BLOG: MotoGP Catalunya

Here I am plugged into the Montmelo pressroom, hearing the harsh, unmelodious sounds of MotoGP through the windows to my right. Marc Marquez has worked his way to the top of FP1 over a number of laps, with Dani Pedrosa, Aleix Espargaro, and Jorge Lorenzo behind him. American Nicky Hayden is currently 7th, Valentino Rossi 8th. Large shifts are normal this early—we’ll see what shapes up. The Suzukis look stiff and chattery. Is this chassis-inherent? Or is it the reasonable impatience of their riders?

Everything that I have on the new street-legal Honda RC213V-S is already on the Internet. It was interesting that all the Japanese say RC213V-S as "RC twenty-one, three VS." If the faithful want to be in with the in-crowd, this is clearly how it must be said. Reminds me of when I said "Oh-double-U thirty-one" to Yamaha's Masao Furusawa. He rather sternly corrected me: "It's 'Zero double-U thirty-one.'"

I’m seeing a lot of complaints that the US-spec version of Honda RC213V-S (say it right), which is limited to 9,400 rpm, will produce only 115 horsepower. Really, the numbers are meaningless. Anyone who buys this bike (US price $184,000) will find a way to get the power kit.

Results: Day 1 Practice Times