Steve Parrish.................................
Hello everyone, all okay? I’m starting this month with WSB at the Lausitzring as I was there doing the commentary. What on earth Dorna are doing sending WSB there is beyond me though. At the Nurburgring they got good crowds, but Lausitz is in the middle of nowhere, miles from anything, and the track has never been conducive to good racing. They had about 12,000 people there on the Sunday, but with seating for a quarter of a million it looked empty. Even in the Troy Bayliss heyday the crowds were poor and the racing dull, it’s a blessing Dorna won’t be able to send WSB there next year as the track is becoming a test centre. As for the racing, well, I must give Chaz Davies kudos for being absolutely superb in both outings. It looks like we may get the same Chaz in the second half of the season again, just like he did the last couple of years. Jonny Rea was incredible over the first couple of laps of race two, but at the same time, he doesn’t need to bust a gut from now on. He’d be stupid to fall off trying to win the races while Chaz is so far behind in the points table. That being said, Rea is a racer and wants to win, so who knows! The Supersport, Superstock and Supersport 300 racing was bloody entertaining though, as it usually is; they never let us down. And the debate rages on with what to do with WSB, yet the danger remains that if they keep trimming it back too much nobody will want to do it, and without the factories it won’t happen, full stop! Racing is here to sell bikes, not just to be a spectacle, the two are linked and production racing is also the closest link to the consumer now. Manufacturers need to be able to develop their bikes at the highest level; calling out for a spec’ ECU or whatever will stop that involvement and hurt the development of the bikes we all ride – so be careful what you wish for! So, a pat on the back for Ducati there, and in MotoGP too. They really have sussed it haven’t they? I’ve heard they’ve all sorts of companies involved, some from Formula 1 to suss out tyre duration and so on. It’s funny though as in GP, traditionally if it got hotter you went with the hardest tyre, whereas in WSB with Pirelli the hotter it is, the softer you go – and it seems like Ducati can do the same now in GP, have the others not twigged this yet, or is it the bike allowing this?
Whatever they have done they’ve figured it out, and Dovizioso has been inspired by this and is reaping the rewards. True, the rest keep cocking up, but it’s a great thing as the championship remains alive. I did feel a bit for Marquez, you can bet someone in Honda has fallen on their sword, so to speak, for that engine failure. I’d still put my money on Marquez though, as much as it’d be great for Dovi to win, and as much as Marquez has had me worried a few times, I still think he’s the one. I also reckon Honda would be screwed without him; nobody can ride the RCV like he can, it’s almost like the old Casey Stoner situation at Ducati.
I’ve also been at the Classic TT, and it was brilliant. It was busier than ever before. I know Dorna poo-poo the TT, but they shot themselves in the foot clashing with the Classic. The GP was around 25,000 down crowd-wise, as a lot of them were at the TT. Also, the place was crammed with people with lots of money, who would have all been at Silverstone without this clash. The bigger thing at stake is that it’ll likely get worse now it’s not on terrestrial telly. I have a big group of guys I play tennis with; they always watched GP until it went off normal telly and they didn’t even know Silverstone was on – and all said they would have gone if they did. These people aren’t serious bikers, they’re the peripheral fan who used to watch it on the BBC but have all faded away from it. We’re not like Italy and Spain where it’s a national sport. The longer it stays off free-to-air TV, the more it will fade away, which is a shame.
Anyway, it all got a little weird at the TT as I met someone who has a tattoo of me (and Barry Sheene) on their back! It’s a compliment, sure, and I wouldn’t want to offend the lovely fella, but can’t help but think it’s a bit odd. I’ve also been a bit of a cad, too, by sticking up a ‘To Let’ sign outside Troy Corser’s house without him even knowing. We were on the golf course when his missus rang him up and went mad at him, she was properly irate asking him ‘What the f$%k are you up to?!’ and he had no clue what she was talking about. Eventually they twigged and, yeah, should have known never to trust the Parrish! Till next month!