#Motogp

An idea struck me after reading Tom’s Top 10 lists about 500cc/MotoGP and World Superbike champions. There are so many great riders who come through both series, and yet, at the end of the year, only one of them can be crowned champion. The rest? They get the unfortunate distinction of bridesmaids (hence the lead photo above from the movie with the same name). It’s often said in professional sports that nobody remembers second place, but in this Top 10 I’m doing just that – paying tribute to the top riders who were never able to bring home a world title.

In the run-up to today’s Spanish Grand Prix, several things were clear. Defending world champion Marc Marquez would be riding wounded with a broken left pinkie. Jorge Lorenzo, dominating the practice sessions, had that look in his eye reminiscent of 2010, 2012 and late 2014. The Ducatis were having a tough time getting anything going in the Spanish heat. And Valentino Rossi had a great chance to secure his 200th career podium.

First it was Dani Pedrosa, after a disappointing season opener in Qatar, announcing that his chronic arm pump issues would require immediate surgery, keeping him out of the saddle indefinitely. Then, just the other day, we learn that teammate and Supreme Intergalactic Potentate Marc Marquez smashed the little finger on his left hand to bits in training, necessitating a delicate surgery and some hurry-up physio. Pedrosa is out, and Marquez has been deemed “questionable” for Round 4 this weekend. Several Italians smell blood in the water.

The second Grand Prix de la República Argentina of the modern era started out as a parade and ended with everyone – riders, fans, announcers – gasping for air, going mad over the events on Lap 24. Defending world champion and Honda poster boy Marc Marquez would have, could have and should have won this race. But two errors on his part, combined with one of Valentino Rossi’s finest hours, spelled disaster for the young Catalan, who now sits squarely behind the eight ball heading to Jerez.

One year ago, heading into Round 3 in Argentina, I was pretty sure of two things: 1. Marc Marquez was going to win a second MotoGP world championship in 2014, and 2. Valentino Rossi’s alien days were behind him. Going 1-for-2 is great in baseball, not so much in the world of motorcycle prognostication. As it turns out, Rossi may offer the biggest obstacle to Marquez’ quest for a third consecutive title. And Andrea Dovizioso’s application for membership in the alien club has now been approved, at the apparent expense of Repsol #2 Dani Pedrosa.

Repsol Honda reigning champion Marc Marquez extended his winning streak in the U.S. to six, taking an easy win at Circuit of the Americas by a country mile over Ducati #1 Andrea Dovizioso who had himself fought off several challenges from Yamaha former world champion Valentino Rossi. Confirming that Losail was an outlier, and tightening the standings at the top of the premier class food chain, COTA was revealing.

For the second year in a row, The Grand Prix of Qatar delivered a riveting race with unexpected results. The 2014 edition saw putative race favorite Jorge Lorenzo dump his Yamaha M1 on the first lap, paving the way for a cage match between teammate Valentino Rossi and defending Repsol Honda world champion Marc Marquez in which Marquez prevailed by a quarter second. A year later, it was the favorite Marquez going walkabout on Lap 1, setting up a night-long rumble between the factory Yamahas and the factory Ducatis (what?) in which Rossi eventually pipped Andrea Dovizioso at the flag.

I’ll admit, I was one of the many who thought the 2015 MotoGP season would be a fight for second, with the phenom that is Marc Marquez destroying the world’s supply of elbow sliders en route to yet another title. If yesterday’s MotoGP season opener in Qatar was any indication, however, I should have remembered that Sundays are the only days that matter in racing. Here now are my thoughts on the race and the season to come.

There is a reason 36 year-old Valentino Rossi is still the most revered motorcycle racer on the planet. In his 313th grand prix start, Rossi, on the factory Yamaha, delivered a dazzling performance in the 2015 season opener, going hammer and tongs with factory Ducati #1 Andrea “DesmoDovi” Dovizioso all night before punking his compatriot by 17/100ths of a second to take the lead in the title chase for the first time since 2010.

All of the story lines leading up to the 2015 MotoGP season boil down to one: who has the stones, and the bike, and the team, and the vision to take the title away from Marc Marquez? Is it only Marquez himself, some suddenly reckless version way different from the 2013 and 2014 champion, who crashes early and often and digs himself a hole that Jorge Lorenzo or Valentino Rossi or maybe Dani Pedrosa or possibly one of the Andreas from the factory Ducati team rushes to fill…

With 50 years in the world championships of motorcycle racing, Giancarlo Cecchini is almost surely the most experienced mechanic currently active in the MotoGP circus. He has eight world titles on his C.V. and has worked with legends like Saarinen, Pasolini, Provini and Carruthers. He remains in the paddock still today, helping out his son, Ongetta Rivacold, who helms a Moto3 team with rider Niccolò Antonelli. But his roots in Grand Prix racing stretch back decades.

Cresting the hill coming onto the front straight at Sydney Motorsport Park (better known as Eastern Creek Raceway), the throttle is wide open in second gear. As I click into third, the front comes up, rests at a neutral position about a foot off the ground, then gently returns to Earth moments later. All the while, the throttle was resting on the stop. Drive never felt interrupted, and despite the roughly 200 horses packed inside the new 2015 Yamaha YZF-R1, there was never a fear of being too liberal with the throttle. That’s when I knew Yamaha has just raised the bar. A lot has changed since the original R1 was introduced in 1998, and with the 2015 Yamaha YZF-R1 and R1M, never has the line between MotoGP and lil ’ol me been so blurred. That’s not just a Yamaha marketing tagline, either. Valentino Rossi himself (along with American Superbike champ, Josh Hayes) had a significant role in developing the R1, with the aim to incorporate the most sophisticated level of electronics on a production sportbike. These are just a few examples:

Apologies in advance if the headline of this week’s Top 10 baited you in, but by virtue of being here, at least a small part of you enjoys seeing a good highside. There’s something about seeing a rider, bike, or both catapulted into orbit that captures our imagination.

In the 65-year history of motorcycle Grand Prix racing there’s been a total of 815 premier class races: 580 500cc class races and 235 MotoGP class races. Of the 16 manufacturers that have won premier-class races, the manufacturer in the #1 spot in this list has won 32% of the total 815 races. The second-place finisher has won 25% of all races, while third place has won 17%. Possibly more interesting is that the third-place finisher in this list hasn’t won a race since 1976.

In terms of gearhead appeal, the passion of Italy’s high-performance enterprises and plethora of world-class racetracks are impossible to beat. So, when Yamaha was deciding to set up its European headquarters for its racing operations, it chose Gerno di Lesmo, a stone’s throw from the historic Monza circuit not far from Milan.