VOLUME ISSUE FEBRUARY , P111
handicappers to level up the
results.
In the fallow time between
pre-season tests, excitement
building for the longest ever
42-race season (21 sprint, 21
not-sprint), I have some sugges
-
tion for Dorna's leveling up team,
in their cave beneath the busy
streets of Barcelona. Handicap-
ping, but with a difference.
Manufacturer by manufac-
turer, here you go.
DUCATI
In a change of heart, instead
of punishing technical excel-
lence, Dorna should find a way
to celebrate it with social media
fans. By bringing out the two-
seaters. Selected thumb jockeys
off sundry feeds will participate
in a tweet-off, and the winners
will join Ducati riders as passen
-
gers. Hold on to your hats, guys.
YAMAHA
The Iwata factory has success-
fully gone from making a bike
that almost everyone could ride
fast to one that only Quartararo
could ride fast. So put him on
Morbidelli's bike, which obvious
-
ly doesn't work as well as his.
HONDA
They have arguably the world's
best MotoGP rider on arguably
the worst MotoGP bike. Show
some mercy now and stop Mar
-
quez from having to stick his
neck out so far. Half a lap start.
Or quarter of a lap for sprint
races. We must wait and see
what new teammate Joan Mir
(impressively quick at Sepang
tests) will need.
APRILIA
Need help keeping calm and
focused—both the team and
riders. For the former, a writ-
ten checklist like that used by
pilots before takeoff, to make
sure they haven't got the pit-
lane speed limiter permanently
engaged. For Aleix Espargaro,
an on-board lap counter, so he
can keep racing all the way to
the flag. For Vinales, a mood-
sensitive touch pad, so at least
they'll know when he feels like
going fast. And for new boys
Oliveira and Fernandez, well,
wait and see.
KTM
Good at racing, not so good
at qualifying. And as riders
never tire of explaining, with
machine parity making overtak
-
ing difficult, grid positions are
of paramount importance. So,
I propose a discount for KTM
riders—a meagre 1.5 percent
would have taken Binder from
18th on the grid in France
to pole position. Not that he
needs that much help, he came
through to eighth position any
-
way.
AND FOR ALL
Given that grid positions are
paramount, turning practice
and qualifying into a quest for
single-lap speed rather than
race fitness (even less time this
season, with Saturday's sprint
race), time to revive an idea I've
had for some time.
Grid positions to be allotted
not by lap time but in alpha
-
betical order, and at each race
riders move up one slot, so that
Bagnaia goes from pole to the
back at race two, while Zarco
gets to pole 21 races later. With
22 riders and 42 races and the
odd absence injured, everyone
should get at least two pole
starts.
On the other hand, I can
hardly wait for it all to get seri
-
ous again.
CN
THE IWATA
FACTORY HAS
SUCCESSFULLY
GONE FROM
MAKING A BIKE
THAT ALMOST
EVERYONE
COULD RIDE
FAST TO ONE
THAT ONLY
QUARTARARO
COULD RIDE
FAST.
