Ben Spies, 2009 Superbike World Champion, has said that, in the last three turns before the straightaway here at Indianapolis, a tiny timing mistake in the first of the three becomes a major delay by the third turn. Therefore, I’d say that Valentino Rossi’s direction-changing sluggishness, which I saw yesterday (“I was slow and the bike felt heavy,” said Rossi in the afternoon), is a fair-sized element in his present 0.67-second deficit to the leader, teammate Jorge Lorenzo. “He’ll get there on Sunday,” commented ex-racer/lifetime journalist/broadcaster Dennis Noyes. I am looking forward to seeing just how this comes about. Is this a physical thing? Will a change to the bike make it possible to move more quickly? What is it about his present set-up (his baseline for Indianapolis?) that makes the bike feel heavy? Or is this a matter of summoning himself? Veteran Öhlins technician and respected philosopher of racing Jon Cornwell has said, “It only looks like what we do is engineering. Our real job is to create rider confidence.” 
Many riders have commented that confidence in the front is fundamental. Without it, corner entry degrades to a time-wasting measuring process. Can the tire take this much? This much? By the time the rider has collected this information, he has fallen behind his own rhythm. He is like a drag racer who cuts throttle because the front comes up—the run is blown. When confidence returns, the result can be a complete transformation. Instead of the rider’s internal program being repeatedly stopped by interrupts (is the tire moving, or am I being fooled by that soft sidewall? Is front grip going or am I running wide because I’m late?), the little gray cells run at full speed. And so does he. Let’s hope to see it happen. 
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