MotoGP 2021

[pritch]

Shit still happened, but it was rare.

Another excellent post, but I do have to question that comment. Back in the day there was a serious death toll. Run off was non existent, stone walls and big trees were common. Gary Hocking, world champion at the time, retired because he thought motorcycle racing was too dangerous.

[Autech]

Perhaps you mean Left Field rider?

Unless you are imagining Che Guevara helmet motif and instead of energy drink sponsorship, perhaps support from the workers unions?

Maybe Vinales could create a riders union who can go on strike if their bikes aren't good enough?

That's pretty left wing

Or a Fijian rugby player...

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[husaberg]

Following the totally regrettable loss of Hugo in Spain (and sadly he was not the first, there have been at least three or four others in the past few years) there has been a lot of discussion in racing circles about the ages of young riders in road racing. Jason Dupasquier cannot be put in the basket of young riders, but he was only 19. So, in relation to his accident, more in the latter part of this missive.

Oxley wrote that piece to the effect of asking if riders are too young.
My own opinion is that yes, riders are too young to be racing 200+ km/h GP bikes on fast GP circuits.

They are teenagers, their brains are developing and y'all will know, if you have one, most of the time their brains are in the dirty clothes lying all over the bedroom floor, somewhere.
How we expect them to make good decisions around safety of all concerned, think forward far enough and preserve self, at 12-15 years old, is beyond me. Yet, that is what we are asking.

Perhaps the much debated starting age for senior road racing at 15 yrs of age in New Zealand has been the right position after all.

In the Asia Talent Cup selection invitation list this year, there is at least one 11 year old. That means he (probably a he) will only just be 12 when he starts racing 200+ km/h NSF250's in the biggest cannon fodder series around.
I think that is simply not kosher (a poor pun, I know, considering many of the ATC riders are Muslim).

There are longer term aspects to starting so young. It means that for most riders their careers as top level riders may be over by the time they are 21 and completely done by the time they are 30. The days of a Vale Rossi having a 25+ year career are, but the current logic, completely over. If riders were started later, say 15, then only allowed to enter Moto3 world champs at 18 then Moto2 at 20, then MotoGP at 21, then not only would the riders be more mature and have greater understanding of action/consequence, but their careers would be longer lived too. The entry level for national GP champs (Rookies, CEV, CIV, BTC, OJC, etc) should be lifted to 15 minimum. WSBK the same 300SS @ 18, 600SS @ 20, SBK @ 21.

But that last point raises another relevant point that has not been touched upon in the media or discussions.

The very existence now of these training series all funneling young riders towards the world champs has created another problem, which has no real solution I can see.
10-15 + years ago in the 125 and 250 classes, there were 4-5 factory bikes that only the best and most well supported riders got to race. Riders joined world champs in an ad hoc fashion, they found they were good at home, found the money and got into world champs. So, there were not that many of the best of the best riders.

The factory bikes were invariably out front and in two or three groups. The rest of the field was usually strung out with groups of 2, 3, 5 or so riders together. If you fell on the track, the odds were in your favour of being able to get out of the way safely. Shit still happened, but it was rare.

It remains rare, but the number of near misses is mounting.
Now the situation we have, is due to the number, sizes and popularity of the training feeder series, they are all producing riders who are all as good as one another. In addition, the MotoGP rules have produced bikes that are basically all the same. So, we now have the situation where 12-16 or more riders are chasing 1st place and often all arriving at the same point around the same time. So, the odds now, if the shit hits the fan, are increasingly against the poor rider who ends up stranded in the middle of the track.

On the one hand these two circumstances have created the close, exciting and thrilling racing at which we now marvel, but on the other hand they have created an obviously unsafe condition. Given that DORNA and FIM themselves have created these series and the technical rules, is it possible they have been negligent in creating and maintaining an unsafe work place?

As indicated above, for the second point, I have no solutions.

Anyway, just wanted to get that off my chest.

great post but the solution is simple, if speed is the problem smaller cc bikes or limit the cylinders.
Even back in the 90s all the 125's were basically the same racing was close carnage was common.
Same in WSB and proddy

[Autech]

great post but the solution is simple, if speed is the problem smaller cc bikes or limit the cylinders.
Even back in the 90s all the 125's were basically the same racing was close carnage was common.
Same in WSB and proddy

Limiting gear ratios is a great idea I think, stop them having monster 6th gears just for slipstreaming.
Will mean that the better riders will be able to pull away too.

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[F5 Dave]

Pit bikes on full ccts

[steveyb]

Another excellent post, but I do have to question that comment. Back in the day there was a serious death toll. Run off was non existent, stone walls and big trees were common. Gary Hocking, world champion at the time, retired because he thought motorcycle racing was too dangerous.

Yes, you are right, about the pre-historic eras.
I was really meaning the pre-Moto3 and end of 125 era.
I simply do not recall there being so many issues back then.
But maybe that is simply a rose-tinted glasses or age addled memory issue.

And really, this Red Bull Ring T1 is a bit of an issue eh?
Seeing a rider lose control, get spat off onto the track and then the bike and rider disappear from view, the view that riders approaching the scene have, is disconcerting much.

[Grumph]

great post but the solution is simple, if speed is the problem smaller cc bikes or limit the cylinders.
Even back in the 90s all the 125's were basically the same racing was close carnage was common.
Same in WSB and proddy

Speed is not the problem except insofar as they're all around the same speed - and have the same level of grip. Which is very high by the standards of the past.
So you get as we see, a group of very equal riders all going right to the edge of available grip. All the time.
Smaller bikes will simply increase the number of bikes in the group which won't increase safety.

Making them harder to ride would space the field out. As would reducing grip levels. The skilled would be in front of the simply brave...More power and/or narrower rims.

FWIW the same sort of thing happened in cars when they went to a 1.5 litre F! in 1961. Everyone was level for the period of that formula.
Then they went to 3 litre engines and the skilled came to the top again.

[Grumph]

Another excellent post, but I do have to question that comment. Back in the day there was a serious death toll. Run off was non existent, stone walls and big trees were common. Gary Hocking, world champion at the time, retired because he thought motorcycle racing was too dangerous.

You were aware when you posted this that he was killed in a car racing accident ? At that period it was a tossup which motorsport was the more dangerous.

[Dadpole]

If you managed to stay awake during the Moto2, then I congratulate you. After that ....Faaarkinell......

[mulletman]

Did wonder if HE was gonna get a penalty going into the green...didnt matter lucikly that He still had a good gap.
But bloody hell what a race

[Autech]

If you managed to stay awake during the Moto2, then I congratulate you. After that ....Faaarkinell......

I was dozing during the Motogp and was about to turn it off and finish it in the morning when the rain started falling.

Considering I had $50 riding on Binder at $21 you can only imagine how loud I got and the race went on. Holy shit! Couldn't get to sleep much after that, wife didn't mind being woken up to me shouting and screaming though when she found out why. Even without the bet I'd still be super stoked to have witnessed such awesome riding. He's pure talent, we should melt him down and bottle his essence.

Love ya Binder, don't ever change.

[roogazza]

If you managed to stay awake during the Moto2, then I congratulate you. After that ....Faaarkinell......

I copied highlights from ch 3 sport on Sunday. Watched Moto3 and the Motogp . But I dislike wet races and pit stops etc so lost interest !
Liked #20 fighting the fast doocatis with riding ability tho.
Will watch Moto2 maybe today.....

[James Deuce]

Don't bother watching Moto2. Just look at the results. Slightly more interesting than watching the race.

[R650R]

Moto channel had good clip of vinalies vandalism. Several distinct events what an idiot.

[pritch]

Speed is not the problem except insofar as they're all around the same speed - and have the same level of grip.

Agreed. Currently, if a rider gets seriously hurt, it's usually because they hit something or something hits them. The problem in Moto3 is the sheer number of bikes in close proximity, every one of which is potentially a lethal missile.