Honda Road Racerhead #43

Soon enough, we’ll be desperate for some good racing on the weekends, but that’s certainly not the case this time around. Between what promises to be the most dramatic World Superbike finales ever and the strong likelihood that the MotoGP crown will be clinched, road racing fans have an embarrassment of riches on Sunday. Even the AMA Pro Flat Track finale is this weekend, and although I’d love to be in either Portugal (especially) or Malaysia, I’ll also be happy to make the short drive up to Pomona tomorrow night (JD Beach will also be there, riding Chris Carr’s 450).

We’ve already talked a lot about the Portimao race in the last couple of editions of Road Racerhead (and we’ve got a special Ben Spies-Noriyuki Haga slideshow up), and I won’t re-tread too much of that terrain now. The bottom line is that for Ben Spies, it’s a matter of two wins and out, and I think that even though Noriyuki Haga has a ten-point advantage at the moment, he’s got to have the same goal.

Nori drew first blood by getting the better time in the first practice session, in which he was second best compared to Spies’ seventh (Jakub Smrz was fastest). In the afternoon qualifying session, it was Spies getting the better with the third-quickest time compared to Haga’s ninth (Johnny Rea was best). The times were all close, though, and Haga was only about four-tenths off of Spies’ pace.

Everyone’s hoping is that it comes down to Spies and Haga on Sunday, and that the battle isn’t spoiled by any outside factors. One would assume that the other riders will be pretty careful around the two title contenders, which just leaves mechanical failures as concerns. Obviously, the respective teams will have been extra careful with bike preparation, so any such failures would most likely be flukes.

Everyone’s talking about how ambivalent they are about this showdown, much as everyone was at Imola in 2002. As then, both riders are likable and popular, and there are plenty of reasons to want both of them to win. Most Americans obviously side with Spies, but it’s true that Haga has definitely paid his dues. I don’t agree with the idea that this is the Japanese rider’s last chance, however. In fact, I rather like the idea of him coming up just short to Spies and then returning for the crown next year in what could be his final season. That would be a pretty dramatic career ending. Be sure to check out Chris Martin’s column over on the Speed site.

Speaking of Speed, the races air at 3 and 4 p.m. EST on Sunday, though they actually take place at 6 and 9:30 a.m. EST.

GP One reports that Shinya Nakano won’t be racing this weekend, news of which he was informed of by Aprilia mid-voyage on his way to Portimao.

Also, keep an eye on AMA Pro Daytona SportBike racer Martin Cardenas, who’s riding for the injured Robbin Harms on the RES Software Veidec team in World Supersport.

The MotoGP circus traveled straight to Malaysia from Australia, and although that meant extra time away from home and no chance for Valentino Rossi to visit his grieving mother Stefania (whose husband committed suicide last week), he says he’s capitalizing on Sepang’s warm weather (Phillip Island was chilly last weekend, as is his home country of Italy this week), as he could relax and train in preparation for trying and clinch his ninth world championship one race early.

Following Jorge Lorenzo’s crash out of last week’s race, Rossi has a 38-point lead, with a maximum of 50 points still up for grabs in the championship chase. In practical terms, that means a fourth-place finish or better will assure the Italian of his seventh premier-class crown (if Lorenzo finishes second, Rossi need only finish ninth or better). Considering that he’s finished on the podium in eleven of the fifteen races run so far, one would assume that he’ll get it done in Sepang. Rossi was “only” fourth today—last among the fabulous four (I don’t call them “aliens,” because I think it dismisses the work behind their accomplishments—but his pace was good.

Rossi is known for riding for the win even when he doesn’t have to to clinch—and he has five victories at Sepang—but I don’t know that he necessarily will do that this weekend. To win this season requires pushing right to the very limit, which is why after Lorenzo crashed out on the first lap in Australia, The Doctor rode hard but didn’t take the risks necessary to beat Casey Stoner. One can hardly blame him, as crashing—and throwing away Lorenzo’s gift—would have been unforgivable. Similarly, I think Vale will try for the win on Sunday but won’t take undue risks in a quest for glory. Valencia (host of the finale) is where Vale lost the ’06 title to Nicky Hayden despite going there with the points lead, and it’s also a home-country race for Jorge. Rossi has “only” won twice there, most recently in 2004, and one can’t imagine him relishing the thought of having any extra pressure at that round. What people remember are titles—not Malaysian race wins.

If Vale lands world championship number nine, that will tie him with Mike Hailwood and Carlo Ubbiali on the all-time list, with only Giacomo Agostini and Angel Nieto having more (with fifteen and thirteen respectively). In addition, Malaysia should be the 150th points-scoring finish in the premier class for Valentino—tying Carlos Checa and behind only Alex Barros (195), Loris Capirossi (153).

Speaking of Rossi, reader Texas Burke David (yes, those names are in the correct order) is the winner of our AGV Face It! subscription contest, as you’ll know if you read this week’s Between the Races interview. And speaking of that helmet, check out this birthday cake for Jeff, a friend of Rumblestrip Radio’s Eric Trytko. Now that is a classic!

The fastest rider today was Lorenzo, still riding in pain with a deep cut in a finger on his braking hand, incurred in last week’s crash. The Spaniard, who crashed out at Sepang last year, has little hope of taking the crown, but that just means he can throw caution to the wind and try to take the momentum going into the winter by capturing the last two race wins.

The temperature today was just under 90 degrees for the practice session, and riders were using their hydration systems. The weather could prove a real test for Casey Stoner—he already showed with his impressive win last week in Phillip Island (and with his runner-up finish in the previous race) that he’s recovered, but a strong ride in the heat would really put an exclamation point on it. I think MotoGP Matters’ www.motogpmatters.com David Emmett put it best this week: sometimes a mystery illness really is just a mystery illness.

By the way, Stoner’s win moved him past fellow countryman Wayne Gardner as the second-winningest premier-class Grand Prix rider, with nineteen victories. All of Casey’s wins have been on 800s, making him equal with Rossi on 800 victories.

Although the focus will be on the top, there are some other positions that are also still up for grabs in the points chase. Stoner currently leads Dani Pedrosa (third-fastest today) by six, and the Spaniard will be eager to avoid dropping a position for the third year in a row. In addition, Colin Edwards is just 7 points behind Andrea Dovizioso in the fight for fourth, and although it looks possible for the Texan, it won’t be easy. He only made up one point last week, and Malaysia has not historically been a great track for him (Dovi and Colin were fifth- and ninth-fastest today, respectively).

It was a shame to see Hayden once again get blown off the track on the first lap—this time by Lorenzo—and the Kentucky Kid must feel like someone put a sign reading “Punt Me” on his back. Nicky has finished fourth five times in six visits to Sepang, though, so he could pull off a nice race this weekend.

On the punting topic, although Alex De Angelis managed not to knock anyone off last week, his celebratory finish-line wheelie in Oz (where he finished fourth) was sketchy to say the least, nearly putting him into the front-straight wall. Both Rossi and Stoner had scary moments near De Angelis today, though neither could be fairly blamed on the San Marino rider.

Qualifying should be interesting tomorrow. Sepang is one of just three tracks (the others are Donington and Valencia) at which the pole time is still held by a 990 (Rossi’s 2:00.605 from 2006), and we’ll see if that’s still the case after this weekend.

According to Toby Moody and Julian Ryder on Eurosport, we can expect next year’s engine-limit rule to be updated before the season starts. Suzuki was already adversely affected by this late-season’s much easier engine limit, and the manufacturers seem to be realizing that six mills for an entire season is going to be tough to work with (not to mention expensive, as development work would be required to improve endurance).

Also, Tobe and Jules indicate that there could well be some modifications made to the preliminary MotoGP schedule already released. It appears that the Hungary round could well be cancelled for the second year in a row, and if that’s the case, Aragon’s Motoland seems to be the likely replacement. (For all intents and purposes, that would mean a fourth Spanish Grand Prix, with the autonomous community within the borders of Spain, much like San Marino in Italy—though Misano’s San Marino Grand Prix actually takes place just outside of San Marino, and in Italy proper.) Speaking of Misano, that might get changed as well, as it currently shares a date with the Monza Formula One race. Similarly, the Le Mans Grand Prix is on the same weekend as the Monaco (four-wheel) Grand Prix.

Anyway, this weekend’s race airs on Speed on Sunday at 6 p.m. EST (250s air the previous hour), but it will have gone down long before that. Kuala Lumpur is twelve hours ahead of EST, and the race actually starts at 3 a.m. EST on Sunday.

Oh, and keep in mind that while the 125cc title was decided last week (congratulations, Julian Simon), the last-ever quarter-liter crown could well be clinched this weekend (or maybe even in Valencia). Hiroshi Aoyama currently holds a twelve-point lead over reigning champ Marco Simoncelli (last week’s winner in a crazy race), and the Japanese rider would like nothing better than to celebrate his 28th birthday (which is on race day) by giving Honda the title.

Check out this cool Crash Tech segment on Alpinestars.

Last week, we asked for the company name that Erik Buell’s first motorcycle was designed and built under. The answer we were looking for was “Pittsburgh Performance Products,” as that was the name of Eric’s company when he designed and built the RW750 in 1983, but that proved to be a little bit too obscure, as not a single reader guessed it! Many people guessed Barton, which was the brand of the limited-production racer that Buell purchased and modified extensively to create said RW750. Some people also guessed Buell Motor Company, and while that is the name of the company that the RW750 was sold under, that wasn’t what we asked. Still, we accepted both answers, and our five chosen-at-random winners are: Clarksville, Maryland’s Don Mercilliott; El Paso’s David Rey; Milan, Minnesota’s Jordan Lyngen; Spring Park, Minnesota’s Tom Mason; and Brighton, Canada’s Chris Trainor. Congratulations, guys, and enjoy your Slednecks DVDs!

Are you a fan of the Road Racer X Facebook page yet? We’ve got some nice debates raging over there, especially with such a great racing weekend ahead of us.

And if you’d like to get even more involved with us, how about applying for an internship? If you’re looking for an opportunity to learn more about motojournalism (and perhaps earn some school credits), are responsible and good with deadlines, and have a little extra time, send your resume to letters@roadracerx.com. Kind of reminds me of that classic Ernest Shackleton classified ad:

“MEN WANTED FOR HAZARDOUS JOURNEY. SMALL WAGES, BITTER COLD, LONG MONTHS OF COMPLETE DARKNESS, CONSTANT DANGER, SAFE RETURN DOUBTFUL. HONOR AND RECOGNITION IN CASE OF SUCCESS.”

Okay, that’s it for this week. Thanks for reading, and enjoy the racing.

Go, Ben.