This may seem like a rather stupid point to make, but championships are won by the rider who has managed to accumulate the largest points total over the entire season. It doesn’t matter how they get those points. They could win seven races but it would all be worthless if they fail to score in the rest as proved by Valentino Rossi at Valencia in 2006.
Championships are often decided by just a handful of points and more often than not what may seem at the time like an unimpressive eighth place finish can be the difference between lifting the trophy and carrying the number 1 plate or just going down in the record books as an also ran. The point I’m trying to make is that consistency is the key to becoming a champion. If James Toseland had walked away from his bike after crashing at Silverstone or Vallelunga in 2007 then Nori Haga would be World Superbike Champion.
Only two races into the latest season there are already several established title favourites who have enjoyed a less than satisfactory start to the season. I’m going to spend some time looking at two of the pre-season favourites in their class, Gabor Talmasci and Alvro Bautista.
Having made it to the pinnacle of his chosen litre class and with many of last seasons front runners making the move up to 250cc in 2008, Gabor Talmasci clearly started the season as favourite to defend his 125cc world title. Gabor wasn’t always quickest over pre-season testing but was always within touching distance of the leaders, the bike appeared reliable and quick and there appeared to be no reason whatsoever to panic. But Talmasci will now head to Estoril feeling like he’s carrying the world on his back after two mechanical failures on his new Aprilia have left him with a grand total of four points out of a possible fifty.
Another rider who will be feeling the pressure heading into Estoril will be many peoples tip for the 250cc world championship this year, Alvro Bautista.
Bautista had again been impressive over the winter testing, and after a spellbinding debut season in the quarter litre class which saw him take two wins at Mugello and Estoril, finish of the podium seven times and also finish in fourth place in the championship only behind three riders who were all moving up to MotoGP was many bookies favourite to add the 250cc world title to the 125cc world title that he won in 2006.
But the curse that Team Aspar have been suffering in their 125cc garage clearly has spread to their 250cc garage as well. In Qatar Bautista was running at the front before he suffered a problem with the rear of the tyre when it would lose traction through the corners forced him to drop back. He bravely managed to battle on to the end of the race and pick up ten points for sixth place which after one race was not a disaster.
Heading into Jerez things were looked to be fairing better. Alvro had taken pole position and after briefly dropping back off the start he managed to battle through to the front where he was hounded by Marco Simoncelli throughout the race with the two almost bashing fairings on several occasions. As they crossed the line for the penultimate time there was next to nothing separating them and by the time they got to turn four there was literally nothing separating them as Simoncelli ran into the back of Bautista bike and sent both of them spiralling into the gravel trap at one of the fastest corners on the circuit. Thankfully both riders were ok although clearly Simoncelli thought a quick an appropriate apology to Bautista may save him from being set upon by the 130,000 angry Spanish fans in the grandstands at Jerez. It later turned out that the reason Simoncelli had so much corner speed and ran into the back of Bautista was an engine failure on the Aspar Aprilia. Unfortunately whatever the reason it means that Bautista will head into Estoril with only ten points out of a possible fifty.
One thing that is in favour of both riders is that they have both won championships, they know what it takes to make it, what levels of sacrifice and commitment you must make to obtain the ultimate prize.It’s important to remember that there is no use reflecting on the past, that is gone. All both riders can do now is pretend that it’s a fifteen race championship starting in Estoril and do the best they can from there.It maybe that both riders will be able to put the previous two races out of their minds and concentrate on the job at hand, however it may prove to be a pressure that could lead to further mistakes and further points losses.
If either rider pushes on too hard or lets the psychological mind game get to them then they are likely to make a mistake or suffer a rush of blood to the head. If they approach the next race thinking that only a win will do and then drop it in the gravel trap through pushing too hard then they could find themselves looking at battling it out to be the best of the rest.
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