Phillip Island, Australia: MotoGP Pre-Race Report
The Australian MotoGP round has arrived with all four seasons in one! We have summer, spring, winter and autumn arriving at different stages of the day. It is going to be an exciting weekend as the Championship has been wrapped up and the riders more relaxed as they get to enjoy riding just for the sake of speed and fun. Jack Miller cannot wait to jump on board his Honda machine and give the throttle a thrashing around the circuit. The guaranteed battles of the weekend are in Moto2 with the World Championship and Lorenzo and Rossi going head to head for second place in the MotoGP category.
Former World Champion Nicky Hayden is replacing Dani Pedrosa as he recoups after his surgery to the collarbone. Nicky could not resist the opportunity to jump on board his former teams machinery and kick off with an island adventure. There is nothing better than racing at speeds of 350km/h on the edge of Australia! The Michelin tyres are going to be an important factor in how the riders perform and is also the first time that the tyre specialist has been named the sponsor of a race. There are no doubts in our minds that the tyres will be pushed to their limits! The front Michelin power slicks will be soft (white band), medium (no band) and hard (yellow band).
Jorge Lorenzo is definitely a rider that will want to iron out any issues with the Michelin tyres prior to qualifying. On the other hand, Marc Marquez is looking to change up his style as the title is over and enjoy racing with his head down, elbows and knees down. Once the lid on the helmet closes, he goes full gas and makes the most of the Australian circuit that really tests the courage of a rider at various angles and speeds. His maturity of listening to his thoughts and taking it easy where required has delivered him another world title that so many others dream of. Marc Marquez is a freak of nature on the MotoGP circuits. He slides in to corners like he is on a motocross bike and risks everything at such important times because his confidence in his abilities is unbelievable. The same can be said of Rossi at this age. Valentino has been riding as if he is in his 20’s. Unfortunately, in 2016, Rossi made more mistakes than Marc and this had a drastic impact on the final results.
Currently the island is being saturated with rain with mixed weather reports for Saturday and Sunday. We could see cloud, rain and sunshine all at once. In the Moto2 and Moto3 classes, we will see a tight battle for the Championship unfold as Rins looks to recover after his crash last race and Zarco aiming to bank the Moto2 World Championship as quickly as he can. On a side note, Yonny Hernandez is departing MotoGP to join the AGR Team back in Moto2 as Karel Abraham who returns to the sport took his seat. Abraham will join Alvaro Bautista at the Aspar MotoGP after they let go of Eugene Laverty who returns to Superbikes. For those who are watching the Moto2 with a close eye, we must not discount that Tom Luthi could also win the title if everything goes to plan. He is a supreme rider and has been on form race after race. If anything, the magic crystal ball is not focusing on one rider!
