Happy New Year everybody! It looks as though 2008 is going to be another great year for motorcycle racing, starting in just a couple of days at Anaheim, where I will be eagerly watching the start of the Supercross season with my kids and a bunch of old and new friends from California.
Once again I’ll be back in MotoGP this season, giving you my thoughts from the paddock as the year progresses. That all gets underway with the first test at Sepang towards the end of this month but in the meantime I thought I’d give you my thoughts on the heroes and villains of 2007, with my annual rider report card…
Kurtis Roberts: This was an incredibly tough season for the whole Roberts family after a fantastic 2006, when Kenny Jr finished sixth in the championship and almost won the penultimate race at Estoril. The problem was clearly the engine, which was so bad that Honda actually came to the team and apologised. As soon as Kurtis rode the bike and got near to Kenny’s lap times, that gave Kenny the ideal chance to bow out because he knew the writing was on the wall. It was hard for Kurtis to stay motivated but there is no doubt that he rode to the best of his ability. Unfortunately nothing clicked and there is now a huge question mark over whether this fantastic and historic team will be able to continue. A great shame. 5
Makoto Tamada: It is only three years since this guy was beating Valentino Rossi in a straight head-to-head but he has never got it together since switching from Bridgestone tyres. You never see Makoto socialising within the paddock because his communication skills are so poor and that clearly carried over into his work. The exit door opened for him and the man who held it open was his rookie team-mate, who outperformed him in every sense. A lovely character but you need more than that to succeed in MotoGP. 4
Sylvain Guintoli: Some of the most memorable moments of the season came from the only rookie in MotoGP this year, like when he led his home race at Le Mans and the times he shocked everybody by putting the Dunlop-shod Yamaha on provisional pole during qualifying. It was hard for Sylvain being one of only two riders on Dunlops, especially when he was getting so little help from his team-mate, but he gave great feedback and played a big part in the way the tyres improved over the season. He’s also a fun guy and with his weird English accent he’s great on TV. Still has a lot to learn but I can’t wait to see him on the Ducati with Bridgestone next season. 7.5
Alex Barros: Made the mistake of beating Casey Stoner in the sixth round and after that his package mysteriously never seemed to be as strong. My old Cagiva team-mate from 1988 is still hugely respected by young and old riders alike. He has had a great career and it was sad to say goodbye in the final round at Valencia. Personally I would like to seem him retire from racing now and go back to his beautiful family in Brazil. It is hard to put the brakes on a career as a racer but he will soon realise there’s a lot to live for on the outside too. 6
Alex Hofmann: Was running close to Barros when he got badly injured at Laguna Seca and that wrecked his season. Up to that point he had done an admirable job in a team that is clearly suffering from financial and technical support. Lots of rumours and stories came out of that garage during the season but I really believe Alex has the talent to warrant a place in MotoGP. He is a very intelligent guy and was maybe only lacking some inner strength and belief in his ability, although it is easy to say that from outside the garage. I hope he finds a ride soon. 6
Anthony West: Ant got a great opportunity this year after floating around on uncompetitive machinery in the 250 class for such a long time. I always felt he had the talent but he has lacked some guidance in his career and some people have been put off by his attitude. He seems to have put that right now and his natural ability has shone through. Ant is a very fast rider but is another guy who seems a little weak mentally - he goes fast without knowing why. That is something he needs to learn because it is crucial for him to find consistency if he wants to be a regular top ten finisher. I also hope he picked a Christmas tree with flashing lights to get used to watching when they switch off! 6
Randy De Puniet: Produced some really strong qualifying performances and occasionally showed that he can battle with the top guys in the race. Randy has talent but he makes too many mistakes when he’s under pressure. There have been times this season when riders have said to me: “Oh sh*t, De Puniet is behind me on the grid!” because he sometimes takes his brain out at the start. Often it has been in races where he could have done really well and that’s a shame but for me he still scores highly for his qualifying. Needs to adopt a more serious and controlled approach to racing. 7
Shinya Nakano: Like Tamada, Shinya never recovered from leaving Bridgestone. Coupled with the difficulties Honda were having and the fact he was pretty much last in the pecking order of the satellite bikes he soon lost his confidence and went into a downward spiral. He remains a top class rider but I’m not sure he can recover, especially with a hungry kid like De Angelis coming up to give him a hard time on the same package. The change back to Bridgestones should help. 5
Toni Elias: It is starting to feel like Toni has been around a long time. He shows great flair but is sometimes guilty of a little over-exuberance and he has paid for that with some nasty injuries. Like a few other riders in the class he struggles to adapt his riding style and he just couldn’t adapt to the 800. Toni has got to think hard about how he’s going to do that next season because it is not enough to just go out and give 100% on the bike. It was not a good year for Toni and, much as I would like to see it, I’m not expecting anything great from him in 2008 either. 5
Marco Melandri: For me there is still a question mark over Marco. He has great physical strength but has mental lapses over the course of the season and like his team-mate he has paid for that with some big injuries. Everybody loved his heroics at Laguna Seca but he has to start asking himself why he continually has to ride through the pain barrier. Like the other Honda guys he was let down by the machinery this season but even on Dani Pedrosa’s bike I don’t think he could have done what Dani did at Valencia. Everything has to go to plan for Marco to be competitive and now he has the challenge of working in a garage where a lot of the focus will be on his new team-mate. He needs to gel quickly with the bike but early tests suggest he’s in trouble already. 7
Carlos Checa: Carlos has been around a long time and he is well liked in the paddock but it is no secret he has been in Grand Prix for longer than he might have because he is Spanish. It is hard to judge his performance this season because Honda and Michelin were so far off the pace but over the course of his career he never really put it together and I think that his release from Ducati after a single season meant that we never saw the best of him. He has a mountain of experience to take to World Superbikes and we’ll all be supporting him next season. 5
Chris Vermeulen: Won a Grand Prix in only his second season and scored three other podiums but it could have been so much more if he qualified better and improved his pace over the opening laps. Chris has to learn to be fast and aggressive from the first free practice session – not just for the final few laps of the race – and that weakness this season probably cost him fourth place in the championship. Suzuki really benefited from the healthy rivalry between him and John Hopkins and I think they will miss that next season. From Chris’ point of view there will be no more room for excuses about not knowing the tracks or the bike, he now needs to focus on his own weak points as a rider. In my opinion, one of the greatest wet weather riders ever. 8
John Hopkins: This season John finally started to believe in himself. He worked so hard on his fitness during the winter and changed his mental approach to racing, which gave him the platform to exploit his immense talent. Even Valentino said that he enjoyed racing against John in 2007. He learnt a big lesson when he crashed at Jerez and in the end he beat Chris to fourth in the championship because he wanted it more and he believed in it more. It was a tough decision for him to leave Suzuki but he got a great offer from Kawasaki and I think it is the perfect time to go there. He now has a winning attitude and I think Kawasaki do too, so there is every opportunity for John to make himself a hero next season. 8.5
Colin Edwards: Everything looked good at the start of the season, with Colin saying he felt the Yamaha-Michelin combination was the best package he’d ever ridden. For whatever reason that didn’t materialise and when Valentino Rossi is struggling to ride something then you’ve not got much chance – although to get beaten in races by Guintoli was not good enough. Yamaha definitely put their eggs in one basket but Colin knows that his role there was basically as a test rider with 18 wildcard appearances. Full marks for his preseason talk – he would make a great car salesman – but not quite so high for his performance on the track. 6.5
Valentino Rossi: The man everybody loved to hate this year! Valentino took flak from the taxman, the fans and the media but he remains the most popular rider in history. I love the way he speaks so openly but I don’t think he needs to make digs at other riders at this stage in his career. He’s probably never had to ride as hard as he did in 2007 but you just knew he would never give up and to win four races on that package was a remarkable achievement. Valentino has a lot of respect for his rivals but deep down he knows he can still beat them all. We’ve seen him throwing his toys out of the pram for the first time but the greatest rider to ever walk the planet has lost none of his talent and I’d defy anybody to show me a rider who made more passes this season. He’ll come out with all guns blazing again in 2008 but if Yamaha don’t get it right I fear this could be the last year we see him racing on two wheels. 9.5
Nicky Hayden: Nicky seems to have spent his whole MotoGP career trying to adapt his riding style and whilst he eventually managed it on a 990 to the point that he could win the title it was always going to be much tougher for him on the 800. Nobody works harder than him in testing but part of me thinks that he is out there clocking up the laps without really sharpening his approach - sometimes you can learn more by watching others. Nicky is not a good development rider but he can race and he has the respect of his peers for that reason. As the Honda got better, so did his performances but 2007 was such an uphill battle for anybody on an RC212V. Despite that he was as good fun and as charming as always – one of the sport’s biggest stars. 8.5
Dani Pedrosa: Won two races with classic Dani Pedrosa displays – fully focused and fully committed. However, we didn’t see enough of that kind of performance from Dani this year and everything had to be just right before he made the commitment himself, even though much of that was down to Honda. He was involved in the best race of the year at Catalunya and finished on the podium at Jerez when the bike was still a nail, added to his two victories and the albeit fortunate runner-up spot in the championship to make it a very good second season in MotoGP. Unfortunately his manager Alberto Puig seems to have a problem with everybody and likes to make life difficult for the press, which means Dani’s character sometimes gets misread and misrepresented, but he is a good kid really. To be fair to him he is only interested in being a winner, not a celebrity, but I would like to see him lighten up in front of the cameras a little! 9
Loris Capirossi: So tough he could spit nails! Loris probably would have won the championship in 2006 if it wasn’t for the crash at Barcelona but this season provided a dramatic turnaround as he struggled to adapt to the 800. Personally I think there was a slight temperature change towards Loris from certain corners of the garage but he has always acted gracefully and showed great respect to Stoner. If Casey hadn’t done so well then maybe development would have centred more around Loris but after the first race his feedback was virtually redundant. Unfortunately he just couldn’t get his head around the bike and his victory at Motegi was like a lottery win. That would have been a good time to announce his retirement because he has nothing left to prove in this sport. I don’t believe he will ever win the championship with Suzuki and I don’t think he does either. 7
Casey Stoner: With Casey it’s easier to start with my mark – 10 – and then list the reasons why. For winning races, for his determination, for his talent, for dominating practice, for the luck he had in finding Ducati and the luck Ducati had in finding him - if you can get an Italian team to love you there is no better place to be. I could fill this page with the reasons and another page with the records from an outstanding year. I remember speaking to his father a couple of years ago and he told me Casey was desperate for Valentino not to retire before he got a crack at beating him. Well he got that chance this season and he took it with both hands. The combination was perfect – a fire-breathing bike and a fire-breathing rider. That thing would buck, bend and squirm underneath him but Casey just held the throttle open. The developments in electronics suit his style perfectly and that will possibly be even more the case next season and beyond, when he is going to be extremely hard to beat. An amazing year for an amazing talent.
Randy
English youngster Searle used 2-1 moto scores to claim the top step of the podium
Yamaha Motor Italia rider Noriyuki Haga won the second leg of the Italian World Superbike round
