RF FEB 2021 ONLINE

And so, Dorna does what it always does – plays it safe. Qatar
is a desert with about three people living there, so the paddock
needs only to stay away from those three people, and they
should be fine.
Therefore, instead of a two-day test at Qatar to follow the four
days at Sepang, MotoGP riders can look forward to Qatar’s six
days. They then can look forward to the two opening rounds,
on back-to-back weekends, at Qatar, something that has been
described by riders as “really boring” while isolated to the hotel
between weekends.
Fun times.
The rounds in Argentina and Texas, originally due to follow the
single round in Qatar, have been put on hold with Portimao
making a return to the calendar for 2021 after the second Qatar.
With two more rounds added to the calendar already, it seems
unlikely that we will return to Argentina and Texas this year.
The good news is that, so far, the rest of the calendar remains
as is.
Testing all in one place:
MotoGP riders will have to make do with six days of testing happening
in quick succession at Qatar. Logistically, it makes all the
sense in the world because everything need be at one place at
one time, instead of being carted all over the world three times.
Logistics Managers can spend a half-day getting it all together
and then go on Holiday until April.
For the riders and engineers, it’s a terrible idea. Yes, they get
through their packed testing schedule more easily over six
straight days in the same place, but it’s more quality than quantity
they are after.
The problem, we suspect, is worse for Yamaha who are traditionally
very good at Qatar. This means that problems they may
encounter throughout the calendar may be covered up somewhat
by Qatar’s favourable conditions.
KTM has a strong team this year with Miguel and Brad
We have seen this before, especially in 2016 when Maverick
Vinales absolutely dominated throughout the Qatar tests, only to
be snubbed later in the year as previously unseen flaws in the
bike came to light at other circuits.
Testing not with one man:
Sticking with Yamaha, Lin Jarvis, the head of the Yamaha
MotoGP project, has stated that they will still be listening to
Valentino Rossi’s input even though the Italian is no longer in
the factory team after making the change to Petronas.
The problem there is the word “still”. For years, Yamaha has
apparently discarded Rossi’s advice, seemingly opting more
for the likes of Vinales even though he seems to constantly be
wrong and Rossi constantly right.
With some luck, VR46 fans might see The Doctor’s resurgence
in 2021 now that he is under the umbrella of a private team that
is possibly more interested in individual rider needs instead of
the factory agenda.
KTM and Aprilia advantage:
KTM has seen their new concessions revoked, after a bunch
of podiums and three race wins in 2020. The concessions are
designed to give new or smaller manufacturers a development
boost with less technical freezes and more testing opportunities.
One concession KTM can overcome is the design freeze for
2021, meaning Team Orange can introduce an entirely new motorcycle
for this year where Honda, Yamaha, Suzuki and Ducati
must keep much the same machine.
That means that Brad Binder might have a good deal more
testing to do at Qatar than many of his peers. Binder has stated
only that there are new things to try for 2021, evading saying a
completely new bike.
This can only be an advantage as the worst thing that could
happen is none of the new parts work, and they use the old bike
again for 2021.
After all, it was good in 2020.
Aprilia is the other manufacturer
that benefits from concessions,
something Aleix Espargaro will
undoubtedly look forward to after
being critical of the Noale factory
for making very little progress in
2020.
Jack Attack:
Jack Miller’s form has found him
in a Ducati factory seat for the first
time in his premier class career.
The Australian put on a helluva
show in 2020 aboard the satellite
Pramac Ducati, and now finds
himself with an entire factory at his
disposal.
The benefit will be him leading the
way in bike development and having
a larger bank for knowledge
behind him with some of the best
engineers in the world dedicating
all their thinking prowess to him.
The challenge is dealing with the
pressure of performing in a factory team, something not to be
taken likely and has been the demise riders in the past.
Jack has been through hell to get where he is. It’s doubtful he
will let anything get to him.
Will Suzuki still work?
Here’s the thing about Suzuki’s success in 2020 and, ultimately,
Mir’s championship win – it sort-of relied heavily on the fact that
the season was topsy-turvy.
Races were held when races shouldn’t, or Michelin brought
tyres designed for a different time of year when the track wasn’t
a veritable ice-rink and tended to be a touch on the slippery
side. Ducati and KTM were worst off with this predicament, with
their strengths only working when the tyres can be kept up to
temperature.
Suzuki, on the other hand, thrived, and along with consistency,
they often benefitted from other’s downfall. Literally.
The problem is that, so far, the calendar is mostly running as
usual, so tyres should work out with no geology anomalies. Will
Suzuki still manage when everyone else is not having
problems?
Getting on Pol:
Most of the Honda headlines are about Marc Marquez. He’s
injured and is still wearing an arm brace seven months after
his initial injury. He probably will not make it to the tests, and
there’s a good chance he will miss the first races. After that,
who knows?
On the other side of the Repsol garage sits the mostly smiling
Pol Espargaro. He is venturing where many others have failed,
and the Honda so far is a Marc Marquez only machine.
Pol has some things going for him – he’s an aggressive, late
braking rider much like Marquez, so maybe his style already
matches what the Honda asks.
Plus, Honda has spent a year without Marc Marquez, and the
influence of input solely from the other riders might have softened
the Honda bite and made the bike more rideable.
Where Pol might suffer is with the new one-track testing schedule.
Like we mentioned earlier, testing the new bike at one track
may not highlight every flaw of the Honda, and may give the
rider a false sense of what is required of him.