Read an interesting article in Bike magazine about MotoGP on its way to becoming boring because it’s too technical, from a machinery point of view. With ever increasing computer control of everything on the bike, we won’t see the riders wrestling the machines to do their bidding but instead we’ll see slick machines, carving around the track with much of the difference between performance being the machine itself rather than the rider. The author compares it to Formula 1 where complexity and expense has turned the race into some kind of high priced R&D experiment.
An interesting quote in the article by Loris Capriossi said before the rider was 70 percent of what was important, now maybe 55 percent. If the riders have this view, maybe there’s something to it. I have written previously that I thought Mat Mladin, great rider that he is, also has an advantage riding a machine that makes the good rider even better. At the MotoGP level, that might be more pronounced.
I guess I’m not quite to the point where I think MotoGP will be boring, riding bikes at 200mph and ripping around turns within inches of one another doesn’t meet my definition of of the word. But with the upcoming displacement decrease and factories fighting for more performance from less engine, we’ll certainly be seeing extreme tech on the grid. In the meantime, enjoy the racing.
aaron says
i don’t believe this… just this year giberneau gets a works honda and his performance drops – shouldn’t he be better then he was on a second tier customer bike last year? amd colin edwards is riding the sister bike to rossi – edwards is no rookie but his performances should be stronger if the bike means that much. and finally we have #69 nicky hayden – in his third year of riding THE BEST BIKE IN THE FIELD. I know the speed channel commentators get all excited when it looks like he might score a rare podium, but the european press must be laughing at both him, and honda for retaining him as their flagship rider. as much as i cheer for capirossi, i wonder if he would be saying this if he was scoring the same results on a works yamaha or honda.