5 replies to this topic

[Bob Riebe]

https://www.rideapar...wSWGu88=.VuRQvx

Dec 02, 2022 at 2:36pm ET

0

By: Dustin Wheelen

 

Grand Prix motorcycle racing has come a long way over the last 73 years. From the Gilera glory days to MV Agusta’s reign, from the two-stroke golden era to modern-day MotoGP, the series only continues to push teams and manufacturers to the bleeding edge. Technology has made the sport safer over the decades, but it also increases speeds—and the inherent dangers.

For that reason, rolling out a raw, unrefined prototype is unacceptable by today’s standards. After all, someone has to actually ride today’s two-wheeled missiles. Sure, you can pack 300 ponies under the hood, but you’d better develop an electronic package and aerodynamic winglets to rein in all that power. Whether we’re talking ride-height devices, corner-specific engine braking maps, or holeshot devices, modern Grand Prix machines are half motorcycle, half computer.

Not everyone sees this march of technological progress in a positive light, however. According to Italian media outlet Moto.it, Grand Prix great Giacomo Agostini recently expressed such discontent with the series’ current direction at the Vincenza, Italy, Dainese store.

“Let's leave the wings to the planes,” suggested Ago. “I do not like it. The bikes go too fast and are too extreme, what are three hundred horsepower for? Half of it would be enough to have good races and then we need to stem the engineers.”

While some may dismiss Agostini’s complaints as a “get off my lawn” moment, some MotoGP fans share the same sentiments as the 15-time World Champion. Overtaking has suffered as a result of teams normalizing wind tunnel-developed aerodynamic packages in recent years.

 

With robust winglets impacting air displacement patterns, following riders have experienced skyrocketing front tire pressure figures. This, in turn, impedes the trailing competitor’s steering ability, as the ballooning tire shrinks the available contact patch and front-end feel.

“And then the tires: they have become decisive for the result and flatten the values,” claimed the 80-year-old.

Though Ago believes that this tire dependence disproportionately favors some riders over others, he sees the parity among the current MotoGP field as a detractor.

“Is it possible that they are all champions?” Ago muses. “There will be two great champions, there will be three, they can't all be champion.”

During Ago’s time, a handful of racers dominated the championship chase. Contrast that with the last four MotoGP seasons, where four different riders—with four different manufacturers (Honda, Suzuki, Yamaha, and Ducati)—have claimed the premier class crown. Yes, some of Agostini’s complaints stem from his nostalgic nature, but he also presents valid criticisms of Grand Prix motorcycle racing’s current trajectory.

[tonyed]

Totally agree - too much technology, too much power, too much IT.

More manufacturers will be quitting with the soaring cost of competition.

The tyres are the deciding factor influencing the race as much as the rest of the total sum of the rest of the package.

This one make tyre race is not good. One size never fits all and as the tyre is the only contact between the machine and the tarmac a tyre has to suit the individual bike which means either the bike is designed for the tyre or vice-versa.

The tyre supply never seems to be the same from one venue to another, not that it needs to be but the tyre supplied to the bike must be consistent otherwise it's at a disadvantage straight away.

As for the 'sonic the hedgehog' wings    

[HP]

All valid points. However would he be a young man now and a competitor, Agostini probably would think differently .Current riders don't make the rules themselves after all.

[10kDA]

Personally, I have very low interest for tech-centric racing of any kind. It's boring. I don't spend my money to watch it.The reasons Ago points out are just some of the reasons I don't follow the sport any more though I used to race. If the sport is gaining new fans, that means I'm of the minority opinion on this. If the sport is losing fans, Management may want to initiate a study/poll/survey/focus group, starting by reading Ago's comments.

[brands77]

I have to also agree about the technology in MotoGP now. I think there is too much, the technology is applied in the wrong areas and so it doesn't add anything. I am not a fan of the wings either.

 

Allowing wings seems to be a sop to Ducati - I have nothing against Ducati - I very much admire their innovative approach and willingness to try and to develop new technologies. But I can't see wings adding anything to the racing, already riders are complaining it stops them following closely and passing and so racing properly. It is another trend borrowed from F1 that doesn't work there either. These same issues were around in the 1970s and they they banned Rodger Freeth from using them then as a result.

 

As for the electronics, I work in AI, and I know it's not beyond current technology to make the bikes' electronics so sophisticated that the riders would merely end up as fair ground dodgem pilots. I can see that, more than wings, this is a technology that will migrate to road bikes, but the balance is wrong, if we have specific mapping for each circuit that details suspension and engine settings for individual corners where does the rider fit in?

 

We could use electronics if we wanted to, to enable things such as improving rider safety (air bags on bikes maybe?), monitoring track limits infringements or if you wanted to, to try and even out rider machine/weight disparencies, this I think would be a far better use of the technology we have available to us.

 

Yes, I know there is the argument that we get close exciting racing now and that the field is now covered by fractions of seconds per lap rather than in 10s of seconds when Agostini was around (ok yeah the circuits were longer then, but I am sure you know what I mean). But if I wanted to watch close racing then I can easily go and watch the Red Bull Rookies, I don't. I will watch it as a passing interest if it is on before the MotoGP/2/3 but I wouldn't go out of my way to watch it. Similarly if I wanted to watch spectacular racing with big wings I would go and watch stock car racing.

 

Maybe (probably!), I am just an old bugger for whom the pace of change now is just too much. But I think the fundamentals of what bike GP racing was 50 odd years ago, when I first started getting interested in it, have changed. It's a closed shop now, you can't get local wildcards turning up as you did even up to the 2000s and be competitive, especially in Japan and the US. Talented riders are ejected from series because there aren't enough seats and there won't be any top seats free for another 2 years. If it was like this before we may never have got Kenny Roberts, Kevin Schwantz in the series in the first place and Barry Sheene would have probably gone 4 wheel racing in the early 80s. There is no way you would see anything like the Elfs, Fiors or even the Buckley on a grid today. They may not have been at the front of the grid, but they added something to the interest of the GPs in my opinion. Funnily enough in WSBK you still can get this and it's better for it I think.

 

Not that everything is bad, otherwise I wouldn't still be watching it, it is safer, the riders are better paid, but I think it's still no where near as good as it was before. It's much blander!

Edited by brands77, 11 December 2022 - 09:26.

[tonyed]

AI seems all the rage - it's a tragedy that mankind shows so little use of NI (perhaps we flatter ourselves thinking that we possess such)