MotoLiam
Lifelove:Forever
- Joined
- Jun 30, 2003
- Location
- Living at Full Throttle
- Moto(s)
- are a driving force in my life. They keep bringing me back . . .
- Name
- Liam
- BARF perks
- 2006 Barfie
Headed to Misano
Everyone, thank you for the well wishes. It certainly seems like we hit a high note at the last race in Brno, making the podium in 2nd place! I wish I could say I was happier, but it was an odd race for me for several reasons, first of which was the lack of Michelin runners being seriously in the mix. This is not to take away anything from Toni, however, as he rode an aggressive race making hard passes when he needed to and setting consistently solid laptimes throughout the race (where were those laptimes earlier in the weekend?). Also, coming in nearly 20 seconds behind first place is not where we want to be, and I'm certain that if VR46 and CS27 had battled head to head every single lap, they probably would have had extended their lead to 25+ or even 30+ seconds. They are on such a level right now, they seem untouchable.
But . . . and this is a big but, 2nd place is still my highest finish in a GP race to date, and that's a pretty big deal to me. That means in the time I've been out here I've managed to finish in every position possible - except the one that counts
I guess I would be more stoked if I didn't feel so bad for SG50, who has had what I consider to be a run of bad luck in the last few races. Studying the warm up times, it was obvious that we had the pace to be up front with SG at Laguna and Brno, but technical gremlins kept him out of the fray and that's a shame because his confidence in the bike and tires was high. We're hoping for a turnaround in fortunes at Misano, though I'm sure that's true for everyone on the grid. In any event, I should just be happy that I got a podium this year, because I honestly wasn't expecting it. Toni is usually fun to work with and be around, but to be frank, sometimes I miss the straightforward approach to racing and salty-old-dog experience of Barros.
I do own a pair of Toni's custom Alpinestars GP Tech gloves, though, and that's a nice souvenir considering that he used them to beat back Ben Spies on the last lap at Laguna this year. Phew, didn't get beat by the hometown wildcard this year, either (last year Barros pipped RLHayden on the last lap, too).
I had planned to get more into writing again this past week, but my workload has kind of kept me preoccupied. At Misano I'll deliver the team's initial stock order to Ducati Corse, and unlike the past two years, this time I think we'll be spending even more serious money on spare parts. Serious as in double, simply because prices have gone up and because the GP9 is effectively brand new, much more of a departure from the GP8 than even the switch from 990cc to 800cc (GP6 to GP7). I'd say every major system on the bike has been totally revised and re-done, and it remains to be seen if anything radical will change engine-wise. I doubt it, because the motor works well within the constraint of only 21 liters of fuel being available. I never knew how stressful it could be to manage someone else's money, especially when we're talking about the kind of money you could use to buy a nice place in SF with, on the Marina. Every year.
Actually, getting back to Brno, it didn't feel like Brno. In years past, I've always been able to pick up on and notice the shift in behavior inside the paddock, as people try to clandestinely meet or bump into certain people "by chance" on the way to the bathrooms, etc. Much of the MotoGP paddock is static, in that Factory Yamaha, and also Tech 3, are effectively closed because their riders have renewed their contracts already and the crews won't be changing at all. Suzuki virtually never changes members of its staff, and HRC Honda rarely changes, either. I can see a potential sideways maneuver between some crew members if Dovi goes to HRC, meaning some of NH69's guys might shift to a satellite Honda team if Dovi takes one or two of his people, but if NH69 goes to Ducati, he wouldn't be bringing any of his boys. Speaking of Marlboro Ducati, I know who's moving in and out (looking like just one guy this year, and he'll be replaced with another Factory person), so they're wrapped up, too. That leaves Kawasaki (possible third bike!), Gresini, and the rest of the satellite Honda squads. Not much room to move amongst the Honda sats, because they're all predominantly Italian, running pretty much small teams that don't change very much. And Kawasaki? From what I've seen and heard throughout the paddock, Kawasaki has a way of easing people out of racing, haha. I really get along with some of the guys, but I have got to scratch my head when I think about what the higher ups are doing, consistently, to not get results. Still, they're a factory team and they operate at an extremely professional level. And what about my team? Well, that's been on everyone's mind since D'antin left in Assen. As the team is being absorbed by and into Pramac (Pramac is sole owner of the team now), everyone is wondering if the boss will want to retain everyone on his own paycheck and having his own team, or if he'll prefer to switch back to "leasing" a team, as he was doing with D'antin. Much of the silly season seems to revolve around whether or not the guys on my team will be cut at the end of the season to make way for new blood, since we were all connected to D'antin. Like every year, I have no idea what I'll be doing at this time next season. Every day is like a job interview, so I just keep plugging away and trying to do my best, but it's tough when things aren't going the right way and everyone is frustrated (particularly Ducati, when they won the Championship with CS last year, and then this year everyone else who touched the bike seemed to be vying for the last three spots on the grid). I guess the answers will all come out sooner or later, but right now the big decisions are up to the sponsors. Is Alice going to continue with their contract next year for title sponsorship? Will Pramac run their own team in house (and out of Italy), will Red Bull be coming here? Who the heck are the riders going to be? You wouldn't believe some of the names I've heard when people talk about who our riders are next season. That's why it's called silly season I guess. I'll poke around a little at Misano if I have time, but truthfully I think I'm going to be a bit strung out because I'll be prepping for 4 fly-aways outside of Europe, the longest run of "foreign" races in a row I can remember. No overnight shipments of emergency parts, and no real factory support if something goes really bad along the journey. One of the issues with getting parts overseas is the customs hold ups. Sure, it is possible to send things to Australia or Japan, but getting it there in time, and then making sure it clears customs in time to make a difference, these are the tricky parts. I'm guessing that Misano will now be the defacto Brno, in terms of people sliding around and getting in touch with one another. We'll see.
I still have the Freixenet cava smell on my sweater from the podium, haha, and I'm not planning on washing it until it gets really grimey this time. I spoke a bit about the last couple weeks/months on a couple episodes of MotoGPod, the podcast, recently, so if you're bored you might want to check that out. There's a really funny and fun interview with Mark Neale, director of Faster (1, 2, and 3), and he's a great guy to just talk to and hang out with. It's safe to say that the Faster movies helped inspire me to make the jump myself, so Mark is definitely a special person to me.
I'd also like to take a moment to send out condolences for Toriano Wilson, who tragically passed away after being struck by another rider while riding in the Red Bull Rookies Cup (US version). 14 years old and full of promise, it makes you stop for a minute and just consider how lucky we all are. Godspeed Toriano.
Lastly, I just want to say thank you for all the support from you guys and girls. It's not always easy rooting for the perennial underdogs, and I know everyone usually cites VR or NH (or any other big name rider) as their favorite, but sometimes the little guy can get out there and make an impact. Now that SN56 is riding the HRC spec machine on Bridgestones, it's likely that Honda is seriously looking at developing next year's machine around a Bridgestone package. SN's practice times have been great for several races now, and armed with his new bike, I think we'll be seeing more of him towards the front throughout the rest of the season. However, the Squadra delle Pecore Nere will be doing our best to keep him behind us, because we're after results and we dream big. There's no shame in where you end up, as long as you did your utmost getting there.
Everyone, thank you for the well wishes. It certainly seems like we hit a high note at the last race in Brno, making the podium in 2nd place! I wish I could say I was happier, but it was an odd race for me for several reasons, first of which was the lack of Michelin runners being seriously in the mix. This is not to take away anything from Toni, however, as he rode an aggressive race making hard passes when he needed to and setting consistently solid laptimes throughout the race (where were those laptimes earlier in the weekend?). Also, coming in nearly 20 seconds behind first place is not where we want to be, and I'm certain that if VR46 and CS27 had battled head to head every single lap, they probably would have had extended their lead to 25+ or even 30+ seconds. They are on such a level right now, they seem untouchable.
But . . . and this is a big but, 2nd place is still my highest finish in a GP race to date, and that's a pretty big deal to me. That means in the time I've been out here I've managed to finish in every position possible - except the one that counts
I guess I would be more stoked if I didn't feel so bad for SG50, who has had what I consider to be a run of bad luck in the last few races. Studying the warm up times, it was obvious that we had the pace to be up front with SG at Laguna and Brno, but technical gremlins kept him out of the fray and that's a shame because his confidence in the bike and tires was high. We're hoping for a turnaround in fortunes at Misano, though I'm sure that's true for everyone on the grid. In any event, I should just be happy that I got a podium this year, because I honestly wasn't expecting it. Toni is usually fun to work with and be around, but to be frank, sometimes I miss the straightforward approach to racing and salty-old-dog experience of Barros.
I do own a pair of Toni's custom Alpinestars GP Tech gloves, though, and that's a nice souvenir considering that he used them to beat back Ben Spies on the last lap at Laguna this year. Phew, didn't get beat by the hometown wildcard this year, either (last year Barros pipped RLHayden on the last lap, too).
I had planned to get more into writing again this past week, but my workload has kind of kept me preoccupied. At Misano I'll deliver the team's initial stock order to Ducati Corse, and unlike the past two years, this time I think we'll be spending even more serious money on spare parts. Serious as in double, simply because prices have gone up and because the GP9 is effectively brand new, much more of a departure from the GP8 than even the switch from 990cc to 800cc (GP6 to GP7). I'd say every major system on the bike has been totally revised and re-done, and it remains to be seen if anything radical will change engine-wise. I doubt it, because the motor works well within the constraint of only 21 liters of fuel being available. I never knew how stressful it could be to manage someone else's money, especially when we're talking about the kind of money you could use to buy a nice place in SF with, on the Marina. Every year.
Actually, getting back to Brno, it didn't feel like Brno. In years past, I've always been able to pick up on and notice the shift in behavior inside the paddock, as people try to clandestinely meet or bump into certain people "by chance" on the way to the bathrooms, etc. Much of the MotoGP paddock is static, in that Factory Yamaha, and also Tech 3, are effectively closed because their riders have renewed their contracts already and the crews won't be changing at all. Suzuki virtually never changes members of its staff, and HRC Honda rarely changes, either. I can see a potential sideways maneuver between some crew members if Dovi goes to HRC, meaning some of NH69's guys might shift to a satellite Honda team if Dovi takes one or two of his people, but if NH69 goes to Ducati, he wouldn't be bringing any of his boys. Speaking of Marlboro Ducati, I know who's moving in and out (looking like just one guy this year, and he'll be replaced with another Factory person), so they're wrapped up, too. That leaves Kawasaki (possible third bike!), Gresini, and the rest of the satellite Honda squads. Not much room to move amongst the Honda sats, because they're all predominantly Italian, running pretty much small teams that don't change very much. And Kawasaki? From what I've seen and heard throughout the paddock, Kawasaki has a way of easing people out of racing, haha. I really get along with some of the guys, but I have got to scratch my head when I think about what the higher ups are doing, consistently, to not get results. Still, they're a factory team and they operate at an extremely professional level. And what about my team? Well, that's been on everyone's mind since D'antin left in Assen. As the team is being absorbed by and into Pramac (Pramac is sole owner of the team now), everyone is wondering if the boss will want to retain everyone on his own paycheck and having his own team, or if he'll prefer to switch back to "leasing" a team, as he was doing with D'antin. Much of the silly season seems to revolve around whether or not the guys on my team will be cut at the end of the season to make way for new blood, since we were all connected to D'antin. Like every year, I have no idea what I'll be doing at this time next season. Every day is like a job interview, so I just keep plugging away and trying to do my best, but it's tough when things aren't going the right way and everyone is frustrated (particularly Ducati, when they won the Championship with CS last year, and then this year everyone else who touched the bike seemed to be vying for the last three spots on the grid). I guess the answers will all come out sooner or later, but right now the big decisions are up to the sponsors. Is Alice going to continue with their contract next year for title sponsorship? Will Pramac run their own team in house (and out of Italy), will Red Bull be coming here? Who the heck are the riders going to be? You wouldn't believe some of the names I've heard when people talk about who our riders are next season. That's why it's called silly season I guess. I'll poke around a little at Misano if I have time, but truthfully I think I'm going to be a bit strung out because I'll be prepping for 4 fly-aways outside of Europe, the longest run of "foreign" races in a row I can remember. No overnight shipments of emergency parts, and no real factory support if something goes really bad along the journey. One of the issues with getting parts overseas is the customs hold ups. Sure, it is possible to send things to Australia or Japan, but getting it there in time, and then making sure it clears customs in time to make a difference, these are the tricky parts. I'm guessing that Misano will now be the defacto Brno, in terms of people sliding around and getting in touch with one another. We'll see.
I still have the Freixenet cava smell on my sweater from the podium, haha, and I'm not planning on washing it until it gets really grimey this time. I spoke a bit about the last couple weeks/months on a couple episodes of MotoGPod, the podcast, recently, so if you're bored you might want to check that out. There's a really funny and fun interview with Mark Neale, director of Faster (1, 2, and 3), and he's a great guy to just talk to and hang out with. It's safe to say that the Faster movies helped inspire me to make the jump myself, so Mark is definitely a special person to me.
I'd also like to take a moment to send out condolences for Toriano Wilson, who tragically passed away after being struck by another rider while riding in the Red Bull Rookies Cup (US version). 14 years old and full of promise, it makes you stop for a minute and just consider how lucky we all are. Godspeed Toriano.
Lastly, I just want to say thank you for all the support from you guys and girls. It's not always easy rooting for the perennial underdogs, and I know everyone usually cites VR or NH (or any other big name rider) as their favorite, but sometimes the little guy can get out there and make an impact. Now that SN56 is riding the HRC spec machine on Bridgestones, it's likely that Honda is seriously looking at developing next year's machine around a Bridgestone package. SN's practice times have been great for several races now, and armed with his new bike, I think we'll be seeing more of him towards the front throughout the rest of the season. However, the Squadra delle Pecore Nere will be doing our best to keep him behind us, because we're after results and we dream big. There's no shame in where you end up, as long as you did your utmost getting there.
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How's the hangover 