Road Racerhead v.2 #15
April 14, 2006
By CJ
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Good Friday, and welcome to “Road Racerhead.” I’m writing in the shadows of Sequoia National Park, on a wood deck overlooking a peaceful creek in Three Rivers, California, where my wife and I have come one day early to enjoy Easter Weekend at my parents’ house. Rudy the Cat is giving me the stink-eye because I’ve usurped his spot on the couch, but other than that, it’s worth last night’s five-hour drive.

Rossi is now tied with Mick Doohan for second on the all-time premier-class win list. Andrew Northcott photo

Most of the major road racing series are enjoying the weekend off as well, though MotoGP was in action last weekend in Qatar. It was another great race in what is promising to be an epic season.

Whereas the pace at the first round was considerably slower than it had been at the same track in 2005, the ’06 Qatar proceedings were much faster than last year. Rossi’s winning time (43’22.229”) was over 11 seconds faster than his ’05 winning time; his fastest race-lap (1’57.305”) was over half a second faster than Nicky Hayden’s last year; and Casey Stoner’s pole-earning qualifying lap (1’55.683”) was over a second faster than Loris Capirossi’s was last year. Then again, the race was almost half a year earlier this year, and air temperature (79 degrees Fahrenheit) was 23 degrees cooler than last year’s thermometer-popping 102 degrees.

Valentino’s win tied him with Mick Doohan for second on the all-time premier-class Grand prix win list with 54. In first is Giacomo Agostini, with 68. When you throw in wins in all classes, Ago has a total of 122, while Rossi is currently at 80, so he’s quite a bit further off that mark, but Angel Nieto—second on that list with 90—is within reach.

But back to that premier-class record for a second: Will Rossi be able to overtake Ago? In Italian sports daily La Gazzetta dello Sport, The Doctor was quoted this week as saying, “Fourteen remain at this point. We’re close; we’ll have to see how much time I’ll have, but it’s probable that I’ll have enough.”

Rossi says it’s “probable” he’ll have enough time to pass Ago’s mark; does that mean he’ll stay in MotoGP next year? Andrew Northcott photo

Considering the will-he, won’t-he nature of Rossi’s dalliance with Formula One, that statement warrants some examination. Does it mean he won’t be moving to Ferrari in 2007? Not necessarily; there are still 15 rounds remaining in the 2006 series, so it’s theoretically possible for Rossi to tie—or even beat—Ago’s mark. But that would mean winning all but one of the remaining races to tie, or 15 of 16 races over the season—16 of 17 to pass Giacomo. With Valentino that’s not impossible, but it’s certainly not probable, especially in light of the stiff competition Rossi seems likely to face from people like Loris Capirossi, Nicky Hayden, Dani Pedrosa, Casey Stoner, Sete Gibernau, Toni Elias, and Marco Melandri. Predicting such a dominant season just doesn’t seem like Rossi to me—especially after the challenges he faced in the first two rounds—and I’m officially going on record as predicting that Valentino will be in MotoGP in 2007.

Following his two-point score in Jerez after a turn-one crash, Rossi’s Qatar win puts him fourth in the points standings at 27, 14 behind leader Loris Capirossi, who was third in Qatar. If Rossi were to start winning every race with Loris finishing second, The Doctor would be in front in three more races.

Of course Capirossi isn’t the only one Vale has to be concerned with. In fact, judging from last weekend’s race, the man who presents the biggest challenge is Hayden. It looks like Nicky and Repsol Honda are finally starting to get a handle on the setup of the all-new 2006 RC211V that he is the only one riding. (Yes, Melandri was in the news for switching to an ’06 for Qatar, but from what I understand, his is still only the updated ’05 version ridden by the other Honda riders; the reason the switch was newsworthy was that the Italian was on a full 2005 bike in Jerez.)

Qatar was Hayden’s sixth consecutive podium finish, and more importantly, he put up a strong challenge for the champ, fighting back immediately when he was passed. I ran into American Honda Racing Manager Chuck Miller in Huntington Beach while we were both out for bicycle rides last Saturday, and he correctly pointed out how important the race was for Nicky’s confidence and momentum. Coming into this season, testing seemed to indicate that Hayden was in trouble, and it seemed likely that the situation could start to get #69 down in the dumps. But here we are two races in, and Nicky is a strong second in the standings, just five points out of the lead.

Nicky was on the pace in Qatar, giving Rossi a run for his money. Andrew Northcott photo

Cycle News’ Henny Ray Abrams also has a very good column on a similar topic in this week’s issue. Henny calls out some of the Internet folks who have been criticizing Hayden recently, and says that “anyone who cuts their own food should know better.” He also makes the very valid point that not only is Nicky not on the RC211V version that he would prefer, but had the disadvantage of splitting his time between two different bikes for the entire off-season, while pretty much everyone else was focusing on the one bike that they’re currently racing.

Along with Pedrosa, Hayden currently has Repsol Honda in the lead of the team standings. When Rossi passed him, Nicky immediately answered, and whereas Jerez had seen the American’s podium finish saved by a last-lap mistake by a rival (Elias), in Qatar it was Rossi whose win may very well have been saved by Nicky’s last-lap slip. Yes, it would be nice to see Hayden back up his sole MotoGP victory with one at an non-American circuit (no one wants it more than Nicky himself), but one gets the feeling that it won’t be long. Will it come at round three in two weeks? Hayden made the podium in Turkey last year, and that track runs counter-clockwise (dirt track-style) and has other characteristics that arguably favor the Kentucky Kid.

As I mentioned above, Casey Stoner has to be on the list of riders to keep an eye on this season. After being delayed on his trip to Qatar, the rookie showed up and notched the fastest time in Thursday-morning practice, then followed that up with second-fastest time in Thursday-afternoon practice, fastest time in Friday practice, and pole position in Friday afternoon. He also led the first nine laps of Saturday’s race, and although he eventually slipped to fifth place, the Aussie is obviously for real. One spot behind him was former 250cc class rival Dani Pedrosa, further proof that the quarter-liter two-stroke division is still great preparation for MotoGP.

Team Roberts had a Phantom sponsor in Qatar. Andrew Northcott photo

Props too to Kenny Roberts Jr. for his fast time in Thursday’s second practice session. The 2000 world champ could only muster a 10th in the race, but he told Abrams that if the race had been held Thursday afternoon, he’d probably have made the podium. Team Roberts is expecting a new chassis in time for MotoGP’s return to Europe in Le Mans in a little over a month.

Team Roberts is now sponsored by an Austrian energy-drink company. No, it’s not Red Bull, but rather Phantom, which Team Manager Chuck Aksland told me in an email this week is an upstart company that also has a U.S. branch. “ They see MotoGP as a great opportunity to generate exposure for their brand,” Aksland said, “and as the USA is one of their target markets, they feel that being associated with Kenny (both) and the team adds additional value to the opportunity.” You can learn more about Phantom right here.

Junior’s old teammate, John Hopkins, had a week he would rather forget. It started off with a car knocking him down and breaking his bicycle in half, and it ended (after a reported 13 engine changes for him and Rizla Suzuki teammate Chris Vermeulen) with him kicking his expired bike on live television beside Losail International Circuit. I can certainly understand Hopper’s frustration, but based on past history, he had to know when re-signing with Suzuki after last season that bike problems were a very real possibility. Here’s hoping Hopkins and his team get things on the right track soon.

Hopper hasn’t kicked off the ’06 season the way he’d hoped. Andrew Northcott photo

That said, I was throwing a similar tantrum when I saw my results in the Road Racer X MotoGP Fantasy League after last weekend. My strong start at round one was followed up by a pitiable performance in Qatar, and I slipped from a tie for first all the way down to 23rd, prompting the following email from Laurel Allen, whom I called out in last week’s “Road Racerhead”: “Because I didn’t sign up in time for the first round, my overall points are messed up, but I think it’s important for you to know that I BEAT YOU on round 2 ... 60 to 37!”

In true fair-weather-fan style, I plan to make some major trades between now and round three in Turkey.

By the way, Laurel (who is currently at Utah’s Miller Motorsports Park for the Eric Bostrom Racing 2 Save Lives charity event) also sent me some more positive news this week: “I happened to catch an episode of the new Doctor Who, and in one scene (during which a guy was launching missiles at British Parliament), there was a #46 Rossi sticker clearly evident on the guy’s computer! Funny stuff.” Doctor Who is a British science-fiction program from BBC.

Will 990cc bikes be around in 2007? Andrew Northcott photo

Back to Suzuki for a second: They’ve obviously got their hands full trying to get their new 990cc GSV-R up to speed, and the task isn’t likely to get much easier next year when maximum displacement drops to 800cc, and they—as well as Kawasaki—are balking at Dorna CEO Carmelo Ezpeleta’s request for all participating manufacturers to provide four bikes for MotoGP next season. There’s already only a 19-rider grid in the series, and a couple of teams only seem to be hanging on by a thread. As a result, there’s starting to be a lot of talk about MotoGP following Formula One’s lead and allowing air-restricted 990cc bikes into the class for 2007. F1 moved from a 3.0-liter V10 to a 2.4-liter V8 engine platform this season (for safety reasons, as with MotoGP), but they’re allowing rev-limited, air-restricted versions of the old engines in to keep costs in line for under-funded teams, although the Red Bull-owned, financially strong Scuderia Torro Roso team is also using those powerplants. That has prompted protests from teams like Super Aguri and Midland, because even with restrictions, the bigger engines are supposed to be an advantage on tight circuits that place an emphasis on acceleration. It’s likely there would be similar controversy and problems in MotoGP, but allowing in restricted 990cc engines nonetheless seems like the most realistic solution for a smooth transition.

Or they could just go back to 500cc two-strokes! Just kidding, but watching this Freddie Spencer video may make you think that’s a good idea (thanks to Speed forum member BMC440 for the link).

Speaking of MotoGP and Formula One, www.crash.net is reporting that Max Biaggi will play in a celebrity soccer match on Wednesday with F1 drivers Michael Schumacher, Jarno Trulli, Felipe Massa, Giancarlo Fisichella, and Vitantonio Liuzzi. Motorcycle Grand Prix support-class racers Roberto Locatelli, Andrea Dovizioso, and Fabrizio Lai are also scheduled to play.

The Champ Car racing season kicked off last weekend just down the street from my house, and I attended the Long Beach Grand Prix along with Norm Viano (manager of Ben and Eric Bostrom). While drinking a few too many RB&Vs in the Red Bull Energy Station, we ran into several fellow road racing aficionados, including Jeremy Malott and Alpinestars’ Malcolm McCassy. It was a good time, and I couldn’t help but notice how smoothly things went during the many occasions that the pace car was needed on the track…. Thanks for the tickets, Steve Pegram.

Cheesy boy band or CJ & friends at the Long Beach Grand Prix? You be the judge. Matt Ambroziak photo

The folks up at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca issued a press release today announcing a traffic plan for this year’s Red Bull USGP. The plan is pretty extensive, with all general-admission parking being off-site at Cal State University, Monterey Bay, for free. Spectators will be transported to and from the track via shuttle bus. If that doesn’t sound like your cup of tea, you can try purchasing one of the limited number of $50 parking passes, but I think a better option is to just bring your bike and take advantage of the motorcycle-only entrance and the free parking.

“Our first goal was to reach a solution that limited the number of automobiles on-site, and the shuttle-bus system should allow us to do that efficiently,” said track CEO Gill Campbell in the release. “The parking is conveniently located just off of Highway 1 and will remain free of charge. This is a system that works well for the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am golf tournament and should help us eliminate some of the traffic strain both into the facility and throughout the community during the Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix.”

Sounds like a major step in solving one of the few problems that plagued an otherwise-great MotoGP debut on American soil last year. For tickets to the race, visit www.laguna-seca.com.

By the way, there was a big two-wheel race at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca last weekend. The Sea Otter Classic took place, as bicycle-racing season is kicking off both here and in Europe, where the Paris-Roubaix happened last week in France. I only mention this because many professional motorcycle road racers closely follow many professional bicycle road racers.

Jordan Suzuki is going in Barber Museum. Andrew Northcott photo

I got a note this week from Jordan Suzuki’s Ken Abbott, revealing that Montez Stewart’s Carolina Blue 2004 Yamaha R6 and Jason Pridmore’s XX-graphic 2005 Suzuki GSX-R1000 will both be inducted into the Barber Museum next week, along with those riders’ riding apparel. Abbott says they’ll be on display throughout the Barber AMA event and that Stewart and Pridmore will both be on hand for the occasion.

Speaking of Barber, did you see our “Between the Races” interview this week with Sara Hood? She says ticket sales are selling well for the event, and she also says Barber would still be interested in hosting a MotoGP race. “This is an amazing facility, and we would like to continue exploring the option of hosting a MotoGP event in Birmingham,” she said. “I don’t think two USGPs would be so bad.”

For more information on next weekend’s second round of the AMA Superbike series, which Barber will be hosting, visit www.barbermotorsports.com.

Kurtis Photo will race at Barber. Will he race in WSBK? Andrew Northcott photo

If you’re going, plan on seeing Kurtis Roberts in action again, as he’s supposed to be racing there and at the third stop at California Speedway, while he subs for Michael Barnes on M4 EMGO Suzuki. I spoke this week with David Lewis, who has been helping Roberts look for opportunities. He said they were working on subbing for Winston Ten Kate Honda’s injured Karl Muggeridge in World Superbike, but that spot was filled by Giovanni Bussei. Now that Pierfrancesco Chili is injured, a substitute ride on his World Superbike DFXtreme Honda CBR1000RR might be another possibility.

The AMA issued a press release today in regards to the AMA Superbike finale at Mid-Ohio. The race will use a supercross-style qualifying system, with three short heat races, a last-chance qualifier, and a consolation race, all leading up to a 20-rider final.

Things were cold in Pocono. Dennis Cuevas photo

“Mid-Ohio approached us about the idea of making this event special,” Road Race Series Manager Ron Barrick said in the release. “After soliciting the input of the road race advisory committee, this unique and exciting format is what we arrived at. Not only will it be a lot of fun, it will give a new generation of superbike fans the opportunity to see what heat races and last-chance qualifiers are all about. It has been 16 years since AMA Pro Racing last used heat races to determine Superbike grids for the final at regular series races.”

I haven’t yet had a chance to digest it, but I’ve got to say that right off the bat, it sounds pretty cool to me. For more information on that race or the other Mid-Ohio stop, visit www.midohio.com.

American Kenny Noyes’ Folch Yamaha team won the Six Hours of Almeria last weekend in Spain by five laps! Noyes & Co. (he’s teamed with Antonio and David Salom) are off to a good start in their defense of the Spanish Endurance title. Noyes will also be hitting three rounds of the AMA Superbike series, in which he’ll race AMA Superstock.

Oh, and speaking of endurance racing, although there’s not much racing going on over Easter Weekend, the World Endurance series kicks off in Assen, Holland, on Monday.

Here’s a cool Isle of Man vid, and here’s another vid whipped up by California racer Eric “GoGo” Gulbransen.

It may officially be spring, but you wouldn’t know it from this photo taken recently by Road Racer X reader Dennis Cuevas. It’s of Team Pro Motion’s bike at Pocono Raceway. “ Our first day was called due to ice and snow,” he said, “but the spirits were high. And day two wasn't that bad.

Jamie Stauffer is on fire in Australian Superbike. Photo courtesy of Yamaha

The Australian Superbike series was in action last weekend, and Stephanie Little notified me this week that Jamie Stauffer (who raced briefly in the AMA a couple years ago) had another incredible showing. Little pointed out that Jamie is from the same small, Australian town (Kurri Kurri) as Casey Stoner, and that motocrosser Chad Reed is also from that area and was in the same class as Jamie’s younger sister. “ Casey and Jamie also have shared the same number over the years, #27,” Little said. “When I first met Casey Stoner at Mugello a few years ago, he told me Jamie always kids him about it.”

Have you seen the TV ad for the new PlayStation video game, Tourist Trophy? The guy on the Honda CBR1000RR with #17 is former speedway racer Rick Miller, who’s currently a stuntman, a friend of RRX publisher Scott Wallenberg, a very good bicycle rider, and a really nice guy. The spot was filmed last January at the new Fernley track in Reno, where morning temperatures were 25 degrees!

Okay, that’s it for me. Thanks for reading “Road Racerhead,” and enjoy your Easter Weekend. Now, here’s Miriam Deitcher with the latest dirt track scoop:

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The chalkboard wall doesn’t lie—proof that Smith and Mees stopped by. Miriam Deitcher photo

I’ve been on cloud nine ever since last weekend, when Harley-Davidson support team riders Bryan Smith and Jared Mees swung by my house for a surprise visit. The duo was passing through Cleveland as they headed back to Michigan from South Carolina—where they dropped off their bikes to be shipped to next weekend’s Puerto Rico ice race.

So what’s a geeky girl like me to do when two of the fastest flat trackers in the world show up at 11 p.m. on a Sunday night? Huddle around my laptop. That’s right—Smith helped Mees and me build our very own myspace pages. (For those of you, like me, over 30: myspace is a social-networking website that’s hugely popular among teens and 20-somethings). Now that I have own myspace page, I’m officially cool—or whatever the word for “cool” is nowadays.

A classic timer-photo of Smith, Deitcher, and Mees. Miriam Deitcher photo

Speaking of Mees, he’s having a housewarming party at his new Clio, Michigan, home at the end of April. Ever since Mees bought his house, I’ve been asking him to send me some pictures. Since I’ve yet to receive any, my camera and I may very well make the trek North for what will no doubt be a good time. I’ll definitely have to visit the tanning salon beforehand though, since many of the people at the party will just be returning from an ice race in Puerto Rico, while my skin will be lovely Ohio-white—my Bahamas-vacation tan long-faded.

After Sunday, I will no longer be able to refer to Mees as a “teenage racing sensation” because he’ll be turning the big 2-0 on Easter day. While still a teenager, Mees not only bought his first house, he won two Nationals—something that few teenagers in history have done.

Although I’m older than the average myspace user, I’ll have to admit it’s a pretty fun way to keep in touch with many of my racing friends—especially during the loooooong break in the schedule between Daytona and Springfield. Speaking of breaks, CJ caught up with defending AMA Flat Track series champ Chris Carr for this week’s “Tuesday Conversation” to find out what he’s been up to during the schedule hiatus. The outspoken Carr always makes for a good interview, and this one is no exception.

Autographed versions of this sweet pic are being to sold to raise funds for Atherton. Jim Grant photo

Jim Grant, who’s worked closely with Kevin Atherton over the years—serving as everything from crew chief to driver to babysitter—has been selling autographed pictures of Atherton to help raise funds to offset Cupcake’s medical costs. Grant, who speaks with Atherton almost every day, sent me this update on #23. “The fundraiser is going awesome. I’ve already generated over a grand for him. Kevin is very, very thankful for what everyone is doing. He’s still very sore, some back pain, some small neck pains, and he still gets a little dizzy occasionally. He did mention his dad is preparing the 750s for Springfield, but the TT is a no-go. He has been out in the front yard swinging the clubs, and he’s really itching to get out and hit the links.”

Thanks for the update, Jim. Atherton’s many fans will be happy to hear that Kevin seems to be improving, and that he very well might be part of the Springfield Mile freight train.

Although the Atherton news made me smile, I’ve actually been a little depressed this week because my “friend count” on myspace is still in the teens. (Hint, hint.)