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Jorge Lorenzo is the 2015 FIM MotoGP World Champion

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It went all the way down to the final race of the season – in many ways the final lap of the final race – but now the 2015 MotoGP Championship season is over, and Jorge Lorenzo is the 2015 FIM MotoGP World Champion.

You have to consider 2015 as a tumultuous season for the Movistar Yamaha rider, as Lorenzo’s season only came into its own in the latter stages of the championship. But, the Spaniard was arguably the fastest rider of the season, carrying not only the momentum but also the most race wins to the end of the season.

This year certainly wasn’t Lorenzo’s most dominant win, with a slew of equipment issues plaguing the Spaniard, which added to him chasing teammate Valentino Rossi all the way into the Valencia GP, but 2015 was certainly Lorenzo’s most hard-fought season.

After the dust settles on the “Sepang Clash” we think even fanatical Rossi fans will have to agree that Lorenzo is a worthy world champion with his on-track performances – we just don’t expect them to come to that conclusion right away.

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MotoGP

Thursday Summary at Valencia: Strange Days in MotoGP

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Thursday at Valencia was one of the strangest days in MotoGP that I have known since I first started covering the sport professionally. Maybe it’s just the fact that the usual schedule was disrupted.

Every race weekend has a rhythm: on Thursday, it’s a late start, then rider debriefs, then a press conference, then work; on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, it’s an early start, watch practice, rider debriefs/press conferences and then work.

That rhythm was wildly out of sync at Valencia. Earlier start, Moto3 press conference, HRC press conference, a couple of rider debriefs.

Then an unnatural lull, as the riders headed into the press conference room for their meeting with the Permanent Bureau, consisting of Dorna boss Carmelo Ezpeleta and FIM president Vito Ippolito addressed the MotoGP riders and their team managers.

Ten minutes after the riders started streaming through the paddock on their way to the meeting, they were all heading back out again.

What happened in the meeting with the Permanent Bureau? The first rule of meeting with the Permanent Bureau is don’t talk about meeting with the Permanent Bureau, apparently, as no one was willing to tell us about it, apart from some platitudes from Jorge Lorenzo about it being interesting to get different perspectives from people to get new ideas. Not that anyone truly believed that the riders came out with new ideas, but still.

What they must have talked about in the rider meeting was to move on from Sepang and focus on events at Valencia. Nobody, none of the riders involved, had any interest in going over the events of Sepang again, and so they did not really need to be told twice.

There was a suspicion – and I stress, it was nothing more than that – that the Honda and Yamaha riders had all been told not to comment on events, and to put it behind them.

That is probably smart advice, but it left the journalists (of which there were a colossal number at Valencia) feeling frustrated. There was much to ask: had anyone changed their minds, or their positions, after having time to look back at the footage again?

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MotoGP

Rossi to Start from Back of Grid, As CAS Rejects Injunction

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The Court of Arbitration for Sport has rejected Valentino Rossi’s request for a stay of his penalty, given to him at Sepang. The three-point penalty, handed to him at Sepang for the incident he was involved in with Marc Marquez, means he will start from the back of the grid for the final race of the season at Valencia.

Rossi will still be entitled to participate in Q2, if he finishes in the top ten after the three sessions of free practice, but the position he secures in Q2 will not count for his grid position. Everyone who qualifies behind him will be moved forward one position on the grid.

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MotoGP

MotoGP’s Descent Into Madness, & How To Get Out Again

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If what happened on lap seven at Sepang was bad for MotoGP, the events which have followed have made it infinitely worse. Rossi’s single act of frustration has unleashed a tidal wave of insanity which has battered MotoGP, washing away the good and leaving it battered and stained.

And every time you think it has finished, yet more madness emerges to engulf the sport, dragging it further down into the depths. It is a hard time to be a fan of the most exhilarating sport on the planet.

The incident itself was ugly, but it can hardly have come as a surprise. When Valentino Rossi launched his surprise attack on Marc Márquez in the press conference, accusing the Spaniard of trying to prevent him from becoming champion, a reaction from Márquez was inevitable.

These are the two biggest egos in the MotoGP paddock, and with some justification. Rossi is the legend who both raised the profile of the sport and has dominated the sport for longer than any other rider in history.

Márquez is the prodigy who set about smashing the record books on his entry into MotoGP, and is the man set to usurp Rossi’s place in the history books. Neither man is willing to step aside, both feel they are deserving of exceptional respect.

So two angry men took to the track on Sunday, and inevitably, once their paths crossed, bad things happened. Márquez, apparently furious at being attacked on Thursday, raced Rossi as if it was the last lap of the race and the title depended on it.

Rossi, unable to beat Márquez outright, lost his cool and ran the Spaniard wide and caused him to crash. It seemed like the lowest point in MotoGP for a very long time, but much worse was to come.

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MotoGP

MotoGP: Ezpeleta & Ippolito Will Meet with Teams & Riders

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In another twist to the Rossi vs. Marquez tale at Sepang, the FIM today announced that all of the teams and riders in MotoGP have been called to a special meeting with the Permanent Bureau on Thursday, ahead of the final round of MotoGP.

The Permanent Bureau, consisting of the president of the FIM Vito Ippolito and the CEO of Dorna, Carmelo Ezpeleta, are to talk to the riders at 3:30pm local time on Thursday, in an attempt to calm the situation down.

To further ensure that the situation is not escalated, the pre-event press conference to be held on Thursday has been canceled.

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MotoGP

Valentino Rossi Appeals Sepang Penalty to CAS, Asks for Suspension of Penalty at Valencia

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Valentino Rossi has lodged an appeal with the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) against the penalty imposed upon him at Sepang for his role in the incident between Marc Marquez and himself.

Rossi has asked the CAS to issue a stay of the penalty, effectively suspending it until the full case can be heard before the court. A ruling on the stay is to be issued by November 6th.

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MotoGP

FIM President Vito Ippolito Writes an Open Letter About Incidents Surrounding the Sepang Clash

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The Sepang Clash, as Dorna would like for us to refer to it, continues to send shockwaves down the sport; as videos emerge of altercations between entourages at the track, photos and messages of hate circulate around social media, and the latest entry with Repsol releasing a strongly worded press release that calls into question the future of the Spanish company’s involvement in MotoGP.

David has already written exhaustively about the events at the track, and we have little interest here at Asphalt & Rubber in fueling the fire that was started in Sepang. Needless to say, no one is winning in all of this, and the sport is clearly getting a black eye because of all these actions.

While hopefully cooler heads prevail, it’s clear that things are still hot and heavy in the MotoGP Championship. Addressing some of the more unsavory acts that have come as a result of the on-track action at the Malaysian GP, FIM President Vito Ippolito has penned an open letter to the various stakeholders in the world championship.

While he doesn’t speak to anyone by name, it is very clear who are the different parties that Ippolito is reprimanding. You can read his letter after the jump.

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MotoGP

Everything You Wanted To Know About MotoGP’s 2016 Unified Software, But Were Afraid To Ask

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2016 heralds a new era for MotoGP. Two major changes take place to the technical regulations: Michelin replaces Bridgestone as the official tire supplier (for more background on that, see the interview we did at Brno with Michelin boss Piero Taramasso), and everyone will be forced to switch to the spec electronics package, managed by Dorna and developed by Magneti Marelli.

Much confusion surrounds the introduction of spec electronics. Firstly, because there are so very few people who actually understand the role of electronics in motorcycle racing, it being a dark and mysterious art for fans, media, even riders.

Secondly, because the adoption of spec electronics has been a process of constant negotiation between manufacturers, Dorna and Magneti Marelli, as they try to reach a compromise which is acceptable to all parties.

That has resulted in the rules being changed a number of times, with such changes not always being communicated directly or clearly to outside parties.

So where do we stand now, and what is the process? I spoke to Corrado Cecchinelli, Dorna’s head of technology for MotoGP, on progress with the electronics, and especially the spec software package, ahead of the 2016 season.

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MotoGP

MotoGP: 2016 Becomes Clearer as Brno Secures 5-Year Deal

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The future of the MotoGP round at Brno has finally been secured. The regional authorities have stepped in to secure funding for the Czech Grand Prix for the next five years, starting from 2016.

A deal has been struck with the Czech Ministry of Education and Sports, the City of Brno, and the Moravian regional government to ensure that the Czech round stays for the foreseeable future.

The round had been in doubt for some time, as haggling over finances between the circuit, the city council and the regional government saw the sanctioning fee go partially unpaid for the past several years.

The rights to the round have now been placed with a new and separate organization, run by the various regional and national governments involved, who will organize the round at the Brno circuit. With the financing in place, the race will continue for at least the next five years, and probably beyond.

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Racing

Niccolò Canepa Charged for Track Day Altercation

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Niccolò Canepa is in deep water with Italian officials for an incident that occurred at Mugello, back in 2013. Allegedly participating at a track day at the iconic Italian circuit, Canepa has been named as the rider that closed-circuit cameras picked up having an altercation with another rider, on track.

The camera footage shows quite clearly two riders gesticulating to each other while riding around the track between the Poggio Secco and the Materassi turns.

The footage then goes on to show that the rider, who is alleged to be Canepa, intentionally hits the other rider’s front brake, causing that rider’s bike to fall and nearly take out another non-involved rider in the process.

The crashed rider has been identified as Davide Cappato, who fractured his collarbone in the fall. Taking recourse with authorities in Florence, Cappato seems finally set to have his day in court with Canepa.

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