It’s been a busy day for everyone involved in MotoGP. A large part of the paddle is placed behind a computer or staring at a mobile device frantically refreshing the flight tracking application of their choice, watching the feats of the Aerostan EX-47001 aircraft, as it ended up flying from Mombasa in Kenya to Lagos in Nigeria to Salvador in Brazil.
As I write this, it has taken off from Salvador and is on its way to Tucuman, where it will land after 9pm. In Salvador, the flight number changed from BSC4042 to BSC4043.
A sign? I let the readers decipher the BSC letters in the flight number.
At San Miguel de Tucuman, planes will have to be unloaded and cleared through customs before their belongings are transported from the airport to the Termas de Rio Hondo circuit, just under 100km away.
They should at least arrive before midnight.
That meant mechanics working all night to get the bikes ready for Saturday. To prepare for this, the Gresini mechanics left the circuit early on Friday, presumably to get some sleep before a long night.
Prepare for the bike
How long will it take for a mechanic to prepare the bike? Different opinions. Alex Briggs, formerly a mechanic for Valentino Rossi and Mick Doohan, believe it can all be done in relatively short orderdespite the dirty bikes after the wet race in Mandalika.
A bike should be clean, as it hasn’t been used, and just needs fresh fluid and a change of settings and gear box for the new circuit. The second bike might take longer, but even that shouldn’t take too long, according to Briggs.
Other estimates have been heard from different boating sources. It took the KTM factory mechanics 3 hours to clean and prepare the cars being raced by Brad Binder and Miguel Oliveira.
Others estimate the Gresini team could take between eight and 12 hours for the bikes to be ready to roll. But provided the garages are completely empty, that could also include the time it takes to set up the garage, which is at least a minimum requirement to be able to function.
Cut & Run
But why don’t they strip and clean the car on Sunday night after the race, I hear you ask?
Mainly because most of the teams are rushing to catch the 8pm charter flight from Lombok after the Mandalika MotoGP race, the situation has worsened as the race has been delayed by more than an hour.
They don’t have time to do anything but the absolute bare minimum before packing them into flight-ready crates.
But even under normal circumstances, they still wouldn’t take away the bikes. After each race, the bikes are crated as quickly as possible and taken to the airport or packed onto the track, and only stripped and cleaned at the next race, or back to the workshop.
Sunday night is the end of a long tiring work week and most people have flights to catch up. Everyone gets the job done, and it’s easy to make the mistake of feeling tired. Better to do it all on Wednesdays and Thursdays, when the mechanics are much fresher and can work at a less frenetic pace.
Extended practice
The timing of the bicycles convinced Dorna to draw up a new schedule. That seems to be aimed at both giving people more time on the track, and giving MotoGP teams more time to prep their bikes. Moto2 and Moto3 fill up the morning, MotoGP just hit the track at 12:35.
There will be two free practice sets for all three classes, which will determine who gets direct access to Q2. Moto2 and Moto3 have 50-minute FP1 and FP2 sessions that start at 8:15 a.m. and end at 12:20. MotoGP will then have an FP1 hour at 12:35, after which Moto3 and Moto2 have Q1 and Q2 knockout sessions.
After completing the support classes, MotoGP will have an extra hour of FP2, before the riders head into Q1 at 5:05pm local time, with Q2 starting at 5:30pm.
With FP3 down (equivalent to FP4 in the shortened schedule), the MotoGP warm-up was extended by 10 minutes, to a 40-minute session.
Moto2 and Moto3 have 20 minutes each. And races for all three classes go on as scheduled, the only part of the weekend remaining as normal.
Fan Friday
With normal operations canceled – including media briefings, riders have nothing new to say to journalists, so why make them suffer when Faced with our gratuitous questions? – Dorna has organized a series of additional events for fans.
Attendance was huge on a Friday, a reminder of the area’s importance to sport. Teams have spent time with sports, coaching, and even a few golf lessons.
Takaaki Nakagami was late. The Japanese driver had previously tested positive for Covid-19 and was unable to walk.
That proved to be a false positive, and after testing negative on Friday morning, he was able to fly to Argentina and should arrive in time for his FP1 ride on Saturday afternoon.
Sweeping class
What happens on Saturday? Taking Moto3 and Moto2 out in the two sessions before MotoGP is smart if your main aim is to clear the track as much as possible for MotoGP.
Having more than 60 bikes on the road for three and a half hours will help a lot to change the amount of dust and dirt that accumulates on a track that is not used much outside of MotoGP. Moto2’s fat Dunlops in particular will make the difference here.
Having two long practice sessions also makes a difference. Moto2 and Moto3 will get the equivalent of two and a half normal FP sessions, with 100 minutes on the road instead of the usual 120 minutes from three 40-minute sessions.
MotoGP will have 120 minutes instead of 165 minutes, equivalent to losing a free training session.
But for both classes, they have some time at the end of the sessions. There will be little point in trying to set up a quick lap late in FP1, as conditions will still improve, so it’s better to focus on setup and tire selection in FP1 and wait for the last 15 minutes of session start chasing a quick lap.
This, as MotoGP race reporter Zara Daniela pointed out to me, will in effect mean that MotoGP will have three elimination sessions within an hour or so. Player will push at the end of FP2, then face Q1 and Q2.
Understanding Tires
Longer sessions are also better for race setup. Termas de Rio Hondo turns are particularly difficult on tyres, so choosing the right race tires is important, as well as installing the electronics to manage tire wear in a good way. possible.
Two 60-minute sessions give MotoGP teams enough time to do some long runs and get a real idea of tire wear.
With lost cargo almost certain to arrive, MotoGP fans everywhere, especially those on the ground at the Termas de Rio Hondo, can look forward to two days of action on the track. .
Teams and drivers face one of the longest active days I can remember for so long. And some teams face a lack of sleep after a long night at work.
But the good news is that the races will take place. The show must go on, and with everything needed on the track, it might, eventually.
Photo: MotoGP
