The Grand Prix of Italy will be hosted by Fermo for the first time this weekend and the event on the Adriatic coast will represent the final dropping of the gate on the 2010 FIM Motocross World Championship.
The season has been the best yet for the Teka Suzuki Europe World MX2 crew with Ken Roczen guaranteeing the number two plate last week in Holland and Arnaud Tonus also heading for a personal best championship finish in the top nine.
Ahead of round 15 of the series, Technical Co-ordinator Jens Johansson talks about the evolution of the 2010 fuel-injected RM-Z250 from a brand new machine last winter into one of the category's most competitive motorcycles.
Johansson has been a major figure in the technical operations of Geboers Racing Promotion for numerous years; from 2001 to 2005 and then from 2008 to present day. The Swedish technician has been responsible for Grand Prix success with the RM250, RM-Z450 and the evolution of the 2010 RM-Z250 that reached a high point when Ken Roczen crested the MX2 World Championship standings after the Grand Prix of the Netherlands, gained its first Pole Position (indeed is the best performing bike in qualification in 2010) and three victories and nine podiums thanks to Roczen this term. Not forgetting the 2010 ADAC MX Master German title.
Fermo is yet another venue to be given the honour of hosting the Italian round of the series after visits to Faenza, Mantova, Castiglione Del Lago and Montevarchi in recent years. Little is known about the site that has undergone modifications to meet GP spec, but the hillside circuit seems to hold the promise of a naturally-set layout with some interesting jumps and perhaps a 'traditional' Italian hard-pack terrain.
How has the development of the 2010 RM-Z250 been?
"We thought we had a very good motorcycle last year with the carburetted 2009 RM-Z250 and we knew that the new bikes were going to arrive late, so for me it was a little bit of a worry at the time if we were going to be ready with the new model; especially because we had ended 2009 with a good set-up and good results. The new bike arrived and we understood pretty quickly that it would be quite a bit of work to tune it for success at World Championship level. I think we started the year with a package that was good enough to win GPs and both Ken and Arnaud both had very good pre-season results even if we did have limited parts at that time. If you look at the first third of the season, Ken could have won in Portugal for round four and should have won round five in Spain so the bike was obviously good enough to win in certain conditions. From Teutschenthal and round eight we had an engine upgrade that was a big step and we used that until Sweden where we went forward again just before Lommel. Ken won in Lommel and we haven't looked back. His form since then was good enough for the title."
Was the main evolution focussed just on engine performance or other aspects?
"A few things: Everyone knows we had a couple of DNFs with Ken and we also had one with Tonus. These had to do with our learning curve with the bike and with hardware. We can't make excuses for what happened but it was unlucky that Ken's electrical problems occurred when he was on the edge of winning a GP. It was disappointing at the time and hard to cope with but we learnt a lot from it. When we knew that winning the World Title would be tricky we focussed on making the bike the best it can be and I feel that we can be quite satisfied with how the end of the season has gone."
So in theory in terms of the machinery 2011 should be easier?
"Yes, we can and will work on reliability in a certain aspect of the bike. The DNFs we've had this year are not to do with mechanical failure or a specific part but more the package around the problem and we need to work on different components to minimise this. Overall I think this year's motorcycle is one of the best I have worked on at Suzuki; it is the one with the highest potential. We understand now that the work on a 250 with fuel injection is not so easy and SMC has made some very good progress. We must remember that the rule change with the extra weight over the winter did not help towards out competitiveness and we easily reached a weight below the minimum limit. We can't understand why we have to be heavier than the AMA and hopefully someone in the FIM will address this for 2011 and create an extra technical challenge for the teams and the suppliers that we have."
A rider getting hurt is the worst part of racing but in your view does a mechanical problem also represent a major low?
"Of course. In Spain and Sweden it was like someone had driven a knife somewhere in your body when the bike stopped but this is a mechanical sport and you have to be confident in your work and when any bad moments come then you can't lock yourself away in a dark room but instead go to work the next day, sit down and think and then problem-solve. Sometimes it can be easy to fix, sometimes you need to search and find the cause of the problem. The worst part is the public side of it and seeing a good result suddenly disappear. It is amazing how quickly your emotions at a race can turn around, and for the better sometimes."
Are the two bikes of Ken and Arnaud quite different in terms of set-up to cope with the rider's styles and demands?
"No, they have different riding styles from the outside but we have the possibilities these days to look at data and record parameters of the engine with regards to what the engine is doing, what gear it is in etc and we can see that on some tracks they are changing gear within a couple of metres of each other or using the same gear. Perhaps they are not using the same ratios but still with what they have they are similar. The fuel-injected bike makes any small changes in set-up an easy process. They ride a lot, and they are hard workers. Considering they are so young and inexperienced they really can help a lot and importantly they are willing to ride, test and race so we can get what we all need."
Do the challenges of working with new machinery and getting up to a winning level carry the biggest sense of satisfaction for you?
"It is fantastic. To see the work done on the motorcycle from the little group we have in Lommel, the suppliers and from Japan has been truly excellent and enjoyable. MX2 requires a lot. You can't take a stock 250 and go racing at World Championship level so it is a fantastic technical challenge. I hope everybody can see that we are happy with what we have done and we are proud that Roczen can win in the sand and then across the big jumps of Brazil. The results of the last few races were really rewarding. The combination of the work by the three groups involved; team, suppliers and Japan, and what it has produced, is very satisfying for sure."
MX2 world championship standings (after 14 of 15 rounds): 1. Marvin Musquin (FRA, KTM), 613 points; 2. Ken Roczen (GER, Teka Suzuki Europe World MX2), 524 p.; 3. Steven Frossard (FRA, Kawasaki), 446 p.; 4. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 391 p.; 5. Zach Osborne (USA, Yamaha), 368 p.; 6. Joel Roelants (BEL, KTM), 366 p.; 7. Shaun Simpson (GBR, KTM), 361 p.; 8. Arnaud Tonus (SUI, Teka Suzuki Europe World MX2), 356 p.; 9. Jeremy van Horebeek (BEL, Kawasaki), 345 p.; 10. Harri Kullas (FIN, Yamaha), 310 p.
