Will the second year of the 800cc era be any different to last season? On first showings, perhaps not but either way, it’s going to be another memorable MotoGP battle…
With no major rule changes since last year, MotoGP is set to kick off the second straight season of 800cc competition and the one question on everyone’s lips is can anyone match the pace of Casey Stoner and the Ducati Desmosedici?
Cast your mind back to the final year of 990cc prototypes in 2006 and that season had everything that a Grand Prix fan could ask for. The last year of a proven race formula meant there was a lot to fight for after all the main manufacturers had had five years to develop their machines. In the end, the previously unconquerable Valentino Rossi finally got beaten and at the dramatic conclusion to the season, we were all left wondering what 2007 would bring.
“It is a good thing that the bike is not completely different to 2007 because it has allowed us to find an excellent base to start the season from already.”- Casey Stoner
If it ain’t broke don’t fix it springs to mind, but already there were the motions in place to reduce the engine capacity with the intention being to increase corner speed for the lighter, more nimble bikes, while restricting tyre usage and fuel consumption in a bid to make teams consider their strategies. It was designed to make the field even more competitive, yet it had entirely the opposite effect with Casey Stoner winning ten out of eighteen races, most of them with ease, and many observers complaining about the lack of on-track action.
It’s all water under the bridge now to some extent as we prepare for the 2008 season which kicked off with a first ever MotoGP night race under the lights at Qatar and the chances are, although he didn’t dominate there last year, the reigning World Champion will have been blindingly quick, just as he was in the televised damp squib that was the BMW Shoot Out Award as well as throughout pre-season testing.
Actually the thing that worries his rivals most is not really Stoner’s outright speed, indicated by the amount of fastest lap times he did during each day of winter testing, but his pace on race rubber. After dominating on all three days of the Australian test at Phillip Island, the Ducati Marlboro rider admitted: “It is a good thing that the bike is not completely different to 2007 because it has allowed us to find an excellent base to start the season from already.”
One of the most important modifications is the improved power delivery of the Desmosedici GP8 engine which not only makes it easier to exit the corners but also extends tyre life. Last year, Stoner always used the hardest available Bridgestone tyres during the race, which wasn’t exactly the best choice when it came to lap times, but meant grip levels were never an issue for the Australian, and still allowed him to win well over half the races. Modifications to the set-up improved the bike to the point where Stoner started mentioning about using softer tyres during races in 2008. Dominant victories from 2007 not withstanding, just imagine the gulf of division with regards to Casey's supremacy, if he'd been able to go a few tenths quicker each lap last year during the races at Qatar, China or Catalunya, for example, which would have allowed him to break away from Rossi early on. He could have been World Champ by half-time…
And if that had happened, it would have easily overshadowed Mick Doohan’s great dominance from 1997 when he won 12 out of 15 races, but could Casey Stoner make even a bigger mark in the sport's history books this year? Very possibly and extremely likely is the answer, but one man who is unlikely to be challenging him, early on anyway, is his new team mate Marco Melandri, who's still enduring a difficult teething period with the factory Desmosedici. The Italian, just like his predecessor, Loris Capirossi, simply can't get on with the fast but demanding machine and struggles big time to adapt his riding style to the power delivery of the mighty GP8 engine. Should he be able to overcome these problems, Marco could probably give Stoner, and anyone else for that matter, a hard run for their money, but after so many days testing, spent trying to sort out handling issues instead of fine tuning the performance elements, Melandri is very likely to face another difficult season.
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