MotoGP: Czech GP Full Preview ( Good article )

[R1 Biker]

MotoGP: Czech GP Preview
Back In Action, But Will Team Roberts Czech Out?

Thursday, August 25, 2005

After a four-week hiatus, the Grand Prix elite return to action this weekend for Round 11 of the 2005 MotoGP World Championship at the stunning Brno circuit in the Czech Republic. With the summer break over, Brno marks the start of a gruelling worldwide trek with seven races taking place in a little over two months—four of those races being "fly away" events.

After resting their weary throttle hands, the premier class competitors will get back on the gas tomorrow, and the first free practice session should provide us with some vital clues as to which factories have used the holiday period to the best of their developmental abilities.

The Brno race meeting is normally the time of year where new parts and upgrades appear on the machines and, certainly for Honda and Yamaha, the practice sessions, and indeed the post-race test, should see the factory riders putting those developmental packages through their paces.

Expect to see the likes of Gibernau, Biaggi and Hayden surrounded by HRC-shirted officials, as well as all manner of engineering staff carrying clipboards and laptops about the garages as upgrades are put through their paces. There will no doubt be the normal speculation as to who has engine and chassis upgrades, who is running with a new exhaust layout and who has tweaked electronics under the fairing of their bike.

The story will be the same over at Gauloises Yamaha, and Ducati Marlboro riders Capirossi and Checa could well benefit from aerodynamic work undertaken in the UK. Although the work in the wind tunnel—supervised by Ducati Corse Technical Director Filippo Preziosi and engineer Alan Jenkins—is geared toward the 2006 Desmosedici, Ducati's poor season thus far could see an eye to the future with the 2005 bike being used as a guinea pig.

Kawasaki and Suzuki too are rumored to be running "new versions" of their bikes this weekend, with Suzuki running three machines including Nobuatsu Aoki who is entered as a wild-card for this Grand Prix. Paul Denning will be upbeat about the chances of his three riders as the Brno circuit should suit the engine package of the GSV-R, but the usual questions about the durability of the Bridgestone race tires will be all too evident.

Valentino Rossi is aiming to eclipse Mike Hailwood's race victory mark as the Italian multiple world champion aims to take his ninth victory of the season and notch 77 total wins in Grand Prix roadracing.

Rossi's title lead looks all but insurmountable, so the real battle is for second place in the championship with Melandri, Gibernau, Edwards, Biaggi, Barros and Hayden split by just 15 points.

Melandri has gone off the boil after a strong start to the season, Edwards had a disappointing weekend at the Sachsenring, and Gibernau and Biaggi have been somewhat inconsistent and prone to silly mistakes at crucial moments, although race pace from the two has been strong from their respective grid positions.

Nick Hayden is in fine form and Alex Barros has been consistent on the Camel-sponsored customer RCV. All told, a lot of riders have a point to prove and those who can master the front-end tire issues will be the ones fighting for podium positions come Sunday.

The undulating layout of the track, with many downhill, off-camber turns, leads to balance and stability problems at the front of the motorcycle, and both Michelin and Bridgestone are bringing new tires to try to aid the riders in finding that perfect set-up. The latest evolution of tires (from both major suppliers) has as many as three different compounds on them for the differing layouts at some tracks, and Brno should be no different.

The eight-turn run in the middle of the lap is all downhill, so mastering this tricky section of the track will be key in finding those tenths of a second needed for a competitive grid slot and in finding a rhythm for a solid race pace.

Grand Prix racing had been staged at a famous road circuit on the outskirts of Brno since 1965. The track held its last 500cc Grand Prix in 1977, which was won by Johnny Cecotto on a Yamaha. Plans were then formulated to build a purpose-built circuit in the wooded hills above the town, which is famous for the production of beer and firearms.

The Czech Republic circuit has successfully moved with the times to secure world championship motorcycle racing since the town's historic racing origins. Modern roadracing has demanded increased safety, naturally moving away from the perilous public roads of old, and the all-new Masaryk circuit was built.

The 3.357-mile Brno circuit was completed in 1986 and hosted its first Grand Prix, the Czechoslovakian Grand Prix a year later, which was won by Australian Wayne Gardner riding for Honda. It has staged Grand Prix racing ever since with the name changing to the Czech Republic Grand Prix in 1993.

With the natural bowl layout, which hosts the combination of medium speed corners and sweeping chicanes, coupled with the long start and finish straight, it's a favorite for many of the riders. There are eight right-handers and six lefts, and the front straightaway is 0.395 miles long with many elevation changes around the lap. The wide track and large run-off areas promote safety to a high degree at Brno—something the riders committee doesn't need to moan about at this venue.

It's a popular venue with the racing-crazy Czech crowd and travelling GP fans from all over the world. The beer is cheap, accommodations are affordable, and access, for the most part, is good from the surrounding area. 104,000 people attended the race meeting in 2004, bettering the 2003 weekend figure by more than 36,000.

Max Biaggi is known as "The King Of Brno", his four 250cc race wins complemented by premier class victories in 1998, 2000 and 2002. However, history counts for nothing if you are struggling, and with only two podiums all year, Max needs to weave some Brno magic again in order to add another victory to his career and salvage his season.

Sete Gibernau won this race last year but he is still yet to secure a race victory in 2005. In Germany, he tossed away 25 points with a first-turn mistake on the very last lap. His teammate Melandri has won three times in the feeder classes in Brno, and Alex Barros holds the circuit lap record. So the Movistar riders and the Brazilian were obviously playing up their chances in the yesterday's HRC press release.

Valentino Rossi is just two race victories away from clinching his seventh world title and, with wins at Brno in 1996 (125cc class), 1999 (250cc class), 2001 (500cc class), and 2003 (MotoGP class), the Italian is looking to set up a title celebration in Japan (Motegi) in three weeks time with a win this weekend.

John Hopkins is not fully recovered from an operation on his broken foot following his injury-filled weekend in Germany, but he will attempt to ride--which is more than can be said for Shane Byrne.

With KTM pulling out of their engine-supply contract with Team Roberts, and with Byrne under contract with the Austrian factory, the 2003 British Superbike Champion cannot ride for the team. King Kenny's team is confident of running a machine at Brno and, at present, it is expected they will run their 2004 V5 bike, with Jeremy McWilliams in the saddle, although this is yet to be confirmed via an official release.

The Blata V6 machine—which was looking to see its debut at Brno—is not ready for action. Comments from Pavel Blata today confirm the bike is all but physically ready as a complete motorcycle but development restraints will prevent the bike from appearing on track at a Grand Prix in the near future.

As for the silly season, well, it's the most muted rumor-mill scenario I can remember in recent years, with the usual hype and furious news exchanges not coming to the fore as in the past. Loris Capirossi is being touted as returning to Honda for 2006 and John Hopkins will possibly fill Capirossi's seat at Ducati.

It's still being suggested that Kawasaki will attempt to run three, or possibly four, machines next season--two in the official squad and another at least from a franchise slot. And, Luca Montiron is reported to be looking to run two Hondas for the Japan/Italy concern--Dorna grid slot politics notwithstanding.

One of the stronger 250cc teams could well step up and take over the running of a MotoGP squad with the costs rising alarmingly for the franchise teams (and everyone for that matter). Is Harold Eckl and his team infrastructure going to part company with the Kawasaki factory--as that story has been running through the paddock for a while now—a possible opening for that 250cc squad?

And, what of the Tech 3 team? They are parting company with Yamaha at the end of this season. Could we see them run a one-man operation from a leased slot? Herve Poncheral has yet to comment on the plans for his team for 2006.

Louis D'Antin is reported to have secured a backer with a 40% cash injection to boost the team's cash flow although, again, until a release is forthcoming, that is purely conjecture, and it is uncertain if that backer is only on board for the remainder of this season.

The involvement of Telefonica has been a talking point in Europe; with the telecommunications giant being linked with heavier investment in Formula One should Fernando Alonso win the title this season in the premier car racing series. However, reports in the Spanish press are occasionally wide of the mark as has been seen recently with a few "hopeful stories" amounting to nothing.

With costs soaring and politics ruling the roost, it would be a shame to see the MotoGP bubble burst; its success as an entertaining sporting entity isn't in doubt (on track). However, should we lose another team or two, and see the field reduced to fewer than twenty runners, for me anyway, it would become a bit of a farce.

As we said in our season preview, Dorna has to look at this situation and assess testing and development costs (in the first instance) as well as the length of the season before we look in the mirror and see Formula One staring back at us.

The Gauloises Grand Prix Ceske Republiky should be interesting and exciting for many reasons, both on and off track and the first Free Practice session gets underway at 10am, local time, tomorrow. Get ready to turn on, tune in, and drop yourself in the La-Z-Boy. Vacation's over, race fans!