MotoGP 2015 is on the go. On Sunday there will be this year’s firs races in Losail, Qatar and this season should be very interesting due the new players and a competitive Ducati team. Here are some things you should know about MotoGP 2015.
Suzuki joins MotoGP
Suzuki joins the GP grid this year with its GSX-RR. It’s been 15 years since the last Suzuki victory, but the Japanese want to enter the game and to be a key player in racing. The biggest advantage of the Suzuki MotoGP bike is the chassis which offer a great handling. Also, the riders are very fast and enthusiastic. The GSX-RR will go racing alongside Aleix Espargaro and Maverick Vinales. The GSX-RR weakness is the engine, which doesn’t have enough power due to a detune introduced after some reliability problems. So, this year we should see a slower Suzuki on the fast straights, but an enthusiastic team ready to roll.
Aprilia joins MotoGP with Gresini Racing
Aprilia is the fifth motorcycle manufacturer to join MotoGP, but it’s appearance doesn’t seem too optimistic. Aprilia will compete alongside Gresini Racing Team, with Alvaro Bautista and Marco Melandri onboard. Aprilia doesn’t have a competitive bike yet, so the two pilots are far behind the first row. Actually, in 2015 they will struggle to develop the motorcycle for a 2016 better season and it’s hard to believe that they will make it in the first three.
Ducati is actually competitive
Ducati is, finally, fast. In fact, Andrea Dovisioso says Desmosedici GP15 acts „normal“, which means a lot, after several years of struggle with the old bike. This year, Dovisioso could be a real problem for Honda and Yamaha due to Gigi Dal’Ignna who managed to build a proper bike for the world championship.
The fantastic four
The fantastic four are the same: Marc Marquez, Jorge Lorenzo, Dani Pedrosa and Valentino Rossi. Marquez is the favorite, but Lorenzo seems to have recovered from last year’s bad start. The Yamaha rider is stronger and fitter (6 kg less), but, more important, is very motivated to payback the last year humiliation. On the other hand, it seems that Rossi finally got used to the bike, but he didn’t score fabulous results in pre-season testing. Still, Rossi is Rossi, a natural born racer which prefers a battle with the other competitors and not with the time chart. Although Dani Pedrosa had a fade appearance, we shouldn’t underrate him. Pedrosa is very fast and very motivated to beat his team mate, Marc Marquez.
Bridgestone offers two new tires. The last year in MotoGP
Bridgestone comes with two different sets of tires, as a result of 2014 tests. One of them is an extra-hard rear for very abrasive surface circuits and other is an asymmetric front, for tracks such as Philip Island. This is the last year when Bridgestone is the official tire supplier for MotoGP, after both Bridgestone and Dorna were not satisfied with the partnership.
MotoGP 2015 Calendar
29 March – Commercial Bank Grand Prix of Qatar
12 April– Red Bull Grand Prix of The Americas
19 April – Gran Premio Red Bull de la Republica Argentina
03 May – Gran Premio bwin de Espana – Jerez
17 May – Monster Energy Grand Prix de France – Le Mans
31 May – Gran Premio d’Italia – Mugello
14 June – Gran Premi Monster Energy de Catalunya – Barcelona
27 June – Motul TT Assen
12 June – Motorrad Grand Prix Deutschland
09 July – Red Bull Indianapolis Grand Prix
16 August – bwin Grand Prix Ceske republiky – Brno
30 August – British Grand Prix – Silverstone
13 September – Gran Premio TIM din San Marino
27 September – Gran Premio Movistar de Aragon
11 October – Motul Grand Prix of Japan – Motegi
18 October – Australian Grand Prix
25 October – Shell Malaysia Motorcycle GP – Sepang
08 November – Gran Premio de la Comunitat Valencia
MotoGP 2015 teams and riders
Repsol Honda Team – Dani Pedrosa & Marc Marquez
Movistar Yamaha MotoGP – Valentino Rossi & Jorge Lorenzo
Team Suzuki Ecstar MotoGP – Maverick Vinales & Aleix Espargaro
Ducati Team – Andrea Dovizioso & Andrea Ianone
Aprilia Racing Team Gresini – Alvaro Bautista & Marco Melandri
AB Motoracing – Karel Abraham
Aspar MotoGP Team – Eugene Laverty & Nicky Hayden
Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS – Scot Redding
Monster Yamaha Tech 3 – Bradley Smith & Pol Espargaro
Octo IodaRacing Team – Alex De Angelis
Pramac Racing – Danilo Petrucci & Yonny Hernandez