We’ll the Moto GP season has ended and we have seen the 250 2-strokes for the last time. How sad is that? Of course the ozone friendlies have forced the hand of Dorna, the governing body of Moto GP. We have been brainwashed into believing that 2-stroke engines do untold harm to the environment because, shock horror, smoke comes out of the exhaust pipe.

The laugh is that California has completely banned 2-strokes and as such no 125 or 250 races have been allowed. The fact that the bikes, teams and all of the back-up equipment has to be flown in and the spectators arrive in gas guzzling V8’s is not even considered. No, it’s just those 20 odd laps of the strokers being on track that will certainly destroy the environment.

Anyway we must live with the new rules and embrace Moto 2. The advantage of a 2-stroke engine is that a clever tuner can get the bike to be competitive without spending huge piles of cash and that’s what has kept the racing close. Low budget teams are in with as much of a chance as the big money boys. 4-Strokes on the other hand are expensive to develop and there tends to be a big gap between the big budget teams and the less well funded. Given that there is a single engine rule, the racing should still be close, we’ll have to wait and see.

Ben Spies

Ben Spies having taken the world by storm made a guest appearance in Valencia and several people expected him to be racing wheel to wheel with the factory Yamaha riders. Not so, he did go better than I expected though. After a slow-ish start, he seemed to get the measure of the bike and started to work his way up the field. Nevertheless, not only was he way behind the front-runners, he also didn’t get anywhere near Colin Edwards, his team mate for next year. Let’s not be too hard on Spies though, he may surprise us next year. I do think though that James Toseland will produce far better results in World Superbike than Spies will in Moto GP. Chris Vermeulen on the other hand may have a tougher time on the Kawasaki.

Casey Stoner must feel a little bit silly having topped the tables throughout practice and qualifying. I can’t say for sure but it looked to me like a fundamental mistake highsiding on a cold tyre on the warm up lap. I don’t think Casey himself could believe what had happened. Marco Simoncelli must also be kicking himself, he could have had the honour of being the last ever winner of a 250 race until he lost the front end and ended up in the kitty litter. I’m a big fan of Bradley Smith and it seems that he will be staying on a 125 again next year. I think in his shoes I would have taken the Moto 2 ride that he was offered. Having said that, he is still young and if he wins a world championship next year, it won’t do his career any harm.

Sheridan Morais

Our own Sheridan Morais has almost certainly got a ride With Yamaha France in the World Supersport series next year. As if that wasn’t enough he will also be riding an Aprilia RSV4 in our local Superbike series. We at Drive are big fans of Sheridan and wish him all the best. So, we have to wait until next year for our motorcycle racing fix and it should be interesting in both Moto GP and WSBK. One prediction I will make is that both Bradley Smith and Marco Simoncelli will be fast assuming Marco can stay on the bike. I’m convinced that Sheridan Morais has the ability to take it to the World so we hope to see him as a regular front-runner.