Joined Feb 2007
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Rovrum S,Yorks Eng
Dennis Noyes looks at how electronics aids have changed the game in MotoGP and other roadracing series and what some are doing (and what some aren't) to fight back.
Dennis Noyes | Posted September 06, 2011 Hoopeston, IL
In 2012 the British Superbike Championship will run without traction control, without launch control, without auto-blipping, without closed loop fueling, without anti-wheelie and without anti-jerk -- without all the electronic strategies intended to increase efficiency and (arguably) rider safety. All have been axed.
This was not done hastily or without wide consultation. The use of a standard ECU has been tested for the last two seasons (2010 and 2011) in the EVO class, a 1000cc racing category that shared the two-tiered grid with full-blown BSB Superbikes. The decision, reached by BSB technical authorities under the direction of Stuart Higgs, was taken after discussions with British Superbike teams and input from outside consultants.
I have been following all this for several months, hopeful that the leaders of Europe’s leading national Superbike series would have the courage to the make rule change that 80% of fans recently replying to a Motorcycle Sport magazine (Great Britain) poll have said they want at the Superbike level.
Even as recently as the USGP at Laguna Seca, Higgs, present as an FIM steward, would not go on record as saying that TC would be completely banned. There was a proposal to allow some sort of 'safety net' TC that would react to sudden wheelspin but would not be informed by any form of inclination input. The idea behind the proposal was to maintain safety standards similar to those in place in '11 in the British Superbike class and to avoid possible litigation in case a rider, accustomed to traction control from past seasons, were to suffer injury due to a crash that would have been avoided by electronics.
The final decision, however, was an outright ban on traction control and the success or failure of this move could have far-reaching influence on other national championships. And those who favor an electronics ban in World Superbike will also be keeping tabs of the quality of the racing in the BSB in 2012.
MotoGP fans who support a ban on TC should not get their hopes up, however, because the manufacturers have made it abundantly clear to Dorna that they are determined to continue development of electronic rider aids in the premier series and that a ban like the one that will be in effect in the BSB next year would make them have to reconsider their involvement in the series -- a stern warning to Dorna in a series that has only 17 machines on track at the start of most races this season.
lots more to read page 1/4
http://moto-racing.speedtv.com/article/motogp-noyes-notebook-broke-dumbing-down-or-wising-up-pt-i/
Dennis Noyes | Posted September 06, 2011 Hoopeston, IL
In 2012 the British Superbike Championship will run without traction control, without launch control, without auto-blipping, without closed loop fueling, without anti-wheelie and without anti-jerk -- without all the electronic strategies intended to increase efficiency and (arguably) rider safety. All have been axed.
This was not done hastily or without wide consultation. The use of a standard ECU has been tested for the last two seasons (2010 and 2011) in the EVO class, a 1000cc racing category that shared the two-tiered grid with full-blown BSB Superbikes. The decision, reached by BSB technical authorities under the direction of Stuart Higgs, was taken after discussions with British Superbike teams and input from outside consultants.
I have been following all this for several months, hopeful that the leaders of Europe’s leading national Superbike series would have the courage to the make rule change that 80% of fans recently replying to a Motorcycle Sport magazine (Great Britain) poll have said they want at the Superbike level.
Even as recently as the USGP at Laguna Seca, Higgs, present as an FIM steward, would not go on record as saying that TC would be completely banned. There was a proposal to allow some sort of 'safety net' TC that would react to sudden wheelspin but would not be informed by any form of inclination input. The idea behind the proposal was to maintain safety standards similar to those in place in '11 in the British Superbike class and to avoid possible litigation in case a rider, accustomed to traction control from past seasons, were to suffer injury due to a crash that would have been avoided by electronics.
The final decision, however, was an outright ban on traction control and the success or failure of this move could have far-reaching influence on other national championships. And those who favor an electronics ban in World Superbike will also be keeping tabs of the quality of the racing in the BSB in 2012.
MotoGP fans who support a ban on TC should not get their hopes up, however, because the manufacturers have made it abundantly clear to Dorna that they are determined to continue development of electronic rider aids in the premier series and that a ban like the one that will be in effect in the BSB next year would make them have to reconsider their involvement in the series -- a stern warning to Dorna in a series that has only 17 machines on track at the start of most races this season.
lots more to read page 1/4
http://moto-racing.speedtv.com/article/motogp-noyes-notebook-broke-dumbing-down-or-wising-up-pt-i/
