Riders are punished for a little
flick of movement on the start
line (putting the bike into gear
can trigger this) or for straying
a centimeter over the white line
onto the green paint in the heat
of battle. Whether or not they
have gained any advantage in
the process. One size fits all: no
intelligent discretion applied.
So, final results are decided by
stewards as much as by the
checkered flag.
At least everyone knows
where they stand.
The latest rule, or to be pre
-
cise, the latest way of applying
an existing
and previously unen-
forced rule, leaves technicians
and
riders playing a guessing
game. A game that doesn't re
-
ally have any winners.
It is
the notorious minimum
tire pressure rule. It is specified
by control-tire supplier Michelin,
fearful that running a front tire
below this number could cause
damage and lead to collapse
and a crash. Which wouldn't
look good on their corporate CV.
But it's a rule that, only in the
races after the summer break,
more than half the grid has bro
-
ken. It has united rival riders and
teams
in concerted condemna-
tion. And even accusations that
it not only
spoils the racing, not
only means that final results
can only be confirmed an hour
or so after the flag but actually
increases rather than reduces
danger.
Worst of all, it is a rule that
requires seeing into the future to
A
narchy is attractive. The
redundancy of rules and
authority is because the
populace is able to take respon
-
sibility for their actions. No need
for
regulation.
Impossible, of course, when
human nature intervenes.
Less formally, motorbike rac
-
ing is a kind of anarchy. Speed-
mad
nutters playing I-can-go-
faster-than-you. Good, isn't it?
But formalized into champion-
ships, rules become necessary.
Sadly,
perhaps, run-what-you-
brung doesn't cut it.
So, to 2023, we're at a stage
where an ever more detailed rule
book has become so compli
-
cated that it requires a sepa-
rate panel of FIM stewards for
enforcement.
P108
CN II IN THE PADDOCK
BY MICHAEL SCOTT
HOW RACING
SUFFERS WHEN
THE LAW IS
ABSURD
