Should MotoGP be an open class?

[mjoekingz28]

Here we are talking about the best of the best in the world. So why not let them do as they please to get the best possible. If Ducati wants to have a 1200cc twin, Honda a V5, Buell a 2000cc V4, whatever, why not let the best innovate what they believe to be the best and race that?

It just kind of bores me to have every bike just about the same. It is nice to have the diversity of V4, I4, V5 in there but they should have no displacement limits or minimum weights IMO. Or are they saving reducing the limits for when they can no longer innovate and improve within the current limits and therefore must reduce some limits in order to make improvments to show success?


It is nice to have certain groups that are the same, such as Moto2 where they all have Honda 600s or the car racing Danica used to race in where they were all the same Hondas. That is nice to have in certain organizations to promote an equal playing field. But when we are talking about having the best in the world, I don't think it should be restricted so much.

 

[Trav]

About 30 years ago Rally cars did just what you propose. The B class cars were an anything goes and make them as fast as possible, they were driven by the worlds best drivers.

The cars would do Formula 1 speeds on gravel roads, lots of people died in these cars earning them them the nickname Killer Bees.
Great idea and scary fun to watch but they had to do away with them and rightfully so.

 

[Indydriver]

What you are advocating is a return to two strokes, because they would dominate. The manufacturers won't have it because they are essentially illegal on the street. The current bikes don't compare to the 500cc two stroke beasts tamed by Kenny Roberts, Freddie Spencer and Eddie Lawson.

 

[Trav]

You forgot Mick Doohan.

 

[rpn453]

Originally Posted By: Indydriver
What you are advocating is a return to two strokes, because they would dominate.


Not just that, but they might even be supercharged and turbocharged two-strokes! Might be interesting for awhile, but they'd probably have to eventually dial it back for safety.

 

[rpn453]

Originally Posted By: Trav
About 30 years ago Rally cars did just what you propose. The B class cars were an anything goes and make them as fast as possible, they were driven by the worlds best drivers.

The cars would do Formula 1 speeds on gravel roads, lots of people died in these cars earning them them the nickname Killer Bees.
Great idea and scary fun to watch but they had to do away with them and rightfully so.


Can-Am was pretty open too. Imagine if this thing had been allowed to develop more:

Chaparral 2J

I just got one on GT5 a few days ago. What a creation!

 

[dailydriver]

Originally Posted By: Trav
About 30 years ago Rally cars did just what you propose. The B class cars were an anything goes and make them as fast as possible, they were driven by the worlds best drivers.

The cars would do Formula 1 speeds on gravel roads, lots of people died in these cars earning them them the nickname Killer Bees.
Great idea and scary fun to watch but they had to do away with them and rightfully so.


Yes, but amazingly, they still had some regulations (displacement, turbo vs. N.A. multiplication factors, etc.).

Just imagine how TOTALLY out-of-control they would have been had they been truly and completely "unlimited"!!

BTW; the "Killer B's" ended the lives of even more spectators than pilots/co-drivers (all the MORE reason they had to be done away with).

 

[dailydriver]

Originally Posted By: rpn453
Originally Posted By: Trav
About 30 years ago Rally cars did just what you propose. The B class cars were an anything goes and make them as fast as possible, they were driven by the worlds best drivers.

The cars would do Formula 1 speeds on gravel roads, lots of people died in these cars earning them them the nickname Killer Bees.
Great idea and scary fun to watch but they had to do away with them and rightfully so.


Can-Am was pretty open too. Imagine if this thing had been allowed to develop more:

Chaparral 2J

I just got one on GT5 a few days ago. What a creation!



At the peak of the series, some of the Can-Am/Group 7 cars were doing faster lap times on the same circuits than the current (at that time) F1 cars!!

 

[Trav]

Quote:
Not just that, but they might even be supercharged and turbocharged two-strokes!

The 500's were hard enough to ride normally aspirated.
Racing is fun to watch and i love the competition but i don't want to see drivers or spectators die for the sake of entertainment.

Originally Posted By: dailydriver
Just imagine how TOTALLY out-of-control they would have been had they been truly and completely "unlimited"!!

BTW; the "Killer B's" ended the lives of even more spectators than pilots/co-drivers (all the MORE reason they had to be done away with).


I only saw them in person a few times in the early 80's but yes some spectators got crazy and got killed.
These cars proved there is a real limit to a humans ability to drive them, with no regulations whatsoever the team owners would have killed every driver in the circus.

 

[mjoekingz28]

Trav, thats kind of what I was getting at. You all hear about NASCAR talking about how they put on a show for the fans. That is what is should NOT be about. IMO, it should be about R&D, the machines should continually be getting better (sharper handling, more usable power, less weight, etc) Not a crash spectacle. While the machines get better this requires the drivers to get better so we have an evolution. However, I feel that making the machines more capable will not make it safer. Let's say they make the track ultra smooth, suspension ultra compliant and power as smooth as can be. This will just enable the drivers/riders to take it to the limit at a higher level. The only safety worries there should be in a motorcycle race is getting run over. It is not like car racing where there are walls to smack into, they make run off with sand. But I know what you're saying, back in the day the specs would just sit on the edge of the corners like they do at bicycle races nowadays.


When R&D takes the driver's seat and becomes the purpose of racing, the entertainment factor will naturally follow.

 

[dubie2003]

A lot of the specs are written so that it keeps the teams with unlimited money and teams that are dirt poor on the same playing field. The guy with the money can always pay for 20-30 motors and R/D work on them all and a lot of carbon fiber panels and brakes while the dirt poor guy has what he has. Keeping tight regulations lets them all play in the same class.

I do like the idea of an all-out class thou. Maybe not a full-time season or etc... but more of an exbition of sorts. It would be nice to see what a team can do if they are given no limits or very lax limits.