I know this column won’t stay up to date for long but we’re already two races into the season so I thought I’d drop you guys a line before heading to Jerez. I can’t remember a stranger start to the season in terms of the weather than what we’ve seen in Qatar and Japan. To have the guys lined up on the grid at Losail, only for it to rain and have to run the race on the Monday was like nothing like I’d ever seen, and then for qualifying to be cancelled for the same reason at Motegi was just a bizarre coincidence. I always keep a close eye on the weather forecast and to be fair it was right on both occasions. So far it’s saying there’s a 0% chance of rain in Jerez so let’s hope the weatherman keeps his good run of form up!

Just as unpredictable as the weather is the fact that we’ve had two races and Valentino Rossi hasn’t won either of them. In Qatar we saw Casey Stoner dominate, Yamaha doing well and Honda struggling but boy was there a turnaround last Sunday in Japan! There were plenty of surprises in the race and a big part of that was the lack of set-up time available due to the adverse weather. Pretty much everybody complained about it but, like Casey always says, it was the same for everybody and there are still fifteen more races to go. The key is being consistent over all fifteen, regardless of the circumstances, and there are no excuses at the end of the year.

The most consistent thing about the first two races has been the performance of the new Yamaha M1. Like at the start of last year, when we had three of them on the front row in Qatar, this year’s machine seems to fit more riding styles than just one, which is where Ducati and to an extent Honda have been struggling. In that respect, the M1 is probably the closest we’re seeing to the 990cc V5 Honda, which had a much wider band of set-up than anything else it competed against.

However, unfortunately for Colin Edwards even the Yamaha doesn’t work when it has the wrong engine mapping dialled in! Valentino also struggled to find the right mapping at Motegi but he eventually found something that worked better when he was battling with Dani. I really suggest you go to motogp.com and look up the ‘analysis by lap’ section on the results page to see how his lap times varied. You can also see where he made a mistake and lost a second to Lorenzo, as well as seeing how close the guys are in terms of their lap times and how a tenth here or a tenth there can be so crucial over race distance.

The result in Japan has certainly made things interesting going to Jerez and to have two Spanish riders on the podium just four days before the weekend gets going down there will make sure that any remaining tickets are snapped up! In fact, I’m sure there will be thousands of people pitching their tents up even as you read this. Not only does Jorge Lorenzo lead the MotoGP standings, Julian Simon is second in the 125cc class whilst Alvaro Bautista is on top in 250cc. There is as good a chance as there has been in recent years of those incredible Spanish fans celebrating three home winners on Sunday.

Following his experience last year, when he led the championship in the early stages only to be brought back down to earth, quite literally, with a bump, Jorge is under no illusions that this season is going to be easy. He’s already saying that Casey and Valentino are still at an advantage over him because he is still learning the tyres and everything else, which is true. When you look back at Motegi, Jorge was quick straight out of the garage on Friday and because of the limited track time these guys now have in practice it is crucial to have that level of performance as soon as the bike comes out of the crate.

Saturday mornings are now virtually useless because the guys don’t have the tyre variation to help them get a set-up when the track temperature is so different to the afternoon. To stay competitive Lorenzo has to hope his team can give him a package that works from Friday afternoon and that won’t always happen. He is well aware of the reality of the situation and of the company around him and so his demeanour is one of ‘I’m not supposed to be here but if I am I’ll take it’. Jorge is taking a happy-go-lucky approach and that’s really cool to see.

I will give you guys a more detailed report before we head to France for round four but I just wanted to check in for a quick update before I head down to Jerez. After a couple of races outside of Europe, people always say the championship starts now and the atmosphere is bound to be awesome. I can’t wait!

Speak to you all next week,

Randy