phenomenon of Factory Proximity. Not all the information the factory knows leaves the building, the series or sometimes the country. As one BSB racer told me, "If Honda wanted to win World Superbike, they'd be winning World Superbike." Obviously, what Honda knows about making the new Fireblade competitive isn't transferring to Europe. 

Linfoot made it clear that the Honda at Suzuka was a much better machine. Alex Lowes liked the Suzuka 8 Hours Yamaha far better than his WorldSBK machine.

It is one of the fascinating subplots of racing, that information goes as far as it needs to go to achieve a company's greater goals. And winning at all costs isn't always the goal. To get that information, that data, that first-hand experience with the front-line weapon, the closer you get to the factory, the better.

 

Images Of Speed - 4

Been traveling a bit. Took my camera. Will be posting images of racing every now and then ...

Eugene Laverty, Milwaukee Aprilia Shaun Muir Racing RSV4, Turn 11, Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, practice, Superbike World Championship 2017.

The factory Aruba.it Racing Ducati Panigale R racebikes wore special colors at Laguna.

Tom Sykes wheelies the factory Kawasaki Racing Team ZX-10RR up the front straight, Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, practice, Superbike World Championship 2017.

Start of MotoAmerica Superbike Race Two, Turn Two, Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, MotoAmerica 2017.