Not Dorna's. The MSMA's.
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Not Dorna's. The MSMA's.
There is no regulation forbidding the use of electric starters. They could fit an electric starter tomorrow (if they could do so without breaking the seals on the engines, which they probably could).
However, an electric starter weighs say a kilo or so. Add in a battery with enough just to power the starter, that's another 500 grams or so. Then try and find a location in the incredibly neatly packaged unit that is a MotoGP engine in a MotoGP frame.
Even worse, you have to subtract the extra drag on the engine an electric starter produces. It's not much, a fraction of a percent, perhaps, but that would be frustrating given that they've just spent a couple of million reducing internal friction of the engine, which the addition of the starter adds.
The main argument, though, is that under normal circumstances, the engine doesn't need to be restarted. The idea is that the bike starts the race and finishes without stopping. The number of crashes is comparatively few, and so the disadvantages of adding an electric starter would massively outweigh the benefits.
The idea may still be a good one, however. Given that the engine starts easily enough once a couple of pins have been inserted into the clutch, if I were Honda, I'd be investigating putting some kind of mechanism in place to be able to do this in the case of a crash. Such a mechanism would have the advantage of not weighing much, being simple to maintain, and not placing a permanent friction load on the engine. Whether Honda are looking at this is another matter.
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Thanks - I figured it was always going to be an issue of weight and space as opposed to a regulation preventing an electric starter. I also thought of having a mechanism to allow these pins to be inserted during a push start might be another option they could look into for just this scenario....Considering they lost valuable points from Jerez I would imagine this would be a matter of priority for them to look at implementing such a solution. Cheers
I didn't know that, thanks Krop.....
Very interesting that the Neck turning the head of the MSMA happens to be the manufacturer who spends the most, and has implemented regulated testing to 'save' money. I wonder if its motivation is to save money for teams or avoid having to spend much more for itself......either way I don't think anyone is 'saving' from such restrictions.....
As I have said, I have no problem with them testing, particularly since there has been no suggestion they are not testing at least the gp12 engine.
There is a precedent for dorna etc making stupid rules then having to/choosing to ignore them though, as was the case with suzuki and the engine rule last year.
If this testing is under a gentleman's agreement, and the gentleman's agreement has changed, and if the testing is potentially of benefit to the 2011 ducati, it may be the case that honda and yamaha have dismissed ducati as a threat this year, as was the case with suzuki last year. Alternatively perhaps they just want to be able to test their 2012 bikes themselves at some stage.
There is a precedent for dorna etc making stupid rules then having to/choosing to ignore them though, as was the case with suzuki and the engine rule last year.
If this testing is under a gentleman's agreement, and the gentleman's agreement has changed, and if the testing is potentially of benefit to the 2011 ducati, it may be the case that honda and yamaha have dismissed ducati as a threat this year, as was the case with suzuki last year. Alternatively perhaps they just want to be able to test their 2012 bikes themselves at some stage.
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Maybe, thinking out loud here, they had made this agreement in secret, so they were all on the same page when the info came out. So when the msma or whoever the .... rules the world now got hold of this info, they would have no real way to smack anyones ... for extra testing. If they smack one, they would have to smack all of them. Safety in numbers so to speak. Which could also be why the japanese havent complained yet.
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Thanks for the straight answer, i thought it was a legitimate question. Obviously, some didnt.
Which leads to my next question. If he [Paul Butler] is just a puppet, why does the rulebook pretend that he has some kind of say so, when all he does is play yes man the MSMA.
That is overstating the situation. During the race, Butler's authority is absolute and unquestioned. If he believes one of the factories have done something wrong they will be punished without mercy. However, if the factories agree among themselves, outside of the GP Commission, to allow extra testing for the 1000cc bikes, Butler will put his stamp of approval on the deal. The testing restrictions were brought in at the behest of the factories, and they all understand that the rule changes require more testing to be done. The extra testing affects only the factories, and so it is their decision to make.
In other words, this is not really a big deal.
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Thanks
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So do you think that the Ducati test was for 2011 purposes or was it purely for 2012?
Mainly for 2012. But only because the 2011 bike is so far off, so there's little they can use for next year.
Then why don't the MSMA publish a formal statement in order to put me at ease?
I'll tell them next time I see them!
Then why don't the MSMA publish a formal statement in order to put me at ease?
I'll tell them next time I see them!
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This does not make sense to me. I have no doubt that nothing on the 2011 bike will make it to the 2012 bike. I guess my question was, was the test to fix the 2011 bike for 2011 under the disguise of testing for 2012? I can not reconcile in my mind that they have given up on 2011 and will race the bike as is until the end. At 15million euro it is an expensive rider acquisition to give up 2 races in.
Now I would expect someone here to apologize to Ducati for arbitrarily insulting them (cheating etc.) out of sheer bias and prejudice... It would be something due, a matter of personal integrity.
As soon as it is made public that testing 2012 bikes is legal and Honda and Yamaha both do it and in the next month with factory riders I will consider it the same as Ducati testing and apologise for my comments. Until then no chance and my opinion stands the same and that is that the Ducati test was extra and illegal test to try to improve or modify the 2011 chassis.
To be fair, this does not seem to be an issue anywhere other than here.
