Get Rid Of All The Tech?

[Yorick]

Stoner has a valid point. I'd love to ban it all. Rossi wanted it all banned as well.

https://www.crash.net/motogp/news/10415 ... them-slide

[mangocrazy]

Stoner is absolutely right, but I suspect the factories will lobby successfully to keep most of the electronic toys and most of the aero. The aero stuff should have been nipped in the bud early doors, as should most of the electronics.

I forget who it was, but one of the commentators made the point that anyone watching (without a stop watch) wouldn't know if lap times increased by 1 or 2 seconds, but could instantly tell if the racing is exciting or processional.

[Le_Fromage_Grande]

I'm torn, on the one hand, if it's about who's the best rider they should all be on the same spec bikes with no tech, in the other hand, if it's about building better motorcycles then it should be all the tech.

[Yorick]

The ride height shit will needs dumping.
It sort of stops being a motorcycle in essence.

[ChrisW]

Yep, wind it back. The tech has made it objectively less enjoyable as a spectator sport.

[Skub]

It's difficult to put any kind of tech cat back into a bag. Engineering is always on the march and rightly so.

However,in bike racing and Motogp in particular the balance has tipped towards software engineers,as this is now the way races are won or lost. A rider can only make a difference on the brakes and this carries an increased risk of crashing. So we now see lots of crashes,or processional racing.

How far do they go ridding the sport of rider/performance aids? Do they go all the way and not even have traction control,or would dialing back the aero and ride height devices be enough.
The bikes and even the tyres are designed around aero and the forces of the ride height devices,so it wouldn't be as simple as stripping all that off,the bikes would lose years of development and the teams would essentially start from scratch.

I can't see anything too radical happening anytime soon in Motogp. It's a prototype class and as such will always push the engineering envelope.

I voted yes,because I enjoy watching a race,but I'll not be holding my breath.

[Mr. Dazzle]

Its kinda surprising that it's got this far TBF. F1 had all this ~30 years ago, culminating in the active suspension, traction control, ABS and full auto days. The Williams FW15 is still the most 'advanced' F1 car, and that was in the early/mid 90s.

They realised its just a spending war and knocked it all on the head. Plus Ferrari complained. MotoGP seems to have failed to learn that lesson.

That said, F1 is still processional alot of the time.

[Yorick]

It's all banned in BSB and great racing.

[Cousin Jack]

Its kinda surprising that it's got this far TBF. F1 had all this ~30 years ago, culminating in the active suspension, traction control, ABS and full auto days. The Williams FW15 is still the most 'advanced' F1 car, and that was in the early/mid 90s.

They realised its just a spending war and knocked it all on the head. Plus Ferrari complained. MotoGP seems to have failed to learn that lesson.

That said, F1 is still processional alot of the time.

Maybe stopped some stuff, but F1 is still hugely expensive and mostly boring to watch. And the race itself is largely a sideshow, the real race is done by lawyers after the event, and that isn't even televised.

[Horse]

That said, F1 is still processional alot of the time.

IIRC (from a magazine article from the '90s ), the step change from racing to procession was when new [ceramic?] brakes substantially shortened braking distances, reducing overtaking opportunities.

[Bustaspoke]

I've heard it mentioned a couple of times recently that there's more electronics in WSBK than Moto GP.
From a entertainment point of view my favourite series is BSB,for the manufacturers entertaining racing is a bonus,but the priority is development
Here's a podcast with a electronics tech & a suspension tech,a good listen if you like that sort of stuff

[Yorick]

This is a good move

https://www.crash.net/motogp/news/10439 ... height-ban

[Supermofo]

Biggest issues as far as I can see are aero, ride height and holeshot. Remove them, leave TC, anti wheelie etc which you could argue benefit road bike tech.

[mangocrazy]

Aero is a tricky one. Race bikes have had fairings since the 1950s/60s and they can be regarded as aero devices. At what point does a fairing end and aero begin? Perhaps rule that no projection from the fairing body can protrude more than (say) 100mm?

Agree about ride height devices - ban them entirely. It can be argued (up to a point) that holeshot devices are safety related, but I'd still ban them. It would have the effect of reducing the speed that everyone piles into the first corner, which can only be a good thing.

The TC genie escaped from the bottle years ago - there's no putting it back now (more's the pity). All they can do is restrict it (number of inputs, processing power etc.) Enforce use of a 32 bit 386 chip, I say...

[Skub]

2027? Long way away.

Well,I suppose at least they are talking about change.

[Yorick]

Aero is a tricky one. Race bikes have had fairings since the 1950s/60s and they can be regarded as aero devices. At what point does a fairing end and aero begin? Perhaps rule that no projection from the fairing body can protrude more than (say) 100mm?

Agree about ride height devices - ban them entirely. It can be argued (up to a point) that holeshot devices are safety related, but I'd still ban them. It would have the effect of reducing the speed that everyone piles into the first corner, which can only be a good thing.

The TC genie escaped from the bottle years ago - there's no putting it back now (more's the pity). All they can do is restrict it (number of inputs, processing power etc.) Enforce use of a 32 bit 386 chip, I say...

TC is banned in BSB and F1.

[JackyJoll]

Tech? I’ll show you tech!

[Tricky]

I'm a bit conflicted on this one for MotoGP, as of course it is a prototype class, so innovation should very much be part of that class IMO- there are more than enough tightly regulated street bike-based classes.

Having said that, the aero/launch stuff particularly in MGP does seem to have got a bit silly over the last couple of seasons IMO, and I think that there is a real case for clamping down on that and some of the other rider aids.
So yep, I'm in agreement with Casey to an extent albeit I don't believe he was really saying "all the tech", as that would arguably would include quickshifters, which are of course still very much a feature in most classes, including BSB, and they shouldn't ever be outlawed IMO.

I know the OP was relating to MotoGP, but there is an interesting comparison between a BSB R1 and the road bike here-
It's a few years old now, but still pretty current ( in BSB and road bike terms anyway)

https://www.bennetts.co.uk/bikesocial/n ... -race-bike

[KungFooBob]

You know what would do away with the need for launch control and ride height/holeshot devices.... a Le Mans start.

[Tricky]

You know what would do away with the need for launch control and ride height/holeshot devices.... a Le Mans start.

Yup, or even better, fit them all with kickstarts and go back to "dead engine" starts like we had in the 70s/80s