5 Ways to slow down MotoGP
Discussion
According to this - http://www.crash.net/motorsport/motogp/news/167745...
Would that not be slower but more entertaining?
Crash.net said:
1. Introduce a single control tyre.
2. Increase control of the throttle by the rider (by removing fly by wire technology).
3. Use narrower tyre rims.
4. A possible return to 990cc engines, but with a limit on top speed.
5. Stay with 800cc, but increase motorcycle minimum weight.
AS reports that the Michelin riders, who have struggled badly at the last two rounds, were unanimously in favour of a control tyre rule, with 'a majority' of the Bridgestone riders in favour.
Why not 990cc bigger bikes, but limit revs instead of top speed and remove all electronic aids.2. Increase control of the throttle by the rider (by removing fly by wire technology).
3. Use narrower tyre rims.
4. A possible return to 990cc engines, but with a limit on top speed.
5. Stay with 800cc, but increase motorcycle minimum weight.
AS reports that the Michelin riders, who have struggled badly at the last two rounds, were unanimously in favour of a control tyre rule, with 'a majority' of the Bridgestone riders in favour.
Would that not be slower but more entertaining?
catso said:
Why slow it down?
The link says that the 800cc bikes are cornering too quick for the circuits to provide enough run off and safe areas, ask Hopper about Assen and that wall that no one had ever reached before.So they are looking at ways to either slow down the 800cc bikes so that they can race on all the circuits without modifications made to them, we don't want to see chicane breaking up circuits. Or go another way with capacity, tyres or something else.
They want to race but to do so without visiting the trees if they go off.
Rawwr said:
Use cars!
Wot - as chicanes?
(only on the fast circuits, but I'm not opening that can of worms again)Why slow it down? Just limit any electronic aid that can react faster than the rider (i.e. when the rider does finally crash, human reactions won't be fast enough to save it if faster-than-human electronic reactions have been keeping the bike sticky side down up until that point, just as with cars).
And make the circuits more interesting - more gradients, more cambers, more three dimensionality. This is where bike racing has won me over compared to car racing as a spectator sport (participating is a different story - haven't got the balls to really ride hard on track, whereas I'm reasonably quick in cars, even tricky handling ones like 911s and Elises). Top formula (i.e. F1 and all series that race on their circuits) cars have ended up with flat, wide, technical circuits that don't look thrilling to drive or see driven. I'm not asking for more danger - I'm not one of these berks who likes watching bike racing for the crashes - but circuits like Cadwell and Brands rock compared to Silverstone.
The pic that castrolcraig posted at Cadwell with what appeared to be a northern circuit owner's discovery of antigravity, but he decided to put it to use on a race track rather than become the world's richest man and revolutionise physics and society, says it all.
Turn off the traction control and funny brakes and let the Gods who ride these things strut their stuff with human reaction alone. The winners will be the ones that complete the race.... there will be no incentive to make the bikes so fast that they are impossible to ride without crashing every time. To win, first you must finish (as many variations on the theme have been said over the years) and making the machines too fast for a human to handle will be counterproductive, surely?
I do agree that physical grip should be a reasonably level playing field though - either a control tyre or some regulation on size / compound would help.
After all, you could make the bikes twice as powerful and four times as grippy, allowing the machine to corner controllably at 10g acceleration, but the riders would fall off / pass out. Whilst engineering prowess is essential for the manufacturers to want to sell (win on sunday, sell on monday, etc.) - surely most people want to see the best rider win, not some also-ran on a computerised bike?
I stopped watching Formula 1 years ago because of this, maybe it's got more interesting these days, but I don't have the desire to watch it any more. Endless chitchat about pit stop strategy is less exciting than watching two racers swapping positions from corner to corner, whether it's a bike, a car or a bloody snowboard...
catso said:
Why slow it down? it's racing, besides almost every attempt at slowing it doesn't work; the switch to 4 strokes, the change from 990 to 800.
What next? give 'em all C90s, pushbikes, why not just ban racing FFS..........
What next? give 'em all C90s, pushbikes, why not just ban racing FFS..........
i agree..!!Why do they wan't to slow it down? Are the riders complaining? Surely that is what motorsport is all about.. Pushing things to the limit (within reason)
Is this obsession with slowing normal motorists down verging towards the racetrack too?
Fire99 said:
catso said:
Why slow it down? it's racing, besides almost every attempt at slowing it doesn't work; the switch to 4 strokes, the change from 990 to 800.
What next? give 'em all C90s, pushbikes, why not just ban racing FFS..........
What next? give 'em all C90s, pushbikes, why not just ban racing FFS..........
i agree..!!Why do they wan't to slow it down? Are the riders complaining? Surely that is what motorsport is all about.. Pushing things to the limit (within reason)
Is this obsession with slowing normal motorists down verging towards the racetrack too?
FourWheelDrift said:
According to this - http://www.crash.net/motorsport/motogp/news/167745...
Crash.net said:
1. Introduce a single control tyre.
2. Increase control of the throttle by the rider (by removing fly by wire technology).
3. Use narrower tyre rims.
4. A possible return to 990cc engines, but with a limit on top speed.
5. Stay with 800cc, but increase motorcycle minimum weight.
AS reports that the Michelin riders, who have struggled badly at the last two rounds, were unanimously in favour of a control tyre rule, with 'a majority' of the Bridgestone riders in favour.
When Michelin won all those championships for the past 20 years, no mention of a one make rule that I recall, they get pistol whipped and suddenly everyone wants to level the playing field, they should be made to suffer, find a better tyre like Bridgestone did last year, isnt that the point of competition?2. Increase control of the throttle by the rider (by removing fly by wire technology).
3. Use narrower tyre rims.
4. A possible return to 990cc engines, but with a limit on top speed.
5. Stay with 800cc, but increase motorcycle minimum weight.
AS reports that the Michelin riders, who have struggled badly at the last two rounds, were unanimously in favour of a control tyre rule, with 'a majority' of the Bridgestone riders in favour.
FourWheelDrift said:
Fire99 said:
catso said:
Why slow it down? it's racing, besides almost every attempt at slowing it doesn't work; the switch to 4 strokes, the change from 990 to 800.
What next? give 'em all C90s, pushbikes, why not just ban racing FFS..........
What next? give 'em all C90s, pushbikes, why not just ban racing FFS..........
i agree..!!Why do they wan't to slow it down? Are the riders complaining? Surely that is what motorsport is all about.. Pushing things to the limit (within reason)
Is this obsession with slowing normal motorists down verging towards the racetrack too?
Perhaps a little simplistic as it doesn't cater for ongoing development by the teams but the basic theory is sound.
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