Cycle News

VOL. 52 ISSUE 23 JUNE 9, 2015 P139 and on to 2016's final destina- tion of standardized electron- ics and dumbed-down factory bikes. A big journey for him. His presence and pre-eminence have played a big part in mask- ing the ups and downs of a big journey taken by racing itself. The four-strokes were promising at first, but were hit by dwindling grid numbers as the likes of Aprilia, Kawa- saki and eventually Suzuki withdrew. Team Roberts and the Proton KR also went; the Ilmor was just one false start by another independent. The Blata V6 was still-born; KTM just a temporary visitor. Costs kept rising, but the hoped- for replacements for the lost tobacco sponsors were very slow in coming forward. The grid kept shrinking: in 2011 the Australian Grand Prix had just 14 starters. Rossi sailed on sublimely and the racing fan base grew and grew. But the series was clearly in trouble. The popu- larity was because of the star quality of the dominant rider, rather than the racing itself. He had always done his best to make it entertaining. His com- mercial understanding was at least as acute as Dorna's, as he built up the VR46 brand, still growing today. Dorna, for their part, em- barked on a long campaign, with some strange turnings on the way. Like the brief era of CRT, the Claiming Rule Teams. The name was meant to disguise that these production-based clunkers were not much different from World Superbikes, in a class originally conceived as being strictly prototypes only. These slow-coach ex- presses served two purposes. Firstly, CRT set the precedent of a two-tier element to the premier class, thereby swelling grid numbers—although doing little for the quality of the rac- ing. The second was political: Dorna chief Ezpeleta's gun to the head of the factories. So far they'd been reluctant to dumb down their bikes in the drive to cut costs. Now he threatened to turn the whole class over to the proddie- racers. The factories came to heel; Ezpeleta was empowered to introduce the next layer of restrictions. Having already dictated the number of cylin- ders, the final step is control electronics, along with other details aimed at cutting the gap between factories and private teams. It all comes to a climax in 2016. For the present, we are still in a two-tier era pioneered with CRT. By now, however, it's more than a little blurred at the edges… There are the Factory Option bikes—Hondas and Yamahas, with limited fuel and just five engines; there are Open bikes—Hondas and Yamahas downgraded with control electronics, but with 12 engines, more gas and softer tires. Then there's the Ducatis, Suzukis and Aprilias: Factory, but with all the Open-class concessions, as long as they don't start winning. Which is pretty confusing re- ally and seems the opposite of what is intended… to make it fairer. Nor is it much cheaper, by the way. Luckily, however, Rossi is back from his Ducati dol- drums, and able to save the day, with a vengeance. For the first time in more than five years, he leads the champion- ship after the first six races. (In 2009 he was actually equal with Lorenzo, but went on to win the title.) The rebirth has been con- sistent over the last two years back with Yamaha. In 2013, just one win, while Marquez and Lorenzo scrapped it out. In 2014, two wins. And this year—two wins already, If he keeps on getting better at the same rate, he might even win it. And if he doesn't… well, who's going to notice? When Rossi's around, the rest of MotoGP is just background music. CN

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