The war of the manufactures

At the end of last week Ducati hit the motorsport headlines, not for the reason you'd assume necessarily. The first thing that springs to mind would be a new bike in production or the Ducati MotoGP team but it was to do with the company itself.

If you've been living under a rock this past week then you might not know that Ducati got sold to Audi. 

Audi's 'parent company' the Volkswagen group owns car brands such as Lamborghini, Seat, Bugatti, Skoda and as i mentioned Audi. One thing these manufactures have in common is that they are considered to be 'sport' cars.

Why Ducati?

Founded in 1926 by brothers Bruno, Marcello and Adriano Ducati from Bologna, Italy. It's one of the world's most recognisable bike company; the Ferrari of the Motorbike world.

Ducati is one of the few manufactures that produce road motorbikes as well as competing and being participants in motor racing series such as MotoGP which it re-joined (after a 30 year absence from the sport) in 2003, the British Superbike Championship and the AMA Superbike championship. It's also the most successful manufacture in the history of World Superbike's and won last year's title with Althea's Carlos Checa.

Ducati also produce their own engine's however with only 10% (i say only, it's quite a lot really) of Ducati's revenue being pumped in to racing, Ducati also have other non-motorbike related products such as radios, camera's and electricals. All in all Ducati are a well rounded company that offers a lots of potential so why wouldn't a big car brand like Audi want to own it?  Having Ducati on board means they can branch out to motorcycle's.

However, this means it's bye-bye for Mercedes-Benz AMG. Their partnership was formed in 2010 and although relatively new, Mercedes and Audi/Volkswagen are rival car manufactures which means their relationship was bound to end. AMG said that they had no interest in taking over Ducati and their partnership with the Italian company was about 'producing premium performance cars' and that is what they still focus on, though obviously not with Ducati anymore.

A fine example of the cut-throat, competitive world of the motor industry.

In other news MotoGP will be happy to hear Valentino Rossi has repeatedly said he'll not be leaving Ducati in the lurch, he will not be leaving Ducati (for this season at least) Vale, i suggest you repeat it a few more times to truly banish the rumours!

With a rainy first day day in Jerez, let's hope it clears up for the rest of the weekend. Qualifying Saturday and the race on Sunday (all three classes) don't miss it!!

Bahrain low down

Two different 'worlds' collided in Bahrain; outside in the villages surrounding Manama there was anti-government protests, tear gas, petrol bombs and people who want their voices to be heard, In the confides of the Sakhir Circuit there was the Formula 1 circus, wanting to get on with their jobs ready for the racing weekend.
Looking back on the weekend, although i didn't agree with the race being held and issues did arise that made me think why and earth F1 was there, one thing is for certain: the Bahraini people were able to express themselves and be heard on an international scale as the Grand Prix drew attention to the country, unfortunately like many others have already said, now the GP is over the spotlight will more than likely move away from Bahrain.

The hot conditions of the desert are not for the faint hearted, however spits of rain and a cooler temperature on sunday wasn't what the teams were expecting... can you believe it rains in the desert too?!
Lap 1 and it was pole sitter Sebastian Vettel that got a speedy start to break away from the pack. Daniel Ricciardo had an awful start from 6th to 17th where he stayed for the majority of the race, battling with Caterham's Vitaly Petrov.
Heikki Kovalainen had another poor start getting in to contact with another car, he got a right-rear puncture and had to trail off for a very early pit stop.
The most surprising start was by Felipe Massa, he had a good race managing to stay fighting for points, good results is something the Brazilian definitely needs.
The Lotus pair obviously had their weetabix in the morning and were both flying out on the track, Grosjean swiftly passing Hamilton for 2nd place while Raikkonen raced hard to make up places from Jenson Button and Mark Webber.

It all went wrong for Hamilton after a disasterous pit stop - problems with the wheel nut's arised again, shaking his head he eventually rejoined the track, the chances of a podium now a distant memory. After one terrible pit stop to another, Hamilton's second stop later in the race was equally as bad and McLaren will have to investigate what has happened with their pitstops over the last few races, they need to improve them as they cannot afford to lose another race from (to a certain extent) an avoidable problem.

Nico Rosberg was a bit naughty on Lap 10 after barging Hamilton off the race track, who made a bold move keeping his foot down, over taking the German. For Rosberg to pull out the same move on Alonso a few laps later however the Spaniard was not happy and radioed through and angry message to his pit crew. However he then went on to kick up controversy himself after he looked as if he was following a Sauber in to the pits and at the last second decides against it and rejoins the race, a dangerous move but both Rosberg and Alonso who's incidents were investigated after the race, got let off the hook.

After the weekends antics at Force India - getting caught up in a protest, missing FP2, coincidently not being shown in quali - Paul Di Resta had a storming race, led for one lap and managed to hold his ground with the big guns, the talented Scot finished up the race in 6th, an excellent result for him and the team!

The first retirement of the race was Pastor Maldonado after a left-rear puncture showing some 360 degree skill on the track puffing up a lot smoke, he slowly peeled off to the pits to reitre the car.
Back at the front, after Kimi was able to overtake teammate Grosjean, he cut down the gap to leader Vettel to 1.1 seconds. The iceman blew his one chance of taking the lead though and the world champion built up a gap between the Finn.
Near the end of the race Williams' last remaning driver, Bruno Senna, had to reitre in the pits. Jenson Button also had to retire on Lap 56; he had a very sick sounding exhaust.
Sebastian Vettel won his first race of the season, joining him on the podium were both Lotus drivers, Kimi Raikkonen, his first podium on return to the sport and Romain Grojean his first podium in F1 not bad for a rookie and a superb race by all.

RESULTS:

Fastest Lap: Sebastian Vettel: 1:36.379

PODIUM:

[1st-Sebastian Vettel, 2nd-Kimi Raikkonen, 3rd-Romain Grosjean]

Next Up:

Formula 1 takes another 3 week break (can't say i'm a massive fan of these *long* breaks) the next race is in Barcelona but there's an upcoming test in Mugello, Italy which will take place before. I personally can't wait to see F1 cars around Mugello, i really like the track, always enjoy watching the MotoGP round at the circuit.

Talking of MotoGP back to back races start this weekend, first up Spain this weekend!

China l-l-low down

I've sat thinking of how i could even start to blog a low down of the weekends Chinese Grand Prix. I've been stuck for which words would actually do it justice. It had everything, a topsy-turvey grid, a new pole sitter, a first (and long awaited) win, excitement, nerves and no idea where anyone would finish after crossing the line. It was a race where anything could have happened.

Qualifying was an interesting session, this year the grid has been a bit jumbled up compared to the familiarity of last years grid where you knew roughly which teams were going to place where... not this season. 

Position for 10th on the grid in quali was a battle between Sebastian Vettel and Fernando Alonso a unique scene for sure, while pole was taken early on in the session after Nico Rosberg's stormer of a lap.

So an exciting race beaconed. 

Nico Rosberg has a great start of the line, leading the pack in to the first corner, closely followed by teammate Michael Schumacher and Jenson Button. Kamui Kobayashi dropped down the field after starting in third, joining him on the bad start front was Sebastian Vettel not ideal for him or the team.

Nico Rosberg started setting fastest lap after fastest lap building a gap between him and Schumacher.

Mark Webber was the first to blink and pitted on Lap 6 for fresh tyres. Four laps later it is Vettel in the pits which caused the domino affect after Webber started setting fastest laps. However, the pit stops up and down the pit lane were far from drama free, teams pit stop's didn't seem to be up to their usual standards with a lot of delays getting the tyre's on and for Schumacher it was race over after an unsafe release, a frantic mechanic waving his hands in a gesture known as 'the tyre wasn't on', Schumi slowed down after exiting the pits and pulled up his Merc. 

With so many overtakes and pit action the order frequently changed. Jenson Button was Nico Rosberg's only competition for the win, being 7.4 seconds behind the German on lap 39 Button came in for new tyre's, trouble with getting his tyre on - a nightmare of a stop for McLaren, he had to wait in his box for 10 seconds before being released and able to rejoin the race... but that was it, there wasn't enough laps left to make up the time lost - just goes to show every second counts. 

Rosberg was told over his radio he could now afford to lose a second of his time each lap and it wouldn't make a difference, he'd still win the race if he had no problems.

The battle for 2nd/3rd/4th/5th was on between JB, Vettel, Raikkonen, Webber and Hamilton with only two seconds between them! The finish would determine who looked after their tyre's the best.

It was Raikkonen that was in the most trouble, one moment he was battling for a podium, he then got challenged by Vettel and Webber successfully and it was all down hill, or off the cliff, for the flying fin as his tyre's had no more to give and he dropped down finishing in 14th, so disappointing, a result that maybe could have been avoided if Lotus pit him again.

Nico crossed the line taking his first win at a circuit he always achieves at, followed by Jenson Button. The battle for third went right down to the wire, Lewis Hamilton grabbed the last spot of the podium from Sebastian Vettel and Mark webber. Webber and Vettel were racing side-by-side, Mark just pitting Sebastian to the post taking 4th. 

Now i strongly advise if you didn't watch the GP to go and catch up with the action - it was beautiful racing from start to finish, no crashes (only bumps), only one retirement (Schumi) due to a pit stop error, and it had tight, close racing up and down the field. 

I done the race no justice because quite frankly it was just one of those races you need to watch to understand!

RACE RESULTS:

Fastest Lap: Kamui Kobayashi 1:39.960

Podium:

[1st-Nico Rosberg (and Norbert Haug), 2nd-Jenson Button, 3rd Lewis Hamilton]

Wasn't too long a long ago Nico and Lewis were racing in Karts together, now they are standing at the top of F1!

Gasp Moment:

Mark Webber giving any MotoGP rider a run for their money, wheelie two wheel style, proving Red Bull still have wings.

Congrats again to Nico and Mercedes, what a win!

Next Up:

Bahrain this weekend, a controversial race that will be going ahead despite safety fears of F1 personell.

We'll see what the lead up to the GP brings and the weekend itself. All we can hope for is a happy, safe sporting event.

46

Has Valentino Rossi really lost his passion?

So since the Qatar Grand Prix a lot of rumours have been flying around about Valentino Rossi, some on the more extreme end of the rumour mill such as he's quit Ducati others that are more of a possibility are he's lost his passion for bike racing.
Rossi is the rider that even if you don't follow MotoGP you know who he is and what he does and how successful he's been. He's the rider the younger generation of MotoGP fans have grown up with, almost automatically support because of his success, his character and his talent, even if he's not your number 1 rider.

After switching teams at the end of 2010 from Yamaha to Ducati, everyone knew it was a bold move, Valentino knew that too. He enjoyed a lot of success at Yamaha but good things have to end too. To the Italians it was a match made in heaven, the most successful rider is in a top Italian team, sounds good right? Well, Ducati may well be a top Italian team but in recent years they've dwindled as a top team. Yamaha and Repsol Honda have taken over the top ranks and unfortunately Ducati have slipped to being a front-mid-field team, if that.
2011 was a tough year for the team, both Valentino and his teammate Nicky Hayden struggled to place the bike high up on the grid, the team went through changes and put all their effort in to the Ducati 2012 bike so they could avoid a repeat of a year to forget.
With a brand new bike at the first race in Qatar they finished with a decent result, Nicky finished in 6th... Valentino however finished down in 10th. With that result media flipped out at the Italian and the rumours began.

One rumour i did read was that Vale had a go at the guys in the Ducati box after the race, another being he's quit... now this seems a bit extreme in my opinion. He certainly hasn't quit. There is no denying he's having a hard time with the bike though, his results show that but i highly doubt he'd ever give up so easy, he's not a quitter. Unless something really bad was happening that we don't know about, i don't think Valentino would ever quit the team during the season, especially seeing as it's only race one. It's the first race, there's a whole season to improve, look at Ferrari.

As for having a go at the Duc guy's, if that was true, then doesn't that prove he still has passion? You don't get worked up over nothing.
I know he's had a very hard year, with the frustration of Ducati to Marco Simoncelli's passing. He was a very close friend and losing a friend to the sport you love is unimaginable.
Has he lost his passion because of it? Maybe it isn't as fiery as it was in his championship winning years (which may i remind you weren't all that long ago) has he lost it completely? Hell no! If his passion was gone he would not be racing today and would have retired. He's determined to put in the hard work to improve his teams performance, he knew from the beginning it wasn't going to be easy, i hope that he'll stick around long enough to see the improvement.

Which leads me on to Qatar; the bike's race pace wasn't too bad, yes Vale only finished 10th, he said after the race that the bike was impossible to ride and he couldn't keep up with the other Ducati's pace and struggled but is this the bike or is it VR not able to gel with it?
Nicky's 6th wasn't a bad result considering. Plus, Nicky Hayden is relishing in the swap to 1000cc engines, he never got on with the 800's, he's said it himself that in his championship year he much preferred the bikes then to the 800's from 2007 to last year.
I guess what i'm trying to say is that i don't think the bike is solely to blame, It's working for Nicky which usually means it's not working for Valentino. Although it might not 100% be the bike, i also don't think Vale's lack in performance is because he's lost his passion. I can't see him ever losing his passion for bikes, that's the reason he's stuck around for so long, he's had plenty of opportunities to switch to car racing. I'm pretty sure even F1 would love him but no he's still in MotoGP.

People have such high expectations for him but he can't be at the top forever, as long as he's enjoying his job, enjoying the sport he loves and has devoted himself to, then i'm happy for him. If his heart's not in it though then neither should he and there will be a time, maybe sooner or maybe a little later when he'll retire.
Valentino Rossi of all people knows how dangerous the sport is but how much it gives to you as well, something fans will never understand like riders do however we experience the love for the sport all the same.
Hey, let's not forget Casey Stoner won his first championship on a Ducati! I really hope they start challenging for podium's soon, and they don't give up hope completely.

visors down

With the sun set and the circuit lights turned on, it was race time in the desert.
Qatar is always a test for the riders, the conditions are hot and sweaty, the bikes are getting their first outing in race conditions and the pressure is on.

Moto3:
Moto3 started off in fine fashion for the classes first Grand Prix. There was a solid battle up and down the field, the main being for the podium.
Championship favourite, Maverick Vinales had a close battle with rookie Romano Fenati who put in a fantastic performance, chopping and changing the lead with Vinales throughout the race. Vinales broke away from the Italian during the last few laps to take the win, Fenati was guaranteed 2nd place (providing he didn't slip up - which he didn't) however the 3rd and final place on the podium was very much up for grabs. Sandro Cortese, Luis Salom and Miguel Oliviera were all in contention. All on a charge on the last lap it was pole sitter Cortese who made a brave move to take 3rd from Salom.

[1st-Maverick Vinales, 2nd-Romano Fenati, 3rd-Sandro Cortese]

Moto2:
2012 started no different in Moto2, exciting racing from the start, followed by controversy and a Marc Marquez win!
Where do i start? From start to finish the race order was constantly changing. Pol Espargaro got off to a great start leading the race, he was closely chased by Marquez, Andrea Iannone, Esteve Rabat and Thomas Luthi, with all of them going deep and off line at some point during the race.
With  no clear leader throughout the majority of the race it was tactical Marquez who kept calm and calculated, well and truly putting the doubters to rest after his eye injury, he made all the right passes to take 1st from Iannone who came 2nd. Joining them on the 3rd step of the podium was Pol Espargaro thanks to Luthi who ran wide after clashing with Marquez earlier on.
In my opinion Marquez didn't cut Luthi off, touching each others back-to-front wheels, intentionally. Luthi was not a happy rider after the race, unnecessarily hitting Marquez on the arm on the cool down lap in fury which is never a good move.

[1st-Marc Marquez, 2nd-Andrea Iannone, 3rd-Pol Espargaro]

MotoGP:
The first five lights of the season went out and the race in Qatar was underway. Pole sitter Jorge Lorenzo got off the line and lead the pack in to the first corner. Dani Pedrosa aka 'the pocket rocket' is the master of getting a good start, he whipped out his trick once again and jumped up to 2nd from starting 7th on the grid.
Casey Stoner wasn't going to let them both get away and claimed the lead on Lap 3, the Australian went on to pull a two-second lead from the pack and looked as though he was on to a winner.
Both Yamaha Tech 3 riders Andrea Dovizioso and 2011 rookie of the year Cal Crutchlow had a race of their own for 4th place. Crutchlow was the fastest of the pair and finished in 4th position, both riders are determined to prove themselves for a seat in the team next year as only one will get the chance to ride for Tech 3 in 2013 as the other seat has been promised to Moto2 rider Bradley Smith.
Rookie LCR Honda rider Stefan Bradl had a fairly lonely race running in 6th, until the final few laps when he came up against Nicky Hayden and Alvaro Bautista who both overtook him demoting him to 8th place. A fine opening race for the promising young German.
Talking of Nicky Hayden, who is now in his 10th year of Grand Prix racing (congrats Nicky, here's to many more) pushed his Ducati to the limits, crossing the line in 6th - a result which i think is a good start for the team and Nicky but with teammate Valentino Rossi finishing in a dismal 10th position, needs a re-evaluation of what exactly is gong on with the multiple world champion. If his teammate is able to finish in 6th and the other Ducati's such as Hector Barbera finishing in 9th, you've got to question if it is the bike or the rider? One thing is for sure Valentino isn't a rider that accepts not being on the podium.
A place behind Rossi was Yamaha rider Ben Spies who had a tough race slowly dropping down the order with what he says as a beat up bike after enduring several high speed crashes over the weekend, one to forget for the Texan, hopefully he'll be back to top form in Spain.
With the race coming alive towards the end few laps when the riders push their skills further to the limit in a bid to get a higher result, Casey Stoner dropped back to 3rd, where he finished, after suffering from arm pump and bike chatter. Not a way you want to end any race however teammate (and they only have each other this year instead of three riders at Repsol Honda) took full advantage and fought with Lorenzo for the win. There weren't enough laps in the race for Pedrosa and he crossed the line 2nd, the win went to pole sitter Jorge Lorenzo after a sweaty, intense race under the Losail lights.

[1st-Jorge Lorenzo, 2nd-Dani Pedrosa, 3rd-Casey Stoner]

Next race: Spain.

Before that though will be the F1 Chinese Grand Prix this weekend.

Here we are again

After what was a very long winter for MotoGP, it's back! First stop on the calendar: Qatar. The circus have arrived for the only night race (can you really call it a night race? More on the evening side) in the season.
MotoGP are very much entering a new era, in more ways than one.

Firstly, the historic 125cc class has followed the change of Moto2 (previously 250cc) and is now Moto3. A little easier to remember. The main change in the lower class championship is they have now moved up to 250cc four-stroke, single cylinder motorcycles from previous 125cc two-stroke bikes.
Moto3 is the 'starting' or lowest (i don't like saying that because they are all so talented and Moto3 isn't a bad place to race) of the three championships, this means that from season to season the rider line up can chop and change quite dramatically compared to MotoGP, with 32 rider competing, all at a young age it's always set to be a corker.
While Moto2 stays near enough the same big changes have happened in MotoGP.
2012 see's the switch in engines; since 2007 teams have been restricted to 800cc engine capacities, now they are riding 1000cc engines, as Dani Pedrosa has said with the new engine you 'brake later and are faster through corners'
As well as the engine change, MotoGP has also introduced CRT (Claiming Rule Team) on the grid. This allows independant teams to be competitive at a lower cost and increase the number of bikes on the grid, something MotoGP was seriously lacking in before the 2012 season. These bikes are effectively bikes you could go and ride on the road compared to the factory bikes which you can't buy.
While it all get's a bit complex for a simple blog the 'Claiming Rule' is an attempt to lower costs further, teams can 'claim' their rivals engines, if they wish, however the actual 'claiming' is done by the MSMA Manufactures. If you want to read the endless pages of rules on CRT then you can always Goggle it, there's plenty of information on 2012 rules released by FIM.

QATAR QUALIFYING
A short low down of Qatar quali - otherwise tomorrow's race blog will be bordering on an essay.

Moto3:
A very close battle at the front has taken place in Moto3 all weekend, qualifying being no different.
125cc veteran (sorry Sandro) Sandro Cortese just grabbed pole in the last few seconds of the session.
Cortese has been around in 125/Moto3 for some time now, with a fresh move to KTM this season, he seems to be settling in well. The KTM so far seems consitent, the bike's been in development for some time and now is the time to see the hard work pay off, starting with a pole. Though Cortese has the race to come, with front runners and young guns, Maverick Vinales, Louis Rossi and Luis Salom all hot on the KTM's exhaust, it is going to be a close battle not only for the top riders but also for the whole field.

Moto2:
Suter rider Thomas Luthi has been quick all weekend, once again he pulled it out when it mattered in quali and took the first Moto2 pole of the season.
Marc Marquez is back and ready to fight for the 2012 championship after being denied the chance to fight for the title last year after his bad crash in Sepang which left him unable to race in Valencia.
Andrea Iannone, Pol Espagaro and Mike Di Meglio are all in contention for a podium.

MotoGP:
The spartan, Jorge Lorenzo triumped to pole position in a last minute hot lap taking pole of reining champion Casey Stoner.
Like the Moto2/3, the grid in MotoGP is set to be a competitive one. Lorenzo and Stoner are most likely to battle it out for the win however the podium is wide open with the likes of Cal Crutchlow, Ben Spies, Nicky Hayden and Dani Pedrosa all eager to get up there. Not the list you thought it would be? Cal Crutchlow has been on it all weekend and is certianly the rider who is switching up the familiar 2011 order, as well as Nicky Hayden who put if a great effort to qualify 5th seeing as Ducati are still struggling to get close to the top with Valentino Rossi only qualifying 12th.

With all the bikes looking beautiful under the lights of the Losail circuit, the long winter break now behind us, it's time for lights out.
On a side not, while we all go in to this season remembering the life of Marco Simoncelli, who i know i'll always remeber and will always be apart of MotoGP, the sport still continues, in memory of  not only Marco Simoncelli but all the fallen riders.
All three race's from Qatar tomorrow evening are set to be thrilling openeers!

Bahrain or not to Bahrain

With tensions rising of whether the Bahrain Grand Prix will go ahead or not it seems a lot of people have mixed views on the situation however all agree on one thing: the safety of F1 personnel.
Naturally, as this is my blog i'm going to give my two pennies worth too.
Personally i have mixed feeling about the GP going ahead. If it does go ahead (and that is a big if) then it's going to go one of two ways; smoothly and safely or taking advantage of and made a target.
Obviously everyone can only hope if it does go ahead that it will be a safe weekend, this could be a good thing - showing the country it is moving on. However from recent news articles that doesn't seem to be the case and violence in Bahrain is still happening daily.
If the latter of my assumptions happens then it will have a serious impact on Formula 1. It's a sport, it doesn't need to go there, it would seem insensitive when obvious protests, that are turning violent, are taking place.
The Bahrain Grand Prix is the countries main sporting event that takes place, the Bahraini royal's pump a lot of money in to the sport to ensure they stay on the calendar, they even own a stake in McLaren but other than benefiting the King and his family, would it really benefit the Bahraini people?
Safety of the thousands of F1 personnel (and fans, if there are any) traveling over there for the weekend are also in question, will they be safe? What about the media? Journalists and photographers could easily be targeted. If you asked anyone who worked in or around Formula 1 if they are truly happy with going the GP then i think most of them would answer no... if you asked them behind closed doors that is, as Bernie Ecclestone, Team Principals, event organisers and such are all agreeing it's a go, go.
Here's a something to ponder over though: Teams are hell bent on making sure their drivers don't participate in dangerous activities that could pose a high risk of injury (meaning they may miss one or more grand prix's) so why would they be happy with taking them to a country that has been uprising for the last year, a place where there is a higher risk of unsettled behaviour targeting the sport?
While i'm on the subject and i've seen a lot of comments floating around like 'If F1 doesn't race in Bahrain than they shouldn't race in China' because of human rights, then let's face it we may as well not race anywhere. There is no immediate threat on safety grounds for the Chinese Grand Prix.
More than likely the Bahrain Grand Prix will be called off over the Chinese GP weekend, teams have made back-up travel arrangements to accomandate the change and the rest of the sporting calendar will continue.