Who Killed MotoGP?

[Roby44]

@ Miguel..

Colin Edwards had a rather interesting interview on the Beeb today. He said that if he was a fan he's watch the first couple of laps of a race and then see if anything else was on TV. He wants the close racing there used to be. He also had a few comments about the tyre rule...even suggesting that Moto GP goes to one tyre manufacturer like SBK. Says he's looking forward to being in a team with Toseland though.

The BBC are going to put the full interview on the internet some time this week.



So its not only us fans thinking that.... mokin:

[Roby44]

In the 1980's and for the three decades before, you regularly saw half the field lapped, sometimes more than once.

Yes, the last three races have been boring, barely enough to claim someone has killed MotoGP.

Severly wounded MotoGP then....

Made it into F1 on 2 wheels..

[MrJan]

Okay so saying that the sport is dead is a bit on the harsh side but it's definately not as brilliant. I've only been watching for 4 or 5 years but every single one has been great. I don't care if the championship is won by a country mile or even each race. What has made it exciting is the battles down through the field. This season it doesn't seem to have been happening.

Even Barca was dull for 15 laps while Rossi just sat behind Casey (from what I remember anyway) and that seemed to be the only battle on the track. Yes the last laps were great but still not on the scale of Mugello last season.

I know that the aim of every rider and team out there is just to win easily, not make a show. It's the same in every sport. In no way do I even remotely care if the same bloke wins every week (I can't over state this enough), in fact I loved watching Rossi win because it was, with the exception of 2 or 3 races a year, one hell of a spectacle. This year the spark isn't quite there. It's still great but not as good as I've become accustomed to in the last 5 years.

[Corny]

the answer on this question is simple and short:
Casey Stoner, he's simply too fast for everyone..

[jonny hurlock]

@ Miguel..

Colin Edwards had a rather interesting interview on the Beeb today. He said that if he was a fan he's watch the first couple of laps of a race and then see if anything else was on TV. He wants the close racing there used to be. He also had a few comments about the tyre rule...even suggesting that Moto GP goes to one tyre manufacturer like SBK.

I don't think its a tyre war its the problem, michelin just had a complete poor season. when michelin and bridgestone are competive there are not a lot of differences

the answer on this question is simple and short:
Casey Stoner, he's simply too fast for everyone..

the problem has not been casey this season, Rossi had three dominant seasons 2002,2003 and 2005 on winning races all the time, never had a problem on that, can't blame him for the winning this season. these have been the problems this season;

1. Michelin have been POOR this season do doubt about that

2. Honda have been the Poorist bike this season except KR bike thats another story

3. Rossi has a poor season, I think his been under a few ladders,

4. you might to look at Traction Control, back in 2002 it was 80% driver 20% bike, this season its been 65% bike and 35% driver, if they reduce or ban TC you will be seeing better races IMO

[ShiftingGears]

1. Reducing the power of the bikes - more power than grip makes motorsport more spectacular, and trying to curb lap speeds by cutting engine capacity rarely works. Smart people, these engineers

2. Not removing TC - it hasn't made motorsport better at all. They should get rid of it.

Not having a tight field is fine - not all manufacturers get it right. So long as the rider makes the difference, and that there is opportunities to pass. Personally I like tracks with flow and undulations, as they tend to reward the best riders with more of a time advantage if they get the corners right, as they can carry the speed onto the next corners. And several tracks on the calendar don't do this.

[NinjaMaster]

And we have a winner for most panicked thread of the year.

Serisously, 2007 mightn't go down as the most classic battle of all time but if the series was doomed every time there was a runaway winner, it wouldn't still be here today. I see 2002, the year of the change to MotoGP, has clearly been forgotten. Rossi and Honda streeted the field but after that the series picked up. This year is a reflection of that where Ducati and Bridgestone have caught the others napping and Stoner has taken advantage of that by rubbing the rest of the fields collective noses in it. You only have to look at history to tell you next year will be better. Honda hate to lose and have been embarassed this year, Michelin the same. Next year the Japanese manufacturers and Michelin know what they need to do to be competitive and they will be up to the task.

[mx311]

MotoGP isn't dead, it's just not quite as exciting as it was last year. As a few people have pointed out some of the Rossi years were dull and the mid-nineties (the Doohan era) were terrible, unless you were personally Mick Doohan. 800cc was a mistake and everyone knew it but still we progressed, higher corner speeds would always hurt racing but noone listened. Still, it won't last forever, once Yamaha, Honda and Michelin get their acts together it will be closer at the front (not to take anything away from Ducati, Bridgestone or Casey Stoner who have got it 100% right).

For cryin' out loud...........the manufacturers had the 800cc requirement dumped on them, spent megabucks complying, are working their guts' out and have only been racing them for about 5 bloody months yet some people seem never to be satisfied.
A 20% reduction in engine capacity and they still have the bikes lapping at similar times on most tracks to the times of the former 1000cc race bikes.
Critics.......bite ya bums!

[MrJan]

And we have a winner for most panicked thread of the year.

Serisously, 2007 mightn't go down as the most classic battle of all time but if the series was doomed every time there was a runaway winner, it wouldn't still be here today. I see 2002, the year of the change to MotoGP, has clearly been forgotten. Rossi and Honda streeted the field but after that the series picked up.

OK so the thread title is a bit panicky but I'm panicked because MotoGP was the best thing I watched. It was full of excitement most weeks.

Also I have already mentioned above that I don't care if someone dominates if it's exciting (Rossi used to have terrible starts and fight his way through) but Stoner is so much quicker this year that most races see him get a flying start and stay ahead, then comes Rossi and everyone else chasing Casey's dust.

As for forgetting 2002 I think I said that I've only been watching for 4 or 5 years so it's quite likely that it's one of the seasons that I missed out on.

I have faith that the sport will soon pick up again but surely even the most ardent fan has to admit that they haven't been as interested in this season as in recent years.