Category: Crew On Two

The Gresini Aprilia Team had a fairly successful season in 2016, picking up a best result of 7th by both Alvaro Bautista and Stefan Bradl. However, with both former champions moving on from Aprilia, 2017 could be a bit more of a learning year for the team. Aleix Espargaro comes across from Suzuki and Sam Lowes graduates from Fausto Gresini’s Moto2 outfit. A great mix of experience and excitement could see Aprilia produce something a little bit special this year and how good would it be if they could step on the podium?

Aleix Espargaro had quite a fall out with Suzuki last season, particularly when it came to a contract renewal. Having been with Suzuki since their return, the Catalan was unceremoniously dumped by the Japanese manufacturer, leaving him with no ride. After speculation about replacing Tom Sykes at Kawasaki, Aleix signed for Aprilia – staying in the paddock for two more years. Aleix has been one of the unluckiest riders in MotoGP but a 4th last year has been his best result of the last two seasons. Yet to get a podium since his incredible Aragon performance in 2014, Aleix has looked good in testing, putting the Aprilia in the top half-dozen during the Phillip Island test. The 27-year-old has a wealth of knowledge and could improve the Aprilia, having ridden a Ducati, Suzuki and ART Aprilia. Can Espargaro take Aprilia to their first ever podium in MotoGP?

Sam Lowes joins Aleix in the Factory Aprilia set up, having finished 5th in last year’s Moto2 championship, with two wins and a further four podiums. The former World Supersport champion has been doing the most of his testing on the old bike, leaving it more-or-less up to Espargaro to test the new machine – as Lowes gets used to riding a MotoGP prototype. The big question for Sam will be whether he can calm his aggressive riding style. Six crashes last season meant that Lowes’ otherwise consistent performances just didn’t amount to a title challenge. He will be looking at Bautista and Bradl’s data from last year to see if he is in the same ball park but also to see if the bike can be improved. The Pramac Ducati’s have to be the target come the end of the year for Sam, whether or not he takes points early on is yet to be discovered but I think he could be a bit of an underdog.

The Aprilia has been a bit of a dog over that last two seasons. However, Alvaro Bautista made the bike shine on many occasions towards the end of the year, putting it in the top 10 to be seeded into the 2nd round of qualifying in both Japan and Malaysia. The bike cracked the top 10 14 times with both riders breaking into the top 10 at the same time on four occasions. The bar has definitely been set high for the team but the team will be more concerned with the distance to the winner than their actual track position. It has been developed from cumbersome to nimble rather rapidly and the top speed of the bike is now 350kmh or 218mph to us Brits. The bike could then be rather rapid when we get to Mugello.

The Aprilia definitely got stronger throughout the year but there are a few circuits it seems to be able to do well at. Catalunya has been good to Bautista, finishing 10th in 2015 and 8th in 2016 – just 1.5s off Andrea Dovizioso’s Factory Ducati. The team have a pretty good record at Aragon, with a double top 10 finish in 2016, as well as Motegi. Phillip Island was kind to them, with their best qualifying since their return to the series. The pattern seems to be that circuits with long, sweeping corners suit the bike, maybe because it is rather long, allowing for stability.

After taking their first win nine years last season, Suzuki haven’t come into a year as strong as they do in 2017. Although losing Maverick Vinales who joins Yamaha, the Ecstar Suzuki team have found a race winner to replace him, with Andrea Iannone heading up 2nd new signing, Alex Rins – who replaces Aleix Espargaro who departs for the Gresini Now TV Aprilia outfit. Will Suzuki build on their 2016 performance, stagnate and remain a threat at some rounds or, will they go backwards as Ducati and Aprilia up the effort?

One thing for sure is that Andrea Iannone didn’t reluctantly choose Suzuki. The Italian, who won at the Red Bull Ring last season, has been impressive in testing, consistently being in the top five or six on certain days. Iannone’s switch did come at a slight shock, as rumour has it that Aprilia did try and sign him – which would make sense seeing as it’s an Italian manufacturer. With Iannone joining a team as number one rider that may also help his confidence. He will be the one that takes Suzuki’s first podiums of 2017 and who’s to say that he won’t go on to take wins?

Talking off wins… Alex Rins partners Suzuki’s all new star-studded line up for 2017 and 2018. The former Moto3 and Moto2 Grand Prix winner and championship challenger is one of four riders to graduate from the intermediate class to the premier class. Undoubtedly quick on his day, Alex Rins’ form has been fluctuating more than the British Pound post-Brexit. 2nd at Brno, 7th at Silverstone, 2nd at Misano, 6th at Aragon and a 20th at Motegi were his mid – to – end season results last year. One may argue that he’s consistently in the top 10, however, to have such fluctuating form can be worrying. Maybe MotoGP will sort Rins out – surely he could take a podium this season?

The Suzuki squad returned in 2015 but it took them to the French Grand Prix last season to take a podium, with Vinales. It was at Silverstone where the team took their first win though, highlighting the fact that the bike likes cool temperatures and also quite fiddly circuits, with a lot of point and squirt corners and fast direction changes. The bike is by no means the fastest in a straight line but that can be countered in the corners. Maverick Vinales showed last year just how many liberties you can take with the bike. If it had a bit more power, it’d be a threat all season round.

So what circuits does the bike go well at? It’s very hard to say given it only really came good last season, although Le Mans was good for them – as they achieved a double top six and a podium with the aforementioned Vinales. The win at Silverstone was backed up with a 7th by Aleix Espargaro, who battled with Jorge Lorenzo for most of the race. The Japanese GP was also kind to them, with Vinales 3rd and Aleix 4th. Could they be a more prominent threat throughout 2017?

Kiko Giles @MotoGPKiko

Repsol Honda come into 2017 with an unchanged line-up for the fifth consecutive season, with the Spanish duo of Marc Marquez and Dani Pedrosa. The Factory HRC effort this year sees a bike that once again has proved difficult in testing, with only Phillip Island showing signs of a bike capable of riding at the front. Then again, one of their riders is Marc Marquez, so anything is possible.

The 5-time champion put common sense before tradition last year, putting points before victories and finishing all the races prior to taking his title victory in Japan. Of his 55 wins so far, some of his best came last year, with a splendid ride in Austin and a mesmerising tactical victory in Germany. At just 24, he has already rocked the MotoGP paddock with his sheer class, speed and radical style, revolutionising the way a rider treats a bike. But the question is how much long can he keep doing it. Countless times last year saw Marc almost bin the Honda, most notably the penultimate corner at Brno in Free Practice. Will Marc make it six titles come the end of the season?

Alongside Marquez is Dani Pedrosa, who is becoming known as the perfect number two rider. The Catalan rider took one victory on his way to 6th overall, his lowest finish in his GP career since his debut in the paddock back in 2001. His victory in Misano was however a demonstration that the diminutive 31-year-old Spaniard has, on his day, some real shine about him. An injury during the Japanese Grand Prix meant that he didn’t score points in the final four rounds, finishing just 14 points ahead of Cal Crutchlow overall. Just three podiums for Dani last year is awful considering he’s a factory rider, meaning 2017 is a big year for him to prove his worth.

The Honda itself is down on power in comparison with Ducati and Yamaha. 230HP might seem a lot to us not sat on the thing but at circuits like Mugello, Losail and Catalunya, it may be more noticeable. Its lightweight carbon-fibre body frame does however mean that the bike relatively light and along with Marquez and Pedrosa, that could prove vital.

As far as circuits are concerned, COTA is a circuit the team is yet to fail to take the win at. Losail has been a mixed bag for the squad, not taking a win there since 2014. Argentina has seen Marquez win two out of three races there. The only track the team is yet to take a podium at is the Red Bull Ring, but after just one year of the circuit returning, that may not mean a great deal.

Kiko Giles @MotoGPKiko

Having finished in the top two of the championship for the last nine seasons, of which five have been title victories, the Factory Yamaha Team have all the credentials to make it yet another unforgettable season. With the perfect mix of experience in Italian veteran Valentino Rossi and youth and exuberance in Maverick Vinales, we could already be seeing the top two in the 2017 title race.

When Valentino Rossi signed for yet another two seasons with Yamaha at Losail last year, I was stunned. Stunned by how early he had signed but also by the fact that he will be 39 come the end of his renewed contract. He proved last year though that age is just a number, taking two wins on his way to his third consecutive runner-up position in the title. The GOAT has started an incredible 348 races across all classes, of which he has 221 podiums. Will Rossi pursue the title for yet another season and fight off the young blood? Will 2017 go back to Tavulia?

One rider out to stop Rossi in his tracks is new teammate and MotoGP hot-shot Maverick Vinales. The former world champion took a cracking victory at Silverstone last year on his Suzuki meaning that Yamaha have already signed a rider who’s done the business. He has topped all four-pre-season tests (including Valencia) and has been considerably quicker than ‘The Doctor’. Vinales is so far showing no signs of issues regarding his transition to Yamaha, which is a dangerous prospect given the 22-year-old’s pace so far. Could Maverick finish the season as Top Gun?

The Yamaha itself has undergone something of a facelift too. Remaining with Movistar sponsorship means that the bike itself looks the same but as proven in testing, Yamaha had a trick or two up their sleeve. They were the first team to bring out ‘winglets’ within the actual fairing – which is deemed OK after the external winglet ban from 2017 onwards. Over 240HP can be produced from the bike, meaning that although it may not be on-par with the Ducati team, it’s still a pretty nippy bike! Valentino Rossi has played a pivotal part in the development of the bike ever since he joined the team in 2004. Can it be turned into a winner in 2017?

As far as circuits are concerned, there’s only two of which the team have never won at. Circuit of the Americas is Marc Marquez’ Happy Hunting Ground and the Red Bull Ring, which is Ducati city. The Yamaha suits fast direction changes with agility and smoothness through the corners, so Misano, Phillip Island, Mugello and Brno could all be particularly good circuits for them. The team has been on the podium at the opening round of the season every year since 2007, so Losail could be a strong indicator for the team’s season to come.

Kiko Giles @MotoGPKiko

Alvaro Bautista has been my personal stand out performance across all the pre-season tests ahead of the 2017 MotoGP season. The 2006 125cc champion has been flying on his Aspar Ducati, and finished the Qatar test in a stunning 5th position – ahead of 9 time champion Valentino Rossi, 5 time champion Marc Marquez and 0.195 behind the factory Ducati rider and 5 time champion, Jorge Lorenzo. The former Gresini Aprilia rider really looks strong ahead of 2017.

When it was announced that Alvaro would join the Aspar Ducati Team for 2017 ahead of last year’s Czech Grand Prix, I was a little bit conflicted. I was pleasantly surprised that someone had at least acknowledged that Bautista wasn’t a ‘make-up-the-numbers’ rider, and I was also happy that he had got on the Ducati, which had finally come good after Andrea Iannone took victory in Austria. However, I was a bit annoyed that Aprilia weren’t renewing his contract, but more-so that he wasn’t at what would be considered a ‘better team’ – on paper at least – with Tech 3 or even Suzuki, where his MotoGP career started. He also usurped Eugene Laverty out of MotoGP but technically that isn’t his fault.

The Spaniard has picked up a lot of flack for taking the ride too. Most notably by some of the Laverty fans, who believe that the Irishman had done more than enough to earn his place at the team for 2017 but also by the press in general. Many people were saying that he was just another rider, flicking about and hanging onto the shirt-tails of a MotoGP ride. I must admit, I wanted Alvaro to go to WSBK, a series he will be back winning in and a series that is in need of big names. But now I’m not so sure.

His lowest testing position was 11th, after Phillip Island – although he found a breakthrough on the final day. That was evident in Qatar, having finished that test fifth overall. And the most impressive thing? This is not just one lap pace – Bautista’s race simulation suggests that he’d complete the race in 3rd.

The Losail track has got some fond memories for Bautista too. In 2014, he set the fastest lap of the race, before crashing out of 3rd place with a handful of laps to go. In 2013, he finished 6th, which remains his best result at the track in the premier class. He won the 2006 125cc race, whilst also taking pole position and the fastest lap.

But as we all know, the Losail circuit is not one we can gain any accurate information from. The race is unique; held at night, it poses an aspect of racing that, for MotoGP at least, is incomparable to anywhere else. Not only because of the night race feel, but because it’s in the middle of the desert, meaning that sand is forever engulfing the circuit, located around 30km north of Central Doha. It is also unique because apart from the home straight, there is no real atmosphere at the track with regards to fans. There’s limited noises emitted from the fans, which although maybe not affecting the riders, it does affect the overall feel to the Grand Prix.

We may have to wait until we hit Europe, and in the words of Wayne Rainey “this is where the ground war starts”. More familiar circuits will prove a more accurate test of man and machinery, particularly for Ducati. The Italian manufacturer has tended to slip away during the first four or five European races, although all remains to be seen for 2017.

Alvaro will be up there, challenging the top 8 positions. Do I think a podium is possible for him? Yes, I do. Do I think a win is possible? Maybe, depending on weather and circuit. He is familiar with the team and he loves the Ducati. He knows the championship and has enough experience to go for the big results. The bike is a proven winner and with the data already gathered from not just the test but last season, Bautista could be a bit of a revelation in the forthcoming season.

Kiko Giles @MotoGPKiko