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It’s been a full season now since iSport.in started covering motor sports; we began right from the unveiling of the 2009 machines back in March. Now after a full season of non-stop motogp action, Rossi has won the riders championship followed by Lorenzo and Pedrosa. We are at a stage now where MotoGP has begun their official testing of 2010 machines, ‘who will come out on top?’ is the question one has. Kunal Ghate our motogp expert shares his view.

So here we are again… taking a break from the on screen action to check out the testing times and the new still in development machines form the Japanese and Italian motorcycle factories.

Yamaha: The manufacturer that claimed the Triple Crown this season, best team ‘Fiat Yamaha’, manufacturer title for ‘Yamaha Motors’ and of course the riders title for Valentino Rossi.

Their secrets of success?

1) Class leading Yamaha technology that goes not just in the engine but also in the chassis and gearbox combination and better understanding of the Bridgestone tyres.

2) Valentino Rossi, the man behind the development of the M1. Won the most number of races in the season, and now is threatened by his own teammate about the 2010 season.

3) Jorge Lorenzo, the man responsible for giving Rossi a hard time. Stood 2nd in the 2009 championship, trailing Vale by just 40 points. A figure, which is the smallest margin by which Vale has ever won his championship title in premier class!

Yamaha, pioneers of the ‘cross-plane crankshaft’ in road bikes with the 2009 R1, Yamaha has been using the same technology in their M1 machine ever since the dawn of 4-stroke 990cc bikes, connect the two dots and you have cracked the purpose of MotoGP.

Critically acclaimed as the ‘most balanced’ machine on the grid & has a reputation of lower top speeds than the Repsol Honda/Ducati yet able to clock faster lap times than both of them.

Heard of WSBK? Well Yamaha won that manufacturer title too! With a rookie named Ben Spies onboard! So now that’s a total of five crowns!

Ben won 14 out of the 28 races in 2009 WSBK with a total of 17 podium finishes. A result, which has literally catapulted the American’s career to the top level of racing, to much of our delight he has moved to MotoGP for 2010 season, replacing James Toseland in the Tech 3 Yamaha team.

The factory Yamahas were leading the post Catalunya tests, but those numbers are not to taken seriously as Honda and Ducati riders have been experimenting with their machines with different components rather than pushing the bike to the limit.

Honda: The Repsol Honda motogp prototype RC212V is the most sought after bike on the grid by all riders even though the Yamaha M1 has won the title. The name 212V means 21stnd generation (1st generation was 990cc) V-engine configuration, RC is the traditional Honda racing bikes prefix. Has the highest top speed, has the latest in electronics & IC engines technology known to mankind. At Mugello, Dani Pedrosa managed to take the RC212V to a top speed of 217 Mph during Friday testing, the highest ever recorded on a motogp bike, the last record belonged to 990cc engined RC211V with 212 Mph. He also won the Laguna Seca GP form start to finish, a track that’s got only 3 seconds of straight section, so the bike corners bloody well too.

So why did they loose?

Dani Pedrosa has been riding the Repsol Honda since 2006 and has been one of the quickest since then, although he has been prone to injuries ever since the start of 2008 winter testing. An operated wrist, second time operated knee and a cracked thighbone, doesn’t sound good for someone trying to win world championship but surely proves his greed for it. Won just two races, still managed to take the 3rd position in championship, with some special thanks to Casey Stoner.

Andrae Dovizioso, just in his first season in a factory bike could manage to win just one race with the Repsol Honda. Something what Vettle achieved at Monza in 2008. Treacherous wet conditions at the Donington GP, Andare actually managed to apply enough pressure on race leader Rossi to crash and took a flawless victory.

But there is a catch, except for eight races, Repsol Honda were still using their 2008 chassis and engine, a fact that Pedrosa has been very vocal about in the media. As the season progressed, Honda only got better. Gives a hint that the 2009 bike was just a brief stepping stone towards the 2010 machine, which looks radically different from the 2009 model (not considering the paint job).

Ducati: The Italian factory team suffered the most compared to any other this season, Nicky Hayden has been suffering form injuries and the unfortunate lap 1 turn 1 incidences on four separate races. Casey Stoner was out for three races due to his ‘mystery illness’.

Nicky proved his ability at Indianapolis GP and Stoner has not had a below 3rd finish except for the three races he was sitting out and the season finale Valencia GP. Apart from which the Ducati GP9 has been lethal at some tracks.

Ducati made some bold moves when preparing the 2009 Desomosedici GP9, introducing a chassis & swing arm completely made of carbon fiber, a first ever in motogp. Switching form a smooth firing order engine GP8 to a screamer engined GP9, a successful machine that was not taken to its optimum levels.

Now they have gone a step further, deciding to use a big-bang engine in the GP10 machine. That will improve the rear tyre grip levels and give more feedback to the rider, what’s the connection? A big-bang engine introduces less number of power strokes per revolution of the crankshaft as opposed to smooth firing or a screamer engine; this gives the rear tyre more time (per revolution of crack shaft) to regain composure after the recent power pulse, thus reducing the chances of slide and leaving more room of rider input to correct the slide.

Suzuki: One of the four Japanese manufacturers, have had a terrible season. They managed to get past 2009 without actually finishing on podium on any of the races. Need I say more?

Kawasaki: They pulled out of motogp before it began in 2009, but their bike was ready and sold to Hayate racing team. Their sole rider was Marco Melandri. But there have been enough rumors about Kawasaki supporting the team unofficially.

Marco was pretty quick in the initial races and managed a podium finish at Mugello in front of his home crowd, bravo!

Sadly, this marks the end of the ZZR Ninja from racing.

What lies ahead in the 2010? A big surprise may be with the new strict rules of engine limitations & number of bikes per rider limitations. Watch out for the latest updates here in coming weeks.

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