Behind the Scenes: Road Tests.

Everyone has seen MCN’s very own Adam ‘Chad’ Child’s road-test videos online, and the write up inside MCN. But what goes on behind the scenes of an MCN road test? I tagged along to find out.

First and foremost, road testing isn’t glitzy or glamorous, for the most part it’s cold and windy. Unfortunately I didn’t get sent to far-flung and sunny Italy or Spain, but instead headed out with the team to the chilly A-roads of Peterborough.

From there I was enlisted to help out the man behind all the amazing shots you see in MCN every week, Mykel Nicolaou. With the lighting set up and the three bikes we were using for the day – a Ducati Streetfighter, a KTM Super Duke and the new MV Agusta Brutale – ready and waiting, Myk snapped some opening shots for the three-page-spread. With the openers done, a few shots were taken of details on each bike – brakes, suspension, exhausts etc.

Then it was time for Chad to do his video intro for the MCN website. It took a good few tries, mainly due to the wind noise drowning out any other sound and partly due to Chad messing his lines up. “You’re supposed to script this stuff” he says. “Most people do. I don’t, but if I have to do it again I can’t remember what I said the first time.”

Eventually, with myself and our riders for the day, Bruce and Jimmy (who is affectionately known as Chachi for reasons unbeknown to myself), forming a wind block Chad managed to shoot a couple of good introductions for the video.

Setting up the bikes for opening shots.

With all the stills done and dusted, it was finally time to get some action shots. Myk says that the trick with the photos is to make the riders look like they’re going fast without them actually riding at deadly speeds around the corners.

Jim takes the KTM, Bruce hops on the Ducati and Chad is left with the MV. The guys do a few runs in both directions up and down the road while Myk takes hundreds upon hundreds of photos. I attempt to take some photos of my own, but my photography leaves much to be desired and frankly the bikes move too damn fast for my poor old camera to cope with.

After nine or ten runs, the group reconvenes to decide where to try next. They decide to go to a stretch of road known as ‘A1 Corner’ and do some shots with two or three bikes. Myk explains that it’s perfect because it’s a good corner with very few cars passing through to hinder the photoshoot. It’s also a perfect opportunity to shoot some more video for the website.

Our testers swap bikes – Chad on the KTM, Bruce on the Ducati and Jim on the MV – and take another few runs back and forth round the corner while I stand shivering on the side of the road, passing Myk his lenses and carrying a tripod. I start wishing I was the one wrapped up in hundreds of layers of windproof clothing and thrashing a naked litre-bike around.

Going round A1 Corner.

After successfully getting photos and video on A1 Corner the riders take a break while Myk does video stills for all three bikes. While he’s hard at work, I entertain myself listening to Chad, Bruce and Jim chat about all manner of nonsensical topics, including the fact that Jim’s bum looks triangular in his leathers (swiftly followed by Jim dancing to Baby Got Back).

Myk finishes up with the video stills and then it’s time to move down the road and get some pictures of the guys doing wheelies up the hill. Of course, the rest of this chapter should read “They refused, because wheelies are illegal”, but where’s the fun in that?

Apparently wheelie-ing is something of an opportunity to become an enormous show-off, with Bruce and Jim racing up the hill on the back wheels of the Duc and the MV, and Chad pulling stand-ups on the KTM.

Wheelies up the hill.

As everyone finishes tearing up and down the road, a modified BMW GS turns up to have some photos taken for another piece. Myk dutifully snaps some pictures of the bike and the mods, and with that the heavens open.

It’s 2pm, and with the majority of the days work done everyone decides it’s time for lunch. The group heads over to Little Chef (quality dining!) to grab something to eat before finishing the test. It’s another opportunity to have a pop at Jimmy, who appears to have only been wearing a wife-beater under his leathers. “Myk get your camera!” says Chad. “We need a photo of this!” Jim shies away with Chad shouting “Come on, show us the guns!”

After lunch we head down to the marina used by the sailing club. On the way Myk sticks a camera to the side of the Streetfighter so Jim can film Bruce and Chad riding in front of him. Chad duly does some power slides across the dual-carriageway.

At the marina the bikes are set up again and it’s time for Chad to film the sign-off for the website video. It takes several tries again, after a pair of old ladies walk straight into the shot causing everyone to start giggling like five-year-old girls. But eventually, with a few takes under his belt Myk announces that we’re finished. He straps the camera to the Ducati again and we head back to the office.

At the marina for closing shoot.

The day comes to a close. The bikes have been put through their paces and a lot of fun has been had along the way. All that’s left to do now is for Chad to write up his test report ready to print in next week’s issue.

So, now you know what happens behind the scenes of an MCN road test. In short: very little hard graft, thousands of photos, a hell of a lot of mucking around and a good dose of fun.

The Kid vs. The G.o.a.T

Valentino Rossi is a name well known to anyone who knows anything about motorbikes. Widely considered as the greatest rider of all time, he has spent the last decade of his career smashing world records and leaving audiences open-mouthed at his seemingly endless talents. For a decade he has been the darling of audiences, journalists and manufacturers alike, winning races and winning hearts. Until now. Time then to meet the man who could topple Valentino from his throne - and he just so happens to be his team-mate. Enter Jorge Lorenzo.

Born in 1987 in Palma de Mallorca, Lorenzo began his 125cc MotoGP career in 2002 on his fifteenth birthday after missing practice on Friday before the race because he was still too young. He quickly moved up to the 250cc class where he dominated races and became 250cc World Champion two years running in 2006 and 2007.

Then, in 2008, Jorge Lorenzo was confirmed as Valentino Rossi’s team-mate with the Fiat Yamaha team, after signing a two year deal to ride for them in the premiere class.
After a stunning debut season – leaving aside a now infamous highside crash at the Chinese Grand Prix – he finished fourth in the Championship. His podium finish at Estoril meant he snatched the record for youngest rider to have a podium finish in his first three races from his compatriot and bitter rival Dani Pedrosa.

But it is 2009 that has really been Lorenzo’s year. After a season of amazing wins, disappointing crashes and rivalries that have left audiences divided, Jorge ended 2009 in second place after his closest rival, Rossi. Tipped by Rossi’s long-time rival Max Biaggi as ‘The New Roman Emperor’ and a rider who has the potential to do well, Jorge Lorenzo looks to be the only man who can knock Valentino from the top spot, prompting people to ask the questions that nobody dare think about: Is Rossi approaching the end? Is Jorge the ‘new Valentino’? And is MotoGP really now Lorenzo’s Land?

“I wouldn’t like to brand him as that [‘the new Rossi’]” says BBC MotoGP presenter Matt Roberts. “Obviously I know it sounds cliché but there will never be another Valentino … for anyone to be compared to him is impossible.”

But the comparisons between them are already being drawn. Lorenzo has been accused time and time again of being a copycat of Valentino, with his showmanship and his post-race celebrations, and that may not be so far from the truth. “Lorenzo is trying to copy Rossi.” Comments Times journalist Rick Broadbent. “He was jealous of Rossi, no doubt about that. He wondered ‘why is he so successful?’”. Matt adds “Lorenzo’s looked at it from a critical point of view and thought ‘Why? Why is this guy so well liked? And how can I be liked and successful in the way that he is?’”

The problem for a guy like Jorge Lorenzo is that he’s always been a rough diamond. When he was younger and riding in the 125cc and 250cc classes, he was only noticed as the spoiled brat of the paddock and was liked by very few people. But the public persona and the showboating isn’t the only side to Jorge. “In private he’s actually very humble and he’s very shy and he’s a very nice person to talk to. He’s always very interested in you, he always asks questions about you, he’s not the type of person to be talking about himself. Basically this kind of arrogant, show-off attitude that he’s got is not really him at all.” Says Matt.

Behind the scenes Jorge has had his fair share of ups and downs. Unlike Rossi, who has managed to forge a good relationship with his parents Graziano and Stefania despite their separation, Lorenzo has a past filled with a bitter breakup between himself and his father, Chicho. In 2006 Jorge was forced to make the gut-wrenching decision between his manager, Dani Amatriaín, and his father. He picked the former, sparking bitter retorts from Chicho that his son and Amatriaín owed him for the huge sums of money he had invested in Jorge over the previous years. “There was a really nasty, bitter atmosphere going on for a long time [afterwards].” recalls Rick.
Strange then, that at the end of 2008 Dani Amatriaín should simply disappear from the paddock. The media would report that he had decided to retire in order to spend more time with his family, but the sad and uncovered truth was that Amatriaín was suffering from cocaine addiction and had subsequently split from the team.

Meanwhile in the Rossi camp, Valentino was also having managerial problems. Gibo Badioli, a long-time friend of Graziano, and Valentino’s long-time manager, was fired after the media reported that Valentino had been fiddling his taxes back home in Italy. Away from the public eye, Rossi blamed everything on Badioli and he was fired shortly after.

So, what of the future? MotoGP 2010 is by no means a two-horse race. Lorenzo and Rossi will have to fight off competition from Honda and Dani Pedrosa and, more importantly, Casey Stoner on the formidable looking Ducati. Throw 2009 World Superbike Champion Ben Spies in to the mix and the new season looks evermore exciting.
“I think Lorenzo has what it takes to win.” Says Kenny Pryde, editor of Superbike Magazine. “I don’t think that Pedrosa or the Honda will be good enough and Spies won’t be able to repeat what he did in WSB. The joker in the pack is Stoner, but I think Lorenzo will finish ahead of Rossi in 2010. Whether that means he will win the title will depend on Stoner and Ducati’s performance.”

2011 looks to be a tense year, as Valentino has given Yamaha an ultimatum that he won’t stay with them if they resign Lorenzo to ride for them. This has sparked rumours of a long-anticipated move by Rossi to Italian factory Ducati. “If Yamaha do resign Lorenzo, I would say 99% that Valentino will go to Ducati.” Predicts Matt, with Kenny adding “The paddock says Ducati and Marlboro would pay a fortune to see Rossi in red.”
Both the fans and the media would love to see an Italian rider, and the world number one no less, riding with an Italian team. And as Matt points out, it’s not just about the racing: “It’s not just what he does on the track, it’s what he does off it and even though he’s not racing anymore you’re still gonna have that name and that brand associated. If you’re Ducati and Valentino finishes his career there, then you’re gonna have him for the rest of his life.”

“From what I can gather Lorenzo is very confident in his own ability and he knows, I suspect, that he represents the future of MotoGP racing and Rossi – at 30 – is the past.” Continues Kenny. “I think Lorenzo believes he can beat Rossi and I suspect he has enough fans within Yamaha Racing to back him as the best bet for the post-Rossi era.” And Rick agrees “I think he’ll [Lorenzo] be good, because Rossi’s not going to be around forever, he’s what 31 now? He’s probably got 3 or 4 years left before he starts to fade a little bit, if he sticks around that long.”

So what happens when Valentino Rossi is merely a distant memory of years gone by, his name resigned to the history books alongside other greats such as Giacomo Agostini, Barry Sheene and Mike Hailwood? Who then will be Jorge Lorenzo’s greatest rival? The finger points firmly at Casey Stoner.

“If Stoner’s fit then Stoner vs Lorenzo would be a really good rivalry, because no doubt Lorenzo would get under Stoner’s skin, like Rossi’s done… it’s not hard to get under Casey’s skin though.” Rick muses.
Known for years as ‘Rolling Stoner’ because of his penchant for throwing himself off the bike, Casey has improved vastly since his debut – becoming the World Champion in 2007 - and is now widely known not only as a ‘whinging Aussie’, but as being the only man who has managed to tame Ducati’s beastly Desmosidici GP bike.

Nobody can say for sure what the future holds for Lorenzo and his MotoGP career. The new season is a three-horse race; Yamaha vs Ducati; Lorenzo vs Rossi vs Stoner; with Honda and Dani Pedrosa clinging desperately to the coat tails of the top three.
Matt Roberts thinks it’ll be Casey who walks away with the trophy at the end of the year. And as for Rick? “I think you could say Stoner or Lorenzo could win the world title,” he ponders “If they can stay on their bikes.”

He may not be there just yet, but rest assured the man is poised and ready with his flag, biding his time and waiting to usurp the ‘Greatest of all Time’ and claim the championship in the name of Lorenzo’s Land.


• Jorge Lorenzo’s biography ‘My Story So Far’ is available now (Haynes Publishing).

R.I.P Jimmy 'The Rev' Sullivan; Too Weird To Live, Too Rare To Die.

Jimmy 'The Rev' Sullivan, drummer with Avenged Sevenfold passed away on December 28th in his home in Huntington Beach, California.

This has come as a complete shock to me, and other Avenged Sevenfold fans alike. In recent years I have hardly given any time to listening to A7X because their newer albums were, in my opinion, a little disappointing. But the fact remains that A7X were, for a very long time, my favourite band, and I still carry a lot of love and respect for them and the music they've made.
The Rev was, as remains, an amazingly talented musician and drummer, and the band just isn't going to ever be the same without him.

Jimmy, you will be sorely missed, and always in the hearts of the fans.
R.I.P

Apologies.

I realise, pretty much nobody reads this 'ere blog. But, I have been at work a hell of a lot lately and haven't had much time for anything else. However, I am in the process of writing a piece about the return of 990cc engines for MotoGP (oh God another motorbike blog, I know!) But it's something that I think could really change the way MotoGP is played out. The bigger-bore bikes make the ride a lot more down to rider skill, rather than having smaller engines and hundreds of electronics doing the work for them. Watch this space, I'm coming back soon!

Reasons why MotoGP 2010 is going to be awesome.

• The Kid versus The G.o.a.T

As if 2009s season wasn’t exciting enough with the building rivalry between Jorge Lorenzo and Valentino Rossi, next year looks set to be even better. With Rossi stating he won’t stay with Yamaha for 2011 if they decide to keep Lorenzo, the Spanish kid is going to be under a lot of pressure to perform and put the pressure on Vale.
If Yamaha does decide to put their money behind the rising star instead of the World No.1, however, it does give rise to the prospect of a Rossi/Ducati pairing which could prove incredibly interesting.
It’s down to Lorenzo to get his head down, relax and be consistent with his riding in order to really be in with the chance of beating Rossi to the championship next season.


• Monster Tech3 Yamaha

Yes, really, the satellite Yamaha team who I have lovingly renamed ‘Texas3 Yamaha’, due to the 2010 presence of ‘Texas Tornado’ Colin Edwards and ‘Texas Terror’ Ben Spies. As sad as I am to see James Toseland disappear back to the world of Superbikes, I’m really quite excited by the new partnership. And after Spies wildcard performance in Valencia, in which he helped Edwards snatch 5th in the championship from his rival Andrea Dovizioso, maybe that wall down the middle of the Tech3 garage will disappear too.
Spies has also taken incredibly well to the MotoGP bikes, coming in 7th at Valencia – a full five places in front of poor old JT.


• The 250cc boys make their move.

Four of the best riders from the 250cc class are moving up to the premier class next season. Spaniards Alvaro Bautista and Hector Barbera, Italian Marco Simoncelli and Japan's Hiroshi Aoyama will be taking up rides with Rizla Suzuki, Aspar Ducati and Gresini Honda and Interwetten Honda respectively. It’ll be interesting to see how they all fair, especially Barbera, who has to contend with one of the most notoriously skittish and difficult bikes on the grid – The Desmosidici – which has only really ever been tamed by Casey Stoner.


• Bye Bye Donington, Hello Silverstone!

MotoGP waved a fond farewell to Donington Park this season, as the British Grand Prix moves back to Silverstone – where it was held between 1977 and 1986. Silverstone has added new parts of track specially to host MotoGP, and are spending copious amounts of money improving their visitor facilities in preparation for next season.
Have a little lookie at the new circuit. Seems to have a lot of long straights, which should hopefully mean more speed. Of course, maps like that are always a little misleading on things like how severe the corners are and such. Still, I’m excited to see if Silverstone can produce as incredible a race as Donington did this year.

• Hello Moto2!

I can’t say I know a hell of a lot about Moto2 – which is replacing the 250cc class next season. The new class is comprised of 600cc four-stroke machines with only limited electronic interference from data loggers, ECU and timing transponders.
There are a few riders, including Toni Elias and Nicollo Canepa, are moving down from the premiere class to ride in Moto2, so it should be fun to see how they get on with the new bikes.

Riding a bike is NOT as easy as it looks.

The government (or something to that effect) has started this new scheme called GetOn (which you can find at www.geton.co.uk for anyone who's interested) which allows people to go out to a training centre for an hours worth of free motorbike training, whether you want to get back into riding or you've never even touched a bike before. Today it was my turn to have a go.

It was with a huge amount of terror that I turned up at Metropolis Motorcycles in Vauxhall this afternoon for my session. I'm not joking, I was absolutely terrified - I smoked about 6 cigarettes in half an hour before I went in there. Not gonna lie, as I walked in there surrounded by all these amazing machines I felt so out of place. It was really quite scary. Biking is such a mans world (no sexism intended, it's a man thing in the same way fast cars and scantily clad women are), and here's me this 21-year-old girl who, though I probably wasn't showing it, was cacking herself.

I waited patiently in the waiting room till my instructor, a lovely man named Andy, handed me a helmet and told me to follow him to the garage. Once we got there he showed me the basic controls on the bike, which turned out to be a Honda CG125. I had to have a little giggle at the point when he showed me the speedo and said "This is the speedo, goes up to 90. You wont be going that fast. In fact, this bike wont even go that fast so I dunno why it goes that high." Then I was on the back and on my way to the training ground.

Once I got there, the first challenge was getting the bike off the stand. Honestly, why do they make those things so heavy? Either they weigh too much or I need to start eating my Weetabix in the morning! Anyway I finally got on it and did some clutch control exercises and got used to the accellerator. Then I had to actually get the bike moving. That didn't start off so well, I wasn't used the weight on the handlebars and such, so I veered a little off course. After a few tries I managed to work all the bits at the right time and go in a straight line. I was pretty pleased right up until the point where I lost my balance and dropped the bike on my leg.

Putting that behind me, we did a few more tries and getting the bike moving, going in a straight line and stopping again before moving on to doing some corners. I like to think I did quite well on that aspect, I managed not to stall too much anyway, and I didn't fall off! Followed this up by doing some figures of eight and trying to control the speed with the clutch a bit.
The last thing we did was have a go at changing gears, cos up to this point I'd only been going around in first gear. Changing gears is seriously difficult when you're trying to remember how to do everything else as well. And especially when you have no idea whether you've changed gear properly or not or what gear you're in. I dunno if they have something on the dashboard (is it called that on bikes? I dunno) of other bikes that tells you what gear you're in, but that'd be bloody helpful!

So, my point is, hats off to people who ride bikes no matter how big or small, fast or slow, because it is some seriously difficult stuff to learn. Hats off even moreso to people who actually race these things. I literally have NO idea how Casey Stoner thrashes that GP9 round tracks the way he does, but these people must be superhuman or something. Amazing.

Massive thanks to all the guys at Metropolis Motorcycles for being so lovely and helpful and putting up with my shoddy riding for a whole hour this afternoon, it was very much appreciated.

Moto GP: Sepang, Malaysia.

Valentino Rossi secured his position as 2009 MotoGP World Champion at a rain-soaked Sepang this weekend, bringing him to a total of nine championship titles – seven of which are in the premiere class.

The Doctor finished the race in third after running wide on the first turn and giving away eight places. A top four position would have secured him the title, even if team-mate Jorge Lorenzo had won the race at the Malaysian circuit.

“It’s a great achievement,” stated an ecstatic Rossi after the race “And for me it’s the ninth championship, the seventh in MotoGP. I have to thank all the guys from Yamaha, who are great, and all the Fiat Yamaha team, from Jeremy (Burgess, chief mechanic) and all the mechanics to all the guys that work for me, and all my friends. All the people that helped me with this great achievement.”

He also paid tribute to his Spanish team-mate for a competitive season. “I have had a very hard rival in my team-mate Jorge Lorenzo. He has pushed me to new levels and I think it's been a great duel to the end. There have been some bad moments, like Portugal when we weren't at 100%, but we have worked well. Lorenzo has done a great job to put this pressure on us so I have to say well done to him.”

The dream of a championship title evaporated quicker than the floodwaters on the track for Jorge Lorenzo after the Spanish rider experienced problems with his bike and failed to join the grid in time. The number 99 Yamaha M1 was forced to start from the back of the grid, instead of taking up second position. Lorenzo, however, proceeded to make up several places in amazing time and was quickly right on the back of the number 46 bike of Valentino Rossi, and finished the race in fourth.

The Spaniard did not let losing his championship hopes get the better of him, and congratulated his team-mate on the victory, later adding, “We tried to the end to beat him, but I think he was the number one this year because he’s been faster than us in almost every race. He was more consistent than us and he was more clever, so he is the winner.”

Casey Stoner continued his “almost perfect” run since his comeback in Portugal, winning the race by an incredible 15 seconds, ahead of Honda’s Dani Pedrosa. The Aussie, who appears to have matured since he returned to racing, then humbly commented, “The conditions were the same for everyone today and none of us had tested at this track in the wet for quite a long time.”

Andrea Dovizioso rode an excellent race this weekend, battling with Pedrosa for second place. Not a rider adverse to bad conditions, Dovizioso’s first race win came during a wet race at Donington Park earlier this year. Unfortunately for the Italian, his race ended when he crashed out with seven laps remaining, giving fourth place Rossi the podium he was hoping for. Good news, though, for Yamaha’s Colin Edwards who is currently battling Dovizioso for fifth in the championship.

Not such good news for his team-mate James Toseland, who ended the race in fifteenth, after the hapless Gabor Talmasci who is renowned for continuously struggling to perform in races.

The championship will be decided once and for all in two weeks time with the last race of the 2009 season kicking off in Valencia.