Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/821592
VOL. 54 ISSUE 18 MAY 9, 2017 P137 season, MotoGP deserves all the compliments. And F1's typi- cal and most recent GP, in (of all places) Russia, deserves the criticism. As London Times reporter Rebeca Clancy put it: "… the race will not go down in history as one of the most exciting … the lack of racing or overtaking … will leave Liberty, the sport's new owners, with something to ponder as they try to attract more fans." So what? I mean, we all know this already, or you wouldn't be reading this magazine and I wouldn't be writing this column. Why worry about F1 anyway? My personal reasons are because I grew up liking both car and bike racing, taking part in and writing about both. I came to specialize in bikes firstly be- cause I preferred the taste and the people involved, but more so for professional reasons beyond my control. This was a long time ago, mind, and considering what has happened since to both premier four- and two-wheel versions, no regrets. Apart from those that came from seeing F1 disappear up its own backside 20 or more years ago. The greater relevance is this: are there warnings that MotoGP should heed? Because nothing is as simple as it first appears. And furthermore, it is very often the case that motorsport is intrinsically boring, offering ten- sion (of the will-he-break-down variety) in place of action. Tension rather than excite- ment has never hindered foot- ball's (soccer's) popularity, but that's an altogether different dynamic. At least it's a personal sport and can be seen as such: the participants have arms, legs and emotions. Sometimes even sincere emotions. MotoGP is personal in the same way. Riders can be seen to be real people, whereas F1 drivers show only the top of their helmets, and then sulky expres- sions for all except the winner when they eventually take them off. But it is important to think back a few years, to before the time the great showman Rossi made bike GP racing into a spectacle that reached beyond its core of bike fans to a far greater world of TV audiences, in the process giving Dorna the base upon which to craft the rules that have started to pay such dividends. In the Doohan years, five of them, bike racing suffered from just the same dullness that af- flicts F1 (hardly his fault, let's be clear. I still often refer back to his aggrieved comment of the time: "What do you want me to do about it—slow down?"). The bikes back then were irrelevant—wrongly so, for two- stroke fans, but the fact remains. And the spectacle of watching Mick and Honda hand in hand humiliating everybody else was impressive, but neither edifying nor entertaining. GP racing survived long enough for the Dorna takeover, and while it wasn't the Spanish company that forced the switch to four-strokes, they did then come to see the writing on the wall, and found a way to take on the factories and to address if not actually eliminate the steril- ity of works-team domination. Unlike F1, they sought to make the racing closer by simplifying rather than further complicating the technology. In this way, the modern racing map was redrawn. It has been at the expense of some technical interest, but so far the compen- sations have been worth it. To a lesser extent, the dead- ening hand of commercially cor- rect PR-speak has not complete- ly taken over. Thanks again to Rossi, still willing on occasion to speak his mind, the riders have not yet been reduced to glum sponsor-citing cyphers. But before we lapse into self- congratulation, be wary. Mo- toGP's success has come not in pursuit of a sporting ideal but of a successful business model. It's all about the profit and loss. Which, to a large extent, is exactly where F1 lost the plot. CN