Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/1433357
VOLUME 58 ISSUE 48 NOVEMBER 30, 2021 P119 FIM MiniGP series ride 155.5cc four-speed Ohvale bikes on karting tracks, and slot in below the various feeder series—CEV Repsol Moto3 "Junior World Championship," Red Bull Rook- ies Cup and the various national Talent Cups. Typically, in these junior races, as in Moto3, gangs of 15 or more circulate on the ragged edge within touching distance. It's scary. One down, and it's pure chance if he or she doesn't take several more with them. What happens next is blind luck. In the Moto3 race at COTA, by sheer miracle, Pedro Acosta, Jeremy Alcoba and Andrea Mi- gno collided at top speed, and walked away unhurt. It's not always like that. The 2021 victims were 18-year- old Jason Dupasquier, a Moto3 rider killed in qualifying for the Italian GP at Mugello, 14-year-old Hugo Millan at Aragon Motorland in a European Talent Cup round and 15-year-old Supersport 300 rider Dean Berta Vinales, at Jerez. In each case, the rider fell, and was then hit by at least one following rider. This is how most racing fatalities occur. It's the one thing safety equipment can- not mitigate. How to split up these lethal groups? Allowing more tun- ing would create a difference that good riders could exploit. Engines with narrower power bands (like the old two-strokes) would be more difficult to ride, giving better riders the means to escape from lesser talented rivals presently able to stay with them. But this goes against every- thing Dorna have done in racing over the past 10 years and more. The full thrust of regulations in every class, from MiniGP to MotoGP, has been standardiza- tion of equipment, specifically electronics and tires, and dumb- ing down the technology. We have a generation of bikes with very similar overall performance. Identical in Moto2, and in those one-make junior talent cups. The outer limits have been brought back within reach of more ordinary mortals, and it is no wonder that the racing is so very (often terrifyingly) close. It's a great show. But it can be argued that by putting show business above other consider- ations, Dorna and the FIM are neglecting their duty of care. For while adults must be trusted to take responsibility for their own safety, extending this facility to those not yet considered old enough to vote, or (at the most junior level) even to have crimi- nal responsibility, needs to be questioned. A scrambled Permanent Bu- reau meeting in October rushed through some amelioration: the most significant being raised age limits pretty much across the board (though not for the 10-year-olds), and marginally reduced grid numbers, which is at least something. Though it is hard to understand why from 2023 Moto3 riders in the world championship will have to be 18 or over, but it is still somehow acceptable for 14-year-olds to race on the same tracks on es- sentially the same bikes in the lower series. And thereafter? Back to trust- ing in blind luck. I'm sure all readers will join me in repeating condolences to the bereaved families, and in wishing riders still suffering (es- pecially Marc Marquez, battling double vision after suffering concussion) a speedy recovery. Along with wishes for a happier new year. CN "In the Moto3 race at COTA, by sheer miracle, Pedro Acosta, Jeremy Alcoba and Andrea Migno collided at top speed, and walked away unhurt. It's not always like that."