MotoGP Shanghai shakedown
Written by Scott Keller · April 30, 2008
MotoGP is back on this weekend, and they are taking their two-wheel frenzy to the Far East at the China GP. Jorge Lorenzo is hot off of his maiden MotoGP win, is looking to take his Fiat Yamaha to the front again, but surely Dani Pedrosa will have something to say about that.
James Toseland who has made more waves in the press than on the racetrack, has announced that he will be on the podium in the next few weeks. Toseland claims that his move from the 2007 to the current Yamaha engine will be the key ingredient. Considering his respectable results so far on a year-old engine, he might be able to back up the cocky comments.
Nikki Hayden is feeling good going into China. The Repsol Honda team has put together some good tests, and Hayden feels like the Repsol team is moving in the right direction. He doesn’t sound quite as sure as Toseland, though. But Hayden has a little less to prove at the moment.
If it weren’t for the long straights on the China circuit, my dark-horse for a podium would have to have been Andrea Dovizioso. The Italian was right in the hunt at Estoril before crashing out. But his chances at China are a little dampened by the lack of power in the JiR Team Scot machine.
Also making MotoGP news is F1 super-legend, Michael Schumacher. Schumacher’s much ballyhooed MotoGP test has spun off a lot of speculation that the German would like to do a one-off in a MotoGP race. Michael says this just isn’t going to happen. I’d say it is a wise decision, although I’m convinced the man could be competitive in just about anything with wheels, four or less.
The MotoGP World Championship, Pramac Grand Prix of China airs on Speed TV at 4:00 PM ET this Sunday, right after that big old ARCA race at the old Rockingham Speedway that Andy Hillenberg resurrected.
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Schumy in a MotoGP race would be a great thing to see. But ever the realist, I’m sure Michael realizes that his size, while never a disadvantage in F1, would radically work against him in the top motorcycle divisions.
Witness Ruben “Spyderman” Zaus. Though he was tall, I’m not sure how much over 160 lbs he weighed. Compared to El Doctore or Pedrosa, that’s still a sizable disadvantage.