And so we come to the end of another Grand Prix season. As per previous seasons, the championships have been dominated by Spanish riders for no other reason than that the Spanish MC federation is doing a better job than any other country’s similar organisation in training and equipping riders for the rigours of Grand Prix competition.
But I do not intend to re-open the debate about Spain and what we should be learning from their example; I believe I have made my thoughts on the matter abundantly clear. What I do want to look at it Moto2 and where it currently sits in the scheme of Grand Prix racing.
When it was announced that the 250cc two stroke formula was coming to and end and that it would be replaced by a four stroke formula as the stepping stone below MotoGp there were howls of protests from just about any direction you cared to listen. The traditionalists bemoaned the loss of the two stroke bikes as they had done when the change to MotoGp had been introduced a few years earlier and there were dire predictions that dropping the popular “smokers” would backfire in DORNA’s face, especially as it became clear just what was being proposed for the rules of the new formula. Against the prevailing wisdom that Grand Prix racing should be a technological leading edge, the new regulations introduced, instead, a formula that was control everything. Honda was the only organisation with the money and the clout to undertake the provision of sealed engines for the whole category and, unsurprisingly, what Honda wanted in terms of the technical regulations they pretty much got.
What we got ended up being a formula where the only thing that teams could change was the frame and the suspension and its associated geometry. Why did they do this? Simple. The whole cynical exercise was founded wholly on the mantra of “cutting costs” A control formula would mean that the spiralling costs of keeping a top-whack 250cc GP bike on the lead lap would be capped and that would, it was hoped, result in bigger grids, closer racing and a continuation of the tradition of the middle formula being a logical stepping stone to the main game.
They almost got it right, except for the most important component of the arrangement, that of the new class being a logical stepping stone to MotoGp. Yes, prices were capped (though only the most gullible amongst us will believe that the teams aren’t still spending around as much as they did under the old formula); grids filled up, amazingly, as new teams, sponsors and riders flooded into the new, cheaper class. The racing was close and exciting (indeed, it was a motorcycling version of the speedway demolition derby for the first few years) and it provided fans with a host of riders and teams for whom to cheer.
But it didn’t take too long for the gloss to wear off. The bikes were SLOW, and still are. Despite WSS bikes also being a controlled environment, at some tracks a World Super Sport bike would lap faster than a Moto2 bike which was supposed to be a pukka racing machine rather than a hot-rodded street bike. The racing was inconsistent. You could win one weekend and finish 17th the next for no apparent reason. It was hard for spectators to establish a banner rider, someone for whom they could cheer every week. The first corner crash-fest that usually eliminated half a dozen bikes was fun to start with but it soon became predictable and lost its entertainment value. Because the bikes all had the same engines and limited tuning opportunities were open to the teams, the bikes all sounded (and still do) the same. Tinkering with the exhaust arrangement made a small difference but not enough. The bikes all looked the same. Even today it takes a real anorak to tell the difference between a Kalex and a Suter, for example.
Even more importantly, the only enthusiasts who were really going to cheer for Moto2 were Honda fans. Allowing Honda to provide all the engines and to pretty much dictate the technical aspects of the formula immediately alienated 90% of racing’s loyal fan base. Of what interest is a formula where every bike is a Honda if you are a Kawasaki, Suzuki, Yamaha, BMW, Aprilia or any other manufacturer’s loyal fan? Added to this, when the matter of how the bikes LOOK is considered, the fact that the bikes have no marque IDENTITY alienates ALL the fans.
But worst of all, it only took a couple of seasons for the real failure of Moto2 to sink in. The fact that it wasn’t providing future MotoGp world champions, or even riders who could graduate to “alien” status within MotoGp became apparent. Look at the list of former Moto2 champions. Tony Elias, Stephan Bradl, Marc Marquez, Pol Espargaro and Tito Rabat. Now, before somebody jumps down my throat. Marquez is in the list, but his inclusion does nothing to prove that Moto2 is the logical stepping stone to MotoGp. It wouldn’t matter what the intermediate formula between the tiddlers and MotoGp was, Marquez would have stepped up. What about the rest, though? Who of the list have covered themselves with MotoGp glory? None of them, that’s who. And I am just naming the champions from the class. None of the others who have graduate have made any impression in the main game either (except Marquez). The fields are littered with Moto2 graduates who are struggling in MotoGp.
Now, someone is going to say, well, hang on a minute, the only one of them that have gone to a “works” team is Marquez. True, but even amongst the privateer teams, the ex-Moto2 riders appear to struggle.
What is the problem? I don’t know, but I can float an idea or two. The first is that Moto2 is SO controlled that riders aren’t learning the necessary skills to enable them to ride a bike like the MotoGp bike that does require rider input, that does have a myriad of setup options, that does require a different mindset. I am not decrying their skill set. Every last one of them is a far better rider than I could ever hope to be. But Moto2 is not teaching them what they need to know in order to cope with and get the best out of a MotoGp bike. The racing is close (not as close as it was in the first few years of the formula) but it doesn’t appear to be developing “killer” riders, riders who are head and shoulders above their peers. Perhaps we are just in the middle of a “slump” in terms of available rider talent and this is exacerbating the problem, I don’t know.
For whatever reasons, Moto2 does not appear to be fulfilling its charter.
Now, let’s look at the current cream of the crop in MotoGp because here we can shed a bit more light on the issue. Who are the top riders? Marquez, Lorenzo, Pedrosa, Rossi. With the exception of Marquez and with the caveats listed above noted, the common feature of the other 3 aliens is that they ALL graduated to MotoGp from 250’s. They graduated from a formula that was effectively a prototype formula and where technical innovation was rampant. They graduated to MotoGp from riding bikes where the rider input in terms of setup, tuning and adjustment was vastly more important than what it is in Moto2. They graduated from a RIDER’s formula not an ENGINEER’s one, and that, I believe is where Moto2 has failed. Put any one of the top ten riders in Moto2 on each other’s bikes and the results would be pretty much the same. The bikes are too close in performance, too constrained in technical specification and too much like all the other bikes for the rider with true, outstanding talent to DOMINATE the class and prove his worth as a rider, not just the rider of the best bike. Time will tell what Rabat will do, but I predict that he will do no better and probably no worse than those who have preceded him.
But there is another problem, and, again, I am nonplussed as to what the solution to it may be. Moto2 is almost totally bereft of riders with CHARACTER. They whole grid seems to be filled with nice, well-groomed, presentable and totally boring riders. Now this is not specifically the fault of the formula; perhaps we ARE in a rider “slump” was I noted before. But excitement feeds on itself and multiplies. And Moto2 simply isn’t exciting.
In years to come, historians will look back on our era and, when the subject of Moto2 comes up, they will point to 2010 an 2011 as the high-water mark of the formula. I see no immediate prospect of it producing in the future the sort of excitement we saw in those two years.
What is the answer? It’s simple. JUNK Moto2 altogether. Ditch the stupidity of the “control everything” formula and replace it with a formula that encourages innovation and technical challenge. Allow, nay, ENCOURAGE, other manufacturers to supply engines and running gear. Yes, it will drive up costs, but anybody who believes that the teams are spending less now than they did in the days of the 250’s is living in a fool’s paradise anyway. Do we want a formula that IS a stepping stone to MotoGp? Of course we do. THEN MAKE IT LIKE MOTOGP. Expecting riders to graduate from the present kiddie bike formula and thrive in MotoGp is like expecting a club go kart racer to step into a Formula One car and succeed.
In replacing the “expensive” 250’s with Moto2, DORNA and the FIM have plainly missed the boat. It’s time for a change.