A report on Cycle News states the AMA will allow traction control on AMA Superbikes beginning this weekend. Traction control has been used on MotoGP and World Superbikes but has not been allowed in the AMA. According to the source of their report, it may be allowed for the rest of the season based on the outcome of a Superbike commission meeting in Rome next week.
The problem here is the AMA’s quick change rules. With all of the early season turmoil from the Buell XBRR, the pace car at Daytona, the illegal fuel in Supercross, you would think they would want to settle down a bit before doing something like this. Some teams, like Ducati, may be ready to implement traction control immediately while others may not have the ability to smoothly change over. This would certainly seem to be an off season type of rule change to allow all teams an equal chance to get things ironed out.
Whether this will take place has not been confirmed and the AMA has made no official announcement. We’ll see.
UPDATE: The AMA says traction control is still illegal.
Link: Cycle News
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C. J. Luke, III says
I agree with you. This should be something that they announce for next years program. That would give everyone a better chance at implementing the new hardware.
However…it seems to me that we are starting to wander away from driver skills. Slipper Clutches…traction control…next we will start to see fully automated engine throttle and brake controll. Full GPS system that will allow the crew to “map” all brake points, entry speeds, exit acceleration curves…the driver will just be along for the “override” situations and actual steering.
JoeKing says
Yep…All this newfangled technology has ruined MotoGP…pretty soon ANYONE could be WC….luddite
Richard says
I think the reason that AMA is going to allow traction control now, rather than wait until in-between race seasons, is that certain teams are already using it. The AMA claims they can’t prove whether or not a bike is using traction control because the code for it is buried within the ECU. So, they’ve just decided to let it happen.
The riders want traction control because it reduces the chance of losing traction and crashing. So, I think it’s a good thing. Crashes may be entertaining to some people, but I feel their pain.
Another reason it’s a good thing is that, thanks to the deveopment efforts of the race teams and manufacturers that this will encourace, traction control will eventually find its way into street bikes. That will be good for everyone who rides.
aaron says
I think joeking is joking….. I think. maybe. but tech is wrecking F1, and at one point the entire track was mapped into the F1 cars. (says the car- turn 4…ok, more downforce, change rideheight, change damping rates, new mapping….)
I think the AMA has an easy out for teams using traction control – black flags. (the meatball!) “the way your bike misfires in every corner when you open the throttle, we felt it was inevetible that an engine failure would occur in the next few laps. so we brought you in to prevent oil spewing on the track when it let go.” hmmm, DNF or scrap the traction control – how do you think the teams would decide?
unless they are using a rear brake application to slow the wheel……
C. J. Luke, III says
“A sanctioning body wondering how to write traction control rules they probably won’t be able to enforce is nothing new. CART (aka Indy Car, Champ Car) has flip-flopped on traction control in their series. They allowed traction control several years ago because they found it impossible to police. Today, the use of traction control in CART is illegal. Moreover, traction control is illegal in NASCAR, but rumors of the fastest teams clandestinely using it have dogged the series for at least a decade.“
The above is a quote from an article that Dean Adams did in April,
2005…link here:
http://www.superbikeplanet.com/2005/Apr/050427e.htm
If racing were only about the technology, it wouldn’t matter. How many times have you seen someone completely blow a grid start and end up at the rear of the pack? A good TC system will eliminate that problem completely. The only thing the rider has to do is keep his/her feet off the pegs and lay on the tank…oh yea…and hang on for dear life. No more screwed up starts! There are a lot of things a really good TC system can do to remove more rider skills from racing. Why not add in the capability to electronically sense when the green on light tree illuminates? We can do that…we have that technology. Now we don’t have to concern ourselves with the rider’s reaction time. He/she does have to aim the detector correctly, and push and hold the “drag start†button, and twist the throttle wide open. The ECU will hold the engine to the pre-determined “pre-launch†rpm and when the sensor detects the green light the ECU will launch the bike. That would be a real nice feature at the dragstrip.
While we’re at it we can add some strain gauges to the front and rear suspension to monitor the front and rear loading, inertial navigation that can determine lean angle, steering angle, acceleration in all three axis, and optimize power delivery for entry, turn, and exit. Like I said in my previous post, we could include a nice integrated GPS, that would let us map the optimal braking points and entry speed and we could then just put the throttle on a ‘fly by wire’ system, that would let the ECU take complete control of the throttle if the rider twisted pass the 45 degree point. We could convert the transmission to a fully automated system so the rider didn’t have to worry about what gear to be in or when to shift. All we have to do then is include an “emergency override†button that the driver can push to let the ECU know that something went very wrong…and wallah! The ultimate in motorcycle racing. Now we can go absolutely crazy with power…because all of it is under program control.
Who get’s to stand on the podium? The engineers? The Programmers?
I think that MotoGP is doing the smart thing by backing off to 800cc engines for 2007. I know we are quickly developing the technology that can eliminate the need for a driver… http://www.grandchallenge.org/ but let’s leave the driver in racing.
aaron says
it shouldn’t be too hard to police traction control in a controlled technology series like nascar, but in f1 I’m a little stunned that the FIA dosn’t require a feed of the telemetry and algorithms to be stored for a few years. do the steroids deal, where wins and titles are confiscated after the fact, and the infringing party may be excluded from future competition. requiring the throttle pedal to directly alter the proportion of fuel entering the engine will disallow trickery on that front (take 2 traces: one from the pedal and one from the motor), and monitoring the spark will prevent traction control from being introduced in this manner. readings from the brakes will prevent these being used to control traction (and more importantly, stability control! never heard it mentioned, but I believe it’s here.)
800cc will be cool, but the trick may be around the 600cc mark. wherever it is, the sweet spot will be where tuning for power is still required, and the driver has to sort out the driveability issues. anyone notice that the street ducati GP6rr has about the same quoted output as some of it’s motogp rivals? using f1 tech, a 1000cc motor is capable of over 300hp, yet the cap is about 240…
RATTSBIKES says
I rarely say anything here but this is something I have to speak outload too.!!!!!
Traction control, come on, this is getting to be robot racing, I raced in the as you kids say (IN THE DAY), on and old triumph and we had nothing but rider skill and bike set up. I watch all the races it brings back good memories and thoughts of what could of been, but now I wonder, how much of this is really racer and rider skills, and how much is tech?
I for one am not happy about the AMA, but again I don’t have to follow thier rules anymore either, so to this I must ask, ( Are there any real skilled riders out there or only tech types that race with the robots)?
RATS, and Old Dog from the Day who is now a Junkyard dog and knarrly as hell.
aaron says
wouldn’t it be great to stick rossi on the rc166 replica and have him haul it around a classic track? try to use tires of equal grip to those used “back in the day” and you might get an idea if riders have progressed, or regressed, or stayed the same….
have to say though, i think that today’s riders are in much better physical condition…
RATTSBIKES says
Well I have to agree there, LOL. Nothing like going to the races with a big hangover and then drinking lots of beer after the races also, good health food? And getting into shape, sure the only shape we were concerned with was the girls watching the races?
RATS
zipidachimp says
easy solution: ban all laptops from the pits.