BRACKSY III

by Mark Bracks

Well I'm back again so something must be going right! Thanks for the response as it's good to get some positive feedback and it's good to get some questions which I'll try and answer sufficiently here before I dribble on about anything else.

As for Aussiedav yeah it definitely wasn't because I am rich and famous that I got the gig but I'm here now so that'll do me!

Troppo, re: the synchronisation between me and a TV camera for the grid interviews, well I'm afraid you will never see me as I have been told many times that I have a good head for radio and that's the way it should stay! Seriously though the reason is because the feed goes out to many different networks other than the ones my voice is broadcast on. Add to this the money they pay to have the rights to their own particular broadcast, then if my mug is seen on TV all the time it tends to upset others - I get the hump seeing my dial all the time too!

Carlos Cheka applies a bit of body English. Or Spanish. Or something.

That brings me to Dustydick and I must say that's a pretty dodgy handle you have bestowed upon your good self! First up I can't see the bullfighter garb becoming de rigueur bedroom attire but it could double as protective gear on a bike! That blue piece of sartorial elegance I'm wearing has shoulder, back and rib protection and its bloody hard whatever is inside it so maybe it could be good in battling the beast with two backs! The Toreros might not wear their Speedos on the outside, they have a bit of shielding up top from a rampant toro but not a lot in the undercarriage protection, so that goes one way to explain the twinkle toes tango they do when a two tonne beast has them in its sights!

I like your subtle line about any spare 990s lying around. Get in line mate and wait your turn! I thought I had one last year when I brought Nakano's bike back into the pits. It took the team that long to extricate me off the bike to give someone else a go they thought I had super glued my arse to the seat! Getting that close I wasn't giving it up without a fight and visions of heading straight through the pits to do a runner did cross my mind!

Actually there are not many around and (something to make you really think the world is upside down) many of them were crushed at the end of last year! Sickening, isn't it? Those exquisite frames and engines were trashed - save for the ones destined for Nicky Hayden's garage and in a couple of museums such as the sensational Honda museum at the Motegi track.

All the privateer teams are struggling with finding sponsors but as far as machinery goes everyone has started off with pretty much identical bikes because of the new rules.

It's hard to understand why it is so difficult to find multinational sponsors outside of motorbikes and tobacco to front with the funds considering the spectacle. Look at Yamaha with Rossi. You'd think sponsors would be beating a path to Yamaha HQ in Europe but Fiat coming on board was a last minute thing.

Kenny Roberts Jr's 212V gets its bottom bits warmed

There was a meeting in Barcelona last week (April 11) with team managers, IRTA and Dorna to try and nut out some solutions and strategies so that the sport can grow and I believe that there was good progress there.

Isn't it amazing that F1 can commandeer millions and millions to run teams but with a sport as exciting as MotoGP it's a completely different tale.

Team Gresini is mostly funded out of Fausto Gresini's pocket after so many years of top line sponsorship with his riders that have included Sete Gibernau, Colin Edwards, Alex Barros, Max Biaggi and a few more.

He had Fortuna last year (a Spanish tobacco company) but evidently that money dried up early last season.

For this year Honda have told Gresini that Melandri will be getting the same spec bike as Hayden and Pedrosa, but that raises an interesting point because the Repsol Honda bikes are different and as development continues what will Melandri end up getting?

Roberts is probably the best known privateer outfit in the paddock and they do a mighty fine job. It's good to see they have some sponsorship now and it looks pretty promising for the long term. One is an American oil company but the big one they liked to announce at Jerez is the MGM Casino in Las Vegas. I wonder what I can get out of them when I head back for a visit after the USGP in July?

One hurdle in Kenny's camp is that KRJr has to do all the testing and racing without having anyone to bounce his feedback off.

In all fairness they have adapted pretty well but it will be interesting to see where they stand at year's end after a season of development as they got the engines a lot later than other teams received their bikes. If you were allowed beer in the box I'd say the KR212V is a six-pack bike as you could neck six beers just sitting there looking at the engineering of the machine. As for the others maybe a carton wouldn't be enough to savour them!

Practice

I'll take my hat off to Honda though as they do supply a lot of bikes to the privateers. Just think how the grid would be if they weren't kicking the can for the likes of Gresini, Konica Minolta, Cecchinello and Roberts. Ducati have upped the ante this year giving brand new kit to the D'antin Pramac team and Yamaha have the Tech 3 Dunlop team as well.

One thing after the demise of the Ilmor should be for more bikes supplied by the factories to add more to the spectacle. If Suzuki and Kawasaki made a few more available then we'd have more bikes on the grid but then rider quality would come into question. Yes, I know Australia has some great riders to hop straight in there but it's not Aussie they are interested in until they prove themselves because our riders can't bring millions of Euros with them.

But in defence of both these companies they aren't as far down the development path as Honda and Ducati -- albeit only fractions of a second off. Ducati has been on the ball since the very beginning. They certainly have the speed but maybe the handling is letting them down a little bit. Even that has improved dramatically because the 990 was a brute to ride hard in corners.

As for the engine management, nothing much has changed there from what I've been told. As for traction control with the new 800s it is not as critical as the power delivery isn't as savage -- and there isn't as much -- and because of the higher corner speeds we aren't seeing the bikes jump out of the corners when the traction control cuts out.

Colin Edwards (USA) fails to use all the road

Another problem has focused with the lowering of the fuel capacity. It mightn't seem a big deal to take a litre off the total but that's about what they guzzle in a lap. Last year the 990s were revving to around 16-17,000 revs at the outside. Immediately the 800s started they were wringing out to around 20,000 particularly the Duke. They have retarded them a bit since then but this will change as the season progresses. As they are revving higher, they are using more fuel than the 990s drank.

Now to help with fuel economy many factories have been fiddling around with configuration. The Desmocedici uses the "Screamer" engine where all pistons are firing independently of each other. The others are using variations of the Big Bang engine where you have two pistons firing at once.

Now the trend is to find a happy medium between the two. The factories or techos that work with them tell me that they are trying various alternates of the Big Bang and combining it with aspects of the screamer engine. Hope you're still with me! The original concept in a V-four was pioneered by Mick Doohan all those years ago is to have the front cylinders firing together 180 deg apart from the rear two. Since then there has been all sorts of variations.

At Motegi last year Honda put on a bash where it explained the concept of the 990 and on the eve of the bikes disappearing had the engines stripped down to nothing. They even gave us paper work that explained the fire order and at what degree of the cycle each cylinder fired.

Valentino Rossi works on his wax collection

When I asked one of the Hondo honchos a few questions he was more than willing to explain the workings but as soon as I broached the subject and asked if the 800 would be a 990 with one cylinder dropped to maintain the same fire order he clammed up immediately with a smile saying he couldn't answer any of those questions. MMMM did he answer without answering? Also if you take one piston away from a five cylinder 211V engine you are left with an 800cc block - 792cc to be exact!

Interestingly I have also been informed that a big bang engine can use more fuel than a screamer because of the inertia. A screamer sparks at regular intervals whereas with the different firing order of a big bang type engine it takes a bit of horsepower away to keep the inertia up due to the irregular firing order. Amazing that something that spins that fast with one piston firing around 4,500 times a minute.

We saw early on that everyone was down on speed compared to the Dukes so standby to see what the factories unveil after nearly a month.

These next few races will be interesting as the new tyre restrictions will really come into play with no testing done at these tracks. Michelin and Bridgestone are limited to 31 tyres (17 rear, 14 fronts) for the entire weekend. All tyres must be submitted for data logging on the Thursday so once they have made the decision there is no turning back and tyres can't be swapped between team mates. Each tyre has it own individual bar-code related to a particular rider embedded into the sidewall during manufacture. Dunlop is not under the same restrictions because they have not celebrated two wins in the last 12 months so they can bring in specials at anytime over the weekend. Conversely if they win two races this year - and that's about as likely as happening as me getting a full time ride - they come under the same restrictions. Dunlop's struggle in the top grade demonstrates how different the premier class is as Dunlop has dominated the smaller classes to such an extent that it has scared everyone else off.

The consensus at the moment appears to be to have just two qualifiers but that may change with the reminder split into three or four different options regarding compounds and profiles.

Also, Michelin are the only ones that have opted for a 16in front as against the 16.5. Evidently the rolling diameter is very similar to a 16.5 but its profile is said to offer a bigger contact patch for more side grip when on full lean. The new profile is taking time for some Michelin riders to get used to as while they say there is more grip, the transition tipping it in doesn't inspire confidence because of a lack of feel and takes a big leap of faith to tip it in hard.

The expected variable weather conditions add another tantalising teaser and if last year is anything to go by, even if there is no rain it will be cold with a biting wind that carves your bones. If it rains all the tyre rules are out the window but if intermediate tyres are required due to the odd shower or two, do you bring the intermediates on spec as part of the kitty or cut the slicks in situ as required?

You can get anything you want... Casey Stoner on the Alice Ducati

The riders like the new rules, particularly in the four hour practice and qualifying sessions, as instead of zotting in and out testing tyres they can now concentrate more on getting a race setup and settle on a tyre earlier looking for race long durability.

One thing's for sure about Istanbul, we won't see the crowds like in Jerez (or those ugly grid girls!) but Istanbul itself I enjoy although it certainly is different. The traffic is absolutely mental and thankfully I'll be back in a cage because on two wheels it's brain snapping. It's well worth a visit. The locals are pretty friendly especially when they learn you're an Aussie and there is so much history there plus unlike Qatar its pretty liberal when sourcing a cleanser. I hope it stays on the calendar because there is a lot more of the place I would like to see.

Anyway until next time that's about me! Also let me know if you want to know anything about the smaller classes

Until next time...

Bracksy