Vito Ippolito Interview

As one of the biggest issues in racing so far has been the threat by the Flammini brothers to sue the FIM for breach of contract if they allowed MotoGP to use production engines, I thought the best person to ask would be the head of the FIM himself, Vito Ippolito. I was lucky enough to interview him a month ago, and I finally got round to posting it on the website. It's well worth a read (though I say so myself) and the WSBK vs MotoGP issue boils down to one thing: Homologation.

The way it works is like this: The FIM decides which bikes can be homologated, and one of the criteria they use is whether a bike is in production or not. If the bike is homologated, it is eligible for WSBK. If it isn't homologated, then it isn't eligible, and it may be used in other series if it complies with the rules there.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Kropotkin @ Mar 25 2010, 10:21 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><div class='quotemain'>As one of the biggest issues in racing so far has been the threat by the Flammini brothers to sue the FIM for breach of contract if they allowed MotoGP to use production engines, I thought the best person to ask would be the head of the FIM himself, Vito Ippolito. I was lucky enough to interview him a month ago, and I finally got round to posting it on the website. It's well worth a read (though I say so myself) and the WSBK vs MotoGP issue boils down to one thing: Homologation.

The way it works is like this: The FIM decides which bikes can be homologated, and one of the criteria they use is whether a bike is in production or not. If the bike is homologated, it is eligible for WSBK. If it isn't homologated, then it isn't eligible, and it may be used in other series if it complies with the rules there.

Thanks Kropotkin, that was a excellent read.

You've been sitting on this invaluable nugget of information for over one month?!

What I meant to say was thank you for cracking the secret.

Someone on your site actually said that homologation was the likely culprit. Nice to see that Ippolito has embraced the most liberal interpretation of prototype. Ezpeleta made it sound as though every critical homologation part listed in the WSBK rule book would have to be modified, but Ippolito makes it sound as though the modification of a single component will render an engine as non-homologated.

Honestly, I don't know if the Moto2 engine has any parts that aren't homologated in WSBK, but I guess the prototype frame renders the entire bike as a prototype?

Maybe WSBK engines with prototype frames will be legal in MotoGP?

Still a little bit hazy, but it's nice to know that everything revolves around homologation.

RSV4

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (SackWack @ Mar 26 2010, 04:36 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><div class='quotemain'>RSV4

Thats probably to make the reliability rule entertaining, don't they have conrod "issues"

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (mylexicon @ Mar 26 2010, 03:19 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><div class='quotemain'>Someone on your site actually said that homologation was the likely culprit. Nice to see that Ippolito has embraced the most liberal interpretation of prototype. Ezpeleta made it sound as though every critical homologation part listed in the WSBK rule book would have to be modified, but Ippolito makes it sound as though the modification of a single component will render an engine as non-homologated.

Ezpeleta has to be more careful about this than Ippolito does. Ezpeleta hasn't seen the contracts.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (mylexicon @ Mar 26 2010, 03:19 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><div class='quotemain'>Honestly, I don't know if the Moto2 engine has any parts that aren't homologated in WSBK, but I guess the prototype frame renders the entire bike as a prototype?

Exactly. Honda dealers don't sell Suter MMXs, and Honda/Suter haven't applied to the FIM to have their bikes homologated to compete in WSS. What's more, the bikes haven't been homologated for road use in one or more major motorcycle markets (the WSBK rules are fairly particular about this). That makes the Moto2 bikes a prototype, despite the engine coming from a production bike. The Moto2 bikes have a kit ECU (also legal in Superstock, I believe) and a Suter clutch (which is probably also legal in WSS, though I'm not entirely sure without looking it up), so they do have some "prototype" parts in the engines.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (mylexicon @ Mar 26 2010, 03:19 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><div class='quotemain'>Maybe WSBK engines with prototype frames will be legal in MotoGP?

Yes. But there will be a few problems, such as engine longevity.

Oooh. Hadn't considered that angle. WSBK engines tuned at high expense in order
to be competitive WSBK races - do seem to blow up and shower oil all over the track
with a fair degree of regularity. Though that might just be my perception due to there being more teams competing in WSBK

Mechanical failures in MGP generally seem to be much
less catastrophic - likely due to higher grade alloys and such employed in prototype
bikes. If a team were to run a streetbike engine (tweaked to whatever will pass for
MGP standards) in a prototype frame - one can only speculate to what degree the
reliability factor would decrease. Seems reasonable to assume that such a team would
be subject to the same rules re: limited number of engines per season. Might make
an interesting subject for the gambling set. How many superbike/prototype teams will
make it to the end of season without going over the limit?

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Keshav @ Mar 26 2010, 06:42 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><div class='quotemain'>Oooh. Hadn't considered that angle. WSBK engines tuned at high expense in order
to be competitive WSBK races - do seem to blow up and shower oil all over the track
with a fair degree of regularity. Though that might just be my perception due to there being more teams competing in WSBK

Mechanical failures in MGP generally seem to be much
less catastrophic - likely due to higher grade alloys and such employed in prototype
bikes. If a team were to run a streetbike engine (tweaked to whatever will pass for
MGP standards) in a prototype frame - one can only speculate to what degree the
reliability factor would decrease. Seems reasonable to assume that such a team would
be subject to the same rules re: limited number of engines per season. Might make
an interesting subject for the gambling set. How many superbike/prototype teams will
make it to the end of season without going over the limit?

I think WSBK and MotoGP actually have very similar engine materials. All moving engine parts can be replaced in WSBK. I think the lubrication system may be the major difference.

The reliability problems come from the top end really. Valve springs don't last very long and neither do the other moving parts in the top end.

Nice one, David. Thanks.

Was the WCM team ever very close to getting what may come in the future?

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Otis Driftwood @ Mar 26 2010, 04:02 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><div class='quotemain'>Was the WCM team ever very close to getting what may come in the future?
they were ahead of their time brother!