There's little surprise at who's sitting in the best position when it comes to MotoGP engine life at the halfway point of the season: Honda.
One of the more interesting rules to go into affect this season was the six-engine rule for the MotoGP class. Everyone has been watching the outcome very closely, and at the halfway-point of the first year, Honda is without question looking the best. As for the rest, there is some reason for concern in the Ducati and Yamaha pits, while Suzuki is hurting so badly they have asked for a special allocation of three additional engines to be voted on by the GP Commission this weekend.
Put in place to aid in shaving costs due to the world’s current economic climate, the new MotoGP engine-life rule went into effect at the beginning of this year. It states that each team gets six new engines per rider to last the entire season. For any engine needed over their allotment they are to be assessed a penalty of having to start the following race from pit-line, 10 seconds after the green flag is dropped. A new engine becomes part of the team's allocation the second it leaves the pit lane, at which time it is determined to be sealed, the team only being able to change the engine's oil from that point forward - nothing else.
There's even less surprise to see who's sitting in the toughest position when it comes to MotoGP engine life at this point in the season: Suzuki.
In an ideal world teams want to wait as long as possible to have
an engine sealed, as that means any future development to that
engine is stopped. Also, teams want to try and have a buffer in
case an engine
is
damaged in a fall, which has been the case of three of Alvaro
Bautista’s Suzuki engines, who currently sits in the worst position
of any rider with only one new engine and two used ones remaining
. His teammate, Loris Capirossi, isn’t doing too much better though,
as he has two new engines and two used engines left, having scrapped
his two others.
Ducati’s Casey Stoner is in the toughest position of any of the Italian-mounted riders, with two engines being scrapped, leaving two new and two used units for nine races. His teammate, Nicky Hayden, only has two new engines remaining as well, though he has only one scrapped powerplant, so he still has three used engines available for use. Hector Barbera has scrapped a single unit and has three new and two used engines remaining, while both of the Pramac Ducati boys, Mika Kallio and Aleix Espargaro, have all six of their motors left -- three new and three used each.
He may be currently leading the championship, but if Lorenzo goes over the allotted six engines and has to start from pit-lane it could make things very interesting.
On the Yamaha side of things, Jorge Lorenzo and Colin Edwards are in the tightest spot, both having scrapped an engine, leaving them each with three used and two new ones remaining. Ben Spies hasn’t scrapped any of his Tech 3 Yamaha motors yet, but he only has two new ones remaining. Valentino Rossi is in the best position, no doubt aided by his absence due to injury, with three new and three used engines at his disposal as the second half of the season begins.
But as it currently stands Honda is looking the best, with only a single engine from their six different riders having been scrapped -- Hiroshi Aoyama lost one, though has two new and three used motors remaining. Dani Pedrosa, Andrea Dovizioso, Randy de Puniet and Marco Simoncelli all have three new and three used engines left, while Marco Melandri has two new and four used engines to last the final nine races.
MotoGP Engine Breakdown (Round 9) --
HONDA
Dani Pedrosa:
Sealed Engines (3); Scrapped Engines (0); Remaining Engines (3 used, 3 new)
Andrea Dovizioso:
Sealed Engines (3); Scrapped Engines (0); Remaining Engines (3 used, 3 new)
Randy de Puniet:
Sealed Engines (3); Scrapped Engines (0); Remaining Engines (3 used, 3 new)
Marco Simoncelli:
Sealed Engines (3); Scrapped Engines (0); Remaining Engines (3 used, 3 new)
Marco Melandri:
Sealed Engines (4); Scrapped Engines (0); Remaining Engines (4 used, 2 new)
Hiroshi Aoyama:
Sealed Engines (4); Scrapped Engines (1); Remaining Engines (3 used, 2 new)
YAMAHA
Jorge Lorenzo:
Sealed Engines (4); Scrapped Engines (1); Remaining Engines (3 used, 2 new)
Valentino Rossi:
Sealed Engines (3); Scrapped Engines (0); Remaining Engines (3 used, 3 new)
Ben Spies:
Sealed Engines (4); Scrapped Engines (0); Remaining Engines (4 used, 2 new)
Colin Edwards:
Sealed Engines (4); Scrapped Engines (1); Remaining Engines (3 used, 2 new)
DUCATI
Casey Stoner:
Sealed Engines (4); Scrapped Engines (2); Remaining Engines (2 used, 2 new)
Nicky Hayden:
Sealed Engines (4); Scrapped Engines (1); Remaining
Engines
