The insane numberplate f**kup

I'm old. Swedish. My English language skills are limited, so please forgive errors in text.

Used to race myself in the 1970-80. Then, bikes were required to have the starting numbers clearly at front and on both sides. Why? Because spectators should be able to identify riders. Quite obvious, right?

When Dorna took over World Motorcycle Roadracing Championships, created MotoGP, Moto2 and Moto3 (which, btw, was excellent), some claybrains decided that starting numbers wasn't required at the bike's sides, only at front. Meaning that spectators, at site or watching TV, couldn't identify the riders unless they knew the exact colours and patterns of bike, helmet, leather gear, etc.

I'm watching a race on TV. Six riders on red bikes and red leathers are battling. I have no idea who's who since I'm not an expert in exact paint details of bike or helmets. There's no number showing at the bikes' sides. If I'm lucky to get a glimp of the fronts, the numbers are nearly impossible to comprehend. Italic fonts, background and font colour almost the same, etc. Rides/teams can select nearly any font they like.

Meanwhile, riders are exploiting their race number as a trade mark. 46, 93, etc. But only die hard MotoGP enthusiasts can differ these guys from other riders in same team, same colours, etc.

I invited a couple of friends to watch Spanish GP 2024. None of them into motorsports. Both lost their interest after 5-10 minutes as they were unable to identify riders by numbers.

Look at attached images. A rider covered with ads, no starting number visible. Or a rider with starting number visible.

Im not too old, watching motogp regularly and having the same issue.
Guessing the spot for number is getting smaller as the spots for advertising are getting bigger.

Either at trackside, or in front of the telly, I follow the graphics on the screen.
It shows the number, the colour and three letters that identify the rider.
Its on the left hand side of the screen, when watching at home.

With MotoGP being MotoGP, they don't swap positions that much. And when they do, the grapichs will change.

Maybe you should have served a few more nubbar och korv

In my 50's.... wearing glasses too. While I agree that to the unpracticed eye, it's an issue, I've been able to follow through commentating and the constantly updated list of rider positions with numbers, on the left side of the screen. I genuinely don't have an issue with seeing numbers when the bikes are approaching head-on, as in this image:



However, some riders/teams try to be clever overdoing the design of their numbers at the expense of maintaining optimum contrast and visibility as in the next image with riders with Jack Miller's number 43, and in particular, Jorge's number 89!!

Times change and things with it. Some for the better and some for worse. To be truthful, when I'm new to a category of motorsport, if the action isn't particularly good, I lose interest very quickly since I don't know the drivers/teams.

Doesnt help when riders have similar numbers, with one making his look the same as his desired number:



In this case, Pedroa Acosta wanted 37 but he team mate was already using it. So, he just made his 1 look like a 7....