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MotoGP
MOTOGP: Noyes’ Notebook - Assen Takeaway
Dennis Noyes reflects on 'irresponsible' riding, crash-damaged engines, and defective tires at Assen.
There were several varied and big stories to come out of Assen on Saturday:
The long-awaited Gran Prix Commission meeting produced little other than the anticipated revocation of the “Rookie Rule,” the imposition of a limit of four “works” bikes per factory, and a first step toward a freeze on engine development.
Factories are required to report to the Technical Director the current bore and stroke of their MotoGP engines and are banned from making any changes in these dimensions until the end of the 2014 season. (Without a freeze on the combustion chamber dimensions, very little is actually 'frozen.') The proposal to limit teams to one bike per rider was rejected as was the ban on non-ferrous brake discs in MotoGP. Gearboxes were limited to a maximum of 24 possible gear ratios and four possible ratios for the primary gear.
The bigger questions concerning a rev limit and a standard UCU were not even mentioned in the brief FIM release. The clock is ticking and Dorna has advised the MSMA that, if no satisfactory timetable for introducing these changes is established 'soon,' that Dorna will propose these changes unilaterally.
Honda’s Shuhei Nakamoto, race boss and HRC V.P., has been quoted in several interviews saying that if Dorna imposes the new rules package before 2015 that Honda will withdraw from the championship.
Dorna's CEO, Carmelo Ezpeleta, has said that he will do whatever he has to do to assure the sustainability of the MotoGP class and that, although he is confident that all factories will continue and that new ones will join the series, he understands that factories come and go, but that championships continue because they are not dependent on factories, but rather on strong team structures.
Major Tire Problems: Several riders had major and dangerous tire problems during the MotoGP race. Valentino Rossi pitted during the race to replace a badly chunked rear tire on his Ducati and Ben Spies had to back off from his dice for third place with Andrea Dovizioso after his rear Bridgestone began to chunk. Nicky Hayden managed to bring his Ducati home sixth in spite of similar but milder tire problems.
Bridgestone announced after the race that they were sending several tires, including the chunked tires, back to Tokyo for immediate evaluation. The tires that chunked were the harder option rears. There is concern that these may be defective tires.
With back-to-back races coming up at Sachsenring (Germany) and Mugello (Italy), there is logical concern about the tires that will be used in these up-coming races. (Mugello has the fastest straight on the calendar.)
Before the race Andrea Dovizioso said, “no one will use the soft rear tires here.” But Honda somehow made them work, as Stoner and Pedrosa finished first and second using the asymmetric softer rear tires. Pedrosa, in the post-race press conference, theorized that the probable cause of the many crashes in MotoGP over the weekend is the new '30-series' Bridgestone front.
All-in-all, it was a terrible weekend for Bridgestone. The Japanese tire giant has sought in 2012 to develop a breed of tires that warm up quickly and that will work for a wide range of machines -- from the most powerful factory bikes to the most humble of the CRTs.
The long-awaited Gran Prix Commission meeting produced little other than the anticipated revocation of the “Rookie Rule,” the imposition of a limit of four “works” bikes per factory, and a first step toward a freeze on engine development.
Factories are required to report to the Technical Director the current bore and stroke of their MotoGP engines and are banned from making any changes in these dimensions until the end of the 2014 season. (Without a freeze on the combustion chamber dimensions, very little is actually 'frozen.') The proposal to limit teams to one bike per rider was rejected as was the ban on non-ferrous brake discs in MotoGP. Gearboxes were limited to a maximum of 24 possible gear ratios and four possible ratios for the primary gear.
The bigger questions concerning a rev limit and a standard UCU were not even mentioned in the brief FIM release. The clock is ticking and Dorna has advised the MSMA that, if no satisfactory timetable for introducing these changes is established 'soon,' that Dorna will propose these changes unilaterally.
Honda’s Shuhei Nakamoto, race boss and HRC V.P., has been quoted in several interviews saying that if Dorna imposes the new rules package before 2015 that Honda will withdraw from the championship.
Dorna's CEO, Carmelo Ezpeleta, has said that he will do whatever he has to do to assure the sustainability of the MotoGP class and that, although he is confident that all factories will continue and that new ones will join the series, he understands that factories come and go, but that championships continue because they are not dependent on factories, but rather on strong team structures.
Major Tire Problems: Several riders had major and dangerous tire problems during the MotoGP race. Valentino Rossi pitted during the race to replace a badly chunked rear tire on his Ducati and Ben Spies had to back off from his dice for third place with Andrea Dovizioso after his rear Bridgestone began to chunk. Nicky Hayden managed to bring his Ducati home sixth in spite of similar but milder tire problems.
Bridgestone announced after the race that they were sending several tires, including the chunked tires, back to Tokyo for immediate evaluation. The tires that chunked were the harder option rears. There is concern that these may be defective tires.
With back-to-back races coming up at Sachsenring (Germany) and Mugello (Italy), there is logical concern about the tires that will be used in these up-coming races. (Mugello has the fastest straight on the calendar.)
Before the race Andrea Dovizioso said, “no one will use the soft rear tires here.” But Honda somehow made them work, as Stoner and Pedrosa finished first and second using the asymmetric softer rear tires. Pedrosa, in the post-race press conference, theorized that the probable cause of the many crashes in MotoGP over the weekend is the new '30-series' Bridgestone front.
All-in-all, it was a terrible weekend for Bridgestone. The Japanese tire giant has sought in 2012 to develop a breed of tires that warm up quickly and that will work for a wide range of machines -- from the most powerful factory bikes to the most humble of the CRTs.
Grand Prix of The France
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