Sometimes You're The Swatter, Sometimes the Fly
<span style="background-color:rgb(254,254,254);font-family:Verdana, Arial, Tahoma, Calibri, Geneva, sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-size:13px;Luck is not a lady. We court her, we butter her up, we seranade her; but deep down in our hearts we know - Luck is not a lady. Even in the song we sing about her we call out all of the behaviors that she is known for that we hope she doesn't exhibit when she's on our arm: flirting with others and offering her charms and abandoning us in our time of need are just the least of her offenses. Yet we swoon when she graces us with a smile and are jubilant when she pays us any attention, only to be heartbroken when she moves on to the next suitor. At round 5 in Donnington, the ephemerous "lady" certainly broke a few hearts while melting others.
The most notable suitor of Lady Luck would be, by far, Tom Sykes. After finishing a very unfortunate half point behind championship winner Max Biaggi in 2012 and suffering an off-season injury that hampered a typically strong start to the season in Phillip Island, Sykes was making a strong case for being on the comeback trail. Round 3 at Assen saw the British rider convert pole position to a race win and second place over the weekend to build up a good points position into round 4. When he managed a 3rd pole position for the season at Monza it seemed that he wsa truly back to championship contention form for 2013. Then came race day. Up against the rejuvenated might of BMW with Marco Melandri and the record setting speeds of the Aprilias, Tom put in a brilliant fight for race one to score a hard fought 2nd place. While denied the win, first rung down on the podium still boosted his standings. A win or podium in race two would have solidified his position as a championship contender for the season. Sadly, that is where Luck turned her attention elsewhere. Though he remained embroiled in a tight group for the lead throughout the race, the final laps saw him fighting with points leader Sylvain Guintoli for the final spot on the podium. On the final lap Sykes made a lunge for position into 3rd place, demoting the Frenchman to fourth after a costly mistake. However shortly thereafter Sykes found himself halfway up Melandri's exhaust and had to run off track to avoid a collision. Sykes returned quickly to the track, a move that blocked Guintoli and ended that rider's charge for position. Luck smiled on him all the way to the finish line where he claimed 3rd place on the podium.
Then she turned her attention to Guintoli. The French rider had the opposite start to the season that Sykes did. He finished 2012 nearly paddock destitute, his former satellite Ducati team cutting him prematurely under reports of underperformance - though his personal results before and the team results after clearly show that not to be the case. Luckily for Guintoli he was picked up by the factory Apriilia squad by season's end, and promptly leapt to the fore in off-season testing. By the end of the race two, Guintoli had notched up a race win on his factory debut and a second place against his teammate. Those podiums gave him a healthy advantage that he would nurse going into Monza; despite no further wins he earned double second places in Aragon and a third in race one of Assen. Race two in the Netherlands saw the championship leader struggle with setup and a strong field, falling back to eventually finish in 6th place and opening the door to his competitors. An off podium finish in fourth place during the weekend opener at Monza robbed him of much needed points, and as he notched his RSV4 Factory into grid position for race two he knew that he would need to win or at least podium to maintain a slight advantage on the field. When the lights went out Guintoli rocketted to the front of the pack, taking an early lead and maintaining it through most of the race. Alas, the rest of the field had also made much needed changes between sessions and were ready for him. By the last third of the race Guintoli was summarily passed by rival teammate Laverty and then race 1 winner Melandri. Sykes threatened to go by as well and the two became embroiled in a last lap battle that saw Sykes go off track and then on to claim 3rd while a dejected Guintoli limped home for fourth. Again. Fourth, that is, until Luck sent one last smile his way for the weekend. Though Sykes did in fact take part in the Parc Ferme celebrations, Race Direction officially reversed the finishing order for the two riders shortly after the race on appeal from Aprilia. The reversal gives Guintoli a 16 point championship lead, and while it may not seem spectacular with 50 points on the line each weekend it is a healthy boost to the confidence when Luck can be so fickle on any given day.
BMW riders Chaz Davies and Marco Melandri would know something about just how ephemeral her charms can be. After a very promising year aboard the customer Aprilia in 2012, Davies joined the factory backed BMW squad in 2013 to high expectations. Melandri was already ensconced in the team and had begun turning the team fortunes around. At the season opener in Australia Melandri was the only rider to break the Aprilia stranglehold on the podium, though it took him until race two to do it. En route he had the misfortunate of getting embroiled in Carlos Checa's own tangle of Luck, the result of which was both riders' retirement from the race. Left to carry the German flag solo, Davies rode to a valiant fourth place in race 1 only to taste the asphalt himself for race two before remounting to a disappointing seventeenth. Whether the pair burned an RSV in effigy is unknown, but by Aragon the team came back in a major way. The BMW had always been touted as a class leading motorcycle and under the Spanish sunshine they proved to be just that. Race one saw the roundel pair split the podium with championship leader Guintoli, while Chaz moved on to be the only rider to pull the double so far this season in race two. Then it went pear shaped again in Assen. The Dutch track was absolutely brutal to both riders. Chaz Davies only managed to finish 7th, and while he had a dog-fight of a race to even manage that he still fared better than Melandri. BMW's lead rider failed to even start at Assen when a mechanical failure on the grid caused him to retire completely from race one before turning a wheel in anger. Race two was somewhat better with Davies in 5th and Melandri in 8th, but the pair were glad to show Assen their backs and move on to Monza. There Melandri was able to turn his luck completely back around, scorching through to a race one victory and harrying the lead pack for the distance to score a second place podium in race two. Davies did not fare as well as his teammate this time around. Despite continuing where he left off with a 5th place in race one, the young Brit fought well up front before crashing out of race two for zero points.
Which brings us nicely to Donnington. Everyone has courted Lady Luck for the season, and every one of the top riders have earned both her favor and her scorn to a degree. Perhaps the winners this weekend will be the one's who hide a horse shoe or rabbit's foot in the leathers - although, as the joke goes, the foot didn't seem too lucky for the rabbit. Then again, perhaps the winners this weekend will be the ones who forego ritual, defy the odds and make their own luck.
<span style="background-color:rgb(254,254,254);font-family:Verdana, Arial, Tahoma, Calibri, Geneva, sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-size:13px;Luck is not a lady. We court her, we butter her up, we seranade her; but deep down in our hearts we know - Luck is not a lady. Even in the song we sing about her we call out all of the behaviors that she is known for that we hope she doesn't exhibit when she's on our arm: flirting with others and offering her charms and abandoning us in our time of need are just the least of her offenses. Yet we swoon when she graces us with a smile and are jubilant when she pays us any attention, only to be heartbroken when she moves on to the next suitor. At round 5 in Donnington, the ephemerous "lady" certainly broke a few hearts while melting others.
The most notable suitor of Lady Luck would be, by far, Tom Sykes. After finishing a very unfortunate half point behind championship winner Max Biaggi in 2012 and suffering an off-season injury that hampered a typically strong start to the season in Phillip Island, Sykes was making a strong case for being on the comeback trail. Round 3 at Assen saw the British rider convert pole position to a race win and second place over the weekend to build up a good points position into round 4. When he managed a 3rd pole position for the season at Monza it seemed that he wsa truly back to championship contention form for 2013. Then came race day. Up against the rejuvenated might of BMW with Marco Melandri and the record setting speeds of the Aprilias, Tom put in a brilliant fight for race one to score a hard fought 2nd place. While denied the win, first rung down on the podium still boosted his standings. A win or podium in race two would have solidified his position as a championship contender for the season. Sadly, that is where Luck turned her attention elsewhere. Though he remained embroiled in a tight group for the lead throughout the race, the final laps saw him fighting with points leader Sylvain Guintoli for the final spot on the podium. On the final lap Sykes made a lunge for position into 3rd place, demoting the Frenchman to fourth after a costly mistake. However shortly thereafter Sykes found himself halfway up Melandri's exhaust and had to run off track to avoid a collision. Sykes returned quickly to the track, a move that blocked Guintoli and ended that rider's charge for position. Luck smiled on him all the way to the finish line where he claimed 3rd place on the podium.
Then she turned her attention to Guintoli. The French rider had the opposite start to the season that Sykes did. He finished 2012 nearly paddock destitute, his former satellite Ducati team cutting him prematurely under reports of underperformance - though his personal results before and the team results after clearly show that not to be the case. Luckily for Guintoli he was picked up by the factory Apriilia squad by season's end, and promptly leapt to the fore in off-season testing. By the end of the race two, Guintoli had notched up a race win on his factory debut and a second place against his teammate. Those podiums gave him a healthy advantage that he would nurse going into Monza; despite no further wins he earned double second places in Aragon and a third in race one of Assen. Race two in the Netherlands saw the championship leader struggle with setup and a strong field, falling back to eventually finish in 6th place and opening the door to his competitors. An off podium finish in fourth place during the weekend opener at Monza robbed him of much needed points, and as he notched his RSV4 Factory into grid position for race two he knew that he would need to win or at least podium to maintain a slight advantage on the field. When the lights went out Guintoli rocketted to the front of the pack, taking an early lead and maintaining it through most of the race. Alas, the rest of the field had also made much needed changes between sessions and were ready for him. By the last third of the race Guintoli was summarily passed by rival teammate Laverty and then race 1 winner Melandri. Sykes threatened to go by as well and the two became embroiled in a last lap battle that saw Sykes go off track and then on to claim 3rd while a dejected Guintoli limped home for fourth. Again. Fourth, that is, until Luck sent one last smile his way for the weekend. Though Sykes did in fact take part in the Parc Ferme celebrations, Race Direction officially reversed the finishing order for the two riders shortly after the race on appeal from Aprilia. The reversal gives Guintoli a 16 point championship lead, and while it may not seem spectacular with 50 points on the line each weekend it is a healthy boost to the confidence when Luck can be so fickle on any given day.
BMW riders Chaz Davies and Marco Melandri would know something about just how ephemeral her charms can be. After a very promising year aboard the customer Aprilia in 2012, Davies joined the factory backed BMW squad in 2013 to high expectations. Melandri was already ensconced in the team and had begun turning the team fortunes around. At the season opener in Australia Melandri was the only rider to break the Aprilia stranglehold on the podium, though it took him until race two to do it. En route he had the misfortunate of getting embroiled in Carlos Checa's own tangle of Luck, the result of which was both riders' retirement from the race. Left to carry the German flag solo, Davies rode to a valiant fourth place in race 1 only to taste the asphalt himself for race two before remounting to a disappointing seventeenth. Whether the pair burned an RSV in effigy is unknown, but by Aragon the team came back in a major way. The BMW had always been touted as a class leading motorcycle and under the Spanish sunshine they proved to be just that. Race one saw the roundel pair split the podium with championship leader Guintoli, while Chaz moved on to be the only rider to pull the double so far this season in race two. Then it went pear shaped again in Assen. The Dutch track was absolutely brutal to both riders. Chaz Davies only managed to finish 7th, and while he had a dog-fight of a race to even manage that he still fared better than Melandri. BMW's lead rider failed to even start at Assen when a mechanical failure on the grid caused him to retire completely from race one before turning a wheel in anger. Race two was somewhat better with Davies in 5th and Melandri in 8th, but the pair were glad to show Assen their backs and move on to Monza. There Melandri was able to turn his luck completely back around, scorching through to a race one victory and harrying the lead pack for the distance to score a second place podium in race two. Davies did not fare as well as his teammate this time around. Despite continuing where he left off with a 5th place in race one, the young Brit fought well up front before crashing out of race two for zero points.
Which brings us nicely to Donnington. Everyone has courted Lady Luck for the season, and every one of the top riders have earned both her favor and her scorn to a degree. Perhaps the winners this weekend will be the one's who hide a horse shoe or rabbit's foot in the leathers - although, as the joke goes, the foot didn't seem too lucky for the rabbit. Then again, perhaps the winners this weekend will be the ones who forego ritual, defy the odds and make their own luck.
