Marc Marquez has done a fantastic job in the rain last week in Misano, his performance made me wonder.
After securing his first win in MotoGP after long years, Marc Marquez has won two in a row. He has widened the horizon of what is possible, while braking back into the top 3 in the standing. He has shown signs of decay and seemed to be losing touch with the 3rd placed rider Enea before him, but the madman has completely turned the picture around.
So, after this stellar performance let us look at the best wet-condition race in the MotoGP ever in my opinion:
Of course, we have to start with the honourable mentions:
Brad Binder took home the Styrian GP win with a KTM in 2021 he had to complete 4 laps in wet-condition barely making it to the finish line, because he didn’t change his slicks.
The Portuguese rain-demon Miguel Oliveira dominating the Indonesian GP later that year was a race no one will forget. A year after that he also took the Buriram round.
The 2015 Silverstone weekend was one for the books. A completely soaked circuit couldn’t even stop Valentino Rossi from winning his 86th. This race produced some big crashes like the Crutchlow-Miller double slide, and Marquez’s scary slip, losing control in a fast corner.
2008 Indianapolis
What can I say … this race was the most challenging in my opinion. The riders had to face numerous challenges.
1. The 2008 Indy GP was the first time MotoGP visited this track. The riders had to use their skillsets on a track they never trained on before. To make this even more interesting, they couldn’t even study the other competitions racing here, because the MotoGP race was held backwards in direction. Casey Stoner stated, that the only way he could prepare for this race beforehand is if he played the Formula 1 video game and went backwards on the track, going against everybody.
2. The track required the best of both worlds. The rain had stopped before the race, and the circuit started to dry up on some place. Elsewhere it was completely soaked. To top all this, the asphalt of the track had been replaced, but only partially, so there where dry places during the race, that felt “icey” as some riders described it.
3. The grid was full of absolute beasts, such as: Valentino Rossi, Casey Stoner, Jorge Lorenzo, Nicky Hayden, Andrea Dovizioso, Dani Pedrosa.
Valentino Rossi took a terrible start and fell to 4th from the pole position. On the other hand, Andrea Dovizioso took the lead for a bit from the 7th starting position, battling with Nicky Hayden for the lead.
Rossi came back and it was clear that he will challenge the home hero Hayden, while a young Lorenzo and Dovi clashed with each other like it was 250cc. A psychological battle ensued as Rossi tracked down Hayden. Home favourite vs World star. Michelin vs Bridgestone. Honda vs Yamaha (soon to be teammates at Ducati). #69 showed what he is capable of and didn’t budge one bit under the immense pressure of Vale, he was determined to make the whole of Indianapolis happy.
Rossi predicted his overtake on Hayden, because before the race he said that the end of the back straight is his favourite corner, which he used to take the lead with 15 laps remaining. 2 laps later the rain started falling again and the wind picked up, making the already harsh conditions even harsher. Rossi had a big save when his rear wheel slid out because of a huge wet-spot.
As the ongoing hurricane situations didn’t come to a stop the race was red flagged 7 laps before the end. However, what is truly a testament to the legends that raced that day, is that no one crashed. Every single rider managed to compete in state we haven’t seen yet in MotoGP.
Rossi came in first, Hayden had to limp away (quite literally, he had a split heel) with the second position, which he defended against Lorenzo in the last laps (who was seen enjoying a lollypop right after getting off the bike).
Technicalities:
What are some MotoGP riders and engineers use to have an advantage in wet-conditions?
Riders have to relearn braking. What I mean is, the brakes work almost as good as in dry conditions, BUT only in a straight line. If you have a lean angle, that’s when you have to minimalize your braking.
Engineers also have a few tricks up their sleeve. The basics are tyre and brake disc changes. It is common in motorcycle racing to shift the weight of the bike to the rear wheel, because the front wheel is more likely to slip out in the rain. The suspension will be adjusted to be softer, because the bike will need softer inputs in the rain. Of course, the ECU will be set up for this condition perfectly.
BME Veloce Corse 