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The fact that MotoGP is changing is old news, but these changes bring in an element we were not envisaging a couple of years ago. Seeing the former GP stars acting like coaches for the top riders is a rather new thing, and with all the technical modifications the premier class machines underwent starting as of 2016, it looks like rider strategy starts to play, once more, a prominent role.
Still, teammates at Yamaha until the end of the 2016 championship, Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo are, in fact, bitter enemies. It's hard to say whether their enmity is bigger than that between Rossi and Marquez, but one thing is certain.
The current standings see Marc Marquez with a hefty 42-point advantage over Rossi and closing this gap is a quite difficult task for the Italian, that's for sure. Still, finishing the current season ahead of Lorenzo is clearly one of the things ranking high on The Doctor's to do list.
Rossi is only 18 points down from Lorenzo, and judging by how the championship unfolded until now, we'd say that anything is possible. Watching Lorenzo's disastrous performance at Assen, Rossi making the type of error he only very rarely makes and crashing ou of the race, and especially seeing Jack Miller clawing his maiden victory in MotoGP should be enough to warrant an "open championship."
Now, both Rossi and Lorenzo are trying to put as many aces up their sleeves as possible, and employ two of the big names of the past, Luca Cadalora and Max Biaggi, respectively, as their coaches.
Biaggi and Cadalora have crossed swords on the track before, and they will also battle from the opposite sides of the Yamaha garage, trying to provide their riders with the best advice for the upcoming races.
Cadalora is a good friend of Rossi's, as Biaggi is of Lorenzo's, so we might expect that a certain amount of personal pride will be involved in the battle of the two Yamaha riders. Even more, Biaggi and Rossi have also been fierce enemies in the past, so seeing the Roan Emperor siding with the Mallorcan against the Tribu Dei Chihuahua looks natural.
How much will the coaches' advice matter in the way the 2016 MotoGP Championship will unfold is a thing of mystery. We must not forget that the current motorcycles are far superior and more complex than the bikes both Cadalora and Biaggi used to ride back in the day. With technology, the riding style also evolved, and we'd rather say that most of what worked those days is not that easy to apply today.
However, we suspect that, by bringing Cadalora and Biaggi in their teams, Rossi and Lorenzo are trying to benefit from the inspirational mindset the two former racers can provide.
Remains to be seen whether Biaggi will also stick with Lorenzo next year, when he goes at Ducati. We already reported on the fact that only one man from his current team at Yamaha will follow him, his mechanic Juan Llansa Hernandez, with whom Lorenzo worked since the very first second he stepped into GP racing.
The current standings see Marc Marquez with a hefty 42-point advantage over Rossi and closing this gap is a quite difficult task for the Italian, that's for sure. Still, finishing the current season ahead of Lorenzo is clearly one of the things ranking high on The Doctor's to do list.
Rossi is only 18 points down from Lorenzo, and judging by how the championship unfolded until now, we'd say that anything is possible. Watching Lorenzo's disastrous performance at Assen, Rossi making the type of error he only very rarely makes and crashing ou of the race, and especially seeing Jack Miller clawing his maiden victory in MotoGP should be enough to warrant an "open championship."
Now, both Rossi and Lorenzo are trying to put as many aces up their sleeves as possible, and employ two of the big names of the past, Luca Cadalora and Max Biaggi, respectively, as their coaches.
Biaggi and Cadalora have crossed swords on the track before, and they will also battle from the opposite sides of the Yamaha garage, trying to provide their riders with the best advice for the upcoming races.
Cadalora is a good friend of Rossi's, as Biaggi is of Lorenzo's, so we might expect that a certain amount of personal pride will be involved in the battle of the two Yamaha riders. Even more, Biaggi and Rossi have also been fierce enemies in the past, so seeing the Roan Emperor siding with the Mallorcan against the Tribu Dei Chihuahua looks natural.
How much will the coaches' advice matter in the way the 2016 MotoGP Championship will unfold is a thing of mystery. We must not forget that the current motorcycles are far superior and more complex than the bikes both Cadalora and Biaggi used to ride back in the day. With technology, the riding style also evolved, and we'd rather say that most of what worked those days is not that easy to apply today.
However, we suspect that, by bringing Cadalora and Biaggi in their teams, Rossi and Lorenzo are trying to benefit from the inspirational mindset the two former racers can provide.
Remains to be seen whether Biaggi will also stick with Lorenzo next year, when he goes at Ducati. We already reported on the fact that only one man from his current team at Yamaha will follow him, his mechanic Juan Llansa Hernandez, with whom Lorenzo worked since the very first second he stepped into GP racing.
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