This weekend sees the second leg of the MotoGP championships at Phakisa Raceway in Welkom. Gavin Foster expects fireworks
Take two young men of immense talent, mix in a couple of egos the size of watermelons and set them loose on a racetrack on equal machinery and you’ve got a great sporting event. But add a large dash of mutual loathing and a pair of volatile Italian personalities and it can all end in tears.
The feud between Honda’s Valentino Rossi and his Yamaha mounted arch-rival Max Biaggi has reached such a level that Francesco Zerbi, president of the governing FIM, has written the two a letter cautioning them against bringing the sport into disrepute, even though the officials present at the meeting where their latest flare up occurred took no action against the two.
The incident that caused the head of motorcycle sport worldwide to take this unusual step happened during the 500cc Japanese MotoGP at Suzuka three weeks ago. Rossi attempted to pass Biaggi, and his old enemy deliberately moved across, causing the two to make contact at around 230kmph.
Grand Prix veteran turned Eurosport commentator Randy Mamola is clear about what he saw happen on television, and says so in his column on an Internet website. “It’s one thing closing the door on somebody to protect your line but it’s another thing to run somebody off the track. I’m a friend of Max but I have to report what I saw. What Max did in that particular incident I considered to be unsportsmanlike.”
Not that Rossi turned the other cheek. He retaliated on the next lap by cutting Biaggi off sharply, and added insult to injury by showing his countryman the finger as he went past to win the race, with Biaggi finishing third, behind Garry McCoy.
The two young riders have never hit it off together. Both are precocious talents, and neither wants to give an inch to the other. So far Rossi has made the biggest impact on the 500cc scene, but nobody can ever discount Biaggi least of all Biaggi himself. But now their rivalry looks like getting downright dangerous.
“This has to stop,” says Mamola. “It’s one thing to play things up in the press but when other people’s lives are at risk it’s a very different situation. If Rossi had crashed he could have brought down a lot of other riders. For some reason Max was riding very aggressively and protectively.”
The great thing about 500cc Grand Prix motorcycle racing this year is the sheer class of the field Mamola describes it as the best since he became involved in the sport in 1979. With so much talent around anything could happen at Welkom on Sunday. Rossi and Biaggi could both get lost in the smoke if Kenny Roberts gets his Suzuki’s tyre problems sorted out, and Garry McCoy loves the Phakisa circuit, as he demonstrated by power-sliding his Yamaha to victory last year.
Loris Capirossi grabbed pole position on his Honda at the season opener in Japan, and also managed the fastest lap in that race before his back tyre went off, so he too could easily be a winner on Sunday.
Then there’s 1999 500cc champ Alex Criville, World Superbike star Nori Haga on his Yamaha, and reigning 250cc world champion Olivier Jacque, with his old quarter-litre playmates Shinya Nakano and Tohru Ukawa, who’ve all moved up to the 500cc class.
In fact, about the only thing I’m willing to stick my neck out on is that if the Rossi/Biaggi thing turns into a punch-up I’d back Biaggi to win, probably by a knockout.
In the past some of the most thrilling racing has taken place in the 125cc and 250cc events, but there’s absolutely no doubt about which is the main event at the South African MotoGP meeting this weekend.