MotoGP: 2009 Assen Preview

By now, even your grandmother knows there’s a three way tie for first in the championship standings, with Fiat Yamaha’s Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo sharing the top spot with Ducati Marlboro’s Casey Stoner. Repsol Honda’s Andrea Dovizioso and Dani Pedrosa occupy fourth and fifth places, respectively, followed byTech 3 Yamaha’s Colin Edwards, Marco Melandri on the very non-factory Hayate Racing Kawasaki, and Loris Capirossi rolling his own in the eighth spot on the Rizla Suzuki. Behind Capirex sit a bunch of guys hoping to not lose their rides next season, a topic that deserves a little discussion.

Simoncelli Signs for 2010

Speculation has it that at least two other riders – American World Superbike racer Ben Spies and 250cc Grand Prix leading Spaniard Alvaro Bautista have been mentioned frequently – will be graduating to MotoGP’s premier class next season. As the current global economic climate argues against additional rides, there figure to be at least three current riders who will lose their spots on the grid AND the babes holding their umbrellas before the races start.

Much to my surprise, there was a story planted on Motorcyclenews.com this week asserting that Nicky Hayden doesn’t have to do well at Assen and Laguna Seca to keep his spot on the Ducati Marlboro team. Who, I’m wondering, has been murmuring otherwise of late, such that a story like this became necessary? Nicky Hayden is a great rider who will figure out the Desmosedici, or he won’t, in which case he’ll go back to work for Honda or hook up with Yamaha and contend for championships again in the near future.

There’s no question that the Ducati 800cc bike is an engineering marvel. However, other than Casey Stoner (and perhaps Mika Kallio), no one can ride it. Personally, I don’t think the Fiat Yamaha garage is big enough for both Valentino and Jorge, and expect one of them to depart in the next year or so. And, yes, your grandmother could be competitive on the YZR-M1.

Without much fanfare, and despite my pleading to the contrary, Rizla Suzuki riders Chris Vermeulen and Capirossi ran Stage 6 at Catalunya two weeks ago with a new, untested power plant. Who knew? The results were virtually identical to their results all season long – a fifth and an 11th. At Mugello they recorded a sixth and a tenth, at LeMans a sixth and an eighth and at Jerez a sixth and a tenth.

They were very upbeat after their post-Catalunya testing, but they’re ALWAYS jacked up heading into race weekends. I think they need a NEW new engine. I also think they have “Upbeat and Enthusiastic” clauses in their contracts that pay them extra bucks for sounding, you know, upbeat and enthusiastic during press conferences. Wouldn’t it be a gas if Capi were to bust loose with a couple of microphones in his face and say, “Look, I’m in fifth place pushing this piece of ____ tricycle. Put me on a decent ride and I’ll be on the podium every week. I’m 36, for God’s sake – haven’t I earned a respectable set of wheels?”

Bits and Pieces

If Andrea Dovizioso had been able to squeeze a total of 7/10ths of a second off his combined time in the last two races, he would have scored two podiums. I’m going to stick my neck out this week and predict he scores his first podium of the year at Assen … Kallio was able to test some new fittings on his Ducati after the Catalunya race and was turning laps a second and a half faster than he did during the race. Perhaps the young Finn will be taking over the spot as Stoner’s understudy thought to have been reserved for Hayden … The weather forecast for the weekend looks great for Sunday. Unfortunately, this is Assen, the only race of the season that is run on Saturday, and rain is expected on both Friday and Saturday … the over/under on Yuki Takahashi on Saturday is 10 laps completed. Don’t expect to see him back on the Team Scot Honda next season. In fact, if it rains on Saturday he may sit this one out, as his team apparently has only two machines on hand for the race, and he got a booboo on his finger crashing out on Lap 1 at Catalunya.