P140
CN
III IN THE PADDOCK
BY MICHAEL SCOTT
H
alfway through, and start-
ing again. Time to see
who has spent the sum-
mer break melting down, and
who has taken the time to get
their goals reset.
The year so far has been
mighty confusing for the world's
top motorcycle engineers, butt-
ing up against backward-step
electronics and increasingly
and utterly unpredictable tires.
Nobody quite knows which
Michelins are going to work with
which chassis at which circuits
in which conditions. The "motor-
cycle" side of motorcycle racing
has, perforce, become a mov-
able feast.
In technical terms, there's
little to be done anyway. De-
sign freezes and limited engine
numbers mean the bikes are
stuck with what they've got. All
we await is Ducati's version of a
wingless downforce fairing.
This leaves the riders, who
are, after all, said to be 70 per-
cent of the equation. Although
less than 20 percent of them
really matter, in terms of the
championship. And probably just
two of them.
MARQUEZ AND MAVERICK:
IT'S GETTING PERSONAL
