Circuit info
Length: 4.448 m / 2.764 miles
Width: 13m
Left corners: 7
Right corners: 5
Longest straight: 900 m / 0.559 miles
Constructed: 1956
Modified: 1988
Race Length: 27 laps - 120.1 km - 74.6 miles
Weather courtesy of weather.com:
| Fri | Sat | Sun |
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| 60°F/48°F Sunny CHANCE OF RAIN: 0% WIND: S at 12 mph | 73°/62° Partly Cloudy CHANCE OF RAIN: 0% WIND: N at 12 mph | 70°/52° Partly Cloudy CHANCE OF RAIN: 10% WIND: W at 18 mph |
Hail to the....
Repsol Honda - Hail to the king
Marc Marquez is the 2014 world champion. After a rookie season marked by numerous records set there were few who doubted that it was possible. What many didn't count, however, was the young Spaniard's clear and utter dominance throughout the season. The big news really isn't that Marquez will go home with the trophy, it is that he could accomplish the feat while sitting out no less than one third of the season.
"Now just hold on a second there partner," you say in your flabbergasted Texan accent, "Marquez has only just clinched the title and the way I reckon it there're only 3 races left. Now sure as a bear in the woods wipes with a cotton tail that don't make a third of the season." This is the part where you make liberal use of your spitoon and look at me cockily expecting to have won the argument.
And you'd be wrong.
While there are still a whopping 3 races left before the season is officially over we would be remiss to forget that Marquez suffered three crashes this season. The result was withdrawing from one race completely and scoring a combined four points for the other two. If you remove his second place at Motegi, that puts Marquez as wrapping up the title with only four points in the last 6 races of the season. Now if that ain't a beat down, I don't know what is. There are still a few records left to be broken though, and Marquez is still setting them. One has to wonder just how sternly the talking to he got about not pushing too hard if he was in a championship winning position to hand Honda their first ever championship at their home track. Regardless, the pressure is off and Marquez is largely free to do as he pleases. He has 3 chances left to tie and beat the record for most wins in a season. Any bets on whether he's tempered enough to achieve the feat?
Key to success - Patience! Marquez has a good history at the Island overall, but his success in the top class has been, well, not. Chasing his rookie championship Marquez found himself on the ground and out of the race last year, and has only managed podiums in the previous two in the support classes. Fortunately he's had plenty of chances to get the crashing out of the way this year, and the title is already wrapped up in a bow, delivered and ripped open. With only low chances of rain the spoil the fun, all he has to do is be patient enough to let the race settle and then revert to his methodical picking apart of the grid.
2013 - Repsol Honda - DNF
2012 - Repsol Honda (Moto2) - 2nd
2011 - Repsol Honda (Moto2) - 3rd
Movistar Yamaha - Hail to the flag!
I was stretching a bit with the flag, but bear with me here. There have been only 4 victors for 2014, and Marquez has by far taken the lion's share of wins this season. While Dani Pedrosa was the first to unseat the (twice now) reigning champion, his victory allowed Honda to retain their dominance of the top step of the podium until Valentino Rossi's win at Misano. By that time, however, Lorenzo had already shown significant progress from his dismal start to the season and by the time the circus moved to the rain-lashed track at Aragon he was ready for the fight. Of all the other riders, no-one else (certainly no other factory rider) put together a race nearly as perfect as the two time world champion. While the rest of his competitors foolishly pushed the boundaries of their luck Lorenzo showed himself to be equal parts ace rider and master tactician. Yet it was in Japan that Lorenzo has truly come in to his own this year. Lorenzo wasn't just fast, he was determined to win and it showed. With his win he has not only kept Yamaha on the top step of the podium but has become the only rider other than Marquez to win back-to-back races for 2014. In some ways the parallel is fitting, as Lorenzo's start to the season was as spectacularly bad as Marquez's was great.
With this second victory Lorenzo moves to a strong bid for 2nd place in the championship standings. Both Pedrosa and Rossi are sitting on 230 points each, a scant 3 points ahead of Lorenzo and potentially easy pickin's as the season enters its sunset hours. Rossi has every right to be worried about Lorenzo's new found speed on track, and as a rider Lorenzo has proven that once in a groove he is a difficult racer to disrupt.
Key to success - Aggression! When Lorenzo wanted past Rossi in Japan he didn't wait around for the ideal moment with candlelight and flowers. He just grabbed the race at the waist line and said something positively rogueish like, "And you are no lady!" before hoisting it unceremoniously and taking it to bed. He'll need to do much of the same with his two rivals for 2nd breathing down his neck and Marquez freed from the pressure to secure the championship.
2013 - Yamaha Factory Team - 1st
2012 - Yamaha Factory Team - 2nd
2011 - Yamaha Factory Team - DNS
Ducati Factory Team - Hail to the 'stache!
It's not that the GP14.02 qualified on pole that gives the Ducatisti hope for the future. With the special allowances given for their "open" (or open factory, or quasi-CRT, or whatever they're currently classified as) the factory team has access to the super sticky tires that artificially allow a much faster pace during practice. It's also not the fact that Ducati has led races this season as those leading positions have inevitably dwindled away as the races have gone on. It's not even finishing position, as one of Ducati's scarce podiums has come at the hands of outward bound Cal Crutchlow aboard the soon-to-be-retired GP14.01. No, what gives that Ducatisti hope is that ever race, little by little, the factory Ducati squad battle with the front runners just a little closer to the pointy end. And that is something that they can all thank Gigi Dal'Igna for.
Andrea Dovizioso only finished 5th in Japan, behind the usual suspects of the factory 4. However the way that he finished was quite the sight to behold. For the first time ever, in dry conditions, Dovi absolutely hounded the factory bikes from start to near-finish of the race only seconds away from the front. Ducati has managed a season's best of a scant 5.5 seconds from the winner, with Dovi claiming 4th place at Misano just 0.7 seconds behind 3rd place Pedrosa. Considering that gap was usually significantly higher at the start of the season, occasionally hovering near 30 seconds, the red team has experienced marked improvement over the course of the year.
And the best is still to come.
Gigi has promised an all new bike for 2015, and has been making small but apparently crucial changes to the GP14 to test the new direction in preparation. Since the teams are using the standard factory tires during the races the finishing results are the real deal. It is unknown just how many more changes Ducati will debut with only 3 races left in the season, but fans in the crows will be waiting. And hoping.
Key to success: Gigi! Well, that goes without saying. So perhaps, Carnage! The top 4 are in a vicious battle right now. 3 of them are practically tied for 2nd, but only one will walk away with the honors. Marquez is hot to at least tie for most wins in the season, but we all know he really wants to clinch that record for himself. If Dovi can be patient then the usual suspects might just distract each other enough for him to seize a strong finish for Ducati.
2013 - Ducati Factory Team - 9th
2012 - Tech 3 Yamaha - 5th
2011 - Repsol Honda - 3rd
