Top 10 Reasons Why MotoGP is Awesome: #1 — Battles

This is it. The end of the road. The number one reason in a list of ten. The Top 10 Reasons Why MotoGP is Awesome.

So here it is. The number one reason is the battles the occur during a race.


It makes the most sense. They are the excitement of the race. Battles make you jump up with joy or crash back down on the ground. The battles between the riders certainly make watching MotoGP the most interesting. It is a test of the rider fighting it out with another rider.

Following are some pretty good battles from the past few years.

Here is one between Stoner and Rossi at Laguna Seca in 2008. Rossi put some moves on Stoner that made it some hard racing. That was the turning point really in the 2008 season that saw Rossi win back his title from Stoner.

The other is example can be found here. (The best one is the very last one, so scroll down.) This was was called the Race of the Decade by Motorcycle News Sport. It was between Rossi and Lorenzo at Catalunya in 2009. Well, it really speaks for itself.

That is the end. The number one reason why MotoGP is awesome is because of the battles that exist between the riders on the track. Hope you have enjoyed reading and have become enlightened to the sport.

Just remember the first race is under the floodlights in Qatar of March 2oth.

Top 10 Reasons Why MotoGP is Awesome: #2 — Poetry in Motion

As I said in an earlier post, MotoGP is the best of the best. Therefore the riders can certainly ride a motorcycle and it is a spectacle to watch when they find their groove.

The second reason why MotoGP is awesome is poetry in motion.

One things that I say is poetry in motion is when a rider can get out at the front of the race and just pound out lap after lap of fast laps. It does not make for an interesting or exciting race, but it is incredible to see the rider in harmony with the motorcycle. That is why MotoGP riders are the best.

Another example of poetry in motion is when riders are grouped together during the race and they seem to form a single line while riding around the track. This usually happens when they are all fighting for a certain place in the race.

One good example though is during the first lap of the Laguna Seca race on the famous "Corkscrew" turn. It is a quick left-right that plunges down a steep hill. All the bikes flow like a wave down through the corner.

It can be seen here, although there is a lot of empty track at the beginning of the video, so fast-forwarding is advised.

That is why the bikes being poetry in motion is the second reason why MotoGP is awesome.

Top 10 Reasons Why MotoGP is Awesome: #3 — Passing Maneuvers

During a MotoGP race there are several instances where the riders will pass each other. After all, the race is not settled until the checkered flag drops.

So the passing maneuvers during a race, that is the one-off pass, is the third reason why MotoGP is awesome.

Most of the time during a race, riders get stuck behind those who have a slower pace than they do. Therefore, they would like to get pass. This can happen in many ways, such as in a corner around the outside or up the inside, but one of the most popular ways is to pass on the start/ finish straight. However, that kind of pass is not the most exciting.

One example of an exciting pass was during the race in Aragon in 2010. Nicky Hayden was stocking Jorge Lorenzo for the whole race. Towards the end of the race, Hayden seemed to have a higher pace and wanted to get past Lorenzo. Lorenzo had not been off the podium for that whole year up to that point and wanted to continue that trend. Hayden had not been on the podium at that point and wanted to change that.



Hayden tried some passing maneuvers earlier, but was unsuccessful in his attempts. On the last lap, "The Kentucky Kid" (Hayden) performed what he called a backyard pass on Lorenzo to get by him and take third position in the race.

It can be briefly seen in the following video here.

It changed the race and was just a single move.

Things like this make MotoGP more interesting and passing manuevers are the third reason why MotoGP is awesome.

Top 10 Reasons Why MotoGP is Awesome: #4 — Power Slides and Leg Drags

While riding a MotoGP around a track at very high speeds, things probably will not go as smoothly as you would like them. But a lot of those times, bad events do not turn into a crash for instance, but rather a very remarkable power slide.

An excellent example of this is shown below by Casey Stoner.


It certainly shows that the rider is in control and although is probably not the fastest way to go around a corner, but certainly looks pretty cool. A track where this kind of thing happens quite a bit is at Phillip Island in Australia. The track is fast and flowing, so the riders are always carrying a lot of speed around the corners.

Pictures are amazing to see this stuff, but to really do it justice, a video needs to be shown. So, here a couple of examples. One is of Stoner and Rossi sliding around during the race at Phillip Island in 2009 and can be viewed here. The other example is of Stoner during a practice session in 2010 and can be found here, with tire streaks and all.

Another interesting thing that some of the riders seem to do is to dangle their leg off the bike into the corner. When asked about it, none of the riders seem to have a reason as to why they do it. Some say that it helps with braking and allows them to do it later, as the weight distribution is shifted. Others think that it is used to block riders behind them from coming on the inside and passing in the corner.

Rossi seemed to have invented this technique with others following suit. So here is a picture of The Doctor dangling his leg.

Top 10 Reasons Why MotoGP is Awesome: #5 — Camera Angles

Capturing the speed of MotoGP riders is very difficult to do. It is also quite the feat to show all the action that takes place during practice sessions and the race, such as crashes and overtaking maneuvers. However, the people behind the cinematography at MotoGP seemed to have figured it all out.

Therefore, the camera angles are the fifth reason why MotoGP is so awesome.

It is mainly because of the on board cameras. Each bike has several. They all have one at the front facing outwards, one facing the rider from the front, one facing the rider from behind and finally, one facing backwards off the bike. There are then at least one other one in a unique place, such as underneath the bike. Other placements include looking at the clutch or brake lever or even the left foot, which has the shifter. Some bikes have cameras looking at the rear wheel.

Anyway, here is a video from 2008 of clips compiled form on board shots to give you an idea of the camera angles.

Of course now the cameras are being replaced with high definition ones, which make the action that much clearer.

They have also added a new type of camera called a gyroscopic camera. Instead of being at angle when the rider leans over, the shot the camera shows stays level with the ground. You can really see then just how far riders lean over.

This is not MotoGP action, but just some other random test on a street legal bike. It can be viewed here. (The lap starts a 1:20, so you may want to fast-forward...) The gyroscopic cam is the one facing the rider at his back-side.

These camera angles add a bit of flair to the race and make things more interesting as you get to see all aspects up-close and personal. For this reason then, the camera angles in MotoGP are the fifth reason the sport is awesome.

Top 10 Reasons Why MotoGP is Awesome: #6 — Outfits

Who thought that style would be one of the reasons that MotoGP is awesome? Well it turns out that the outfits and helmets of the riders are the sixth reason.

Every rider wears a set of leathers with a pair of gloves and boots. Their head is covered with a helmet. Of course sponsor's names adorn nearly every inch of the showing surfaces. However, the riders can add their personal touches of logos, colors, names and numbers. The helmet is probably the personalized part of the outfit and the first thing to become a special or unique design for a given race weekend.

Recently, the riders are making their outfits more personal, which is nice because then you are able to tell them apart as they are circling around the track. For instance, last year it was difficult to tell the Ducati Team riders apart as they were on all red bikes, in red leathers and had similar colored helmets.

Happily however, this year is different as Valentino Rossi is riding for Ducati now and his favorite color is florescent yellow. He is also a fan of the sun and the moon.


As you can see, Rossi's nickname is placed nicely on his butt. This is the norm, which is good as you can tell who they are when they show the on board shot facing the rider's back-side.


Rossi's team-mate Nicky Hayden has gone with a much more subtle and tasteful approach.


Australian Casey Stoner has incorporated the Australian flag into his helmet. Plus, his boots have silhouettes of kangaroos on them.


Unhappily however, there are three Repsol Honda riders this year that all pretty much have the same outfit, similar to what Stoner is wearing above. Although Dani Pedrosa has black boots and gloves, while Andrea Dovizioso has red ones. Of course they do have different helmets, but sometimes those just become a blur.

At the Yamaha Factory team, their outfits are pretty similar as well. Only the highlighting colors are different.

Ben Spies for instance has robin egg blue gloves and boots.


The World Champion Jorge Lorenzo has red on one side and white on the other. It goes with his angel/ devil theme.


As an example of a not everyday helmet, here is Lorenzo's helmet from the race from Valencia, Spain at the end of 2010. It is painted with real gold paint and covered in 1,800 Swarovoski crystals. Lorenzo's celebratory helmet took 96 hours to complete and was sold for 12,000 euros ($13,250) after the race.


So the stylish or outrageous outfits that the MotoGP riders wear to keep them safe when they crash are sixth reason why the sport is awesome. Besides, who would not want to ride a motorcycle with their name placed ever so strategically on their butt?

Top 10 Reasons Why MotoGP is Awesome: #7 — Rivalries

Reason number seven as to why MotoGP is awesome is because of the rivalries that exist within it. After all, what is a sport without rivalries?

So here is a video really promoting a race in Brno back in 2008, but it highlights classic rivalries in the sport and makes my point.

The rivalries are MotoGP classics. Sheene vs. Roberts. Rainey vs. Schwantz. Rossi vs. Biaggi. Rossi vs. Gibernau. They all want to beat the other guy with everything that they have. It certainly makes for some dramatic racing.

Rossi just seems to have a rival with everybody that he races against. His rivalry with Max Biaggi was fairly vicious. They seemed to dislike each other even before they raced against one another. Things got so bad that they got into a fight after one race before heading on to the podium.

The Rossi and Gibernau rivalry got fairly intense as well. After accusing Rossi of cheating, Gibernau went on to win a race that Rossi crashed out of. During the press conference afterward, Rossi said that Gibernau would never win another race. At the race in Jerez 2005, Rossi dove up the inside of Gibernau in the last corner, knocking him into the gravel, making sure that he did not win. To this day, Gibernau has not stood on the top step of the rostrum again.

A more modern rivalry is that of Stoner and Rossi during the 2008 season, as shown in the video above. (Missed it? See second paragraph...) Stoner was the reigning World Champ and Valentino wanted his title back. The two fought it out all through the year, including some close-call maneuvers at Laguna Seca, with Rossi eventually becoming the World Champ again.

The most famous rivalry now is Rossi vs. Jorge Lorenzo. The two used-to-be team-mates despise each other. There was a wall dividing their Fiat Yamaha garage and in 2010 no data was shared between the two riders. Sharing data is rather common in MotoGP garages.

Rossi and Lorenzo battled it out all the way through the 2009 season and continued in 2010 once Rossi's leg healed and he started racing again. An example of this is below with this picture. This is from Motegi, Japan in 2010 where Rossi is trying to get past Lorenzo and roughen-up the 2010 champion-elect Lorenzo. Yamaha management were certainly worried that they were going to take each other out.


Rivalries make sports more interesting and dramatic. Rivalries in MotoGP certainly are no exception and the seventh reason why the sport is so awesome.

Top 10 Reasons Why MotoGP is Awesome: #8 — Anything Can Happen

Sometimes traveling at top speed of 200 mph on just two wheels can have its consequences. In this day and age, where the competition is at its highest and the machines are at their best, MotoGP riders are pushing the limit of what they can ride at. Inevitably then, riders are going to go down.

Most of them crash, whether it is in practice or qualifying or even during the race. It just depends on who it is and when it happens.

That is why reason number eight in this series of the Top 10 Reasons Why MotoGP is Awesome is Anything Can Happen.

In most sports, commentators and analysts make predictions on who is going to win. MotoGP is no exception. It is just ten times harder and you do not just have a winner and a loser. There are 17 riders who could take victory or crash out. So you are not just trying to figure out the winner, but the placement of all the other riders.

Sometimes though things are so sure that no one is second guessing what is going to happen. The victory is clear-cut. Most of the time this is right, but this is MotoGP where anything can happen.

At the last race of the 2009 season in Valencia, Spain, everyone thought that Casey Stoner on his bright-red Ducati would be the victor. After leading all the practice session, including taking pole position on the grid. It was looking like he would take victory. Sticking with his tradition of being the last rider to circle the track on the warm-up, Stoner high-sided and was out of the race before it even began. [See this]

Dani Pedrosa who was in second place on the grid seemed to be the only rider where Stoner was and why he was not lining back up on the grid. Pedrosa went on to win the race.

This seemed to be the start of Stoner's problems for 2010.

Something similar happened to Stoner in the opening round of the 2010 season in Qatar, as everyone thought that he would win there. He had won the past three years in dominate fashion, topping the time sheet in all practice and qualifying sessions. Once the lights went out, no one was surprised when Stoner charged ahead and built up a sizable gap to the rest of the field. However, on lap six of the race, the front end folded and Stoner crashed out of the race, ending his streak of dominance at that track.

Valentino "The Doctor" Rossi (who is probably the greatest racer of all time...) did not even expect Stoner to crash out. Rossi won that race, but did it with a transmission that was geared to follow Stoner on the track and take advantage of his slip stream.

Stoner had a series of front-end related crashes in 2010, with several of those in races. Even towards the end of the season when Ducati thought they had figured everything out, Stoner seemed to either win or crash. This was just one of the reasons that 2010 did not go according to plan.

The other one is related to the great Valentino Rossi. Everyone thought that Stoner and Rossi would be fighting for the championship in 2010. Rossi crashed one weekend practicing his skills on a dirt-bike and injured his shoulder, but the worst was to come.

At the Mugello GP in Italy during the second free practice, Rossi had a high-side that broke his right leg. He went to the hospital and missed the next four races, ending his streak of starting 230 consecutive GPs. [See this]

With Stoner and Rossi having problems, Jorge Lorenzo was able to cleanly take the title in 2010. Lorenzo was the person most people figured would finish the season in third.

So things were not as they seemed for the 2010 season, but anything can happen and that is the eighth reason why MotoGP is awesome.

Top 10 Reasons Why MotoGP is Awesome: #9 — The Exhaust Note

This is a continuing series of the Top 10 Reasons Why the sport of MotoGP is awesome. Yesterday, I posted the tenth reason, which was the bikes.

Today, we continue with reason number nine -the exhaust note.

Each of the bikes make their own unique booming sound that is a joy to hear.

The Ducati makes a loud roar that shouts from its large rear exhaust. [Example]

The Yamaha has a very deep bellow, which holds a frightening sound like it could kill someone. [Example]

Finally, the Honda is kind of crackling shriek. [Example]

These videos really do not do the engine sound justice. It is amazing to hear them live, but that is rather hard to do on the internet. Of course, the engines sound different when the riders are circling around the track.

So here is Valentino Rossi riding the Ducati for the first time in November 2010. [Click here] (This was really big news, which I'll cover in another post...)

The exhaust notes, for making such beautiful music are the ninth reason why MotoGP is Awesome.

Top 10 Reasons Why MotoGP is Awesome: #10 — The Bikes

MotoGP is the pentacle of motorcycle racing. It is the best racers on the best prototype machines scraping knees around every corner of all the 18 tracks around the world that the sport visits. There are battles, rivalries, high speed and high-sides. I would say that it is my favorite sport of all time. The 2011 season is set to start with the first race under the floodlights of the Losail International Circuit in Qatar on March 20.

However, even though there are two races held in the United States each year, MotoGP is still not a very popular sport. After all, we have football, baseball and basketball to occupy our time. Plus, soccer is starting to grow. In an effort to help the grassroots of getting MotoGP a little more light in the good ol' US of A, I'm going to count down the "Top 10 Reasons Why MotoGP is Awesome." I thought I would start ten days before the start of the season and count down a reason each day, just for some spotlight and preparation for the 2011 campaign.

So here are the "Top 10 Reasons Why MotoGP is Awesome," starting, of course, with Number 10.

The tenth reason why the sport of MotoGP is awesome, is such an obvious choice really, as the sport would not exist without them. I am talking about the bikes on which the riders ride.

The bikes are put forth by several factories that compete in the sport. They are strictly prototypes, with the two bikes that each rider gets being totally different, even though they could be set-up in exactly the same way.

Four motorcycle factories -Ducati, Yamaha, Honda and Suzuki -have bikes in MotoGP. Each bike has their own unique characteristics and features. For instance, the Yamaha works really well in the corners, but does not have the highest top speed. It has come down recently, but the Ducati is noted for its straight-line all-out speed.

Below are some photos of the MotoGP bikes.

This is the Honda RC212V.

They certainly are works of art.



Below is the Yamaha YZR-M1 -the bike that has won the championship for the past three years (2008, 2009, 2010).


The rear muffler


On opposite end of the spectrum, the Suzuki GSV-R has not won for some time....


This is the Ducati Desmosedici GP11 and in my opinion is the one that looks the best.


The information panel of the GP11


The rear exhaust, which has that double-layer of wire mesh to prevent rocks and gravel going into the engine in the event of a crash. Since each rider is only allotted six engines, making sure they did not blow up was kind of important.


Anyway, I could probably post hundreds of pictures of the MotoGP bikes, but these convey my point. These bikes are engineering marvels built to compete and win at the highest level of motorcycle racing. They are the tenth reason why MotoGP is so awesome.

The Kentucky Kid

MotoGP is the premier class of motorcycle racing; the best of the best competing, racing, crashing, and winning to be crowned the best of the best. So this makes from some very exciting racing and action to watch. Unfortunately, there have been no Motorcycle Grand Prix races since November, but that all changes this weekend with the opening race of the 2009 season in Qatar happening. In the mix are rookies and seasoned veterans all looking to become the 2009 MotoGP champion. Some riders have changed teams, while others have new mechanics. But all the riders have new and updated bikes.

My favorite rider is the Australian, number 27, Casey Stoner. He is the 2007 champion and a rider for the factory Ducati team. I don’t really know how I picked him as my favorite; it just sort of happened. In the same way that I picked my second favorite rider, number 69, American Nicky Hayden. This year he joins Stoner at the Ducati team (now I can just root for one team) and I really, really want him to do well. He doesn’t have to win the championship –although that would be pretty sweet –I just want him to get in the top couple of riders. He deserves to be there. He is such a humble and down-to-earth guy –always thankful and grateful for the opportunities he has received and for all his fans.

Although, he does have a mountain to climb. The Ducati Desmosedici GP9 is a new bike for him and it is on different tires than what he is use to. And that Ducati is no easy bike to handle –only Stoner has really managed to tame it. After his first ride on the Duc, Hayden came off saying, “Whatever it is they are paying Casey it’s not enough.” However, things are going well for “The Kentucky Kid”, as Hayden is called. He continues to improve on riding and getting a hang of the seeming untameable Ducati beast. Optimism surrounds Hayden, as the new season looms overheard, and he is feeling confident. I feel confident in him. I know he can do well –he did win the 2006 championship after all.

Best of luck Nicky!

The NeverEnding Carmex

As with most people, my lips occasionally get dried and chapped. So to help stop that, I carry a tube of Carmex in my pocket. As I put some on daily, I noticed the other day that the tube wasn’t running out. How? It seems like that it is never ending. The tube supposedly only has .35 ounces in it, but I think they definitely lied as I have this one for months. And every time I go to apply some, there is quantity left to still apply. Sometimes it seems that more Carmex is in the tube than there was before. This baffles me beyond belief. How can there continue to be Carmex in such a small tube whenever I need it? All the writing on the tube has worn off from being carried around so much. [I thought that stuff stayed on there forever.]

From the heat it endures since being in my pocket, to the cold that it receives from sitting out at night, this little tube with a worn-away label, continues to provide treatment for my chapped lips in their time of need. I may be mystified and perplexed as to how it happens, but as long as there is some Carmex when I need it, then it is all fine by me.

This is the magical tube of Carmex.

Rubik's Cube Battles

So I was staying at a friend's house recently and they wanted to Skype with my parents. When I opened up the program on their computer, it was all different and new. I wasn't use to it. I figured that Skype must have released an update, so later I went to investigate it. Sure enough they did and to help promote it they made this video:

http://www.skype.com/videos/windows/

It shows a father on a business trip in some other country having a video call with his son and they end up having a Rubik's cube battle. Is that all they did while the father was gone? If that was my father I would actually want to talk with my dad.

I just found this a very strange way to market the program.

Three Blokes in Australia

Top Gear is an Emmy award winning British television show that mainly deals with cars. Right now it is the biggest and most popular show that the British Broadcasting Company has produced. With an estimated 350 million viewers worldwide, it is the most watched show on television nowadays. That number is more than the population of the United States. For reference, the popular show 24 only reached 14 million at its highest.

Top Gear’s presenters (that is Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond, James May and their tame racing driver –The Stig) are adorned by fans for their wittiness, humor, and some would say looks too. It is a very delightful and entertaining show to watch, especially because you wonder what those boys will come up with and do next. This show is the talk of offices around the globe on Monday morning, after it airs on Sunday evening.

For this reason of massive success, the BBC has decided that it would start local versions of the show. One for the United States was planned, but as of right now is canceled, and there is another one planned for Russia. The only one that has gotten off the ground currently is Top Gear Australia. And as an enormous fan of the British one, I decided to watch it.

I watched the first episode awhile back, not thinking too much of it. Then for some reason, I starting picking the show back up and watching episodes again. And I got really into it. As soon as the end credits were rolling after they showed what they were going to do next week, I really wanted to watch the next episode. Maybe it was just filling the void of the British Top Gear, which I like so very much. Or because that is the job that I want to have, so I wanted to get ideas.

There were definitely plenty of reasons for me to stop watching. For instance, it was a rough production. (Granted, this was there first time at doing the show.) But there was an awkwardness about it that may work out and go away. And I didn’t know what they were saying at certain points. The Australian phrases went over my head and the specifications for the cars –which were done in Kilowatts and Kilometers per hour – left me clueless. Plus, I’m not a big fan of the “What were they thinking?” Board. I miss the Cool Wall. Although, it was pretty funny when they did put Clarkson, Hammond, and May up there.

But I didn’t stop. I soldiered on through the whole first season. There was a multitude of entertaining segments, like the presenter’s road trips across Northeastern Australia and then Tasmania; the challenges of assembling a car from junkyard scraps, a helicopter versus a car, a man versus a GPS, and the car into a yacht challenge; and finally, the reviews of cars were enjoyable in their own right.

The Australian version of Top Gear still has some things that need to be worked out. The groove of the show still needs to be found. Although I have faith that it will, because looking back at some of the older British Top Gear episodes are not as well crafted as the ones currently airing. They too had to find their groove.

Top Gear Australia is not the original, but it still makes for some good television.

[If interested, the episodes of TG Australia can be watched here: http://hessmo.com/Hessmo/TG_Australia_Season_1.html]