MotoGP 2015

[Oscar]

You both make good points but it is so very hard for me to give a damn about Moto2.

Also steveyb I'm not sure about it being big in "Europe". It's a massive deal in Spain with The Netherlands and France being a bit excited too, but I'm not convinced it has the universal appeal that the 250GP bikes had. Which were mental and looked fast rather than being over-ridden.

The last time I saw a 250 GP race the field was all Aprilia except for two Hondas (which were getting thrashed).
Also when was the last time you saw a 250GP bike being backed into a corner?
Moto2 racing provides a tremendous spectacle.

[James Deuce]

The last time I saw a 250 GP race the field was all Aprilia except for two Hondas (which were getting thrashed).
Also when was the last time you saw a 250GP bike being backed into a corner?
Moto2 racing provides a tremendous spectacle.

It just looks like they're trying too hard.

I loved the rapid fluidity of 250GP. Moto2 just looks like fat motards with fairings.

Aprilia is also a recognisable name. Zapwhipcocktini with a sealed Honda engine is not really that inspiring in terms of following a brand.

[pritch]

Toward the end the 250 competition was rigged - for want of a better word. The field might have almost all been on Aprilia but they were not all equal, one or two chosen riders tended to have better machinery.

[Oscar]

Toward the end the 250 competition was rigged - for want of a better word. The field might have almost all been on Aprilia but they were not all equal, one or two chosen riders tended to have better machinery.

Are you being rude about Max...?






But he's such a nice guy

[jasonu]

It just looks like they're trying too hard.

I loved the rapid fluidity of 250GP. Moto2 just looks like fat motards with fairings.

Aprilia is also a recognisable name. Zapwhipcocktini with a sealed Honda engine is not really that inspiring in terms of following a brand.

Moto2 looks like a proddy bike race. 250GP looked like a race bike race.

[roogazza]

Toward the end the 250 competition was rigged - for want of a better word. The field might have almost all been on Aprilia but they were not all equal, one or two chosen riders tended to have better machinery.

Aoyama fought so hard on a Honda in 250 (the last one,was it,that was run) ???
Though he hasn't clicked since,if my memory is correct?

[pritch]

Are you being rude about Max...?

No Max was gone from 250s years before their demise. If Aprilia were stacking the deck back then though, being an Italian wouldn't have hurt his cause.

[Crasherfromwayback]

The last time I saw a 250 GP race the field was all Aprilia except for two Hondas (which were getting thrashed).
Also when was the last time you saw a 250GP bike being backed into a corner?
Moto2 racing provides a tremendous spectacle.

Your memory is failing you. The very last ever 250 GP title was won by a Honda rider. And your mate is making you his puppet. Sorry, but I still prefer seeing 250cc gp bikes ridden to within a millimetre of their life than some CBR600 powered diesel getting sideways. 250 GP racing was often THE highlight of the weekend for me. Doubt I'll ever say the same about the 600 proddie class. Sorry...Moto 2.

[george formby]

TBH, when moto 3 is on I don't think about how comfortable my seat is. But yeah, 250 2t's. Nuff said.

[Oscar]

Your memory is failing you. The very last ever 250 GP title was won by a Honda rider. And your mate is making you his puppet. Sorry, but I still prefer seeing 250cc gp bikes ridden to within a millimetre of their life than some CBR600 powered diesel getting sideways. 250 GP racing was often THE highlight of the weekend for me. Doubt I'll ever say the same about the 600 proddie class. Sorry...Moto 2.

Mike’s puppet?
Hardly. He thinks I’m an opinionated git.
When the Moto2 thing was on the table, he told what the options were and I told him that the Honda option looked boring. I much preferred the injected two smoke or Aprilia RVX engine proposals. However, given the criteria for the class – team & sponsor interest, cost, feeder class, cost, close racing and cost, the option where HRC fronted up and GAVE the engines to the teams was the logical one. And I’m happy to admit I’m wrong – the grid is full, the racing is close and it’s a great spectacle.

What you guys are after is effectively MotoGP lite – factory prototypes in the support class. Put that in context – when the formula’s were changed, Dorna was faced with reducing factory support in MotoGP, so the idea of an expensive feeder class was ludicrous.

[steveyb]

I think that much of the dissatisfaction among viewers with Moto2 and the nostalgia for 250GP (y'all need to know that I have owned four 250GP bikes, was #3 NZ and currently race one, well when I get the time, money and motivation I do) is from followers who actually have seen 250GP.
I am talking more about the current newer generations of followers who have no knowledge of it. Regardless of the merits of either, Moto2 is the aspiration now for these young riders/racers/followers, and that is just the fact.
Frankly, any one of the current Moto2 riders (well the top 12 or so anyway) would wring the neck off a 250GP bike (and remember that many of them have, being ex-250 racers, Luthi, Simon, Wilarot, Corsi etc etc).
I personally favoured Harold Bartols suggestion (if I remember rightly, which is probably not) of a 250cc twin for the entry class and 500cc twin for the second class). But actually that might not have been as spectacular or offered riders the right preparation for MotoGP.
As for backing in, riders in Moto3 are doing now too, along with the leg dangle and also the new leg throw.

[McWild]

Full grids, cheaper, etc, yes. It feels less like prototype racing though, which is what GP was always meant to be.

Moto3 is a spectacle you don't find anywhere else. Single cylinder 250s going 220kph, under recognisable brand names.

MotoGP, need I say it, you don't get that sound or that power or the looks anywhere else.

Moto2 feels out of place, stock engines in almost uniform chassis, racing under teams that draw little emotion. I think it's a great idea for a class. I think it's not a great idea for a class that sits between the above two classes in the GP heirarchy. For what it's worth, I do think the bikes are cool, and the riders talented.


As for lap times between SBK/WSS/Moto2, that probably says as much about the tyres as it does the bikes. Would love to see a weekend of combined Moto2/WSS testing with control tyres, until that happens we'll never really know how the latest stock sportsbike chassis stack up against the almighty Kalex.

[roogazza]

Each and every GP I attend,I spend a lot of time the first two days,in the pits.
All of them MGP,M2,M3,are like a lolly shop for this old boy !

[george formby]

Full grids, cheaper, etc, yes. It feels less like prototype racing though, which is what GP was always meant to be.

Moto3 is a spectacle you don't find anywhere else. Single cylinder 250s going 220kph, under recognisable brand names.

MotoGP, need I say it, you don't get that sound or that power or the looks anywhere else.

Moto2 feels out of place, stock engines in almost uniform chassis, racing under teams that draw little emotion. I think it's a great idea for a class. I think it's not a great idea for a class that sits between the above two classes in the GP heirarchy. For what it's worth, I do think the bikes are cool, and the riders talented.


As for lap times between SBK/WSS/Moto2, that probably says as much about the tyres as it does the bikes. Would love to see a weekend of combined Moto2/WSS testing with control tyres, until that happens we'll never really know how the latest stock sportsbike chassis stack up against the almighty Kalex.

That's how I feel. It's great racing but not keeping pace with the other classes. Twins or triples. Whichever will bring the most manufacturers to the grid.

[husaberg]

Full grids, cheaper, etc, yes. It feels less like prototype racing though, which is what GP was always meant to be.

Moto3 is a spectacle you don't find anywhere else. Single cylinder 250s going 220kph, under recognisable brand names.

MotoGP, need I say it, you don't get that sound or that power or the looks anywhere else.

Moto2 feels out of place, stock engines in almost uniform chassis, racing under teams that draw little emotion. I think it's a great idea for a class. I think it's not a great idea for a class that sits between the above two classes in the GP heirarchy. For what it's worth, I do think the bikes are cool, and the riders talented.


As for lap times between SBK/WSS/Moto2, that probably says as much about the tyres as it does the bikes. Would love to see a weekend of combined Moto2/WSS testing with control tyres, until that happens we'll never really know how the latest stock sportsbike chassis stack up against the almighty Kalex.

Moto 2 if it were 750 twins that would be better on sound alone.
It would also allow a bit of a differential in chassis and engine configuration.