MotoGP Preview
Round 4: Shanghai
By David Emmett
May 11, 2006
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This weekend, the MotoGP circus descends on the third new MotoGP track in a row, in Shanghai, China. The last of the new tracks and—many say—the least. Where Istanbul has its fantastic rolling layout and do-or-die last chicane before the finish straight, and Qatar has its great combinations of fast and slow bends (though hampered by the flatness of the Losail topography), Shanghai suffers from being designed to fit an idea. Or rather, an ideogram, as the track layout is loosely modeled on the Chinese character “Shang,” meaning high, or above—part of Shanghai’s name. The result is a strange combination of the fastest straight of the season, where speeds reach nearly 215 mph, followed by the slowest corner (though the remodeled Strubben at Assen may also prove to be a contender for that honor), making for one of the slowest average speeds all year. The long, slow corners are great for Formula One cars, but a good deal less fun on a racing motorcycle, and it shows.

John Hopkins fared well in the wet last year at Shanghai; will his Suzuki have the speed to keep up with the rest of the field this weekend? Andrew Northcott photo

In its defense, the track has not yet had a chance to show its true potential, as last year’s race (the debut for MotoGP) was held in a downpour. The rain was so bad on race day that the 125cc race was delayed by half an hour due to flooding. When the MotoGP race did get underway, it turned into a showcase for replacement riders, with Olivier Jacque piloting Alex Hofmann’s Kawasaki to a superb second place, the Green Machine’s best result in the top class, and Makoto Tamada’s stand-in Jurgen van den Goorbergh finishing a fine sixth on his first outing on a four-stroke MotoGP bike. The underpowered Suzukis also showed that there was nothing wrong with the riders, John Hopkins ending up seventh, and Kenny Roberts Jr leading the race for the first five laps in a masterful display of wet-weather riding before his Suzuki blew a big end.

And the weather looks set to play a role this year, as well. Last year’s complaints of not enough dry track time are likely to be repeated, with showers forecast for Friday, Saturday, and Sunday morning. Setup is absolutely key at Shanghai, precisely because of its mixture of high-speed straights and low-speed corners, and finding a setting that suits both requires lots of time and a consistent surface. If the forecasters are right, and we have wet weather, the riders could be hurting for dry set-up time, leaving tire choice and suspension settings a bit of a lottery.

Yamaha is desparately searching for answers to their traction woes as the Chinese GP nears. Andrew Northcott photo

Gripping Stuff
It is Yamaha who will suffer most from this lack of dry track time. So far this season, the manufacturer of last year’s best bike has bounced back and forth between chatter from too much grip and a lack of traction. After every race so far this year, Valentino Rossi has ridden the 2005 bike in a bid to find out where the 2006 machine is going wrong. Rossi summed up the results so far by joking that he has the first bike in history to be better on worn tires. In a post-race interview in Istanbul, The Doctor’s Camel Yamaha teammate Colin Edwards looked ready to start shooting somebody, and he used the ominous phrase “we’d better pull it around.” Even the riders at the Tech3 Yamaha team are getting in on the act, including Spaniard Carlos Checa and Brit James Ellison, are unhappy with their Dunlop-shod Yamahas’ handling. A repeat win for Rossi seems unlikely, but with The Doctor, you never know.

A Wealth of Opportunity
All this plays into the hands of Honda and HRC, who are suffering from an embarrassment of riches this year. Nicky Hayden is off to a great start to the season, finishing on the podium every race so far, and he shows every sign of winning very, very soon. Hayden’s diminutive Spanish teammate, Dani Pedrosa, has been unlucky to only be on the podium once this year, after pushing too hard in Istanbul. LCR Honda’s Casey Stoner came within three corners of winning in Turkey, beaten by an outstanding braking maneuver by Fortuna Honda’s Marco Melandri. Even fellow Fortuna rider Toni Elias is threatening to break into the winner’s circle. But all these riders taking turns on the podium, and taking points off each other, have allowed Rossi to stay in contention in the championship rankings, thwarting Honda’s main goal of deposing the champion who turned his back on them to go to Yamaha.

Another “Honda” rider is Kenny Roberts Jr on the Team Roberts bike, which is still in the middle of development and is lacking test time and data. After leading last year, Junior will be hungry in Shanghai, but the real fun will start when the MotoGP circus returns to Europe, allowing the England-based team to get frames to races quicker.

Konica Minolta Honda’s Makoto Tamada is the odd Honda rider out so far this season. With a very lackluster showing in the three races to date, and no experience at the technical Shanghai track, few will be betting on Tamada to be at the front on race day.

Honda has experienced great fortunes as Nicky Hayden, Marco Melandri, Casey Stoner and Dani Pedrosa have all finished on the podium this year. Andrew Northcott photo

Kings of Speed
All eyes will be on the Ducati riders this weekend. With the fastest bike of the bunch on the fastest straight of the season, the question on everyone’s lips is will we see a red machine break 220 mph through the speed traps down the back straight? Loris Capirossi will be looking to avenge his bad result at last year’s race and repeat his win at Jerez, while Ducati Marlboro teammate Sete Gibernau will be hoping for an end to the run of indifferent luck that has dogged his season so far. No one doubts that the Ducati is fast, but the question is will it be fast enough?

It could turn out to be a tough weekend for the two teams that are down on speed compared to the Hondas, Ducatis, and Yamahas. Although both Rizla Suzuki and Kawasaki had a good race last year, they’ll be struggling to keep up if the track is dry on Sunday. The Suzuki GSV-R’s superb handling will certainly help around the slower sections of the track, but the question remains whether John Hopkins and Chris Vermeulen will be able to stay with the rest down the back straight. Vermeulen comes off a strong result in Turkey but is another newcomer to the track, and Hopper ran well at the start of the last race before being forced to pit for a rear tire. Still, Hopkins ran well last year and must fancy his chances.

Kawasaki will want to equal their result of last year, though more in hope than in expectation. The bike is definitely getting faster, and Shinya Nakano and Randy de Puniet have both proven to be fast, but the two straights at Shanghai could hurt them as well. Though neither rider is a wet-weather champion, expect to see the Kawasaki crew doing rain dances in the pits this weekend.

So, Shanghai is, like the character the track is modeled on, up in the air. There are too many imponderables to be able to predict what will happen, so we’ll just have to sit back and enjoy the action.