VOLUME 59 ISSUE 7 FEBRUARY 15, 2022 P117
ming from the same dumbing
down.
Many observers think MotoGP
bikes are much too easy to ride,
thanks to limited technical vari-
ables and modern technology.
Hence strong rookies, tickling
the tails of seasoned campaign-
ers.
"Too easy" comments come
not least from a number of
former riders who cut their teeth
(and frequently also broke their
arms and legs) aboard feisty
500cc two-strokes—light, agile,
peaky and ultra-sensitive. They
really sorted the wheat from the
chaff in an often-painful process
not too different from agricultural
winnowing.
Well, such is progress. Per-
haps we should be thankful that
MotoGP bikes do not yet have
lane-control software, and auto-
matic braking to preserve a safe
distance between them.
Paradoxically, however, while
modern MotoGP bikes cut down
on the vicious high sides of the
past, the closer racing they gen-
erate imposes different dangers.
As uncomfortably demonstrated
in Moto3.
But it's a feast for the fans.
Cream, as we know, rises.
Even when lap times are whis-
ker-close, the same riders tend
to take over the top three.
By this measure, favorites
for the forthcoming season are
fairly obvious: Bagnaia, Quar-
tararo, Marc Marquez and Joan
Mir (with an outside chance for
Martin and Miller).
Should they worry that they
placed only sixth, seventh,
eighth and 12th (and third and
14th) respectively at Sepang?
Not at all. They were all within
less than three-tenths of one
another, and the worst of them
(2021 champion Mir) less than
four-tenths off the top.
They should worry about one
another, of course, and the
greatest cause for concern must
be Marquez. Back on an all-new
and far-from-sorted Honda after
more than three months away,
and still working back to full fit-
ness after a second long lay-off
from training, Marc was bang on
the money. And only just getting
started.
Whoever takes the 2022 title
is going to have to beat Marquez
first.
CN
Many observers
think MotoGP
bikes are much
too easy to ride,
thanks to limited
technical variables
and modern
technology. Hence
strong rookies,
tickling the tails
of seasoned
campaigners.
By this measure,
favorites for the
forthcoming
season are fairly
obvious: Bagnaia,
Quartararo, Marc
Marquez and
Joan Mir (with
an outside chance
for Martin and
Miller).
3.4-mile track with a lap taking
almost two minutes.
Closeness has been a grow-
ing tendency in MotoGP, the
natural consequence of increas-
ingly restrictive regulations that
limit not only tires and electron-
ics, but even cylinder numbers
and bore size. No wonder the
bikes perform all the same.
In important respects, they're
identical.
The gaps have closed up a
little more for 2022, with signifi-
cant progress from Aprilia (Aleix
Espargaro and Maverick Vinales
a close second and fifth overall),
and a welcome improvement
also from Honda, after a bad
couple of years.
The bikes are closely
matched. But why does the
same apply to the riders?
That's another issue, stem-
