<Sigh> Made me go back and watch some of the 06 races on YouTube. The Istanbul race was a thriller, such a difference between the 990s and today's 800s...
Here you go sir, and to all those that have pitched in. Thank You! (BTW, check out the 06 German GP)
In 2007…
When Valentino Rossi started his stint aboard a Yamaha in 2004, the grid touted participation from two Italian manufactures (Aprilia & Ducati), all main four Japanese brands (including Kawasaki), a true privateer on the Proton KR along with a Harris WCM & Moriwaki entries. Forward to 2007, and this would see the last of the true privateer, while one of the Italian brands was long gone, the grid was changing, this year pointed ahead toward the following years of a shrinking field. Perhaps an indication of this was the presentation of a brief attempt by team Ilmor to contest the season, which lasted all but one race.
At the start of the season, MotoGP still had a “tire war” consisting of Michelin, Bridgestone, and Dunlop, by the end of the season, the unthinkable would be proposed. Notwithstanding, the biggest change was the formula, a reduction from 990cc engine displacement to 800cc. The change also reduced the fuel capacity allowed from 22 liters to 21. And for the first time in MotoGP, a tire restriction was imposed. Riders were now restricted to choose their tires on Thursday before the event, limited to 31 tires for the weekend. The allowance of 14 front and 17 rear tires applied to tire manufactures, which had scored a win within the last two years, which meant Dunlop, was under no such restriction. This eliminated the advantage that the French tire company had of making condition-specific tires over Saturday night for Sunday’s race. Change was the order of the day, even a new sponsorship, Fiat, would grace Valentino’s Yamaha; but none could have predicted just what impact this would have on the sport.
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The reasoning behind the formula change was said to be a need to “slow down” the bikes in hopes of making the class “safer”. The reduction in displacement meant the bikes no longer had gratuitous surplus power, in hopes of making the bike “slower”. Though one might have predicted a slow trap speed on straights, where oddly enough, almost no crashes occurred, the season opener pointed to a different reality. It was the reduction in fuel capacity that had the most unintended consequence, since the reduced power coupled with fuel management meant that the riders had to rely on high corner speed, where predictably, almost all crashes occur in the sport. The motivation to make the bikes “safer” by “slowing” them down perhaps was a noble idea, but it proved to be a difficult task.
The teams, perhaps trying to maintain some stability amidst this radical change, retained their rider line up and carried over the same tire shod brand to their respective bikes. Valentino Rossi’s old rival, Sete Gibernau, decided to retire. This left one of the factory Ducati Desmosedicis without a rider, and more importantly, without an established adversary to Rossi. It was said that Casey Stoner was the manufacture’s third choice to replace the Spaniard, as the factory needed to provide a teammate to Loris Capirossi.
The 2007 season was set to open in the Middle East desert at the Losail circuit in Qatar. Valentino Rossi’s run of consecutive season opening wins aboard a Yamaha was interrupted the previous year, this year however, Valentino clocked the best lap of the event, which also happened to award the Italian pole position for the race. One could have easily bet that Rossi would regain his diet of season opening wins. But it was the pole setter of the previous year, with a superb performance by the newly signed Ducati man, Casey Stoner, that would see him notch his first class win. At the time, the general feeling was that Ducati had provided a vastly superior machine. And who could blame this perception, as visually, the Ducati motored past Valentino’s Yamaha on the kilometer long straight at Losail with stunning contrast. Yet, of the four Ducatis, the two that finished the race averaged a 10th position (9 & 11), while the other factory Ducati did not finish. Nevertheless, Rossi, summoning his legendary race craft, aboard a Yamaha which countered the Ducati’s speed with excellent handling of its own, and pressured Stoner in the waning laps of the race. Rossi would come past on the corners while Stoner accelerated past on the straights. Casey set his fastest lap in the final lap to gain an advantage over the pressing Italian on his Yamaha, to finally win by a mere 2 plus seconds. An interesting note, Stoner, clock a speed of 201.8 MPH (324.7 KPH) during the event practice, which was the identical speed by Rossi the previous year on a 990cc. If the new formula change was intended to “slow” the bikes down, it hardly achieved this goal.
11124:VR Casey 07.png]
The following race was in Spain; at the circuit which Valentino has become somewhat of a living legend. It was here that Rossi famously battle and won his now retired rival, Sete Gibernau, so it was only fitting that it would be here, where Rossi would again achieve glory by winning a 5th time, making him the undisputed most successful rider of Jerez. In so doing, it ended Rossi’s 5 race losing streak. The following race characterized the highs and lows of what would become Rossi’s season. The Istanbul circuit in Turkey offered up some great racing, but it also was the first time that spectators became aware that the tire war was being won by Bridgestone. Because it was here that Rossi’s erratic plummet for positions during the race would later be explained as a tire issue. It was here, were Rossi went off track at the fastest corners of the circuit, where one could see he was having trouble maintaining his lines. Later on during the race, Toni Elias would become involved in a brief battle for position, which relegated the Italian further back down the field while the Spaniard finish on the podium. Rossi managed to only score 6 points, while at the same time Stoner won the race. After the race, the discussion was not about how Ducati had managed to place two riders on the rostrum, but rather that Valentino had become vocal about his dissatisfaction with Michelin, something that would become a falling out with the French tire company.
Bridgestone’s success was not immediately evident because Rossi, like a true champion, always seemed to bounce back from a poor showing at the track. The following race was in China, were Rossi had won the inaugural event. This time he soldiered a 2nd place, scoring 20 valuable points. Besides Stoner winning, the interesting revelation on the rostrum was the presence of American John Hopkins. It became interesting for several reasons, it was the first time Hopkins scored a podium in MotoGP, it was a dry event where the Suzuki GP looked competitive, but perhaps more importantly, the Bridgestone shod Rizla sponsored machine indicated that perhaps the Japanese tire manufacture had finally reached a point where it could regularly compete with Michelin. Most would not have made much of it considering that at Jerez, the rostrum was filled with Michelin riders, two of which were factory Yamahas. The truth of the matter is, Bridgestone, until this season, was still a novelty on the podium. The following race was a wet French GP, where Australian Chris Vermeulen won, backed up by another Bridgestone rider on the podium. For those with an eye for detail, seeing a Bridgestone shod bike, despite Vermeulen’s superior capacity to race in the rain, indicated that the Japanese manufacture had achieved one very import accomplishment, an ability to perform under a wide range of conditions, for this was Bridgestone’s first wet weather win.
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Undeterred, Rossi was happy to be back home in Italy for the following GP of the season. Betting against Valentino to win at Mugello would have been sheer ignorance of the fact that Rossi was a winning machine at the circuit, winning the previous 5 times. When the race ended, the Italian did not disappoint the thousands of fans who went to cheer him on by securing his 6th win at the majestic track. This feat put Rossi in great company once again, as the win represented matching Mick Doohan for 95 podium finishes in the premier category. Of particular significance to Yamaha, it was Rossi’s 27th win for the Japanese manufacture, thus making Valentino the most successful rider for the brand (one more victory than Eddie Lawson at 26 wins). Valentino would later pass Doohan at the next opportunity, by finishing 2nd at the Catalunya GP, bringing his tally of podiums to 96. Two events later, Rossi would win again in the Netherlands. His win at Assen gave Yamaha the distinction of having notched 150 wins in GP’s top category.
11125:Mugello 07.jpg]
Rossi surely still had great memories of the previous year’s race on German soil, since it was here that in 2006, it was the scene of the closest four way battle to the finish, covering the top 4 finishers by a mere third of a second, 0.307 to be exact. Valentino had won that race, ahead of his countryman Marco Melandri and American Nicky Hayden to round out the rostrum, though Dani Pedrosa represented the last of the quartet who crossed the line in a blink of an eye. Unfortunately for Rossi, this fantastic start to the season would begin to unravel at the German GP in the present year. Interestingly enough, with every low, there always seems to be some high; in this case it was in the form of a record broken by the Italian. At the start of the Sachsenring race, Rossi accomplished a new record of 202 consecutive GP starts. A fantastic feat, as it indicated the man’s ability to stay healthy and perform at a high level without causing serious injury. Ironically, this race was also Valentino’s first DNF of the season.
The season continued to unravel, as this was the first of 3 DNFs, and one 3-point score, during the last half of the season. The constant string of lows was only interrupted with a fantastic win at Portugal and a podium finish in Australia. At the end of the season, Rossi had scored 241 points, while the eventual champion that year, Casey Stoner, won 10 races and scored 367 points. It seems a combination of several factors may have contributed to Rossi’s loss of consecutive titles. The combination of a magnificent performance by Stoner, coupled with bad luck DNFs in conjunction with tire issues at the hands of Bridgestone’s charged ahead, even seeing a Bridgestone shot Kawasaki score a podium (Randy Depuniet 2nd JPN), proved to be too much for Valentino Rossi to regain the title in 2007. Nevertheless, it was still a record-breaking season for Rossi. His last win of the season at Portugal was a badge of pride for his countryman, as it was the 200th GP win in the premier class by an Italian for Italy.
Valentino won at the following rounds in 2007: SPA, ITA, NED, POR.
He had DNFs at: GER, RSM, & VAL. Its interesting to note that Valentino scored 4 wins, the lowest since he had joined Yamaha. Despite this defeat in 2007, the following year proved to be a watershed moment.
In 2008…(meter at 300)
6 Rossi camel.jpg]
