muter scoot yet? And has this
improved your motorcycling
experience?
First, let's acknowledge the
human side. Top-level bike rac
-
ing, like any high-end sporting
endeavor, whether on wheels
or not, has an important role.
It gives inspiration and creates
heroes. People need heroes,
and need things we can aspire
to. We need paragons of skill.
In this way, MotoGP can lift
the spirit, and the importance
should not be underestimated.
But technically? Looking at
the bikes on the track compared
with those serving customers in
the real world, the gap is huge.
Maybe MotoGP has lost its way
in the past five or 10 years. As
Fabio Quartararo commented
recently: "They don't even look
like motorbikes anymore."
The close relationship be
-
tween grand prix bikes and
top-level sports bikes has (with
a few exceptions, like Moto
Guzzi's fanciful V8) always been
one of the pleasures. This is
why bike racing has a more real
-
istic appeal than Formula One.
Unlike F1 cars, GP bikes are es-
sentially just stripped-down and
pumped-up versions of street
bikes. Or used to be.
And there was plenty of
cross-pollination. As engine,
W
ith the dust still settling,
it is time to celebrate
the end of an epic sea-
son of racing, and congratulate
the champion of motorcycle
grand prix' 76th year. (And the
23rd year, by the way, since it
was re-named MotoGP, when
500cc screamers were sup
-
planted by big four-strokes.)
And time maybe to wonder,
just what has it all been for?
What has grand prix racing done
for motorcycles and for motor
-
cyclists?
To ask the same question
differently: have you installed
ground-effect fairing or swing
-
arm add-ons to your com-
P124
CN IIIN THE PADDOCK
BY MICHAEL SCOTT
RACING
RESTRAINS
THE BREED
Some ask:
Does MotoGP
technology
trickle down to
the production
motorcycle
anymore?
