Here is a fascinating article from GPOne.com. The line which caught my attention was the one in which he informed us that the 350 km speed Iannone achieved at Mugello is referred to in the aviation industry as “take-off speed.” He argues for 600cc prototypes in MotoGP, emphasizing that today’s bikes have too much horsepower–280–compared to the theoretical limit of 300. Which, in itself, is remarkable. Oh, and not enough downdraft to keep them from going airborne.
He goes on to explain that without the wings there will be serious wheelie problems and that it will simply be hard to keep the rubber on the road, as it were. This supports my recent speculation concerning our Mr. Dall’Igna, who, we believe, is designing a new front fairing that will include molded self-contained “winglets,” especially since it is his bikes that are most likely to approach a low earth orbit.
Hidden in the article, I believe, is the concern that MotoGP could have a year in which multiple riders lose their lives, and old F-1 kind of year. Which, I think, is a reasonable concern. Despite advances like airbags inside the leathers, it is still a frightening enterprise to consider throwing a leg over one of these engineering marvels.
Marco Simoncelli, who died at Sepang in 2011. The changes recommended in this article would not have saved his life.
What the MotoGP fans get now is huge speed and relatively little action in the turns. The reason the Moto2 and Moto3 races are so wonderful to watch is that there is so much action in the turns. Never mind that they can’t top 160 mph in the long straights; what gets people juiced is seeing them trading paint in the turns. The interviewee’s approached would appear likely to deliver, even if the bikes can’t exceed 180 mph.
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Obviously, after last year it is clear Yamaha, at least, will have to include some kind of rev limiter on their 2017 bikes. How cool would that be–a rev limiter that restricts the rider to no more than 18,000 rpm.
Tags: Marco Simoncelli
Late-Braking MotoGP 
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