You can’t throw away 60 points
Well, apart from Bautista doing what he’s doing, everyone’s preseason WSB predictions are all over the place, aren’t they? It’s not happening for Johnny. He is a lot of points behind Bautista, which means there is already a big mountain to climb. Even if the two flyaway rounds are their bogey circuits, you’ve still got to be in touch. If you want to be a champion at the end of the year, you can’t throw away 60 or 70 points at the start. But hey, he’s done it before and fought his way back, but right now it’s not looking so good. Now he has to keep positive and keep fighting.
In some ways they are lucky Bautista crashed out. I know him and Johnny had big moments at the same corner – but you’d have your last tenner on Johnny saving a crash over Bautista.
It’s was a weird weekend, though; a Honda on the podium with Vierge and then Rinaldi falling apart the moment Bautista got to him. The BMWs are still struggling, too. I’m sure there were some teams packing up pretty quickly after the second race wanting to get home.
Now the focus will be on the two tests before the next round – especially for Kawasaki. But what are they going to bring? They’ve already thrown the kitchen sink at it, so they’ll be scratching their heads. If they’ve made changes and they’re not going as fast as last year, then they’ll have to go back to basics.
Away from WSB, I think it’s great to see Josh Brookes coming back to the TT (p66). He’s a solid competitor, plus he loves the TT. It’s just been circumstance why he hasn’t been there for a few years. Last time, he did a miracle job on that Norton. He’s the perfect man for the job: methodical, knows the track, knows the bike, and does things his own way. I don’t think he’ll be thinking about winning, he’s not going to put himself under pressure, but he won’t be a million miles off. It’s a good boost to the event, good luck to the man, I’m looking forward to seeing him out there – he’s going to be fast!
‘Kawasaki will have to go back to basics’