What does Rossi being fast on a Yamaha mean for MotoGP?
A week ago today Valentino Rossi qualified poorly, but got up to 4th, fell back to 7th, and then charged through the field to finish 2nd. It was an impressive ride, and one we would have never seen had he stayed on the Ducati Desmosedici. So, now that MotoGP has had its way and it’s most sellable star is again up on the podium in a dry race, what does it mean for the series?
Well, firstly, it means that Valentino is not slow. Not that very many people felt he would be slow when he got his hands on the bike he fell in love with. But it goes to show how difficult the Ducati was to ride. I don’t want to harp on too much about the Duke, but a telling interview of Rossi by MCN outlined some telling details. Rossi was shocked by the Ducati, having expected a bike that was capable of winning races. He has Casey Stoner to thank for that particular bomb shell. The Italian goes on to say that only Stoner could use the bike, and Rossi simply couldn’t, and is mystified to this day how Casey could win riding the Ducati. But perhaps the most interesting part was Rossi’s comment about Ducati’s attitudes to its riders and its bikes. When Rossi came in after testing the bike to tell Ducati staff what was wrong with their baby, the mechanics and staff didn’t trust his feedback. Why hire a rider of Rossi’s ability and then question what he’s saying? Then, to further compound the issue, Rossi stated that the crew also took the feedback more as assault on the bike. Stoner often outlined how difficult it was to get the Desmosedici altered and improved, and Rossi’s words exactly match what Stoner had said for years. With the Japanese marques, Rossi goes on, the staff are almost thankful for negative feedback. They see at as constructive, know what needs doing, and it gives them the direction to go away and know their work is going to help. At Ducati it seems, first it is the rider that is wrong, and then he must ‘learn to use the bike’…and only then will the bike be looked at.
Anyway, Rossi being back to somewhere near the front could also change racing this year. Since the introduction of the 800cc bikes, the riders have not only become faster, they have become more consistent, and incredibly smooth. The bikes respond best to this style, with high corner speeds a must, resulting in races that have been somewhat processional. The fastest rider wins, unless he makes a mistake, in which case the next fastest rider wins. Mistakes among the top riders have been few and far between, and with very little between the fastest riders, catching up and passing is difficult. With so much at stake for a single mistake, dives down the inside were rarer and rarer. Now though, Rossi has returned, and he has possibly less pressure than ever. Historically he has always raced to win, and raced to pass the rider in front no matter what, more often than not at least. With no pressure on him and a bike that is capable of winning races, it looks like he’ll revert back to his gun slinging style. Even if Jorge Lorenzo is faster than Rossi, which on the basis on the Qatar Grand Prix he is, Rossi is still capable of ruining the Mallorcan’s moment, get in the way of his lines, and slow him down. You don’t need to be the fastest to win a race after all, just fast enough.
Rossi isn’t the be all and end of MotoGP, of course. There are other riders that are capable of fighting at the front. But Rossi’s effect on them could change the racing style. Take Cal Crutchlow, for example. He was quick round the Losail circuit, but couldn’t get past Dani Pedrosa or Marc Marquez. Rossi turned up, and dispatched all three. Yes, Cal had a fuelling issue which affected his acceleration, and Rossi of course has a factory bike, but Cal’s words are telling. What will he do next time he thinks a Honda is slowing him down? ‘Take a leaf out of Valentino’s book, and start charging them. If that’s the only way to do it, then we’ve got to do it.’ While I have no such quote from Marquez, he too is a rider that is hugely skilled, but also aggressive and dives through gaps. In seeing him dicing with Rossi in Qatar it was clear that Marquez would rather turn a slower lap and be ahead than use the perfect lines and save half a second.
Now, no one knows if the mentality of the entire field will change, but there is precedent. In F1, the drivers got so used to it being hard to overtake they almost stopped bothering even trying. Lewis Hamilton came along and was quickly seen as being an incredible overtaker, and then, once the overtaking aids came like DRS and KERS, overtaking started becoming the norm again. And before you shout ‘These are fake tools!’, well, overtaking now takes place in areas of the track were these aids aren’t so useful, like round the outside a corner, through esses, and so on. But the point is, the drivers got a kick up the arse, and now they make moves more often, and everyone loves it. With Rossi coming back, Marquez coming in and Crutchlow irritated he couldn’t do what Rossi did, three big names could begin to get in the way of Lorenzo and Pedrosa (when he’s back on form) and we could have a train of five riders at the front desperately vying for position.
Which brings us on to my final topic, the growth of MotoGP. Sure it’s early days and I’m jumping the gun, but MotoGP.com reported that viewing figures were ‘vast’ for the Qatar Grand Prix. The UK saw a 75% increase in viewers, Spain 46%, Italian 17.6%, and while this isn’t all down to Rossi, the race was a stonker, and more people saw it than last year. They’ll come back. And if it’s better next time, more will come back. And they’ll be plenty of American’s watching the next one too, maybe even new converts to MotoGP thanks to its new home in Texas at the Circuit of the Americas. The more riders that are riding the way the viewers want, the better, and if it also turns out to be the only way to win a race at the moment, then that’s great. One rider isn’t enough, we need a number of riders, all racing hard and entertaining us. When MotoGP gets back its audience base, the teams can get more backers and sponsors, they’ll be more bikes, a greater number of equal machinery, more manufacturers, and then the racing will be better than ever.
So, what does Rossi being fast on a Yamaha mean? It means the fastest guys in MotoGP will have more riders in their face slowing them down, and the fastest guys ain’t guna always win. Well, maybe at least.
Motothoughts 