‘I'll fight tooth and nail not to have traction control in Moto2!’

[weeksy]

When Triumph took over from Honda as the exclusive Moto2 engine supplier in 2019, the class also received a new MotoGP style Magneti-Marelli ECU.

The aim was to better prepare intermediate-class riders for the kind of advanced electronics they would need to master in MotoGP.

But that doesn’t mean Moto2 got access to all the electronic gadgets possible from the ECU.

While a variety of pre-set torque maps and engine braking could now be chosen, a conscious decision was taken not to provide Moto2 with the most well-known electronic aid of all; traction control.

Part of the reason was to limit costs and complexity, with MotoGP’s Director of Technology Corrado Cecchinelli telling Crash.net at the time: “Traction control is one of the most famous and effective strategies but unfortunately it's one of the most difficult to tune.”

Cecchinelli added: "We didn't introduce traction control because we count on proper engine tuning to make it rideable and we don’t want to add too much complication from the beginning.

“[But] it's one of the strategies we could introduce at some time [in the future] if needed, which means if it's needed on track and if it's needed in the rider training process, as one more thing to learn before moving up to MotoGP.”

But as Triumph prepares for its fifth season of Moto2 in 2023, the British manufacturer hopes that ‘TC’ continues to stay away.

When Triumph took over from Honda as the exclusive Moto2 engine supplier in 2019, the class also received a new MotoGP style Magneti-Marelli ECU.

The aim was to better prepare intermediate-class riders for the kind of advanced electronics they would need to master in MotoGP.

But that doesn’t mean Moto2 got access to all the electronic gadgets possible from the ECU.

While a variety of pre-set torque maps and engine braking could now be chosen, a conscious decision was taken not to provide Moto2 with the most well-known electronic aid of all; traction control.

“The whole concept of Moto2 really is as a feeder class - and you just have to look at the MotoGP field, [almost] every single one of them [except Jack Miller] has learnt their trade on a Moto2 bike.

“It’s about the [rider’s] wrist. So basically the amount of power that we’ve got, the characteristic of the engine and how the bike is performing is not just a guess, it's actually been worked out: This is what we need to make the bike [feel] very similar to a MotoGP bike.

“For example, I spoke with numerous guys, including Bezzecchi. And he said to me, ‘when I went from Moto3 to Moto2, I really struggled’. But going from the Triumph era of Moto2 to MotoGP he said was very easy.

[Skub]

It's a difficult balancing act. Technology can rarely be put back in the box once applied.

There are arguments for 'old school rider makes the difference' and equally so that things inevitably move on and although rider aids are employed,the modern rider needs to be good at so much to fully exploit the tech. Watching the onboard camera showing the busy thumb pressing and pulling switches for rider height etc looks like hard work.

For better,or worse technology is always advancing and that's basically what engineers do,I can't see there being any less of it,no matter who fights tooth and nail.

[wull]

All they need to do is get Yorick in to tutor them as his right hand is as good as any traction control system, apparently

[Yorick]

TC is banned in BSB. Hasn't done any harm.