Works Bikes, A Single Moto And A 125cc Support Class
As a long-time fan and an enthusiast of outdoor motocross, I think our current, dated and traditional system needs an overhaul. I also understand, with some insight, the business behind the sport knowing full well what is steering the monster; no matter what you are lead to believe. Can there be a system that is better for riders, fans and the industry behind the outdoor motocross series? I think so and here’s my stab at the revolt that should happen.
First we have to get away from the two moto format. Screw history. If you want history then have some twin-shock bikes with old guys do a parade lap, maybe two. Let’s have one feature race with one winner so there is no confusion for anyone. It works for that show we call Supercross. Radical change in even our most traditional motorcycle racing, like enduros for instance, has increased participation, sold out events and rejuvenated interest in the sport, yet even the announcement of change was fought tooth and nail. Get over it, move on.
Next get rid of the two classes. Have a main class for all the glory and then have support races to build riders for the main class. Make the main class so prestigious it can’t be ignored. Don’t dilute it with a “sort of very important class–that some but not most of the big name riders are in—though it isn’t the real main class,” i.e. the 250cc class. I know the 250cc four-stroke is an important market segment relying 100% on racing to keep it alive. It is, in the equipment department, ridiculously expensive. Unfortunately that trickles down to the privateers and through amateur racing where all these riders feel they need 250Fs that run as hard as 450s, and they do. And cost an arm and a leg to build and maintain. This is not a feeder class, it is a showcase of brands and modifications that takes away from the riders learning and growing. On machines that also make and break the riders, especially young up and coming amateurs. .
In reality I’m stealing most of my ideas in format from Formula 1 car racing. Not that they have any track record for worldwide success or anything. When you see the build-up to the racing and the format that makes the stars the stars and the cars the science fiction ground rockets they are, it is a system that works for the audience for sure. It is a glorification of a useless motorsport (like ours) but they push technology to make it seem relevant and elevate a limited number of recognisable drivers to hero status, an earned and respected position of the fans and the drivers themselves.
So here’s what I propose. One unlimited class with very few if any rules on the machinery except for safety driven concerns. No displacement, no specific engine type, no crazy fuel limitations. Open it up and watch bike development take off. Trust me, it is cheaper for the manufacturers to build a few works bikes (or provide technology to the teams) than it is to try and keep up with the loose lines that define the flimsy production rule. This will open up the doors for teams like JGR to take Yamaha technology and run with it. HRC, Suzuki and Kawasaki could build the works bikes like they did in the 80’s. KTM will figure it out as well, they have already taken the production rule to the limit with Factory Edition bikes. If it works, the riding public will demand the bikes and technology they see and the aftermarket will produce it if the manufacturers don’t. And when the riders get all boring and cocky we can always look at the bikes, which have become sort of a sticker and bolt-on shiny stuff contest since the implementation of the production rule. The machinery will get interesting and attract more people to the sport. Real technicians and engineers will be need at teams. All the cheating will go away because it will be hard to cheat with limited rules.
Only allow a limited number of teams in the premiere class with two or three riders on each team. Establish a manufacturers or team championship that means something (Do you know we still have that championship now?). It is like having a championship within a championship and makes the teams much more invested in producing results. Now a seventh place guy actually means something. Today I can’t tell you who is a seventh place guy because I don’t care and it isn’t important. When rider’s get injured, teams will be forced to bring up reserve riders or give others a try out, bikes won’t sit. And if a bike is above and beyond what everyone else has, guess what, everyone will want to ride that machine and it has a staggering effect on what riders are willing to ask for if they really want to win, it pushes other manufacturers to step up their machinery game. It adds an extra level of interest.
For the race day format let the riders have some practice where they are not on the clock. It is unsafe, in my opinion, for riders to have to lay down a qualifying lap just two laps into a session and that may be the time and the lap that seats them on the gate or even into the event. Aside from unsafe it makes for a track that is one lined and lacks developed passing lines.
Make qualifying a sort of “first moto” with a knock-out procedure. With live timing and scoring it is as easy as giving all the riders 15 to 30-minutes on the track to qualify down to a lesser field so fans can really concentrate on the top guys going for that one hot lap. A shorter second session would thin the field even more. Maybe a last short session with just the top 10 guys trying for that one fast lap would be incredible and there wouldn’t be issues with traffic either. Award some points for the top positions. This would also make some room for those guys who can’t put together a solid 30-minute moto to find some glory. And those sprint riders make the first part of the main race interesting too.
Then the main moto can be focused on by a proper television show with a lead-in involving the qualifying. Qualifying will be more impressive on TV than summarizing an earlier 30-minute moto. Plus it is much more understandable. The race is for all the glory and it will be as important as each race always is.
I’d like to see real support classes that fill in the time at the event as well. There would be no objection to a 125cc two-stroke class even if some brands do not have current equipment for it. And I’ll go out on a limb, it wouldn’t take much to have that production line fire up and produce bikes again if there was a racing built demand for them.
My solution for the 250cc category is to horsepower limit the class, not much above stock power levels and seal it with a claiming rule set at $15,000. Again trust me, build a solid race bike for $12,000 and you could sell it every weekend for $15,000. Spend $18,000 on one and I’ll bet you can lose it every weekend too. As taboo as even mentioning the claiming rule is, it will work or at least get budgeted into team’s programs if they really want to win (and then lose their bike every weekend.) Run it by lottery so it can’t be fixed. In this class you’ll see some insane racing with riders who can push bikes to the limit and the racing will become about the riders, since the bikes will mostly be the same. Leave the expensive bikes to the main class.
This isn’t an overnight change but some suggestions for the future. There are more politics involved than we on the outside can imagine and it all comes down to who is going to make the money. And if you ask any of the parties involved in the game if they are making money at this they will reply, “No.” That means teams, sponsors and manufacturers are spending a lot of money and not seeing a tangible result. Clearly racing is a marketing operation and for sure the manufacturers and teams are not in the business of marketing riders. Riders leave and get broken, or ask for too much when they are hot. So if that is truly the case, time to start seriously considering a change. Make the machines matter, make the racing understandable. It will build more excitement among the core motorcycle enthusiast and make only a positive difference in attracting that casual fan at the same time.
