How do racing teams work?

[RickS1K]

I hope I am not spoiling anyone's watching of the Moto3 race at the weekend, it was really nice to see the winner celebrate after a terrible year. There were some statements made in the BT Sport coverage that have made me wonder what's going on. I know we won't know the full truth of things but the win was put down to a Hail Mary change of setup to have any hope of being competitive and that drastic change was based on the direction that McP had been asking for all season.

McPhee's crew chief was the same guy that was filmed beating up Tom Booth Amos and yesterday was his last outing for his current team because of that, he's now sacked. Both McPhee and MLav (his manager) referred to this same guy ignoring McPhee's feedback and ideas for setup changes all season, just telling him to change his riding style. They also said that there's more but wouldn't say it publicly. The commentary team refereed to strange decisions made in that team all year. Yet, when Ottl, the team manager got the team trophy he was referred to as a strong supporter of McP...

So, ignoring the reality of the characters involved, who is actually in charge at a race meeting? Rider? Crew Chief? If the rider and crew chief disagree, does the team manager (Oettl), or the principal (Biaggi) have any say in managing things? In this situation I don't know if they have intervened at all, but if they did, they must agreed with the crew chief most of the time? How does that sync with the strong supporter comments - we're not interested in anything you've got to say, but we really respect you for saying it??

 

[alex]

Great questions, I don't get it either. The ego's in that pitlane are incredible. And you can bet that Booth-Amos isn't the only one that's been physically assaulted. As for BT Sport, I think they are told what to say...

 

[stuartb]

What did I miss, beat up..as in slap, punch beat up ?...

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[scooby]

kicked up the arse after coming in on the bike, no doubt there was more that wasn't/hasn't been captured on camera

 

[alex]

Proper kicking because Tom dared to say the bike was shit with the engineers setup. Clearly he didn't appreciate the feedback.
This is the same team from which two engineers who interfered with a rider/bike from another team in full view of the cameras in Quali

Max's team has lost 3 engineers and Husky will be represented by another team next year...

Really pleased for McPhee - at least 1 last win before having to quite Moto3 due to age (which is bullshit)

 

[alex]

 

[KMAC77]

This guy needs a beating from someone. If that was my son, or any sort of relation to me I?d have cracked a tyre lever across his knees.

 

[bananaman]

Not seen this .... Should be banned from any track for life.

 

[RickS1K]

This guy needs a beating from someone. If that was my son, or any sort of relation to me I?d have cracked a tyre lever across his knees.

Forgot to mention the other bizarre thing - when McPhee got off the bike he embraced that f***wit before going to his girlfriend...

The BT people know more than they are allowed to say, whether that's BT looking after their contract or everyone scared of being done for defamation I dunno.

 

[RickS1K]

This guy needs a beating from someone. If that was my son, or any sort of relation to me I?d have cracked a tyre lever across his knees.

Forgot to mention the other bizarre thing - when McPhee got off the bike he embraced that f***wit before going to his girlfriend...

The BT people know more than they are allowed to say, whether that's BT looking after their contract or everyone scared of being done for defamation I dunno.

As for it being normal, that could sadly be true - if you look at the vid Alex posted, some of the mechanics look on with mild disinterest, as if they've seen it before.

 

[alex]

Jesus that is bizarre...

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[KMAC77]

That is just crazy.

 

[oldwobbler]

Great question and one I've often wondered about. How many times have we seen bright young British talent head to motogp only to end up looking utterly shit. Career ending in some cases. Riders often refer to "the package". If the package is not right a great riding talent can only over come so much. I'm not a Rossi fan (don't hate me!) but what he is doing for his Italian buddies is outstanding.

 

[alex]

Great question and one I've often wondered about. How many times have we seen bright young British talent head to motogp only to end up looking utterly shit. Career ending in some cases. Riders often refer to "the package". If the package is not right a great riding talent can only over come so much. I'm not a Rossi fan (don't hate me!) but what he is doing for his Italian buddies is outstanding.

Yes, we saw this with Jake Dixon, 1st year in Moto2, crap bike badly setup. The team didn't believe him until someone else (a former winner) rode it when he was out injured and confirmed it wasn't the rider. That injury saved his Moto2 career...which is kinda scary...now look at him go with a decent team, out classing his Moto3 WC team mate, with 6 podiums this year.

 

[Gobert]

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[JamieMac]

So TBM's mechanic who assaulted him in 2019, had become McPhee's Crew chief this year. He's also the same guy who tried to stop the factory KTM leaving the pits by grabbing (Fernandez from memory) this year. https://youtu.be/lNZYj9CJ9Vc

As far as racing goes, it is generally.... if the relationship is good and both trust each other, a joint decision between Crew Chief and Rider. The rider asks for something, they discuss and the resultant change is 'immediately' relayed to all the crew on the headphones. The Crew Chief has to exude confidence and decisiveness.

Sometimes, what the riders want isn't always correct. Especially with in-experienced riders. Aki Ajo of KTM is as much a father figure, Teacher and Crew chief to the younger riders in Moto3, but he doesn't hold back with the 'Ferguson Hair Dryer Treatment" Some riders just explode but the Crew Chief knows he'll calm down in a minute, so puts up with the abuse, then when things have calmed down, they chat. Glenn Irwin for example.

The crew chief is the central hub to the data, tyre, suspension experts and the rider.

It's a relationship and the main thing to bear in mind is riding a bike to the limit is all 'North of the Eyebrows'. So the rider has to believe in what he's being told.

MTPW

 

[alex]

Not the same as the Fenandez incident, they were on Sasaki's side of the garage. But where there's smoke...

 

[JamieMac]

Alex, I don't doubt you but I read it was the same guy. 3 of them involved. Hey, I did read it on the inter web

 

[RickS1K]

Everything you said makes sense Jamie, and clearly McPhee did not trust what the crew chief was saying to him, hence the results. Equally I'm sure no rider is happy unless he has a full works package underneath him and not every team can afford even half of that. It does seem that the guy (we're talking about Maurizio Camberau) is so up himself he has ignored him and presumable waited until either the rider comes to trust what he's been saying, or results mean that he gets someone else to work with next season cos the rider isn't renewed (as he knew would happen this year cos of age rules). That's where I wonder why the rest of the team don't start thinking that the sponsors deserve better so they need to pander a little more to the rider's wishes even if they are not convinced - that's where I start wondering about Oettl liking McPhee but not apparently doing anything to change the performance - maybe they'd have been more inclined to do that if the other side of the garage wasn't doing so well... but there's no guarantee that Sasaki was using Camberau's setup, he's got his own crew chief..

 

[Wull]

The guy who booted TBA is not the same guy who approached Fenandez?s bike, same team but separate mechanics. You can clearly see from the video of that incident that it?s not him. The ones involved in that incident and McPhee?s crew chief will be gone at the end of the season, I think the other two may be gone already but don?t quote me on that, either way a statement was put out saying they?d all be gone at the end of the season at least.


this is him.

Maurizio Cambarau