It's all in the name of...

Comparative science.

The F1 season kicks off during the night in Australia and in the name of science I'll be staying up to watch it. I say science because, as regular readers of this blog know, I'm a big fan of Moto Gp (which is the premier class of motorcycle racing and the two-wheeled version of F1 but with more excitement, closer racing and a hell of a lot more overtaking.) and would like to be able to compare the two on a level keel.

Due to a lack of TV coverage of Moto GP during the late eighties/early nineties there are people in the world... Strange lonely people who wear Kappa shell suits over Manchester United tops and think Carl Fogarty was the best motorcyclist ever to sling a leg over a bike... Who think that World Superbikes is the premier class of racing when it comes to Motorcycle racing. They're wrong. Very wrong.

The difference between a World Superbike and a GP bike is light years apart. For example I could walk into a motorcycle dealership tomorrow and buy a fully tooled road legal version of a World Superbike and get change from £50,000. I couldn't walk into a showroom and buy a GP bike even if I was in Japan, at the Honda Racing Corporation headquarters and snaffle up an RCV 212v even if my name was Valentino "Faster than light" Doohan. Which it's not.

Essentially the difference between a GP bike and a World Superbike is this... A World Superbike will let you know you're pushing its limits by sending you a polite letter informing you if you don't stop wringing its neck there are going to be recriminations; A GP bike will send a get well soon card.

So in order to be able to rip the piss out of F1 with the same informed authority as I rip the piss out of World Superbikes I'll be staying up late to watch the F1 procession, whoops, I mean race...