Pure Motorbike Passion: Grand Prix de France: Rain Soaked Only Someone's Dream

Viva la France, Viva la France …Vermuelen, Melandri and Stoner must have thought at the end of the race from the podium. This is the land where back in 1789 a revolution, that in a few centuries has changed the political configuration of the rest of Europe, started. Last Sunday in Le Mans we had a race that most of us could have never imagined: with Edwards and Rossi right on the front grid, we could have never expected such a debacle for the Yamaha – Michelin team. The threatening clouds hovering over the track at the beginning of the race became the different bets of the MotoGp Roulette: while the riders were scrambling to position themselves during the first few laps of the race, their teams were still trying to foresee the next hour weather. With the new rules under rain conditions it’s up to the rider to decide when to go back to change his bike in order to optimize his position and the choice of tires. The tendency is to delay as much as possible the decision to play the best set up for the final leg of the race, but not necessarily this is the best option. Since the beginning Rossi had jumped to the front of the group with the authority given by his seven world titles and his desire to finally play his game after having suffered Ducati top speed in the first four races. Le Mans with its short straights and spiky turns was supposed to give him the opportunity to catch back Stoner in the World Championship. Who knows what he must have thought when the first few rain drops appeared on his windshield ... I know for sure what I was thinking: "...Rossi is one of the best riders in the rain and he is going to prove it again today!..." As soon as the pace was reduced as result of the initial rain the French riders Guintoli and DePuniet gave the spectators a few minutes of national pride: they launched themselves in a sort of kamikaze's charge to the front of the field with the attitude typical of those Japanese wild cards racing at their home track trying to impress the Honda managers with a result that could change their lives. Both of them crashed while still riding slick tires, challenging smarter competitors that in reality had already cautiously reduced their speed.
Indeed, among them Rossi had lost his lead and seemed to suffer under the rain. As soon as he changed the bike he charged back in third position but after a few laps I understood that it was again one of those days. While Vermuelen took the lead of the race in front Melandri, Rossi was passed by Stoner, Pedrosa, Hayden and Hofmann. He was struggling; his body language was the same one that he had in Turkey while dealing with a shredded rear tire. I was expecting him to glide graciously into corners and coming out of them with impressive power slides but none of this happened. With the exception of Stoner loosing suddenly and dangerously the rear a few times, I do not recall anybody riding with the old 990cc style. Both, Rossi and Michelin, have claimed to make a mistake with choosing a rear tire with hard compound: strangely last Sunday Rossi was passed in the corners while having problem in hugging the apex of the turns! But normally this is the result of a lack of reliance on the front tire and not the rear! Maybe it’s just a coincidence but in front the press Melandri has claimed that once he had changed the bike the good feeling with the front end of his bike boosted his confidence. By gathering all these information together my speculation, or better, my guess is that the electronics of the new bikes must have confined Rossi’s well-known throttle control skills. I suppose that the performance of the traction control systems of his M1 along with the Michelin hard-compound rear tire must have affected simultaneously the handling and the power delivery of his bike. Today Rossi, the same guy that a few years ago everybody thought could win even with a scooter, has become the victim of the MotoGp evolution, where the combination of tires and electronics has become more important of the rider: exactly what Honda declared three years ago, convincing Rossi to go to Yamaha a brand that had not won a title in the last twelve years. Rossi has won a title with the new bike but in the mean time Honda has given its own spin to the evolution of MotoGp.
The 800cc, an odd size for the market, it’s was supposed to be a fraction of their old winning engine. And to weaken the Rossi’s effect on the masses Honda has been betting on Pedrosa, a real “factory rider”. But even the biggest corporations and their strategies can fail in front the creativity and passion of the single individuals: Ducati, a small Italian company, has been ruining their plans since the beginning of year.