Cycle News

Cycle News 2020 Issue 24 June 16

Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles

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P108 CN III IN THE PADDOCK BY MICHAEL SCOTT I f a tree falls in a forest and there is nobody around to hear it, does it make a sound? The question forms a famous so-called "thought experiment," which—when first aired in an American philosophical maga- zine in 1883 (thank you, Wikipe- dia)—elicited a negative answer. No-one to hear it equals no sound. Which is a little bit difficult to agree with. Particularly if you have an imaginary friend, who might have been standing under the tree at the time. So, if a motorcycle race, for example the 24 Hours at Le Mans, takes place without any spectators, has it really hap- pened? American fans have already found out; MotoGP followers soon, likewise, starting July 19 per the newly announced calen- dar. And at Le Mans, we'll find out at the end of August, when the classic endurance race is due to take place in private at the Bugatti circuit. But I guess that since all the bikes have more than one rider, each of whom will presumably be aware of his teammates, then the race will be real enough. To them, anyway. So, it's real for the riders. For the rest of us, it might be helpful to turn the question around. A reverse-thought experiment. If a race is canceled without any spectators, has it really failed to take place? This time it is even harder to agree with the "No" answer. Sadly. The list of cancellations on the grand prix circuit grown longer almost by the week during lock- down, and the latest calendar confirms their demise—Japan, Great Britain, Australia and Italy the latest casualties, joining the already canned Germany, Netherlands and Finland. The postponed flyaways in the USA, Argentina, Thailand and THE GREAT GRAND PRIX THOUGHT EXPERIMENT

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