Cost cutting measures and their effects
April 3rd, 20092009 sees the first in a raft of changes instituted by Dorna to make MotoGP more affordable to compete in, and to increase competition between the teams. The changes won’t stop in 2009 either - they will continue in the off-season and the paddock will be a very different place in 2010. So what are the measures, and how will they affect the sport?
2009: Engine Controls
The Rule: Only five engines may be used per rider from Brno to the end of the season. That is eight races. Given the riders have two bikes (and two engines) each, and some riders choose to switch between the two through free practice until they find a feel for one of them, it’s not quite as straighforward as may be imagined at first. An engine is deemed to be used when it exits the pit lane, so any time a new engine is out on track it counts as used. Reliability, then, will be the key in addition to performance.
Effects: The proposal is to dock 10 points from a rider (and presumably, from the manufacturer and the team) every time an additional engine over the allocation is required by a rider. This targets the points a rider has accumulated, and is a severe penalty which could easily be a championship decider. We are also likely to see negative points totals in the championship as some of the back-of-the-grid strugglers get penalised without having accumulated more than 10 points.
The alternative to the point-dock is to follow the F1 route and penalise the rider in the next race by docking time or grid positions from the rider after qualification. MotoGPBlog prefers this, as it disadvantages the rider if he is at the front of the field and encourages action through the race as the rider fights to recover position.
Removing points that the rider has earned in other races is a poor decision. These points should be sacrosanct and not negotiable, after all they recognise the effort and risk the rider and his team has put in to achieve the results. Docking points in this way devalues this equation and will potentially upset the balance of the championship. Who wants to see a World Champion decided by point deductions? A big Thumbs Down on this one.
2010 Engine Controls and Motorcycle Restrictions
The Rule: Six engines allowed for the whole Championship. Only one motorcycle per rider.
Effects: While we may not see too many effects in 2009, in 2010 this rule really kicks in and it is inevitable that rider placings in the Championship will be affected. It will reduce costs for factory and satellite teams alike, and will probably result in some additional work (and cost) to improve reliability. We may see teams “turning down” engine performance in races, or for the whole season, slowing down the bikes in order to make engines last longer. The rev limit rules which were floated in 2008 are now redundant - why bother? The manufacturers will impose their own rev limits to make sure the bikes run on. Thumbs Up, even though this means effectively this is not a prototype series any more. But then, when we lost the tyre wars that went out of the window.
2009 No Friday Morning Practice
The Rule: The Friday Morning practice session is removed. Friday afternoon will still happen.
Effects: Used to trial early settings for the race and to shake down the bikes after the transport, the session will not be too badly missed. Rossi can have a lie in while Stoner can do another 20K on his mountain bike. A sesible move, though it probably will not save a huge amount of cash. Thumbs Up.
2010 No Friday Practice at all (proposed)
The Rule: Race weekends will effectively start their action on a Saturday, and Friday will be used for “promotional purposes”. More of those awful, staged videos of hung-over and bored riders enjoying local culture or cusine will be coming our way.
Effects: Friday afternoon is generally used to get a race set-up settled on the bike, leaving Saturday free for qualification preparations. This could compromise the rider’s set-up for the race, but along with the tyre changes (and lack of a pure qualification tyre) they have little else to do on a Saturday. There will be grumbles from some riders, and probabaly some from event organisers losing out on an additional day’s revenue, but again, fairly sensible from Dorna. Thumbs Up.
2010 Only 5 People in the Garage Allowed to Touch the Bike
The Rule: Essentially, 5 engineers are allowed. The wording of the rule is designed to negate the idea of giving a sixth mechanic the title of “Team PR Exec” and having them get their hands dirty on the bike. Limits the personnel working on the bike.
Effects: Saves the teams some money in wages and airfare. Could possibly compromise reliability (see Engine Controls), but although the mechanics will be forced to be less specilised, you can bet they will be well drilled by the manufacturers. Any effects will, therefore be secondary, and only seen (and penalised) via the Engine Reliability rulings. Thumbs Up. Fewer drunk mechanics on a Sunday night can only be a good thing.
2010 No Rookies on Factory Motorcycles
The Rule: Factory teams cannot sign rookie riders. Riders migrating for other series - World Superbikes or the 250cc championship (or Moto2) - may only sign for satellite teams.
Effects: The first casualty of this is likely to be Simoncelli, who will be forced next year, if he makes the leap, to sign for one of the satellite teams. The idea is to spread the talent about in the field and try and make the racing closer. The actual effect is probably going to be to piss off the bright young things who are being forced into doing another year of apprenticeship before moving to the big guns. No doubt the factory teams will also have these guys on retainers before they even get to 250cc. All the rule will do is impose a year of running about mid-field to the new talent, effectively delaying the impact on the established order by another year as the gap between factory and satellite will, MotoGPBlog fears, be too much for sheer skill to bridge, unless it’s a Yamaha. Thumbs Down.
While we see and agree with the need to cut costs to ensure the survival of the sport, we don’t agree with all of the measures. In particular the penalty for engine changes over the allocation seems very harsh. However, if it is a choice between this and no MotoGP, we’ll take this.









The internecine politics within the world of racing is being laid bare by the proposals currently being implemented by the Grand Prix Commission. It has been generally recognised for some time now, indeed since the demise of the two-stroke 500cc class, that the 250cc bikes had a limited lifespan. Not relevant to the road, most manufacturers or the MotoGP class in any way, polluting and expensive to make and run, the end was clearly nigh when Honda announce it was suspending development of their 250cc bike last year. The issue for some time now has been what to replace the 250s with. Previous proposals from KTM, suggesting a 4-stroke 500cc twin configuration, and Aprillia suggesting a 250cc two-stroke single manufacturer series, bit the dust as both were seen as of no relevance to the MotoGP class by the other MSMA manufacturers. The latest proposal being considered is 600cc four stroke class, but this is treading on the toes of Superbike, and Superbike doesn’t like it.
In comparison to last season, the changes in the regulations are fairly benign. Here’s a summary along with the MotoGPBlog take on them:
What a lovely piece of design the new trophy is. Reminiscent of a furled chequered flag, the column is formed of individual pieces bearing the name of the champion of each year from 1949. As each season is concluded and the champion decided, a new piece will be added to the column, with Casey Stoner’s first piece ready to be added after the Valencia race.
