All photos on this article that were shot by xBhp were shot on Pentax K-1
It is official, even Lewis Hamilton has said that MotoGP is better than F1! The dilemma of why the dog sticks its head out of the window is solved – finally. So it is no surprise that hordes of journalists from around the world catch red eye flights to witness one of the rounds of the pinnacle of two wheeled racing. This time is was in the sunny Spain, at Catalunya.
Let me put it straight up: I am not a fan of watching races live. Ultimately once the atmosphere sinks in and you bask in the sunshine (of the cold, or the rain as the case may be) and have checked out the umbrella girls and have exhausted all options of meeting your heroes live – you need to stick to the screen to follow the races closely. So once in a while it is acceptable. And when in Spain – definitely so. The weather was absolutely a dream – no wonder why so many MotoGP riders are Spanish. Perhaps the Spanish know how to make racing tracks and Italians know how to make the machines.
And French – the tyres? It seems so.
Friday Practice at Barcelona will be remembered for a long time to come. It was the day MotoGP (Moto2) lost another young rider, Luis Salom. The 24 year old Spaniard crashed at one of the most unlikely corners on the track and went on to hit the air fence. His bike bounced off the air fence and crashed into Salom. He was immediately attended to by the track marshals, before being taken to medical centre and then to the hospital. No stone was left unturned to save his life, but unfortunately he succumbed to his injuries in hospital. The race organisers asked his family if they would like the race to continue, and Salom’s family requested that the race be held albeit with a change to the racetrack. All three classes were to use the F1 layout, which would replace the fast flowing corner where Salom crashed with a chicane. A sombre mood had set on the paddock, as every rider from all three classes were deeply affected by the loss. A minutes silence was held on Sunday to mourn the loss of Luis Salom.
Despite all the advances in motorcycle, tyres, riding gear and track technology, the danger of such incidents is always lurking. We forget it or choose to ignore it. But every once in a while, it rears its ugly head, reminding us of the dangers that these racers undertake.
Tyres play a significant role in any motorcycle. More so in the premier class, where these machines are built for a spec tyre. Since the introduction of the spec tyre rule in MotoGP, the bikes have to be designed around the tyre, and not the other way around. The manufacturer, who gets it right, will be closest to the pointy end of things. After 7 years Michelin made a comeback to the premier class of motorcycle racing. Since they last raced in MotoGP, the bikes have gotten faster, lean angles have increased, corner speed has increased, electronics have improved and braking has gotten significantly stronger. Michelin had a year and a half to relearn MotoGP bikes and build a tyre that would be able to do all that these bikes are capable of and more. Of course, that is easier said than done. And the French tyre manufacturer had its ups and downs in the initial few races this season, but have steadily progressed and improved. The tyre compounds, carcass and structure has been finalised, and the riders are once again breaking lap records and pole records.
The challenge for Michelin was to build a tyre which would be as fast as Bridgestone, without sacrificing on tyre life. But most importantly, the tyres needed to be safe, with zero mishaps acceptable. At every race Michelin offers two compounds for the riders to use. At Barcelona, the hard and medium compounds were offered for use because of the high track temperatures expected. And even though track temperatures were hovering around 50 degrees centigrade, not all the riders went out on the harder compound. Dani Pedrosa and Tito Rabat ran medium tyres on their Hondas. Pedrosa eventually finished on the third step of the podium, which proved the consistency of the medium tyre, this was aided by the fact that the Spaniard is one of the smoothest riders around. On the other hand, there was Pol Espargaro as well, who is known for his aggressive riding style, and he ran the medium compound tyres on his Tech 3 Yamaha, front and rear. Yet he finished a credible fifth. Both these results are a strong showing for Michelin, where the riders have a real option between the two compounds for race day.
The hard tyre was employed by the rest of the field and Rossi clearly managed his rubber best on a greasy track. In the last few laps, Marquez appeared to be riding a bucking bronc in comparison to Rossi’s super smooth lines. Eventually, that got better of the Honda man as he almost crashed on the penultimate lap trying to keep up with the Italian. The Spaniard used his head and decided to take the twenty points and the championship lead, rather than risking a crash and losing it all.
It was a good battle between the Valentino Rossi and Marc Marquez for the win at Barcelona, but the two champions shaking hands in Parc Ferme was the icing on the cake for race fans around the globe. Since the start of hostilities between the two at Sepang last year, this was the first time Marquez and Rossi acknowledged each other’s presence, let alone exchanging pleasantries.
MotoGP Race Report:
Jorge Lorenzo took the holeshot and led Marc Marquez into turn 1, while Andrea Iannone got a fantastic start of the third row of the grid and found himself in 3rd ahead of Dani Pedrosa. Rossi dropped through to 8th position as they entered the first corner. Pedrosa immediately overtook Iannone, as the Repsol Honda riders didn’t allow Lorenzo to get away at the front.
Rossi worked his way through traffic and found himself behind the Ducati of Iannone as they crossed the line for the first time. The Yamaha didn’t have the grunt of the Ducati to use its slipstream, so Rossi went really deep on the brakes into turn 1, while Vinales didn’t let go of the opportunity and went passed the Ducati as well. Maverick was in a hurry to get past Rossi and made multiple attempts at passing him, only to run wide and lose ground.
On the third lap, Rossi passed Pedrosa at turn 10 and Vinales followed through at the chicane, but the Honda rider got back immediately at turn 16. The next lap, the Suzuki rider made a couple of more attempts at turn 5 and turn 10, only to run it wide. Thanks to the scrapping between the two, the front three started gapping them.
Rossi on the other hand, had clear air in front and behind him and set about reeling in Lorenzo and Marquez. Vinales was the first rider to drop into the 1’45s.
On lap six, Rossi passed Marquez at turn 4 and started closing the gap to his teammate. The next lap he would pass Lorenzo at turn 1 on the brakes, and Marquez followed through at turn 5, not wanting the Italian to get away.
Lorenzo was steadily moving backwards and Pedrosa passed him into turn 1, as Vinales attacked him in turn 5. Vinales was on the back wheel of the Yamaha, but couldn’t make a pass stick. It was incredible the number of times during the race, Vinales would make a move and run wide. Finally on lap 12, the Suzuki rider passed the Yamaha and immediately started pulling away.
The Ducati of Iannone and Tech 3 of Pol Espargaro were steadily closing the gap to the championship leader. On lap 17, Iannone had closed right up on Lorenzo’s back wheel and out braked himself into turn 10 and torpedoed Lorenzo in the process, who was sent flying into the gravel. The Spanish rider was visibly angry at the stupid move pulled off by the Italian.
Marquez was riding on the ragged edge as he tried to keep up with Rossi and almost lost it at turn 14, it was a miracle that he didn’t crash out. He instead went about once again closing the gap to the Italian and on lap 21 made an unsuccessful move on him. On lap 22, Marquez was close enough on the main straight to use the Yamaha’s slipstream, but Rossi held him off on the brakes going into turn 1. The next lap would see a repeat performance, with Marquez coming out on top in the game of late braking. Rossi immediately attacked at the next corner, but the Spaniard held him off.
On the penultimate lap, Rossi returned the favour and went past him on the main straight and held off Marquez into the first corner. Marquez pushed to find a way past Rossi, only to make a mistake at turn 7, which allowed Rossi a 1.5 second cushion. The Italian kept his cool and finished the final lap comfortably ahead of Marquez to take his second win of the season. Pedrosa finished a comfortable third, while Vinales finished in fourth. Pol Espargaro finished in 5th almost 30 seconds behind the race winner. Cal Crutchlow took 6th, which was his first top six result of this season. Andrea Dovizioso, Alvaro Bautista, Danilo Petrucci and Jack Miller rounded out the top ten.
With Lorenzo crashing out, Marc Marquez now leads the championship by 10 points, where earlier he was trailing the Yamaha man by 10 points. Rossi has closed the gap from 37 points to 22 points behind the championship leader. With Rossi’s win and Lorenzo crashing out, the championship once again is wide open and either of the top three riders could win. But if there is one thing that this season has shown, it is that the unexpected will happen…
Photos Courtesy: Yamaha MotoGP. Except where specifically mentioned
xBhp also shoots with the fantastic Ricoh Theta 360!
But hang on, this would be incomplete without the Barcelona city photos, which is what makes this place so wonderful post race:
