2007 MOTOGP SEASON WRAPUP

by Mark Bracks

Gratuitous totty shot

For the public the season is well and truly over but for those on the inside it is a blurred line where one season ends and the other commences - or does a season ever end? No sooner had the dust settled than the lads were back at it at Valencia. It was situation normal as Stoner led the sheets at the end of that session as well. Adding a bit of salt, Ducati were at pains to point out that there were no '08 parts on the bike.

A highlight of the test was seeing Michael Schumacher getting an entire day on one of Stoner's bikes. He was only about five seconds off the race pace of the lads. Very smooth and very fast.

The question is how much can the Ducati improve to keep ahead of the pack and how much can the others catch up?

I'll bet my left knacker (I have a few to spare after picking up a few lefties in bets over the years) that Honda won't be done for animal cruelty two years in a row after they flogged the dog of the RC212V all year. Looking at the new bike in Sepang recently it certainly is a lot bigger in appearance than last years mongrel. Still Hayden is reserved about its prospects, saying it needs more speed; although he is in a lot better frame of mind than at the corresponding time 12 months ago.

Shows what rider confidence is. Pedrosa came second on the "same" bike. If people don't think the bike was built for him have a look at photos and see the difference in riding styles between him and Hayden. Also for the cynics among us, Repsol being a Spanish company have sponsored the HRC factory team now since the days of Doohan and only have one Spanish world champion in that time with Alex Criville in 1999, so it's understandable why they are pushing to have another home grown hero ASAP.

It's early days but there are certain to be a few surprises in 2008. At Sepang I witnessed a few and in no particular order they are... the speed and acclimatisation of Andrea Dovizioso. What a weapon on an 800! I had a feeling he would adapt pretty well and Sepang proved it to me. He was the fastest of the class rookies and ended up fourth fastest behind Hayden, Edwards and Hopkins. Sure Ducati, Team Gresini and a few others weren't there but lap times don't lie.

Doing a few laps of the track to watch the lads go fast I was gob smacked looking at "Dovi" particularly heading from the uphill ninety degree right hand turn three over a blind rise to the fast turn four left-hander. Far out. He was riding it like a 250 and it was upright for about a nano second as he charged into the blind entry left. Faster than many and a very classic riding style. Lorenzo was up there as well but didn't look as smooth or as comfortable as the little Italian.

Hayden - reserved about the RC212V's prospects

De Puniet has jumped on the Michelin-shod Cecchinello Honda like a frog diving into a swamp and joined forces with his mentor from his days in the 250s. Consistently up the top of the sheets on the first two days it was only a crash during the third day that tweaked his thumb that slowed him. Credit must go to his crew chief Christophe "Beefy" Bourguignon who has gone with him from Kawasaki. Team owner Lucio was stunned as Beefy has really sorted the Honda out and De Puniet was easily lapping quicker than the man he replaced.

Randy DePuniet's new ride - the Cecchinello Honda

Don't write off the Yamaha Tech 3 Team with Colin Edwards and James Toseland. Those boys are going to surprise many people, particularly CE II. He is definitely a big kid with a new toy. Both him and JT were using the bikes Tech 3 have run all year with no major mods done to them except for the change to Michelin - oh and Colin brought his FIAT Yamaha fairings with him.

To give his crew chief Gary Reynders an idea, Colin started with his own settings as a benchmark. From there Gary sent him out on Sylvain Guintoli's settings from the Malaysian GP and he dropped his time by a second. With a few tweaks that included lifting the bike through the forks and some different springs Edwards took off another second in short time.

End result is that he lapped under the lap record, under the pole time and bettered his own lap time from the GP by nearly two seconds - all on race tyres!

Edwards at the Malaysian GP: under lap record, under pole time

Toseland was pretty impressive too. Many think that he will be a waste of time in MotoGP but I beg to differ. The kid is a pure professional and he hasn't come along just to make up the numbers.

He will have heaps of knockers but I reckon those very knockers will be suffering from two problems by year's end -- foot in mouth and egg on face! Going to Sepang he had never seen the track, never ridden a GP bike, and never used carbon fibre brakes or Michelin GP-spec tyres, including the new 16-inch front. Edwards has taken him under his wing and for most of the time they spent on the track during a mostly wet first day, the pair were line astern as Edwards showed him around a track that is very hard to learn. That day included a crash for Toseland but it was a slow speed one with no damage done.

After three days of what was basically a learning session he was less than half a second off Edwards' qualifying time - again done on race tyres. Nah, the bloke can't ride either!!