No dude...

I'm talking about whether or not to take a new motor and start from pit-lane or gamble on an old motor that might blow up during the weekend.

 

He doesn't make that decision his crew will.

 

The news is out though. Nicky Hayden will be on a Honda in the 2014 MotoGP World Championship with Aspar team owner Jorge Martinez. Just wonder who his teammate will be??

 

I bet it's Eugene Laverty. We'll see how it goes. I kind of figured he'd be on a Honda once Gigi said he was leaving Ape for Duc. Yonny has done pretty well so far on the Duc - I bet they keep him and terminate Ben Spies' contract for '14



http://www.asphaltandrubber.com/moto...a-motogp-2014/

 

Semantics - whatever - Hayden's team. What do you think they'll do?


He says they have a few motors that don't have quite as many miles on them. But PI is one of his best tracks, imagine how pissed he'd be if he had to retire again.

 

Exactly. He works for the Ducatti Moto GP Team, rides the bike and gives them his feedback on how it is set up, etc. Someone else makes the bike, someone else brings it to the track, makes it run right, etc etc etc. Someone else (an engineer?) calls the shots about motors, not the rider.

I'm guessing Nicky Hayden is almost marking time till he gets off that Ducatti. He knows it doesn't have a winning chance. He has to be frustrated (until he goes to the bank with his paycheck) but engine selection is not his call.

All the riders at the Moto GP level have huge talent but racing is a team effort. Honda and Yamaha have a lot of money and can afford the best team efforts..the rider IS important, but not the MOST important...Ya think MM would be winning everything on Hayden's Ducati?...me neither, but Hayden might be in the mix if he was Repsol.

 

BIG. NEWS.

Phillip Island

1) Bridgestone/Motogp Race Direction are FORCING riders to make one pit stop during the race to switch to a bike with fresh tires because the tire wear is so bad due to the new track surface. It will be like a wet/dry race - flag to flag. You can't do more than 14 laps on either set of tires.

2)Unless your CRT - you HAVE TO use the hard option, again because of overall heat/tire wear.

3) This impacts Nicky the worst. Nicky now needs TWO good motors (because of the pit stop). But it's not only Nicky, you have gambling all over the track now. It's Phillip Island (3 races left), everyone is on their last engine. Yamaha has been struggling with their engine life.




In Moto2,

1) Scott Redding is OUT of the race on Sunday with a fractured wrist. He went down hard in qualifying. This is a worst case scenario now that he's only up 9 pts. Pol is on pole...

2) Moto2 race has been reduced to 13 laps (also due to tire wear).

 

Just read about all this. Crazy.

Shame about Scott Redding. Not looking good for him. All of a sudden he could be battling Rabat for second in the championship.

Glad they didn't just shorten the MotoGP race, the bike change will add an extra bit of drama.

 

Should they get that track off the sched or get a new tire sponsor?

Did not Formula One do both those things after Michelin screwed up on the US GP at Indy a few seasons back? They no longer have a GP at Indy and Pirelli now puts tires on their race cars....

Or how bout this? Have Moto GP teams change wheels during a pit stop, just like Formula One? That would be cool rather than riders swapping bikes... Ya think they could match about 2.5 seconds of the average top team formula one pit stop? For all four wheels being swapped? Having tire changes would certainly make the outcome of races a lot less.....scripted...

 

This is the first time there since the re-pave. Phillip Island is one of the best circuits on the schedule. Bridgestone and Dunlop should have done some more testing there. That's really all.


But the flag to flag is the best for the race. That would be for sure the most consistent way to get guys into and out of the pits most evenly. Watch AMA 200 pit stops, the times can vary by a huge amount. Trying to get the a front rim with rotors into the calipers and the rear wheel with a sprocket into the chain is really tough. Even with the fast action axles they use, it still takes 18 seconds or so. With SSSA's, and a way to easily work the front, you still couldn't get it done in 2.5 seconds.

Flag to flag is cool though. You don't want to come in too early, you don't want to come in too late. They have a 3 lap window to do it. Coming back onto track could really impact what happens to. Since it's sprint racing, and pit stops aren't a usual consistent part of the series, 2 bikes flag to flag is the way to go.


They shouldn't boycott the event like F1 did a few years ago. That'd be dumb. F1 is sort of "nancy" compared to Motogp - and most fans (and racers) want to keep it that way. They've got a show to put on, flag to flag racing is a safe option for the riders (so long as the pit exit is okay).

Bridgestone should have gone there and really tested. Dunlop should have too, because the situation is just as bad in Moto2. Phillip Island used some sort of new compound for durability - and apparently it eats tires up. It's a waste production of mining, and it's recently started to be used on roads. If Bridgestone and Dunlop asked to test there and weren't allowed by Motogp, the it's another one of Race Direction's screw ups.