| Author | Message | ||
     Vagelis46 |
So if Ducati agrees to use the 2013spec MagnettiMarelli software , they will use the 24l and 12 engines, regardless if they win or not ? So why Dorna did not just ban the 2014 version of the MagnetiMareli software and forced Ducati to use the 2013 version , instead of introducing the factory2 category ? In that case , there would not have been this factory2 fiasco....... It doesn't sound right..... The Japs are afraid that Ducati might be able to use the Desmo's advantage in making Hp, and they are using the 2014 version software as an excuse......... | ||
| Jaimec |
The thing that gets me is that all three factories were invited to contribute but only Ducati did so. It sounds now like everyone is upset that Ducati will have an advantage. Well DUH!!! Dorna is playing fast and loose with the rules as DMG did with AMA Pro did in their early years. Look where that got them. | ||
| Trojan |
The problem is that it is knee jerk legislation at the last minute, and as David Emmett so clearly puts it, no attempt has been made by DORNA to make it look any different. Even the MotoGp web site has no mention of the new rules (yet). DORNA shoud just grow somw spine and say that as from 2016 everybody will have to use the spec ECU AND software as supplied by them, or they don't race. if any factories leave then so be it. The space they leave will fill with other entries. Maybe we will have slightly slower racing with less factories but it will grow again if the costs are less. The difference between Dorna and DMG is that Dorna are trying to bend the factories to their way of thinking, whilst DMG just threw them out by not negotiating with them. It may end up the same but I doubt it. MotoGP is too big to simply fall apart like AMA/DMG has done. | ||
| Jaimec |
Another very good article on this farce: http://www.motorcycle-usa.com/926/18096/Motorcycle -Article/STM--Changes-Afoot-in-MotoGP-Open-Class.a spx | ||
| Rocket_in_uk |
I'm tired of hearing how it's all about cost cutting. You don't hear the same said of F1. At least not to any degree similar as we do for Moto GP. The reality is, it's a series run by businessmen looking ultimately for a return, and a profitable one at that. And not a profit to benefit the sport, but line pockets. Like or not Ecclestone, but he's got the formula right. It's free to view in every damn country on the planet. In other words it doesn't rely upon TV money (like football [soccer]) to pay the price. If Moto GP were free to view. and presented well with all the viewing technology available used, the audience would grow massively and so would sponsors. More sponsorship brings a higher profile. As it is now Moto GP is practically unheard of to non motorcycling audiences, but the same is not true of F1. Sponsorship is the key. But sponsors require an audience. Meanwhile, without this approach it is left to TV to fund the process through making the viewers pay to view and selling the TV rights. Motorcycle racing is not football or boxing and it won't work financially on anywhere near the same scale. It never could. Rocket in England | ||
| Trojan |
I'm tired of hearing how it's all about cost cutting. You don't hear the same said of F1. At least not to any degree similar as we do for Moto GP. Actually you do hear this a lot in F1, and it is one of the main reason they are all running a spec ECU and software now (and where DORNA pinched the idea from I would think). Smaller capacity turbo motors and smaller wings are all aimed at bringing down the technology costs too, although I don't see how they will actually achieve that! If Moto GP were free to view. and presented well with all the viewing technology available used, the audience would grow massively and so would sponsors. That was the avowed aim of DORNA until last year, then it all changed. They have now decided to sell to the highest bidder rather than stick to their 'free to air' policy. They have always sold TV rights and obviously BT outbid the others in the UK anyway(and likewise for Spain and Italy with their pay per view systems now in place). Like it or not, pay per view TV helps to fund DORNA, and they put a lot of money into MotoGP, particularly to help smaller teams get to the grid. | ||
| Rocket_in_uk |
I appreciate there is a constant cost cutting in F1 but what I meant Matt, was to the point where the changing rules to do so do not seem to put the audience off en masse or diminish the racing or the competition itself. Thus the constant changes in Moto GP are always taking centre stage for the wrong reasons, unlike in F1 where the changes appear to settle in well and work. Rocket in England | ||
| Jaimec |
I don't see how turbochargers cut cost. Turbos add complexity. It's cheaper to build a bigger engine than it is to turbocharge a smaller one. Then you have to deal with power on and off turbo, the extra compression, and the heat generated by the turbocharger. That makes no sense. In retail, cars with turbos cost MORE than their normally aspirated brethren. How does THAT cut costs?? | ||
| Blake |
Maybe if you compare comparably powerful normally aspirated engines to their much smaller turbocharged equivalent, the cost is more? | ||
| Jaimec |
It just seems to me that added complexity = added cost. | ||
| Simond |
The new 2014 1.6 V6 turbo engines are costing teams over twice as much as the 2013 2.4 V8s. The complex energy recovery systems contribute to that cost but reliability is going to be a major factor in the early part of the season. First practice starts in about 8 hours. While concern about fuel economy is laudable, as long as we tax according to CO2 output the resource cost of building the bloody things is completely ignored......... hence the proliferation of these pointless hybrid cars. | ||
| Trojan |
My current car is a turbo twin cylinder Fiat unit (in a Chrysler/Lancia Ypsilon). It is incredibly efficient in terms of power and fuel economy, and means I don't have to pay any road tax here in the UK. This engine option is actually more powerful (and expensive to buy) than the standard normally aspirated 1.3 power unit from the Fiat 500. However........longevity is an issue that may crop up in a few years time after thrashing an 860cc car around for a few thousand miles, so I hope I don't own it by then  F1 just wants to be seen to be going green and using less fuel, even though it actually isn't at all and costs are much higher for engine builders and designers.  | ||
| Blake |
Don't they already burn ethanol? | ||
| Kenm123t |
Hmm may be I should get a fiat 500 for a tool caddy my E350 7.3 diesel van has room in the back bins lol | ||
| Gaesati |
Is this a motorcycle thread? | ||
| Jaimec |
We got off on a tangent there, eh? Qatar is coming soon enough... | ||
| Trojan |
Just for Rocket... ITV4 is to screen every round of MotoGP - the day after it is shown live by BT Sport. It is part of a deal insisted on by promoters Dorna to boost audience figures following the loss of the BBC. The ITV Channel has built a formidable reputation in motor sport, it's coverage helping to restore the TT as a world event, and has recently poached commentator Toby Moody from Eurosport to front its BSB coverage. The first round of this year's Championship, from Qatar on March 23, will be screened live by subscription channel BT Sport and fronted by Melanie Sykes. It is estimated that it will attract an audience of around quarter of a million compared with the million watching BBC coverage. But ITV 4, which is free-too-air, will add another half million. The show will be an hour long, commencing 8pm on March 24, and will be a mixture of highlights and a full length showing of the race taken from the circuit's RSS feed. So no need for Pay per view, but you get the TV coverage a day later than BT sports. You'll have to keep your fingers in your ears for 24 hours and avoid forums! | ||
| Rocket_in_uk |
Thank you Matt. I was this week going to purchase the Video link from Dorna. I'll be having a rethink now! Rocket in England | ||
| Trojan |
It seems that sense has prevailed in MotoGp at last.... http://www.motomatters.com/news/2014/03/18/factory _2_rules_adopted_for_2014_spec_so.html At least we now have the prospect of a standard set of rules for everyone from 2016 (I wonder if Honda will stick around for that long though....) | ||
| Vagelis46 |
OK...but still the 2014 rules are confusing, for example...... After 1 race win , Ducati has to use 22L of fuel ..... BUT when does Ducati has to return to 20L of fuel ? After how much success ? They haven't answered this , have they ? | ||
| 46champ |
Apparently they never have to go to 20L you only get punished once for success. Oh the next punishment is loose the soft tire. | ||
| Trojan |
Oh the next punishment is loose the soft tire. If they win twice they lose a wheel, although that won't affect the handling of the Ducati too much (It may even cure the understeer!). What I want to know is what punishment Honda will face if they win more than 16 times this year? | ||
| Vagelis46 |
hahahaha.... | ||
| 46champ |
Punishment there will be no punishment of the great and mighty HMC. They might throw a fit and take there toys home. Honda has been acting this way since the sixties. | ||
| Trojan |
OK chaps...predictions time Who will win in the desert this weekend? My prediction (for what it is worth): 1. Pedrosa 2. Marquez 3. Rossi | ||
| Crusty |
What I'd like to see is: 1) Rossi 2) Marquez 3) Lorenzo It's what I'd really enjoy; however, I'm making no predictions. Every time I predict a winner, I guess wrong. | ||
| Bads1 |
Marquez is saying hes not quite healthy?? Is it a stunt to make us think so..... a mind game to the other racers?? I'm gonna go out on a limb to say. 1. Marquez 2. Lorenzo 3. Rossi | ||
| Vagelis46 |
Great 1st day of the 2014 season ! 1. Espargaro 2. Rossi 3.Bautista Wouldn't this be a great race result ? | ||
| Gaesati |
Espargaro, Crutchlow, Dovizioso, Espargaro : A fantasy result I know. | ||
| Rocket_in_uk |
It's one heck of a long straight for Rossi to win it on a Yamaha, but watching him last year from the superb high grandstand view, chasing down position after position through the twisty outfield, was a pretty euphoric racing experience. If he gets away at the start he'd have a chance. But I only have his testing this season so far to weigh up how fast or not the Yamaha is. If it's improved from last season, hopefully caught the Honda a tad, the Yamaha could make Rossi a winner at Losail. That said, it would not surprise me to see the Ducati's spoiling the party should they find a blistering top speed on the straight and grip advantage through the outfield. Rocket in England |
