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  Új Válasz 2008-09-04 23:00:41 #6521

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  Ryder Notes: Putting The Boot In
  by julian ryder, back home in the uk now, thanks
  Thursday, September 04, 2008

  I have been to quite a few press conferences in my time as a journalist--over thirty years--but I can't remember one quite like the Repsol Honda event to announce that Dani Pedrosa would be swapping to Bridgestons as of the Indianapolis GP. We were treated to speeches from HRC and Repsol management trying to convince us that this was nothing unusual and that everyone thought it was a good idea and had been professional. That ?everyone' was supposed to include Michelin.

  Now there is no doubt that HRC have had a lot to put up with from the French company, a disastrous 2007 season and three horrible races in a row this year - Germany, USA, Czech Republic. There is also no doubt that the Pedrosa camp have wanted to change to Bridgestone for along time. At Motegi last year Dani said in public that he wanted Bridgestones, as of course did Valentino Rossi.

  Rossi got his wish, Dani didn't.

  The relationship between a rider and anyone or anything that affects his performance is based on mutual trust. Over the course of 2007 both men fell out of trust with Michelin. However, on 5 November last year, the day after the Valencia GP, the Repsol Honda team issued a press release to announce they were staying with Michelin for 2008. In it, HRC President Hamane-san said "We believe we must have mutual respect in this world of supremacy in order to retain our dignity and to succeed." The press release opened with references to the 14 world titles and 193 GPs Honda and Michelin had won together.

  Now it is sometimes difficult for us foreigners to understand the implied subtleties of Japanese statements, but this one seems pretty clear. Translated from corporate Japanese into English it said to elements within the team "Shut up and get on with your job." To the outside world it said "We don't abandon partners of 26 years because of one bad season."

  So who decided to throw all that in the bin? At the press conference Repsol said they had pushed HRC to make the decision. Michelin's press release quoted Pedrosa as thanking Michelin for "agreeing to my personal demands".

  Interestingly, this press release was on Michelin paper but had the words "Honda" and "Michelin" below the letterhead and above the text itself making it look like a joint statement. As soon as it was issued Repsol staff in the press office tried to have it withdrawn. Dani himself said it was a team decision.

  No-one suggested HRC had made the decision. Which is a bit strange, given that this is Honda's factory team we are talking about. Other teams in the paddock believe that it took a threat from Pedrosa's camp not to compete in the last five races to ensure that Bridgestone had their arms twisted hard enough to agree to supply tyres.

  One of the reasons the press conference was so memorable was that some statements were met with barely suppressed laughter. I particularly enjoyed the suggestion from Repsol's rep that their motivation had been concern about the future of the sport. However, they hadn't been concerned enough to talk to the team's other rider. A very senior Spanish journalist later told me the whole thing was "an insult to intelligence."

  Valentino Rossi had a view on the situation. Last season when he was having severe trouble with Michelins, and had most definitely lost that vital trust in anything they told him, he of course thought about changing tyre brands. But he never even considered the idea of changing mid-season. And he had a warning: "It's not just about changing the stickers on the bike." Quite. It took Rossi and Jerry Burgess a considerable period of time, on standard tyres at first, to turn the Yamaha into a "Bridgestone bike" and according the Valentino they changed the M1 "one-hundred per cent." Of course Honda will have data from the Gresini team's V4s but they certainly don't have a Jerry Burgess.

  ENDS

  ...egy fecske nem csinál nyarat, viszont egy hülye százat csinál...

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