2011-2012 Silly Season Remix

Race season kicks off in just over a week with the Rolex Series 24 Hours at Daytona!!! Ya, we're revved up (every pun intended!)!  Okay okay, so we're not the biggest fans of the Rolex Series or Nascar, which both start the earliest of any series.  Who cares?!?!  Racing's back!  Here's a quick, semi-entertaining yet highly informative rundown of what happened in the off season with the series we do follow:

Fast Bikes Slow [1000 FPS]

Thanks to incredible frame rates, we get to appreciate what makes these bikes race bikes and what makes these men professionals. Some of you have probably seen these videos already, but I believe its worth having another look. The devils are in the details and the details have never been more clear!

Ciao Marco

For the third time in just over a week, the motorsports world is mourning the loss of one of its own.  MotoGP rider Marco Simoncelli lost the front-end of his San Carlo Gresini Honda RC212V and careened across the track amongst a tight field of riders.  While trailing riders Colin Edwards and Valentino Rossi tried to avoid Simoncelli, there wasn't enough track and they collided with the downed rider.

Never one to back down, Marco was a talented rider who could take the fight to anyone.  Fellow Italian Luca Montezemolo, President of Ferrari, put Simoncelli's abilities into perspective when he said,"I was very impressed by his speed, talent and the determination he showed this year. His qualities reminded me of Gilles Villeneuve and now, fate has chosen to link them in this tragic fashion."  Montezemolo's thoughts are supported by Marco's career highlights of 2009 250cc MotoGP World Champion as well as podiums in the premiere class in only his second season riding the 800cc motorcycles.

While a fearsome competitor on the track, Marco never lost sight of the importance of life and always kept a cheerful disposition.  Valentino Rossi had stated on twitter that Marco "was like a youngest brother.  So strong on track and so sweet in normal life.  I will miss him a lot."  We're right there with you, Vale.  We'll all miss Super Sic.  Ciao Marco.

Le Mans

This upcoming weekend will be chock full of racing.  MotoGP visits the renovated Silverstone circuit.  Formula 1 is in Canada.  There's probably a NASCAR race somewhere.  But to top all of those is the endurance race by which all endurance races are measured against, Le 24 Heure Du Mans or the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

To get everyone up to pace, here's a very concise yet still entertaining documentary.  Enjoy!

Marlboro Sponsorship

If you watched any of the top tier motorsports since the 1970s, chances are pretty good that you've seen a Marlboro sponsored vehicle.  Their mainstay has been F1 but have also dabbled in WRC, MotoGP, and Le Mans.  Their sponsorship have appeared on the vehicles of champions like Wayne Rainey, Michael Schumacher, Tommi Makinen, Ayrton Senna, and Casey Stoner, just to name a few.  Whether displaying the Marlboro name or a simple bar code, you can count of Marlboro to be at the track for many years to come.

Red Bull: Gives You Wings

Sponsorship plays a key role in modern motorsport.  It takes millions of dollars just to put a vehicle on the grid.  Nevermind the extra development costs throughout the season to stay competitive.  Without sponsorship dollars, racing would be a whole lot different and our Sundays would probably be a bit more mundane (or productive).  So we'd like to acknowledge some of the big name sponsors that have given our favorite sport a shot in the arm.

seriouswheels.com

Accord-ing to Me

At the end of the 2008 season, Honda turned its back on the sport of Formula 1.  The collapse of the world economy and, to a lesser degree, a lack of Japanese drivers proved to be too much for the company to bear.  However, Honda wants the American consumer to think that they turned these lemons into lemonade in the form of the Accord coupe.

The Silly Season, Eclectic Electronics, and Rosso Rossi

The MotoGP silly season is officially over and the riders have concluded their first day of testing in Malaysia.  For those interested, the times can be found here.  If you just want to hear about highlights and analysis, read on.

crash.net

I love me some T-Rex

Shaped like the head of a Tyrannosaurus-Rex, Laguna Seca is my favorite track on Earth.

Motorcycle Racing at Its Finest

This is what happens when the reigning world champion and the current points leader meet on the track.  This is the last few laps of the Motogp race at Motegi from today.  All rights belong to Dorna.

Race Season hype

-Danny Choy-

MotoGP ramblings

Motogp has announced recently that bikes will return to 1000cc and four cylinders for the 2012 season. This is seen as a hugely important change to the rule. Many riders, including Valentino Rossi, have said that the switch to 800cc in 2007 was the biggest mistake in the history of the premier class because the bikes all need to be ridden the same way. There isn't enough excess power to allow the bikes to take different lines through a corner and make up time.

Valentino Rossi is the biggest revenue source of income for Motogp and its management company, Dorna. Is it a coincidence that he has spoken up and the sanctioning bodies have listened? That may be part of the reason but many other riders have voiced their dismay also. Let's dive a little deeper.

The new rules state that the engines in Motogp can be full prototypes (like in F1) or production based. The displacement will be 1000cc and have four or less cylinders. There are also rules regarding the bore which will probably have an effect on how many rpm the motor can turn.

The significance in the rules lies in the fact that the motors will have four or less cylinders. When Motogp originally switched to its 990cc four stroke era in 2002, Honda was the only company to use a V5 motor. Rossi won the championship with this in 2002. After a falling out with Honda, he went on to win the championship for 3 consecutive seasons on a Yamaha. The only people that could compete with Rossi would be Honda mounted riders. Nicky Hayden won the title in 2006 on a factory Honda.

Ok, enough with the history. What am I getting at? Rossi is Motogp's cash cow. It would be wise to keep him happy especially since he is getting old for Motogp and retirement could be around the corner. With a switch back to 1000cc and four cylinders, all the manufacturers could return to their engine architecture from the 990 days. All the manufacturers except Honda. This would keep "Big Red" from blowing everyone out of the water like they did in 2002 because they'd be behind on their development. It all seems to be too much of a coincidence to me

-Danny Chin-
picture courtesy of Motogp.com