Qatar GP, Honda Moto2 preview
The all-Honda-powered Moto2 World Championship can be relied on to produce nail-biting racing, and with last year’s championship top two moving up to MotoGP, the battle for supremacy will be all the more fierce.
With powerful and reliable race-tuned Honda CBR600 engines supplied by the organisers, close battles are guaranteed through the field; while rival teams use different racing chassis to look for the vital and in this class very narrow racing edge.
Last year’s third-place finisher Esteve “Tito” Rabat has switched teams, taking Redding’s place on the Marc VDS Racing Team Kalex, with Finn Mika Kallio as team-mate. The pair finished third and fourth last year.
The competitive nature of the class is clear from the ensuing positions: from Dominique Aegerter in fifth overall to Johann Zarco in ninth covered by less than 20 points.
Aegerter returns this year on the Technomag carXpert Suter. He was just two points ahead of fellow-Swiss racer, the former 125cc World Champion Thomas Luthi (Interwetten Paddock Suter). Seventh-place went to another ex-125 Champion Nico Terol (Mapfre Aspar Suter), with the extra distinction of three race wins. He too returns with the same team. Likewise top Japanese rider Takaaki Nakagami (eighth, now on an Idemitsu Honda Team Asia Kalex); while French ace Zarco is on the new Caterham Moto Racing Suter.
The Pons HP40 Kalex team, victorious last year with the departed Pol Espargaro, fields two high-level rookies: Moto3 champion Maverick Vinales and his deadly rival from the same class Luis Salom. The pair were locked in close combat for the title all last season.
The 5.38-km Losail circuit, with ten right hand corners and six lefts, is designed with a priority on motorcycle safety. Extensive run-off areas are surrounded by artificial grass, to reduce the sand blown onto the track by the desert winds, a constant problem at Qatar for traction and tyre wear.
The 1.068-km start-finish straight is one of the longest on the calendar, with speeds approaching 350 km/h – Marquez’s Repsol Honda RC213V recorded 344.7 km/h last year. Even the best riders sometimes over-run the first corner early in practice, as they adapt to the speed and occasional tailwinds. Races are often decided at the finish line, as riders slipstream rivals to make dramatic overtaking moves over the line.
The corners are predominantly right-handers, with several corner combinations requiring precise lines to avoid losing time.
The first grand prix was run in the blistering daytime heat in 2004, while the first race under the lights was in 2008. The 3,600 floodlighting fixtures made Losail the largest permanent venue sports-lighting project in the world, and at night the circuit is visible for miles in every direction.
Uniquely the Qatar GP is a four-day weekend. Moto3 practice begins at 6:00 p.m. (GMT +3) on Thursday evening, with the first MotoGP race of the season on Sunday night at 10:00 p.m.
From Qatar, the MotoGP circus crosses the Atlantic for two consecutive races in North and South America. Round two is at Austin, Texas on April 13, with the first race at Argentina’s new Termas de Rio Hondo circuit two weeks later.
Marc VDS Racing Team rider Esteve Rabat says:
“Preseason testing has gone well. We’ve found a good setting with the bike and the lap times have been fast, but now we must carry that momentum into the first race. I’m going to Qatar to fight for the win, but I suspect the other 34 Moto2 riders are heading out there with exactly the same idea! Everyone arrives at the first race of the season with a lot of energy and high expectations, so it’s definitely a bit special. I like the Qatar track, but we will need to fight from the first practice to stay in front. We need to work hard, make our best and push every day.”
Marc VDS Racing Team rider Mika Kallio says:
“The results from the end of last year when combined with our preseason testing performance means we go into 2014 with some confidence. The first three races are the most important; if we can return to Europe at the end of April with three good results behind us then that only adds confidence and motivation. I really believe that this season I can fight for race wins and also the title. While Qatar doesn’t rate as one of my favourite tracks, I’ve had some good results there in the past and I find racing under floodlights quite interesting, as it’s a bit different to the other races on the calendar.”
Technomag carXpert rider Dominique Aegerter says:
“At the last Jerez test I was faster than ever before. We have worked hard and have a lot of very valuable data, and the collaboration with the WP suspension specialist is getting better. Now the focus is on the first race … my goals are clear. I want to improve on my fifth championship place last year. I started 2013 very well. If I can do the same this year, I will be the happiest of the Moto2 pilots.”
Source: Honda Racing
