The Final Stint!

stoner_estoril The last four weeks have been like a second summer break in the MotoGP calendar as the Hungarian GP went missing from the original 2009 calendar. Though it was uncertain since the day the venues and dates were published, but it has left a good months gap right before the final stint of the season.

Teams now move to Portugal for the Estoril GP this weekend as we all are eagerly waiting to see some action.

Estoril is one the most awaited races from the entire calendar as it’s the most challenging one for the rider and their machinery as well. The circuit has four slow speed left handers and nine high speed right handers. Add to that a long straight and some heavy braking points, especially turn 1. The circuit is pretty bumpy and was partially resurfaced in 2006 and experiences some wide range of weather conditions, some times mixed ones too like in 2008.

These conditions demand a lot from the tyres, be it wet race or a dry sunny one and if it’s a damp race like the one we saw at Donington then the equation changes completely.

Bike setup being top priority here as opposed to engine power, then comes the tyre selection. Each rider will try to setup his bike as close to race setup as possible on Friday itself and then try to make a mental map of the bumps on the track.

estoril_track This circuit demands a lot from the tyres and suspension which will have to cope up with the fast direction changes. Bridgestone is confident to take on their toughest ‘challenge’ of the season as they supply the teams with a wider variety of tyre construction and yes they will bring their asymmetrical rear tyre here as well.

Tohru Ubukata, Bridgestone’s Motorcycle Tyre Development Department Manager, explains “The nature of the track changes from one corner to the next, and the tyres also have to contend with a surface change during the lap after partial resurfacing work conducted in 2006. Again we see some heavy braking points at Estoril, such as into the first corner, so stability from the front tyre is crucial. The use of asymmetric rear tyres is also very important here, mainly to ensure good and consistent grip round the slower left-handers such as the chicane where the riders are accelerating hard on corner exit.”

Meanwhile, the FIM president have sent a message to all the riders to ‘race with fair play’, the communication clearly mentions that in the past a few unwanted DNF have been caused by careless riders, this statement may possibly have come due to the turn 2 crash at San Marino caused by Alex De Angelis. FIM may soon follow FIA’s method of penalizing the rider for causing an avoidable accident.

Estoril will be when Casey Stoner returns to racing again after a three race break due to his illness. Stoner has confirmed his return and is pretty eager to rejoin the pack. Ducati has been suffering a lot due to Stoners absence as he is only rider at the moment who can tame the monstrous Desmosedici GP 9, Nicky has been injured for most of the season but he did manage to get a podium finish at Indianapolis.

Repsol Honda on the other hand has been progressively getting better every race which was pretty apparent in the San Marino GP where Dani Pedrosa was almost responsible in a way for Rossi’s victory. Pedrosa has been very strong at various circuits this year, Indianapolis and Laguna Seca to name a few, his long list of injuries are responsible for the 80 points he is behind Rossi. Now after this four week break, Pedrosa is too back in shape and ready to get on with it soon.

The championship this far is still not decided with just four last races to go and 30 points separating the Fiat Yamaha duo Rossi and Lorenzo, the title may just go undecided till the last GP of the season. Which in fact by all means is good for the fans, Stoner’s re-entry has changed the way the top three riders will finish in these four races provided he is competitive of course. For all you know, Lorenzo may just win the championship!