Michael Scott | May 22, 2024
Cycle News In The Paddock
COLUMN
The Go (Slow) Show
The trouble with MotoGP? It’s too fast. That’s not what World Championship racing should be about.
Sounds ridiculous? Bear with me.
Only relative speed matters. As in, “I can go faster than you can?” Or, in the deathless motto of the long-ago British Moto Morini 3½ series, “Why hurry a good race?”
MotoGP riders aren’t going for the land-speed record. They only need to go faster than the other bloke.
This was all confirmed at the Le Mans confirmation of the new 2027 regs, announced to no gasps of surprise.
New 2027 regulations were discussed at the 2024 French MotoGP. (L to R) Dorna CSO Carlos Ezpeleta, FIM President Jorge Viegas, Dorna CEO Carmelo Ezpeleta, IRTA President Herve Poncharal. Photo by Gold & Goose
Mainly, it’s smaller engines, tamer aero and no fancy squatting suspension. It’s all aimed at slowing things down. The rules were arrived at in consultation with the factories’ race engineers, obliged to achieve the exact opposite of what they spend their lives striving for.
There was worthy talk of sustainability, with reduced use of non-fossil fuel and such like, and some other matters, including a slightly puzzling decision to make every competitor’s on-track GPS data available to everybody else. But there is one really trenchant reason: safety. And not only because faster crashes are riskier. It’s because higher speeds require bigger gravel traps. And with spectators shunted even further off into outer darkness, that’s worse for the all-important show than slowing everyone down.
The measures met with cautious approval in the paddock. Cautious because of what happened the last time the engine size was cut, for the same reason. In 2007 MotoGP went from the rumbustious first-generation 990cc four-strokes (which included Honda’s masterly V5 and Aprilia’s deafening triple) to compulsory four-cylinders and 800cc.
It was a bit of a disaster. Speeds weren’t cut much, lap times not at all, but revs got higher, as reduced torque combined with restricted fuel and growing electronic interference killed the wheelspin and rear-wheel steering that made the 990s so spectacular.
The title went to Ducati, its first, thanks both to the cleverest electronics (this was pre-standardization) and the riding of Casey Stoner.
With huge relief, we went back to 1000cc in 2012. All the while, top speeds increased, and lap times shrank, despite dumbed-down one-size-fits-all electronics.
More recently, other changes impinged. Rapid aerodynamic development came first, starting with fairing winglets but sprouting out down the flanks, under the belly, and eventually on the seat. Then ride-height adjustments—at first just off the start line—but by 2021 several times per lap, front and rear. Race times dropped still further, lap records tumbled apace, top speed records likewise, year by year.
The downside, also increasing exponentially, was that reduced braking distances and dirty air made overtaking harder.
Apparently, some riders didn’t get this message, as fine close battles at several races this year attest. Others found themselves over-occupied, fiddling with ride height and power maps.
Meanwhile, front tires were suffering increased loads: more downforce allowing harder braking, until managing temperature and pressure became a matter for fresh regulation and punitive enforcement.
Thankfully, the new regs consign ride-height changes to history—a welcome ban—while narrower front wings (from 600mm to 550mm), moved back by 50mm, mean less down-force on the front wheel. It will go some way to reducing the front-end issues.
Handing back more to the rider. In theory, anyway.
But what about the power loss? The capacity drop from 1000cc to 850 is a 15 percent cut. But the maximum bore size, currently 81mm, is down to 75mm, a reduction of only 7.4 percent. This means the new cylinder size is notably less oversquare, and the piston stroke is only slightly reduced. Piston speeds, and hence the rev ceiling, remain similar.
This should avoid the pitfall of the shrieky 800cc generation, preserving a similar torque curve. Power will inevitably be reduced, but there is currently much more than enough, needing to be electronically tamed in the lower gears. Top speeds will suffer, but other aspects should not.
Will lap times be slower? The consensus of paddock opinion is that they will be, by a second or maybe two at first.
Top speed? A little, probably. At least the rate of increase will be cut.
Will safety, or the show, be improved?
This is a tough one. Corner speeds should remain similar, likewise the need for big gravel traps. This makes one wonder if it would not be easier to address corner speeds directly by reducing tire grip, using narrower rims, and using less grippy compounds.
One more concern. Doesn’t this risk Superbikes being faster?
Well, certainly closer—at comparable tracks last year, lap differences were more than two seconds, and a few approaching 2.5 seconds. Only at Catalunya was Bautista just 1.625 seconds off Bagnaia’s pole—on a MotoGP-inspired street bike-clone V4 Ducati. Raising fear of the unthinkable: production-based bikes as fast as full-race prototypes.
Never fear. FIM chief Jorge Viegas was reassuring. “We will slow down the Superbikes, too.”CN
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