Cycle News

VOL. 55 ISSUE 42 OCTOBER 23, 2018 P123 he didn't do something similar this time. But we must remember he is a victim here, and not a perpetra- tor, and there is something of a mystery behind it all. Something caused his Des- mosedici's engine revs to drop rapidly, precipitating a horrible crash. But while Ducati admitted it had been a "technical" failure, they have so far declined to give details, which has just one re- sult—wild speculation. And that is potentially much worse than the truth. Better they should tell us, before we suspect the worst. Once upon a time, "techni- cal" failures were easier to get a handle on. You could see what happened when a two-stroke seized, and hear the back tire chirrup. This happened less often as they became more sophisticated. In the early days, one of the pioneering smokers (a Suzuki, as it happens) earned the doom-laden nickname "Whispering Death." All the same, right to the end, riders always kept their hands hovering over the clutch lever just in case. Four-strokes don't generally seize that way, so it probably wasn't that. On-board footage revealed that while the engine definitely stopped running, it wasn't instant. Four-stroke engine failures are pretty invariably flagged up by plumes of smoke, and, now and then, by a small oil fire. While gearbox seizes are so catastrophically abrupt, they are unmistakable. Nor did the chain break, and wrap itself round the spindle. Maybe the slipper clutch didn't slip as it should, although this should not, in itself, be enough to break rear traction. Unless it was helped by an unprompted engine shutdown. Which brings us into the realms of sundry hard-to-grasp electronics issues. Engine braking systems measure such parameters as throttle opening, deceleration and relative wheel speeds, and provide a little throttle kick to reduce what the engineers call "reverse torque." This works in conjunction with slipper clutches to reduce the drag on the rear tire. Another kind of failure is not impossible—a mechanic's error, which perhaps prevented the rear brake from releasing. Mechanics' errors are rare, but far from unknown. There have been some classic cases, like when Dani Pedrosa's throttle jammed open on only his second lap at Motegi in 2010, smashing his collarbone and ending his hopes of closing down on Lorenzo for a one- and-only premier-class title. An anonymous mechanic was blamed for leaving a cleaning rag in the engine. Errors often concern brakes. Barry Sheene's father, Franko, was eased out of the Suzuki pit after one such. Kenny Rob- erts's disc pads were inserted the wrong way around at Assen in 1981, bare metal against the discs. He lost the title that year. My favorite tale concerns Eddie Lawson, after a mechanic left the retaining clips off his front brakes, and he broke his foot slamming into the wall at Laguna Seca. He told me after- wards: "I want that guy to always do my brakes from now on. He won't make that mistake again." Matter of fact, Lorenzo crashed at Qatar due to brake failure, seemingly because a pad came out. That, too, was never explained. In that case, Brembo was anxious to reassure riders and the rest of us that it would never happen again. So far, it hasn't. The same sentiments were echoed by Ducati after the Thailand failure. It won't happen again, they repeated. Doubtless to the relief of the rest of the Desmosedici troops. But the problem of the secre- cy has not been addressed. Maybe it means somebody has it in for Lorenzo, now com- ing to the end of a troubled Ducati tenure. Sabotage? Well, I did warn you that wild speculation could turn out to be far worse than the truth. CN

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