Desert Rumblings as MotoGP heads to Losail

Picture: Losail International Circuit

It really looks like it's gonna be one of those weekends again. Every season when I put the calendar together and see a MotoGP and Formula 1 clash on the same weekend, I just know something's gotta give. And here we are, it looks like the first race of the 2015 MotoGP season and the Malaysian Formula 1 Grand Prix is on the same weekend.. 

Undoubtedly, the latter race is a lot closer to home, especially it being held on my home soil and "could" potentially be the last one, depending on what's announced on Sunday after the race*. But, let's not go there. 

On the other hand, the first MotoGP race of the season is going to be quite exciting with the prospect of a much closer and competitive field in the premiere class. So it would seem. What makes it even more exciting is having four of my fellow countrymen flying the flag for Malaysia as they battle it out under the Qatar floodlights in the Moto2 and Moto3 categories.

Perhaps it is a no-brainer for those inclined to prefer getting stuck in the action that will take place at the floodlit Losail International Circuit, over the action at Sepang. I know where my attention could potentially go. Thankfully, I think we can avoid an epic remote control duel with one happening before the other. The one race is at 1500hrs, and the other from 2300hrs (all local Malaysian time).

Suffice to note that with all the attention on the Malaysian Grand Prix over the weekend of 27 to 29 March and the scintillating prospect of another 1-2 result for the Mercedes AMG PETRONAS Formula 1 team, I thought I'd shift the focus slightly to the boys and gals on two-wheels. 


Rumble in the Desert

The MotoGP Grand Prix of Qatar - on top of being the first and only circuit to host a night-time race, has also earned itself quite a reputation for setting a spectacular tone to the start of every grand prix season. It was where the current defending MotoGP world champion Marc Márquez began his stunning 2014 campaign, winning the desert duel against Yamaha's Valentino Rossi. After taking that win, Márquez then went on to record 12 more race victories en route to his second MotoGP World Championship title.

Qatar was also where another Spaniard, Esteve "Tito" Rabat started his winning campaign in the intermediate Moto2 class. He won that race, then eventually took home 7 race wins, 14 podium finishes, 11 pole positions and a record points total of 346 on the way to his Moto2 championship title. 

Going back into the archives, who could forget Casey Stoner outgunning Valentino Rossi claiming his epic win in the desert on his debut race with the Ducati's back in 2007? Back then, the commentator said, "watch the birth of a new superstar." 

Now, four months after the Valencia Grand Prix last November, one post-season test and three pre-season tests later; arguably the world's best motorcycle racers return to the Qatari desert for what could very well be - at the very least - an interesting start to a brand new MotoGP season.

No doubt, some detractors may argue that a certain 22-year old Spaniard aboard a really superior Honda may have rubbed the shine off MotoGP somewhat over the past couple of seasons. Really? This isn't Formula 1 guys.

Remember when a certain Italian from Tavullia dominated the sport with 9 world championship titles across the different classes, with 6 of those earned in the premier class? 

His dominance not only catapulted him into the same league as Apollo and Athena but also earned him the adoration, familiarity and allegiance of fans from literally every corner of this planet. And, I am 99.99% sure that they have at least heard of, if not know of Valentino Rossi in the Andromeda Galaxy, some 2 million or so light years away. His impact and influence is that profound. 

Whether Márquez can have quite the same effect as motorcycle racing's messiah, remains quite a debatable subject. So, let's just leave it at that. 


Catch and Match

The other thing is, it is also really hard to predict if Honda can remain ahead of the pack and how much the other teams have caught up and matched the reigning champs. With all the pre-season tests done and dusted, I don't think it's wishful thinking to say that fans may indeed be in for a treat. I won't go so far as to predict, but all indications are pointing in that direction. 

Picture: Movistar Yamaha Racing Team

At the first two pre-season tests in Sepang, it did look like Honda were going to carry the same momentum from last season into this season, with a very very quick Márquez demolishing the circuit record at Sepang on the final day of the first test. 

Though that was noteworthy, what was far more interesting for me was how far Yamaha's YZR-M1s had caught up in terms of how well it handled and rode. With all the upgrades, including Yamaha's seamless gearbox, both riders are looking determined and poised to bring the fight to Honda. 

Then what was even more fascinating was the confidence oozing out of what seems like a revived Ducati camp, especially with a very happy Dovizioso talking about the speed and handling of Ducati's GP15 bikes. 

It does seem that the Italian outfit has been busy pulling out all the stops to make themselves a lot more competitive. Judging from the final pre-season tests in Qatar, which was dominated by the Ducati Desmosedici, it certainly looks very promising, one that Yamaha team director Massimo Meregalli believes will bring the Red Dukes to the forefront come the start of the season. 


Then as if it wasn't already an exciting prospect - the return of Suzuki to the fold, the inclusion of a very very successful team from the intermediate class and a couple of young graduates from Moto2 and Moto3 - does indicate a much healthier MotoGP grid, with 14 teams and 25 riders. 

Picture: Suzuki 

Not only does Repsol Honda Team boss Livio Suppo agree with Meregalli that it's good to have Ducati back battling at the front, he also adds, "Suzuki are not doing too bad as well, so the rules that allow the teams that were a little bit behind to have an advantage seem to be working well."

Naturally, it is virtually impossible to tell where all the teams stand or if Ducati can mount a serious title challenge, until everyone kicks up the sand in Qatar. But, based on what we've seen so far, all indications point towards what can potentially be a really nice 2015 MotoGP championship season.


Revving up the Intermediate Classes

Typically, whilst the general attention does tend to lean more heavily on the contest in the premier class, I always feel that the action in the intermediate classes is quite spectacular, if not as good or better. The action is almost always as thrilling and often times becomes a nail-biting affair. That's especially true when you see five or more riders abreast on the same piece of tarmac heading into a tight hairpin or a corner in a battle royal for track position, on every lap. *Phew*.

Unlike their big brothers in MotoGP, the boys and girls in the Moto2 and Moto3 categories didn't have such a great pre-season tests with the weather playing havoc to the teams' carefully laid out plans. So, it was much harder to see who could dominate this season. All the better as that uncertainty just makes it far more exciting to watch! 

Sure, Tito Rabat will want to be up there fighting to defend his title. Now unlike past Moto2 champs who all graduated to the MotoGP class, Rabat decided to stick around. And this year, his challenge comes in the form of 14 of the top 15 Moto2 riders from 2014, as well as two of the top three Moto3 riders from last season. 

Essentially, we can expect the likes of Mika Kallio, Tom Luthi, Johann Zarco, Luis Salom, Axel Pons and Simone Corsi to be in the mix. Don't forget, we have another Márquez in that contender seat - 2014's Moto3 World Champ Alex Márquez. 

Triple Treat in Moto2
 

Now, for us locals, there are three Malaysians represented in the Moto2 class - Hafizh Syahrin Abdullah, Azlan Shah Kamaruzaman and rookie rider, Zaqhwan Zaidi. Both Hafizh and Azlan are on the same machinery that the majority of the field will be using - Kalex, with Zaqhwan being in the minority on a Suter bike. 

If you're Malaysian and did watch that highly memorable 2012 MotoGP Malaysian Grand Prix, you would know who Hafizh Syahrin is, and that incredible race he had that year as a wildcard rider. That race alone launched the Klang-born boy into the stratosphere.

Picture: Hafizh Syahrin's twitter @HafizhPetronas

He has come a long way since that one race. After two successful seasons in the CEV Spanish Motorcycle Championship, Hafizh then graduated to the MotoGP stage to make his debut in the Moto2 category as a full time entry in 2014. His first full season saw him finish in the points 9 times out of the 18 races that were held, enough to earn him 42 points for his debut season and the best result for the pool of Malaysians in the MotoGP. 

When I caught up with him before the pre-season tests, he was naturally cautiously optimistic to indicate that his performance last season serves a good baseline for him to achieve more, albeit realistic targets. And at the Valencia and Jerez tests, Hafizh's performance demonstrated where the young Malaysian wants to be in - within reach of the top-10 riders. But, there's always something about Hafizh and when he topped the timesheets in the wet, he at least lived up to his nickname Pescao. 

Meanwhile, for his compatriot Azlan Shah Kamaruzaman, things might not have gone as planned in 2014. But one can't take away the fact that Azlan is one of the hardest working riders I know, especially getting to know him and watching him race through the ranks in the past. Like everyone else, the bad weather at the pre-season tests did throw a wrench into the works and affected everyone, even Azlan. As a baseline, I am hopeful he can improve on his 2014 results. 

The third Malaysian in Moto2 championship is Zaqhwan Zaidi. He was very optimistic when I spoke to him - coming off the back of an incredible regional and domestic 2014 season. But, the reality is that he is coming into a highly competitive level, one that he has not yet had any experience in. 

Being an unknown quality, Zaqhwan will be tested to the max at this level. It's good to see that level of confidence especially after winning the Malaysian Cub Prix championship, the FIM Asia Road Racing Championship and the Malaysian Super Series. His talent is undeniable, but riding a machinery that is one of the minority makes this year coupled with the fact that he has not had as much time on the bike as he would like, will undoubtedly make his debut in Qatar more about gaining experience. 

Whatever the outcome is, Malaysians ought to take pride in the trio of riders who will be representing the country at arguably the best motorcycle racing championship in the world.



Moto3's YoungGuns

This is a category that is so incredibly fun and highly entertaining to watch with so much happening on every lap at every race. And what makes it even more fascinating is that of all the riders in this category, only four, yes, four riders are over the age of 21. No kidding! 

The youngest this season at just 15-years and 343-days old, and probably where most of the attention has gone to in the off-season is the Estrella Galicia 0,0 team's French rider, Fabio Quartararo. Already everyone in the media have begun comparing him to Marc Márquez, and this even BEFORE the lights go off in Qatar. Unbelievable. It's worth keeping an eye on this kid due to his undeniable talent.

Though the 2014 Moto3 World Champ Alex Márquez has graduated to the Moto2 category and vice champion Jack Miller straight up to MotoGP, the competition in Moto3 remain a hotly contested one, with several new faces to the line-up in 2015. 

What makes Moto3 pretty cool is the fact that there are two ladies in this category - Maria Herrera and Ana Carrasco, the latter unfortunately sustaining a broken arm in the pre-season tests.

What's also cool for us would probably be Zulfahmi Khairuddin back for another season in the Moto3, this time with a new team (Drive M7 SIC Racing Team), a new bike (KTM) and a whole new attitude. 

When I spoke to him, he was very much aware that he is already one of the veterans in this category as well as the pressure on him to perform. But, he was optimistic and quite possibly a happier man. But, like Zaqhwan, Zulfahmi did not get as much time on his bike as he would have preferred. So, like everyone else in the intermediate classes, heading to Qatar will be more of a learning experience.

At the end of the day, it is really hard to gauge where everyone is at the start of every brand new MotoGP season. We just have to wait and see what happens when the riders descend onto the 5.4km fast-flowing Losail International Circuit with its nice combination of medium and high-speed corners this weekend...... 

Holding my breath... 


Postscript - all the videos may not be viewable here, and will direct you to MotoGP's YouTube page. 

Snowboarding.. Shreddin' it Sideways

Geilo, Norway

"Why do you lot throw yourselves off mountains?" - was what a couple of friends asked me after my snowboarding trip to Austria. 

Technically, snowboarders don't throw themselves off mountains. That is the domain of the certifiably crazy cool adrenalin junkies called base jumpers. 

The vast majority of snowboarders prefer to say they surf or rather, ride the snow down the mountain. In my case, ploughing and barreling through the pow would probably be more accurate. 

Whilst I am by no means an accomplished snowboarder having only just reacquainted myself with it a few years ago, suffice to say, I am utterly and madly in love with it. Even if it really isn’t easy for someone like me who lives in the tropics. 

Most of the time, I get asked if my trips to snow-covered mountains is to ski.. and 99.9% of the time I am having to explain that I am going snowboarding and not skiing. I’ve tried skiing before, but the experience of a pair of really really bad boots and an unpleasant collection of multi-coloured bruises, plus the fact that I couldn’t walk properly for a month kinda put me off the two-planks. Anyway, I probably can ski but I just don't want to. 

Anyway, that I had had some (incremental, really) experience with snowboarding on a dry slope from another lifetime, the inclination was already there.


Snurffing out the roots

Where I come from, snowboarding is so niche that I would dare say that the majority of the population would not know it. It is a concept that is as detached as the abominable snowman. Well, I can’t fault them. After all we live in the equatorial tropics, where the heat is always at a constant +30 degrees Celsius (= 90 degrees Fahrenheit) and the closest thing to snow is what we find in the freezer.

But, like a big slap to my ignorant self, the makcik* taxi driver who picked me up at KL Sentral recently knew I was carrying a snowboard. I was so stoked! High-five makcik! 

Anyhow, by definition snowboarding is classified as a “recreational activity” by certain quarters, with a fuzzy history that potentially dates farther back than Wikipedia's referenced decade of the 1960s.

I say that because I recently discovered an image in a snowboard museum (yes, a snowboard museum, one that I will write extensively about in my next post) of a Vern Vicklund (or Wicklund) riding what looked suspiciously like the predecessor to today's snowboard, in 1939!

Even that's arguable after what snowboarding legends Jeremy Jones and Stefan Gimpl  discovered while on a film shoot in 2008. They had learned that residents from a remote mountain region in Turkey had been riding a lazboard for over 400 years. There are also tales of Austrian miners riding long wooden boards in the 16th century.

Anyhow, www.skimuseum.net references to a contraption called the "Sno-Surf" that brothers Gunnar and Harvey Burgeson and relative Vern Wicklund had filed for a patent in 1939. It came with an adjustable strap for the left foot, a mat for the right foot and a rope to control speed and to steer. Though the trio did go on to form The Bunker Company, they were not able to sell the boards and with the onset of the second world war, the idea of snowboarding would sit quietly on the back-burner for a couple of decades.

Then comes the story that you will find on Wikipedia with snowboarding commonly associated to its roots and inspiration from skateboarding, surfing and skiing. That story links snowboarding to an engineer dad from Michigan who bound two skis together and dubbed it the “snurfer” (the combination of snow and surf) for his daughter.

Fast forward a decade or so, in walked a surfer dude who invented bindings to secure his feet to a board for a snurfing competition. The birth of Burton in the 1970s also led to the use of the term “snowboarding” away from snurfing (thank goodness!!).

After numerous competitions, it would still take another decade before snowboarding would become a competitive sport following the first World Cup in Austria. The grunge years would see snowboarding competitions regulated through the founding of the International Snowboard Federation in 1991. ISF was eventually replaced by the World Snowboard Federation, which was formed in 2002. 

Fast forward 20 years and modern snowboarding has come a long way despite and in spite of the animosity the sport has tended to attract particularly it’s tumultuous relationship with the two-plankers.

Two versus One

These days, with the onset of the winter season, regardless of which side of hemisphere you’re on, snowboarding has well and truly etched itself a place into the winter sport culture.

Reading about and watching the videos of snowboarders vs skiers, I can’t help but giggle. But in all seriousness, having been on the wrong end of skiers' displeasure at “us” and having two-plankers plod, stomp and trample all over my board while waiting in line for the chairlift, is SO NOT funny.

And when one not very good skier ploughed straight into me, tipping me and my board 180degrees, face down, then started to scold me, I was like "DUDE, what the... ". Thanks to him, I pinched a nerve and couldn’t sit or walk properly for over two weeks. SO NOT cool.

HOWEVER, despite that rather unpleasant and quite frankly a rather inelegant consequence, those incidents, though irksome, are more the exception rather than the rule. I do respect the two-plankers and I have seen equal amount of respect from skiers towards snowboarders.

I also have an enormous amount of respect for competitive Alpine ski racers, freestyle skiers and ski-jumpers, and consider myself somewhat of a fan.

If I were to be seated on an aircraft next to either Marcel Hirscher, Felix Neureuther or Aksel Lund Svindal, I'd faint first, blame the altitude, then summon some inner power to recover some semblance of a cool exterior, before I could muster the courage to even consider talking to them.

I can say with absolute certainty that the first words out of my mouth would sound a lot like a mash-up of Klingon and Romulan.

Now if I were to be seated on a long haul flight with Travis Rice, Andreas Wiig, Torstein Horgmo, Terje Håkonsen or Kazuhiro Kokubo or even Silje Norendal, I would really have no inhibitions to start sobbing uncontrollably and hyperventilate. 

Back to reality, Farah.

As it is statistically improbable that I would ever get the chance to speak or interview either of these incredible individuals, my reality is that I still get to meet some equally amazing people whose lives and livelihood gravitate around snow, regardless of whether they are on a ski or snowboard.

Mind you though, I did get to meet an Austrian who had competed against the great Hermann "The Herminator" Maier!! *Gasp*! He was a skier and is now an amazing snowboarder.

Then more recently, I got the incredible opportunity of getting to know a truly wonderful and beautiful Norwegian family who welcomed me like an old friend. I would soon learn that the family are related to Norway's freestyle ski sensation, Winter X-Games multi-medalist supercool superstar, Andreas Håtveit.

Courtesy of my wonderful host, I knew I was in the presence of greatness, the one the X-Games commentators called the dimpled Viking. In those kinds of moments, it is virtually IMPOSSIBLE to keep one's composure, regardless if you're a two-planker or a snowboarder, cool is definitely in da house yo! I could feel the Klingon words flowing out of my brain.... *gasp*

Andreas Håtveit won gold at the 2008 X-Games in the Ski Slopestyle event

Cool Runnings 

Though I do prefer and love snowboarding, I cannot possibly choose which of the two is cooler, though some may argue that I would be automatically inclined towards one....

Back in 2013, at an unplanned, impromptu and accidental dinner with a rather famous Irish-born actor, we got to talking about winter sports. After declaring that he was a skier, his response to when I said I snowboarded was, "ooh, you snowboarders are really cool!" (Imagine that in an Irish accent.... #lol)

A comment to which I responded, "snowboarders are cool, yeah! Me on the other hand, not particularly, especially when I have mastered the art of tumbling down in the most uncool possible way!" We laughed and that broke the ice and we had a great dinner.

It's true though, snowboarders always give off that cool, laid-back, pretty chillax'ed vibe. But is it really confined to just snowboarders? After all, snurfing was such an un-cool name (sounds like the smurfs getting high on painkillers).

Somehow these days, whilst that grumbling between the two camps continues to exists, there was one thing I could not help but notice whilst I was up on the Kitzsteinhorn glacier, or in the Graubunden valley or waist-deep in the Niseko pow or on the wind-swept Norwegian pistes.

picture from www.skiersrealm.com

In a bygone era, aside from the obvious equipment differences, it was still possible to tell the skiers apart from the snowboarders if you didn't look beyond the waistline. These days, there's been a bit of what I call a cultural overhaul, as the two disciplines become more and more enmeshed with one another. 

For instance, two-plankers - particularly the younger ones - are opting for that baggy, street-look "cool" ensemble perhaps typically associated with snowboarders. To which I say, perhaps they prefer to be comfortable?

And that's just it. Who cares what you wear when you ride or ski? Yes, it gets people's attention and to some extent influences people's perception and potentially buying habits. (Let's not stray there..)

But, I do actually think and believe "cool" is a state of mind and being. "If you're happy, you love what you do and you get to indulge in that passion, that's cool" was how it was explained to me. Ultimately, it boils down to what you enjoy doing and as 20-year old Canadian freestyle skier and Olympic champion Dara Howell puts it, "it's about keeping it fun." And that is cool regardless of whether you prefer to shred straight or sideways. 

On life support or on the back-burner, again?

Quite recently, I came across an article in a fairly widely circulated English language snowsports publication that had boldly declared that snowboarding is in its death throes. The author had made this proclamation based on an opinion that people were now preferring skiing as evidenced from observations made at various popular resorts across western Europe and North America.

Honestly, I don't know if there are companies out there that conduct surveys on who's on two planks and who's shredding it sideways. Me, I don't really sit at the top of the run counting the number of skiers vs snowboarders. All I want to do is enjoy riding my board. But, if I were to pitch in with a counter argument, I dare say, I don't think so!

I would then ask, define "death throes" and do provide us the evidence that drew the author to that conclusion. Is it purely based on observation or is there some kind of survey to denote a decline in numbers, sales or interest? I'd need to do some research and get the numbers from Burton, DC, Ride, Allian, Capita, Rome, Arbor, Salomon, Jones.. etcetera.

Perhaps it could also be argued that like all sports, snowboarding is evolving. Like at one point, inline skating was so popular, then people switched to cycling, but the fact that I still see inline skaters in my local park doesn't mean that it's dead.

Also, as I don't travel as extensively as the pro riders do, I am in no position to provide a commentary on whether skiing is more popular to snowboarding. 

But, in the few places where I have been lucky enough to ride my snowboard, I always see other fellow snowboarders - be it on the skibus, on the slopes, in the board shop or sharing a chairlift - even in the more traditionally "ski-friendly or ski-oriented" resorts.

In Japan, I dare say (and I do not have the corresponding survey numbers to back this up) that snowboarders outnumbered the two-plankers by a fairly big margin.

And, the snowboard camps in Norway are still as robust as ever with plenty of young kids, young adults and adults shredding it sideways. And the age range is pretty wide for these snowboarders, from as young as 4 to 60-years old.

Then there's this - while on the hunt for my snowboard recently, I walked into a number of shops that had seriously depressing number of new snowboards in stock. They all seem to agree with the argument that snowboarding is not as popular as before.

But while in conversation with a snowboard and ski instructor in Austria, could it be possible that the current economic climate in Europe was affecting sales and distribution of snowboards more than skis. Then perhaps it could be argued that the majority of popular snowboard manufacturers are US-based (Burton, Ride, Salomon), whilst the big ski-brands are European (Atomic, Rossignol). The economy might go some way toward explaining the decline in sales and therefore, perhaps interest? Maybe? I have no idea and this line of argument is totally going to give me a migraine. Suffice to say, perhaps it's an economic consequence. *shrugs*

The thing is, I recently hung out with a 13-year old boy who is well and truly on his way to being a future X-Games champion; and met a guy who showed me a picture of arguably the youngest kid I have ever seen at just over 3-years old snowboarding. I've hung out with snowboard instructors who are half my age and have a constant supply of eager students. I've watched the pros continue to produce unbelievable snowboard films at incredible locations around the world. All of which proves snowboarding is alive and well in my eyes.

And when you have 18-year old Yuki Kadono, 21-year old Mark McMorris, 14-year old Chloe Kim and 21-year old Silje Norendal throwing down mad crazy tricks on the big competition stages, keeping it cool and representing the future voices of snowboarding, dude, snowboarding ain't going anywhere.

So, to all my fellow sideway shredders out there: share the love brothas and sisters; live long and prosper! 

*makcik - a Malay word meaning Aunty, an affectionate term younger Malaysians use to address an older women.