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MOTOGP: Noyes Notebook: MSMA’s Cloudy Vision
Dennis Noyes comments in his latest notebook that the MSMA seems to lack a coherent, shared vision for the future of MotoGP.
Dennis Noyes | Posted April 22, 2010 Borrego Springs, CA
The ash clouds over Europe that caused the postponement of the Japanese Grand Prix may have given the MSMA (The Motorcycle Sports Manufacturers Association) some much-needed time to think. What is it that the MSMA really wants?
There was a time when the MSMA spoke with a single voice -- or at least seemed to. Back at the dawn of the change from 500cc two strokes to 990cc four strokes, the old GPMA (Grand Prix Manufacturers Association) changed its name and its role.
Originally, as the name indicated, the GPMA was involved only in the Grand Prix series, but in an attempt to create a coherent rule-making system, the FIM, Dorna, and IRTA (The GP teams association), along with FGSports (now InFront Motor Sports), and the World Superbike Teams Association agreed to establish parallel bodies, the Grand Prix Commission and the Superbike Commission to govern the two roadracing world championships.
The FIM and the newly-named MSMA would sit at both tables -- the FIM as the sporting authority and the MSMA given the privilege and responsibility of making the technical rules. Dorna and IRTA partnered with the FIM and MSMA in the GP arena while FGSport and the Teams Association did the same in the World Championships for production-derived machines.
The experiences of the promoters were very different. While Dorna was pleased with the original MotoGP regs for 990cc four strokes, the Flammini brothers 'fired' the MSMA midway through the 2003 season and scrapped the regulations that, although already approved, allowed extensive engine modification but then reduced performance by introducing restrictor plates.
The reason that World Superbike dumped the MSMA and its regulations was simply that of the 'Big Five' racing factories that were true participating members of the MSMA (Honda, Yamaha, Suzuki, Kawasaki, and Ducati) only one, Ducati -- the only non-Japanese member -- was actually committed to racing under the regulations that the organization had drafted.
As a result of the rejection of the MSMA rules, the MSMA leadership issued an angry statement saying that no MSMA teams would compete in World Superbike. That statement had to be amended when Ducati, obviously not consulted when the press release was made, announced that they were, in fact, planning to continue in World Superbike.
Now, nearly seven years after that day at Laguna Seca when FGSport announced not only new regulations but also the then extremely controversial decision to run a single tire (it would be Pirelli) in all classes, World Superbike makes its own rules under the supervision and stewardship of the FIM. The promoters consult with European representatives of the competing factories, but no longer accept any authority beyond that of the FIM.
MotoGP, however, continued to respect the authority of the MSMA over all matters technical. The contract between the MSMA and Dorna (and the FIM) runs out at the end of next season and, although there have been no open conflicts, it is understood that Dorna is only willing to renew this agreement if a means of filling the grid back out to at least 20 bikes is reached.
The MSMA members all committed to participating and the ultimate intention of the group was to have each of the five members put at least four bikes on track…two as full factory bikes and two in the hands of satellite teams.
Suzuki and Kawasaki were never able to enter more than two factory bikes each, but Honda, Ducati, and Yamaha picked up the slack and Dorna was tolerant -- until Kawasaki suddenly withdrew last winter.
Dorna were prepared to take Kawasaki to court, but a compromise was reached whereby Kawasaki raced a single bike ridden by Marco Melandri. Kawasaki’s other rider, American John Hopkins, accepted compensation and left the series. That left MotoGP with 17 bikes, including a black 'Hayate' run by a Kawasaki skeleton crew (and with no development of the lame-duck Kawasaki 800).
But the Hayate is no more and the grid has only stayed at 17 due to the fact that Ducati has added a fifth bike (The Páginas Amerillas Aspar Ducati ridden by Héctor Barberá) to go along with six Hondas, four Yamahas, and two Suzukis.
Rossi: “The change to 800cc was the biggest mistake in the last fifteen years.”
Valentino Rossi’s reasons for disliking the current 800cc bikes that came on line in 2007 are well documented. He hates the electronics, misses the torque, and dislikes the fact that the 800cc are more about high corner speed that fierce corner exit.
And now, although they speak softly, most MSMA members regret the move to 800cc as well because of the costs and because of the increased dependence on electronics.
The cheapest horsepower comes from increased displacement and at a time when all factories are suffering from the ongoing economic crisis, the 800cc bikes are just too expensive for private teams to be able to afford to lease.
That is the reason that Dorna has proposed a return to 1000cc and why the maximum bore of 81mm has been introduced for the one-liter bikes as of 2012. But it became known several weeks before Qatar that Honda and Yamaha were now proposing that the 800cc bikes continue for another five years (2012 through 2016) as part of a three-tiered arrangement that would include two types of 1000cc bikes.
The three types would be:
1. Existing 800cc under existing regulations -- that is unlimited number of cylinders with different minimum weights for different numbers of cylinders varying from 133 kilograms (292.6 lbs.) for twins to 163 kilograms (358.6 lbs) for bikes with five cylinders or more. The 800cc bikes would have no maximum bore. They would be limited to 21-liter fuel tanks and to a total of six engines for an 18-race season.
2. The new 1000cc bikes would be limited to a 81 mm bore and four cylinders with a minimum weight to be established. If considered “factory bikes” they would be limited to the same 21-liter fuel load and to only six engines for 18 races.
3. The 'Claiming Rule Teams' (that is, non-factory teams) would run 1000cc engines with 81 mm maximum bore, but would be allowed 24 liters of fuel and 12 engines over the 18-race season. The engines would be subject to purchase by other 'Claiming Rule Teams' at a price yet to be established.
Dorna will be patient with the MSMA while all this gets worked out because, unlike World Superbike, MotoGP is a prototype championship and cannot exist, at least for the present, without factory prototypes. The original proposal from Dorna was to eliminate as of 2012 the 800s, but now the MSMA wants the 800cc bikes to continue along with two types of 1000cc bikes not for a transitional period, but instead for another five years.
In fact Dorna would be glad to let the MSMA make all the rules if the organization would commit to stocking the grid with 20-22 bikes for a five-year period. That, however, is something that the MSMA cannot do.
In the past Ducati was the rogue (or at least non-Japanese) member of the MSMA. When the MSMA was pushing for the change from 990cc to 800cc, the organization was initially split with all four Japanese brands in favor and Ducati, the lone European factory, opposed. Now, with Kawasaki no longer taking part in decision-making, there are only four active players and for the first time the MSMA is truly divided with Yamaha and Honda pushing for a continuation of the 800cc bikes and Suzuki and Ducati said to be backing a move to 1000cc.
The postponement of the Japanese Grand Prix due to volcanic ash over Europe means that the Grand Prix Commission will have a bit longer, at least until the Spanish Grand Prix (April 30-May 2), to mull all this over.
The worry that the MSMA seems to have is that non-MSMA members like Aprilia (a former member) and BMW could supply full-factory engines to 'independent' teams and the Aprilia RSV4 and BMW S1000RR engines, allowed an extra three liters of fuel and twelve fresh engines instead of six, would produce more power than the factory 800cc and 1000cc engines -- and, if the electronics were state-of-the-art, these 'Claiming Rule Teams' could win.
There was a time when a careful look at the technical regulations revealed what the MSMA wanted. It seemed to the Flammini brothers in 2003 that the MSMA wanted to slow down the Superbike class by fitting restrictor plates but without really limiting development. And, like Dorna, the World Superbike promoters would have accepted that rules package (intended for 2004) if the MSMA factories had committed to fill the grids.
Now World Superbike, for better or worse, has gone its own way…and with seven brands on track (although there is some debate as to how many are true factory teams).
But the proposed and still undefined MotoGP 800/1000/Claiming Rule Team 1000 package seems to indicate that the MSMA no longer has a shared, clear vision of the future.
Bernie Ecclestone has said many times over the years that rule-making is too important in the business of professional motorsports to be left in the hands of factory engineers. F1 has gradually reduced the influence of the factories without driving them away, and has, without introducing a single supplier of engines, set increasingly tight parameters on engine design.
By comparison MotoGP is still the 'Wild West' with various engine configurations and, at least on paper, freedom to build multi-cylinder engines of five and more -- with no limit, at least with the current-rule 800cc bikes.
Unless the MSMA can reach a quick consensus and share a coherent vision of the MotoGP future, Dorna and the FIM (with the approval of IRTA) will have no choice but to take back the authority of rule-making, notionally returning this power to the FIM but with Dorna, the commercial rights holder and principal risk-taker as the driving force.
It is difficult to imagine how the proposed three-tier MotoGP class will eventually shake out because, for the first time since MotoGP went to four strokes in 2002, the MSMA, reluctant to surrender rule-making authority, no longer seems to have a clear vision of the MotoGP future. Perhaps they never did.
A 'Dorna' by they way, is a stout and virtually unsinkable Galician costal fishing craft. We will see of the company is true to its name.
link
Dennis Noyes comments in his latest notebook that the MSMA seems to lack a coherent, shared vision for the future of MotoGP.
Dennis Noyes | Posted April 22, 2010 Borrego Springs, CA
The ash clouds over Europe that caused the postponement of the Japanese Grand Prix may have given the MSMA (The Motorcycle Sports Manufacturers Association) some much-needed time to think. What is it that the MSMA really wants?
There was a time when the MSMA spoke with a single voice -- or at least seemed to. Back at the dawn of the change from 500cc two strokes to 990cc four strokes, the old GPMA (Grand Prix Manufacturers Association) changed its name and its role.
Originally, as the name indicated, the GPMA was involved only in the Grand Prix series, but in an attempt to create a coherent rule-making system, the FIM, Dorna, and IRTA (The GP teams association), along with FGSports (now InFront Motor Sports), and the World Superbike Teams Association agreed to establish parallel bodies, the Grand Prix Commission and the Superbike Commission to govern the two roadracing world championships.
The FIM and the newly-named MSMA would sit at both tables -- the FIM as the sporting authority and the MSMA given the privilege and responsibility of making the technical rules. Dorna and IRTA partnered with the FIM and MSMA in the GP arena while FGSport and the Teams Association did the same in the World Championships for production-derived machines.
The experiences of the promoters were very different. While Dorna was pleased with the original MotoGP regs for 990cc four strokes, the Flammini brothers 'fired' the MSMA midway through the 2003 season and scrapped the regulations that, although already approved, allowed extensive engine modification but then reduced performance by introducing restrictor plates.
The reason that World Superbike dumped the MSMA and its regulations was simply that of the 'Big Five' racing factories that were true participating members of the MSMA (Honda, Yamaha, Suzuki, Kawasaki, and Ducati) only one, Ducati -- the only non-Japanese member -- was actually committed to racing under the regulations that the organization had drafted.
As a result of the rejection of the MSMA rules, the MSMA leadership issued an angry statement saying that no MSMA teams would compete in World Superbike. That statement had to be amended when Ducati, obviously not consulted when the press release was made, announced that they were, in fact, planning to continue in World Superbike.
Now, nearly seven years after that day at Laguna Seca when FGSport announced not only new regulations but also the then extremely controversial decision to run a single tire (it would be Pirelli) in all classes, World Superbike makes its own rules under the supervision and stewardship of the FIM. The promoters consult with European representatives of the competing factories, but no longer accept any authority beyond that of the FIM.
MotoGP, however, continued to respect the authority of the MSMA over all matters technical. The contract between the MSMA and Dorna (and the FIM) runs out at the end of next season and, although there have been no open conflicts, it is understood that Dorna is only willing to renew this agreement if a means of filling the grid back out to at least 20 bikes is reached.
The MSMA members all committed to participating and the ultimate intention of the group was to have each of the five members put at least four bikes on track…two as full factory bikes and two in the hands of satellite teams.
Suzuki and Kawasaki were never able to enter more than two factory bikes each, but Honda, Ducati, and Yamaha picked up the slack and Dorna was tolerant -- until Kawasaki suddenly withdrew last winter.
Dorna were prepared to take Kawasaki to court, but a compromise was reached whereby Kawasaki raced a single bike ridden by Marco Melandri. Kawasaki’s other rider, American John Hopkins, accepted compensation and left the series. That left MotoGP with 17 bikes, including a black 'Hayate' run by a Kawasaki skeleton crew (and with no development of the lame-duck Kawasaki 800).
But the Hayate is no more and the grid has only stayed at 17 due to the fact that Ducati has added a fifth bike (The Páginas Amerillas Aspar Ducati ridden by Héctor Barberá) to go along with six Hondas, four Yamahas, and two Suzukis.
Rossi: “The change to 800cc was the biggest mistake in the last fifteen years.”
Valentino Rossi’s reasons for disliking the current 800cc bikes that came on line in 2007 are well documented. He hates the electronics, misses the torque, and dislikes the fact that the 800cc are more about high corner speed that fierce corner exit.
And now, although they speak softly, most MSMA members regret the move to 800cc as well because of the costs and because of the increased dependence on electronics.
The cheapest horsepower comes from increased displacement and at a time when all factories are suffering from the ongoing economic crisis, the 800cc bikes are just too expensive for private teams to be able to afford to lease.
That is the reason that Dorna has proposed a return to 1000cc and why the maximum bore of 81mm has been introduced for the one-liter bikes as of 2012. But it became known several weeks before Qatar that Honda and Yamaha were now proposing that the 800cc bikes continue for another five years (2012 through 2016) as part of a three-tiered arrangement that would include two types of 1000cc bikes.
The three types would be:
1. Existing 800cc under existing regulations -- that is unlimited number of cylinders with different minimum weights for different numbers of cylinders varying from 133 kilograms (292.6 lbs.) for twins to 163 kilograms (358.6 lbs) for bikes with five cylinders or more. The 800cc bikes would have no maximum bore. They would be limited to 21-liter fuel tanks and to a total of six engines for an 18-race season.
2. The new 1000cc bikes would be limited to a 81 mm bore and four cylinders with a minimum weight to be established. If considered “factory bikes” they would be limited to the same 21-liter fuel load and to only six engines for 18 races.
3. The 'Claiming Rule Teams' (that is, non-factory teams) would run 1000cc engines with 81 mm maximum bore, but would be allowed 24 liters of fuel and 12 engines over the 18-race season. The engines would be subject to purchase by other 'Claiming Rule Teams' at a price yet to be established.
Dorna will be patient with the MSMA while all this gets worked out because, unlike World Superbike, MotoGP is a prototype championship and cannot exist, at least for the present, without factory prototypes. The original proposal from Dorna was to eliminate as of 2012 the 800s, but now the MSMA wants the 800cc bikes to continue along with two types of 1000cc bikes not for a transitional period, but instead for another five years.
In fact Dorna would be glad to let the MSMA make all the rules if the organization would commit to stocking the grid with 20-22 bikes for a five-year period. That, however, is something that the MSMA cannot do.
In the past Ducati was the rogue (or at least non-Japanese) member of the MSMA. When the MSMA was pushing for the change from 990cc to 800cc, the organization was initially split with all four Japanese brands in favor and Ducati, the lone European factory, opposed. Now, with Kawasaki no longer taking part in decision-making, there are only four active players and for the first time the MSMA is truly divided with Yamaha and Honda pushing for a continuation of the 800cc bikes and Suzuki and Ducati said to be backing a move to 1000cc.
The postponement of the Japanese Grand Prix due to volcanic ash over Europe means that the Grand Prix Commission will have a bit longer, at least until the Spanish Grand Prix (April 30-May 2), to mull all this over.
The worry that the MSMA seems to have is that non-MSMA members like Aprilia (a former member) and BMW could supply full-factory engines to 'independent' teams and the Aprilia RSV4 and BMW S1000RR engines, allowed an extra three liters of fuel and twelve fresh engines instead of six, would produce more power than the factory 800cc and 1000cc engines -- and, if the electronics were state-of-the-art, these 'Claiming Rule Teams' could win.
There was a time when a careful look at the technical regulations revealed what the MSMA wanted. It seemed to the Flammini brothers in 2003 that the MSMA wanted to slow down the Superbike class by fitting restrictor plates but without really limiting development. And, like Dorna, the World Superbike promoters would have accepted that rules package (intended for 2004) if the MSMA factories had committed to fill the grids.
Now World Superbike, for better or worse, has gone its own way…and with seven brands on track (although there is some debate as to how many are true factory teams).
But the proposed and still undefined MotoGP 800/1000/Claiming Rule Team 1000 package seems to indicate that the MSMA no longer has a shared, clear vision of the future.
Bernie Ecclestone has said many times over the years that rule-making is too important in the business of professional motorsports to be left in the hands of factory engineers. F1 has gradually reduced the influence of the factories without driving them away, and has, without introducing a single supplier of engines, set increasingly tight parameters on engine design.
By comparison MotoGP is still the 'Wild West' with various engine configurations and, at least on paper, freedom to build multi-cylinder engines of five and more -- with no limit, at least with the current-rule 800cc bikes.
Unless the MSMA can reach a quick consensus and share a coherent vision of the MotoGP future, Dorna and the FIM (with the approval of IRTA) will have no choice but to take back the authority of rule-making, notionally returning this power to the FIM but with Dorna, the commercial rights holder and principal risk-taker as the driving force.
It is difficult to imagine how the proposed three-tier MotoGP class will eventually shake out because, for the first time since MotoGP went to four strokes in 2002, the MSMA, reluctant to surrender rule-making authority, no longer seems to have a clear vision of the MotoGP future. Perhaps they never did.
A 'Dorna' by they way, is a stout and virtually unsinkable Galician costal fishing craft. We will see of the company is true to its name.
link
