Steve Parrish.................................
Hello everyone, were you at the NEC? We’ve just finished a bit of stage setup for our interviews and competitions again, so I do hope some of you came to watch, or bought one of my new air-bag vests!
There are so many things to talk about this month, but I’ll start with an incredible effort by Kenan Sofuoglu in the final World Supersport race. His chances of winning were slim, seeing as his doctors had told him if he fell off just once, he could die, after his triple pelvis break. But he did what he needed to, rode a little gingerly at first during the race and then astounded everyone by pulling in the leaders and eventually finished on the podium. He also broke the Qatar lap record four or five laps on the bounce too. Yes, Mahias won the race and the title, a big well done, but Kenan showed guts, went for glory, and though it didn’t go his way still amazed everyone. He’ll be back next year no doubt, raring to go.
I enjoyed the last two WSB races as well; Jonny Rea was as impressive as ever although I reckon if Chaz Davies hadn’t had that incredible slide, and save, he could have fought with him for the win perhaps. Did you see Chaz’s save? I have no idea if he managed that through skill or pure luck, and it wasn’t for what happened at Valencia later on, would have been the save of the month.
Anyway, Chaz did what he needed to by finishing second, but I do wonder how that Ducati will go when they slow it down next year. I reckon Chaz has been making the difference in bike performance up himself and it’s clear to everyone he’s on the absolute limit each race. As for Rea, I don’t think him being capped will make a huge difference. I still, in fact, expect him to go considerably faster than many GP boys when they share the track at Jerez, again, even with a slower bike.
But of course there’s the big talking point, the MotoGP finale and those team orders. I imagine I’m not going to make many friends here, but I reckon what Jorge Lorenzo did was right. I’ve been both a racer and a team manager/owner, so have a rounded perspective on it. My view of the race was that he dragged Dovizioso around, there
was never a point where he was really holding him up and he was doing the right thing, and I can’t believe how so many ‘experienced’ commentators couldn’t see this and instead jumped on the popular bandwagon. Dovi was clinging on by his fingernails, which showed eventually as he dropped away, and there were only a couple of times he was right up Jorge’s back wheel. But that was because he was having to let the brakes off to stay with Lorenzo in the turns, as Jorge was better in and out, and if Lorenzo had obeyed those orders they would have just dropped back further.
As a team owner, I would have had a conversation right at the beginning and then would have trusted them to do what they needed to on the track. It would be private, not switch to level 8 or any of that crap. I wouldn’t have done it in public. Would I be angry had my rider disobeyed me though? Not really. Racers know their jobs – this is what they do, and I would have known that the racer in question would have been in the right position to make the right choice, and I think he did.
Yes a lot of you will probably dislike me for that, but then I’ve gotten grief for years. Take Rossi for example; I love him to bits, but on those rare occasions when I’ve criticised him over the years (which is our job as commentators given whatever circumstances), I have actually received several death threats! It’s bloody ridiculous, as is current commentators’ and GP journos’ fears of being lambasted if they speak out against popular views. They don’t. They don’t want to get hounded, so just join the mob. What a pity…
Anyway, Marquez, he is just ridiculous isn’t he? His saves are remarkable, I was talking to Troy Corser about it and he’s just perplexed how he manages it. And Johann Zarco, what a great year. He’s already figured out how to ride a GP bike properly; if he has another great season he’ll be the next big thing. Do you like crayfish? I do, but it turns out most prefer them cooked on a plate than nipping at their heels! We went to a local do where they were the main course, but I decided to free some, and let them zip about the floor where they started nipping people! It caused pandemonium, people crapped themselves, it was brilliant! Till next month!