We may be in our usual mid-winter Canadian deep freeze, but in more civilized parts of the world, the first moves of the 2016 MotoGP season are coming into play.
Yamaha unveiled their 2016 machine this week at Barcelona. After, Lin Jarvis shared his thoughts on the 2016 season, saying while the new electronics systems will affect lap times more, it’s the new tires (Michelin is the new spec supplier) that will determine rider safety, and ultimately set the limit for riders. He added he reckons this year’s biggest threat will come from Honda once again, although he figures Ducati’s hard work developing their bike is going to pay off soon. Suzuki might win some races, or take some poles, but he doesn’t expect them to challenge for the championship yet.
As for his own team — Jarvis told MotoGP.com that “our riders are each other’s main rivals … You have to look forward as there is no point in harping back to what could have and what should have been. So they will all go forward wiser I hope. What we need to do is foster and retain that respect between the riders, this is very, very important. We have a great show, with fantastic racing, and it very important that we can maintain the respect between the teams and the riders themselves and put on a good sporting show for the fans.”
In other words, everybody play nice.
Meanwhile, although official testing hasn’t started yet, the riders themselves are hooning about on motocross bikes, having a bit of fun while staying in shape. Except for Jack Miller, who managed to break his right leg (fibula and tibia) while riding in Spain on Sunday. He may end up missing the first test at Sepang, although chances are good he’ll be back by Phillip Island in the middle of next month.
