MotoGP 2016: Title up for grabs as Rossi shines in Catalan GP

AutoX witnessed the balance of the MotoGP world championship shift towards Valentino Rossi, following an absorbing battle between the legend and his heir apparent.

While it may sometimes appear to be a straight up contest between riders, there are far more factors that go into deciding the outcome of a MotoGP race and ultimately who wins the crown. It is par for the course in any major motorsport championship. Competitors have gotten to a point where they expect an ‘unfair advantage’ every now and again after rising through the junior ranks on the back of their talent and backing.

This was made apparent by Honda and Yamaha’s mighty factory teams becoming the place to be if a rider was even remotely serious about winning a MotoGP crown. Decisions taken by each manufacturer also led to bike characteristics determining the outcome of many races, made extremely apparent by the manner in which Honda’s Marc Marquez was narrowly beaten by Yamaha’s defending champion Jorge Lorenzo at the Italian Grand Prix at Mugello.

Through it all, however, the human behind the wheel or astride a bike does make the difference. That was apparently clear to me even before seeing the MotoGP monsters unleashed in anger at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya at Montmelo.

The popularity of Valentino Rossi is, in many ways, directly proportional to the booming popularity of MotoGP over the last 16 years. With its format of short races that don’t last more than 45 minutes, MotoGP has managed to create a sprint race format (supported by two other classes) that force riders to thrust, parry and attack over a short, but extremely intense, period of time.

And over those last 15 years, Rossi has been the most successful proponent of the art of MotoGP while being supported by giants like Honda and Yamaha; the less said about his two-year stint at Ducati, the better for the sake of his die-hard supporters’ state of mind!

HIS FOR THE TAKING

Combined with Yamaha having struck a near perfect balance between power and handling, the introduction of standard electronics, far less predictable Michelin tyres – who replaced Bridgestone as MotoGP’s control supplier – and his vast experience, which stretches to 20 years if you count his 125cc debut, Rossi is being able to race the way he wants when conditions really favour Yamaha. Such was the situation at the Catalan GP, where due to the ‘knackered’ state of the track surface – which has not been resurfaced since 2004 – Michelin was forced to build entirely new tyre compounds that ultimately turned out to be very sensitive to track temperatures.

The rider who adapted best to the situation turned out to be Rossi as he visibly sacrificed practice pace and grid position for a strong set-up for the race during Sunday’s warm-up. Rossi set the fastest time on his fourth lap out and then never went slower than six tenths of a second whenever he went on a hot lap. Marquez was second quickest but his lap times ultimately dipped to a second and then two seconds slower than his best mark. Lorenzo, too ended up dropping that much time after setting his fastest time early.

It became clear that Rossi’s fifth place starting grid that he secured on Saturday in qualifying would be of little consequence to the pace that was more likely to come from him over the course of the 25-lap race.

And the pace was there, oh boy was it there. Seeing it in person added a whole new dimension as one saw these two wheel rockets match the acceleration and speed of F1 cars and then twitch furiously as the riders tried to slow them down in time for the twisty bits. Having previously witnessed F1 cars blast out of corners as if on rails at the same circuit in 2008, watching MotoGP bikes lean as if they were riding on their sides while riders tried to carry as much speed in corners and get on the power early added to my appreciation of these machines and those that ride them hard. Clearly I was not alone as the stands, where camps of yellow 46 flags (Rossi) competed with red 93s (Marquez), erupted every time the riders managed to find the grip to put down all of the 240bhp on tap in order to blast down the main straight at speeds of 340 km/h. With his front tyre failing badly, Lorenzo’s early pass on Marquez at the start was negated as he systematically fell to fifth place before the man he would be replacing at Ducati next year – Andrea Iannone – chose the wrong line to avoid the number 99 Yamaha as it drastically slowed down for a left-hand turn. The result was both riders crashing out and more than just a few cynical cheers for the championship leader being unable to score any points. Thankfully the crash was far less benign than the one that cast a shadow over the weekend; Moto2 rider Luis Salom’s mysterious (the cause is still not clear) but fatal fall at turn 12 of the 4.655 km circuit that led to riders all but unanimously agreeing to switch to the layout used by F1, with a chicane used instead of the sweeping, right-handed penultimate corner.

GETTING TIGHT

At the front of the field, Rossi and Marquez swapped the lead amongst each other but Marquez’s inability to push on his tyres meant he was not able to hold the lead after taking it. “There are better tracks coming up for us,” Marquez told autoX at the post-race press conference. “I wanted to come here close to the championship leader so I am glad that I actually am in the lead.”

Just 22 points behind Marquez and 12 behind Lorenzo sits Rossi who demystified his modus operandi, for anyone who was asking. “I ride the way I always have for the last 20 years,” said Rossi. “And that is to go as strong and fast as possible at 2pm on a Sunday.”

For 20 years, it’s been a recipe for MotoGP’s success that has been complimented with concessions to less competitive factory teams, a strong and aggressive social media presence and a global expansion – fuelled, like F1 by the need for profit making by a venture capitalist firm that owns its commercial rights – that could even see a round in Kazakhstan of all places! One can only hope India is able to cash in as well while the yellow 46 casts a long shadow over the sport.