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GOOD DAY FOR DUCKS BUT NOT FROGS

by Mark Bracks

What a great result for the Aussies in Le Mans particularly the flying CV, Chris Vermeulen finally nailing it! That was so good to see.

He has been knocking on the door for awhile and it was fantastic to see him finally crack the top step. I knew if things went well that his results would reflect the hard work he puts in as I've said here a few times.

To see two Aussies on the podium was sen-bloody-sational. The first time that has happened since Doohan and Beattie were first and second in Argentina in 1995!

It hasn't been too bad standing underneath the podium this year either. Out of five races we have had an Aussie atop four times -- bloody marvellous. Throw in the final race last year with Troy Bayliss bouncing them and it's been a pretty damn fine spell. I even had a lump in my throat singing the national anthem as the rain flogged down. I've seen CV compete from the time he started road racing on the Moriwaki 80s as part of his brief Oz career before he took the gamble and headed off and seeing him do it from the start, it's always something special to see them come through.

I know Barry Sheene would be mighty proud as he spotted Chris's talent at a very young age and helped him in his venture overseas when he went to England and scored a ride in the Honda Britain Supersport team. The rest is history.

Chris always has a '7' in his racing number as a mark of respected for the two-times world champion. He would like to race with Barry's number but a certain "Careless Chucka" has a claim on that at the moment. Maybe next year. One thing's for sure it's not the last time he'll win a race. What gets me is that people are quick to say "Oh yeah he won but he just picked it better. If it was dry, if Rossi picked a softer wet... blah blah blah."

"If" is the biggest word in the dictionary and it winds me up dismissing a win in the wet as an aberration. England winning the Rugby World Cup is an aberration, not a guy beating the elements with skill to win a Grand Prix. Reading the situation and adapting his ride to suit through the worsening conditions was stunning! Anyone that says otherwise hasn't ridden hard in the wet! Maybe they haven't ever ridden anything except their hand.

Thankfully those that know better were quick to praise him as both Kevin Schwantz and Rossi both rated his ride as exceptional.

Chris in his modesty even said in the press conference he doesn't think he is that good a wet weather rider! What does that make the rest of them?

Now to prove all the bloody doubters I can't wait to see him win in the dry.

I doff my hat to Casey Stoner too as besides another sensible ride, when I was interviewing him in Parc Ferme after the race about the first thing he said was that he felt really good for Chris to win. He was genuinely happy for him.

One big downer for the weekend was the passing of Jack Findlay. Walking into the paddock on Sunday morning I met up with Jack's stepson. He does the same job as me for Eurosport France and as I said "Bonjour, ca va?" he was crying as he told me the sad news of Jack's overnight passing. Jack had been ill for some time battling a lung disease but it doesn't make it any easier.

I got to know Jack a bit when he was the Technical Director at the GPs in the 90s and I think modesty was his middle name as he was pretty ambivalent about his achievements and seemed more interested in his beloved tennis. His exploits and his life may be unknown to many in this age. Way back then he was a bullet and unlike modern times, word of his successful exploits took some time to make it to these shores but in Europe his name was mentioned in the same breath as Ago, Read, Surtees and may others. He raced in the world tiles for 20 bloody years. How good is that? And he beat the world's best or was so close to their clacker for most of those years he could smell what they had for breakfast!

In his three GP wins he beat the legends. He was second nine times and finished third on 12 occasions including second to Hailwood in 63, Ago five times in 68 and second to Sheene at Sweden in 76.

Rated by many as the greatest privateer ever. he also has claim to being the rider to give Suzuki its first victory in 500cc with a win at the 1973 IOM TT. It was pretty ironic that his passing was during this GP which was his "home" race after settling in Europe during the sixties and marrying a French girl. I bet his passing went without much fanfare in the mainstream media at home which is sad given his achievements in the sport and more importantly what a great ambassador he was for Australia during those gypsy like years of GP racing.

One of the highlights of the weekend for me was Sylvain Guintoli on the Dunlop Yamaha Tech 3 M1. He is proving to be a very fast learner and he doesn't crash much. He made up for that though on the weekend but that was a blip on the radar and you can't blame him too much as it was in front of his home crowd. Plus he passed Rossi before he did it -- and on slicks!

He is fast learner and in that I mean that he doesn't crash much and has the Chris Vermeulen attitude of small bites mean big steps. As with anyone learning the ropes he is following riders and they don't seem to mind -- at the moment! While I was out walking around on Friday morning he was hooked behind Rossi for at least 10 laps and the Doctor wasn't making too much ground on him at all. The team is a lot closer to the front this year but Dunlop needs to up its game with qualifying tyres a bit more. They are getting there as Guintoli led the timesheets on Saturday afternoon for a good part of the session only dropping down the order in the last 10 minutes when the others brought out the real sticky ones.

He is a really good guy too who has married an English girl. I crack up when I'm speaking to him as he has developed a bit of a cockney twang to his speech. It's hilarious to hear him speak with his natural French accent then say something along the lines of "Awrright?" or "I really like it" with a broad Pommy voice.

Speaking of sticky ones I had my co-commentators Nick Harris and Gavin Emmett rolling on the floor during the session as I asked one of the team managers "when are you going to put another sticky one in his rear?" I found out later that they had to turn their mikes off for awhile as they couldn't stop laughing while I continued the interview. I thought it was strange when they took a bit of time to come in when I finished because normally I can't shut them up.

I also got 'em on Sunday saying "it was a good day for ducks" as there was a bit of silence afterwards as well! Wasn't such a good day for the frogs though!

While I'm on about the Pommie pair they and nearly everyone else in Dorna are great people. We take the piss out of each other constantly, about anything and everything but they still don't understand the Aussie sense of humour as sometimes the Poms can be a bit sensitive. Or maybe I just can handle their barbs a bit better than they can handle mine! It's funny that they can take the piss mercilessly but when it's thrown at them hard and fast they tend to get a bit out of joint. I think it's a Pommie trait because when I lived in England I always thought they were a bit too sensitive. Saying that with the head I've got maybe I've learnt to let it wash off!

If you don't know yet we call qualifying live on the MotoGP website and it gives us more of a chance to chat about what's going on as on Sunday's call it's obviously more about calling the race. Nick and I also have our weekly banter on the MotoGP Video pod cast where we have a quick "discussion" on three issues of the weekend. With all the debate about free to air and pay TV, on the website you get the lot with the races interviews and the latest news and if you have wireless or fast broadband you can get the full screen version. Plus you can go to any race from the past few years and have a gander at that too!

Speaking of internet access, Australia is so far behind - even Spain - it's not funny. When looking for a place to live 99.999% of the places boast wifi access and included in that is free national calls (and sometimes international) to all land lines and mobiles. And the download speed is incredible.

Rossi's choice of a hard wet rear was a mistake with many wondering why he didn't take the middle ground and go for a medium rear, but he took the gamble that conditions weren't going to get any worse. It was a testament of his skill that he brought it home at all as some of the slides he had even in a straight line along pit straight were lurid

With the introduction of Michelin's new 16 in front tyre the wet ones are all hand cut slicks! One guy sits in the tent and with a heat gun slices the tread taking about an hour on each one. The reason being that Michelin are still experimenting and so have not constructed a mould to produce the wet tyres as they want to get it right before they outlay the considerable expense. We witnessed the procedure during Monday's test with all the off cuts going in a bucket to be taken back to factory to be burnt should they fall into the wrong hands. I nearly lost mine when I reached in to try and grab one!

Rossi commences outside passing maneouvre...

...gets wheel in front...

...raises buttocks and lets rip eye watering fart

Alex Hofmann gave me an insight into how crazy and brave these guys are when we had a frosty treat together on Sunday night. His visor kept fogging up so to alleviate it on every straight he took one hand off the bars to open his visor so he could clear it. He reckons he got in a great tankslapper coming down pit straight one time as he was trying to clear it, and then try to see where he was going with the rain lashing his face as he kept it pinned as it slithered towards the fast kink.

His best ever result of fifth may just be the kick start he needs to start getting some results. He is a great guy as well and speaks about 54 different languages but I've heard a few people say that he can't ride. Never ceases to amaze me that the armchair jockeys are better riders than those in a GP field. If anyone ever says that to me my instant reply is, "well if you reckon he can't ride I'm sure you can lap quicker than him, I'll see if I can get you a test." For chissakes anyone that is in a GP field can ride, just some are better than others.

The Le Mans test was interesting to attend for a day not only for learning a bit more about what was being tested but some of the on-track rivalry. Some of them like to race each other whatever chance they get. It was good to see Elias giving Rossi a bit of a shake when Rossi hit the track after the lunchbreak. The aura of Rossi has been ripped to shreds of late and the younger riders don't give a toss for his reputation and how he could rattle the likes of Biaggi and Gibernau. His mantle has been ripped off and stomped into the dirt with these young guys.

New bits for Suzuki were testing update engine management while Chris got some stuff to catch up with Hopper as whoever gets the results gets the new generation parts. Hayden tested a new rear link setup on his bike but he was hindered by heavily bruised ribs and torn rib cartilage after his spectacular get off. Rossi was testing a new chassis plus tyres with Ducati doing engine parts, fiddling with the fuel and mapping as well as new Bridgestones. The team's next test will be after the Catalonian Grand Prix in Barcelona next week. It's almost my home GP now as it's only a 30 minute drive up the road!

I've been reading the forums on here and other places that mentions Rossi might bat for the other side. I'm still puzzled to figure where it all comes from. I've seen the guy over the years and if he is pillow biter I'd like to know what he does with all the women! The li'l Italian lass he has at the moment is simply stunning and certainly looks good in a pair of jeans. Stunning maybe but the one he had at the final race last year was a gem with hot pants her favourite attire. And I'll give him one thing that he keeps it quiet when he is in public. The only time you see his girls are during after race testing and things like that. There was a heap of press for him over here last when he was photographed on his li'l boat with a topless stunner during the summer break.

If the slurs are because of his mate Uccio being around him all the time then I think they are wide of the mark as there are other racers that have assistants. Colin Edwards has a guy, Marco Melandri has a good mate who helps him, Westy has a mate too. Hopper has two mates with his as well as his girlfriend. Does it also mean that Pedrosa is gay if Puig is his constant companion? Don't answer that, but have a look at Rossi's leathers next time with the initials "WLF' on the zip flap. He's had it there for years and is a tribute to the best thing female. I wonder why he has that on the flap too?!

We knew we were back in Europe going to Le Mans as there is definitely nothing too exotic about the place. its an old French town with not a lot going on -- normally, but come the GP weekend it goes mental especially at the track where they have heaps of entertainment for the thousands of campers that make the trek from all over Europe and England. I could only imagine what it's like over the weekend of the 24hr races.

On the Friday night they had a band with a chick singer. She used to front a band called the Flaming Pussy but now fronts one called "Goldenshower"!

We were staying in the city and just around the corner was an Irish pub that's well worth a visit with plenty of fine ales, eye candy (especially the one behind the bar) and big screen TVs.

Leaving the track at night you have to be careful though as the drunken arrogant tossers don't get out of the way of your car. You just have to creep through. If you get excited, as happened to a few guys, they smash bottles on the car and even jump on the bonnet to use it like a trampoline as you drive. The police don't even show up inside the track waiting outside as they reckon it's too risky to become a target. One thing I learnt about last year that made my blood boil was that some drunken f'wits bashed and kicked a security dog so much the poor thing had to be put down. Dogs are more faithful than most humans and if I'd seen that I would've taken to the c*&^%@ with the biggest pole I could find. I've been called a dog before and I take it as a compliment! Maybe I was a dog in my past?

Well that's enough of a post mortem about France. What about the next leg of the journey as we approach third season distance. From now on we have six races in eight weeks so it is a haul especially with the last one in the States a week after Germany before we have three weeks off. Hey I'm not complaining -- honest!

Mugello is one helluva racetrack. Set in a valley of the sensational Tuscan hills it is a natural amphitheatre and just like the days of old the locals pack out this modern day Coliseum to watch the gladiators duke it out. For the entire four days the place is abuzz. There are plenty of bikes that turn up but the majority of fans get there early with camper vans and as the ground is so steep they dig level patches to park the van on, plus there are thousands of campers who dot the hillsides with certain areas reserved for fans of different riders. Also instead of turning up with their pride and joy and revving the crap out of it until it valve bounces or even worse a lot of them bring a few engines along in the back of the camper then place them on stands to have their fun. All day and all night the hills are alive with the sound of motorcycle music. It's well worth a visit.

It has the biggest elevation change of any track with some 70 metres difference but it is more than that some of the blind entry corners have to be seen to be believed. Casanova stands out as it is a fast, very steep right hand down hill bend and you can't see the entry until you're about 50 metres from it.

Maybe Rossi might be able to use the agility of the Yamaha to keep in front around the back but I wouldn't be surprised if we see three Ducatis on the podium as the long pit straight will certainly come into play. "Three?", I hear you ask. Well I reckon Capirossi will take the win in front of his home crowd while Stoner is sure to be there somewhere but the dark horse for me is Alex Barros. He has shown that age is no difference to him. He finished fourth in Turkey. In China he was involved with projectile Elias in the first corner but set the fastest laps of the race then he had a solid ride in France that was dictated by rain.

While Rossi will be desperate for a win, Edwards better pull his finger out and get a decent result as well because if he keeps going the way he is with his results he might just go out the back door of Yamaha.

Also Ducati will be going all out to upset the Japanese applecart in the home race and now that Barros and Hofmann have proven they can run at the front, I think Bridgestone will also have something for them.

Yamaha and Honda will continue to struggle until they develop the valve system as both are still using springs as they limits the revs of the bikes. The others aren't afflicted by this induction system as Ducati has the famous Desmo setup while Suzuki and Kawasaki have gone down the pneumatic valve path. Suzuki started the evolution last year on the final version of the 990 and seems to have it pretty well set up. Kawasaki started later but they have moved down the path pretty quickly with even more revs to be found in this current engine and they are quite confident they can spin it up to 18,500 redline without losing too much in fuel economy.

But no matter what, all riders are complaining that there is not enough power in these bikes to make up for little mistakes like they could on the brutish 990s. In the new era passing has become more difficult unless you have the now famous Ducati grunt. With braking points later and corner speeds higher and less horsepower the smaller engines don't have the get-up-and-go-acceleration that the riders love and also spectators as we could see the bikes really getting out of shape. This is where riders could make up some time for an assault at the next corner but with everything so even it has lessened the chances of doing it. I can't see it being dramatic as some of the cynical old minds in the paddock think.

As for the silly season, it's getting hotter every week. Kawasaki is upping the budget to get a good rider next year and give the title a shake. Besides Edwards who I mentioned last time, Capirossi and Hopkins are also on the short list. Also Honda is standing firm to their present commitment of supplying bikes and engines so if Ten Kate does come what will change? I think Gresini will become a one bike team and so will Ten Kate with Toseland but his name has again been linked to the Pramac Ducati team. Some have even said that Honda isn't interested in him but I can't believe that. Livio Suppo at Ducati loves Melandri and he is still young so he might finally end up there. After legalities stopped him heading to Ducati this year I bet Melandri sees Stoner passing him and thinks "that bastard's on my bike!"

Many are certain that Lorenzo has already signed with Yamaha and will end up beside Rossi next year but if Edwards is let go (and that will be something Rossi doesn't want to see) Rossi may be in a one rider team with the FIAT backing and Lorenzo on his lonesome as well because they don't get on.

As for Roberts they have been saying they mightn't last the season because of a lack of funds so if they don't front in 2008 there will be a couple of engines spare.

Where will it all end?!

Anyway I must dash; the sun is belting down here in Barcelona so it means get outside and have a gander. Barcelona in summer is something else...

Bracksy

 

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