Hayden has an epiphany - Page 5

 

Dr Ivan D. "Tiny" Reid wrote:


Well, everything is relative, I suppose...

 

Sitting out on the deck in the warm California sunshine and doing some
race reading, and I came across something sort of related to the larger
topic here. Kevin Cameron writing in the 2006 Motocourse on MotoGP
machinery development and electronics at the end of the 990 era and
before the 800s had defined themselves at all:

"The rideability of the 990s has intensified competition. Instead of
one, two or very rarely three possible contenders of the 500cc era,
there are now nine riders in close contention. This underscores Jeremy
Burgess' statement that future MotoGP champions will not come from the
apparently similar four-stroke Superbike classes, but from 125 and 250
GP. Uniquely in these classes, riders learn the tactics of hand-to-hand
racing among closely-matched rivals. These champions have prevailed by
being willing to 'engage the enemy more closely', to invoke the famous
British naval signal. Those are just the skills and attitudes necessary
in the new MotoGP environment of close competition.

"Now that will be saved from the putative excessive speeds of the
current 990cc machines, what can we expect? Ducati factory rider Loris
Capiossi said at Laguna Seca that he expected the smaller engines to
work harder for their power, and to therefore have correspondingly
narrower torque curves. They would, he predicted, be harder to ride, and
he added, 'I am looking forward to it'."

So Burgess was right in his prediction, with 14 of the 17 riders in 2010
coming from 250 GP, and 13 of those 14 from 125 GP. But the reason
Cameron gives is entirely wrong, it seems, as there is in fact less
infighting and overtaking in 800 than there was in 990, and the field
tends to be very stretched out. The developed skills they seem to be
utilizing relate more to cornering lines and speed than to battle skills
and tactics. And of course it gets to be kind of tough to claim 250 has
had more close-in fighting than WSB in recent years anyway.

Cameron closes with this:

"MotoGP 990s are the best racing motorcycles that have ever existed, and
they prove that racing does indeed improve the breed. While some deplore
the 'lack of drama' in smooth, reliable corner exits by a cluster of
riders in close contention, most will realize that the gains far
outweigh the loss of frightening near-high-sides - more riders in the
lead group, greater rider safety, and genuine engineering progress for
motorcycling as a whole. The 800cc machines to come will extend rather
than abandon those gains."

Hmm. While there definitely is truth in what he says, I think he'd
probably say something just a bit different today.