MotoGP An Untold Story

1. MotoGpanUntoldStory From the trenches of the world war to the yakuza gangs in Japan, and now to the Asphalt tracks ofthe MotoGP,bikes have aubiquitous presence in almost every major eventin the world. With such arich history, it makes sense to celebrate motorcycles andwhat’s the first thing that pops into your mind when you hear motorcycleracing?.. 9 out of 10people will probably say MotoGP, even if people don’t watch it, they’ll surelyknowaboutit,that’showsynonymousthetermMotoGPiswithmotorcycles. Butbeforewegettothenitty-grittydetails,let’slook athowMotoGPcametobewhatit is today.

2. EvolutionofMotoGP: Fédération Internationale deMotocyclisme, established in 1949, acts as agoverning body and presides over all the motorcycle events. This year also marked the beginning oftheworldracingchampionships,whereGrandPrixmotorcycleswereraced. These were custom-built bikes and were unavailable for public use, frankly, public roadsbackthenwouldn’thavesupportedsuchhigh-speedmachines. Mostracesduringthistimeperiodusedstreetlegalmotorcycleswithafew modifications. So building abike only for the purpose of racing them was an alien concept. The1950s

3. Several teams with various bike configurations participatedin these events and hence to level the playing field, classes were introduced based on engine size, like, 50cc, 80cc, 125cc,250cc, 350cc, 500cc, and 750cc and most of them using afour-stroke combustionprocess. Tomakeitmoreinterestingaclassforsidecarswasalsointroduced. Cause whynot? The1960s

4. With anincreasing number ofteams competing andwith advancingtechnologies, two-strokeengineswereintroducedforthesmallerclasses. Until this point there wasn’t aspecific set of rules decided for each class, this however caused disadvantage for some smaller teams as they couldn’t afford the technology or skilltocompetewiththebiggerones. Hence in 1969,the FIM came up with a standard set of rules every team had to follow, these being; the number of gears restricted to 6 and, classes below 350cc to use only 2 cylinderengines. Now,this pissed offmajor teams like Honda, Yamaha, Suzuki asthese restrictions preventedthem from using their farsuperiormachinesandthus dominatingthe championships. The championships were now mostly dominated by smaller Italian teams up until the mid-70s,whichhadperfectedthesmallerenginesegment.

5. However, after 1975, both the FIM and the major teams realised that a huge goldmine was being unexploited and thus calling atruce. A four-cylinder configuration for the higher displacement engines, 350cc and more was allowed, and this thus marked the returnofthebiggerteams. Upuntil2002,thissystemcontinued,afterwhichaspecialclassfor500ccengineswas introduced.Tomakethisclassstandoutfromtherest,itwasrebrandedasMotoGP. Overtheyears,theenginesizehasbeenincreasedto800ccandcurrentlysitsata whoopinglyfast 1000cc. As of today, several other changes are employed, with multiple engines allowed for an individualteam,7tobespecificforoneraceyear,biggerfueltanks,betterbrakeswitha largerbudget.Allofthisallowsforamoreexciting andsaferChampionship.

6. You’ve got 20-22 riders, representing different teams and different manufacturers, who battle it out for 19races all over the world for almost a year. Each team consists of two riders,thusmakingup10-11teams. Theriderwiththemostpointsattheendofthecompetitionwinsthe world championshipandtheteamwiththemostpointswinstheteamchampionship andthe manufacturercanalsocompeteforaconstructorschampionship. Now while this is just abasic outline of atypical MotoGP championship, there’s alot goingonbehindthosetintedhelmets.

7. BrandinvolvementinMotoGP It’s hard to believe but in the beginning, riders themselves had to pay for their seat, and take careof other expenses, this was mainly because motorcycle races were not very popularand consideredmoreofafunpastimefortheupperechelonofthesociety. However, with increasing revenue,peoplebegansponsoring different riders and buildingteamsinabidtogainpopularityforthemselves andtheirbrand. Initially, the livery consisted of the rider’s or the team’s national colours, but sponsors in an attempt to promote their brand started making custom liveries for the drivers and teammembers.

8. Several iconic liveries such as the orange Honda Repsol Factory team and the Suzuki RGV500Pepsihavegainedworldwiderecognition. Presently a race calendar budget can be about 10 million Euros, with some teams even spending15millionEuros. Prizemoneyusuallystartsat11millioneurosforthewinningrider,withthelastplace beingpaidanywherefrom100to200thousandeurosforthelastposition. Unlike the other major motorsport events, teams and constructors do not earn any prize money. However, winning teams do earn bragging rights and a considerable amount of brandpromotion. RaceFormat: Atypicalracetakesplaceoverathreedayweekend. Friday:

9. Consistsof4practicesessions, FP1,FP2,FP3,FP4. Thefirstthreepracticesessionsaretimedandthetop10driversattheendofFP3, directlymakeittoQP2whichisheldonsaturday. TheremainingdriversgointoQP1. The top two drivers from QP1 get another go at the top 10 positions and are allowed intoQP2. Theremainingdrivers are arrangedaspertheirlaptimes. FP4 is mainly held so that teams canset up necessary configurations and get ready fortherace. Sobythetimethedayends,thepositions13-20arefinalisedandpracticesessions areconcluded. Saturday: The QP(2), wherethepositions1-12aredecided,isheldonaSaturday. Sunday: Raceday. Race day begins with a 15-minute warm-up session, this is to provide the teams with awindow to assess the day’ssituation andconditions andmake any necessary tweaks. Afterthis,theriderstakeuptheirrespectivegridpositions. Incaseariderhasafalsestartorisunabletostart,thenhestillhasachancetobegin theraceuntiltheleaderhasfinished1lap. Racesareasprintfromstarttofinish,coveringabout100to130kmanddonot includeanypitstopsunless an emergencyarises. Racesusuallylastfor45minutes,notaccountingforanyunpredictedevents,like rainoracrash.

10. TheCircuit: As of today, 73 tracks have hosted aMotoGP race, the first being held at Snaefell Mountain Course which also hosts the Isle of Man TT, one of the most dangerous racingevents ever. VarioustypesoftrackshavebeenusedovertheyearssuchastheSuzuka International Racing Course, which is a track built especially for Motorcycle racing, CircuitdeSpa-Francorchamps,whichalsohostsotherracingeventsandstreetcircuit Montjuïccircuit. ScoringSystem Asmentionedearlier,there are3championshipstobeconsidered.

11. The riders arescoredbasedonthe position they finish, with the winner getting 25, 2ndscoring20,3rd-16and soon andthe 15th positiongetting1point. Ridersfinishinglower are not awardedanypoints. Fortheteams,thepointswonbyboththeridersrepresentingaparticularteam are addedand consideredforthechampionships.

12. Now with a few major manufacturers operating in MotoGP, riders sometimes might useacommonengineeventhoughthey are indifferentteams. Now in the case where three riders represent the same constructor, the points from theriderfinishinghighest are onlyconsidered. Sointhecasewhereariderusing Yamaha finishes5thandanotherfinishes7th,then the points for the 5th position only is used, this rule applies even in the caseof multipledriversusingthesameengine.

13. With improvedbikes andbetter-skilledriders,MotoGPhaswitnessed quite afew intenserivalries.Whetherit’sRossi v Lorenzo v MarquezorHutchinson v Dunlop. Thefiercecompetitionnotonlyoffersforanexcitingracingcalendaryearforthe fansbutalsobringsinnewfansowingtothelargebuzzsuchrivalriescreate. Staytunedforournextpost,“Fightforthethrone”foranin-depthanalysisofthe greatestrivalriesinthesport.

14. However fun it might look, there’s no doubt that arider is taking ahuge risk when he steps out for a race. With riders reaching almost 250km/h, safety becomes a high priority. Safety gearin such casesis mandatory.Carbonfibre helmets, impact-absorbing armour suits with an inflatable built-in airbag inside the suit, knee sliders, gloves, boots, andafireproofinnersuitgoesalong wayinprotectingtherider. In the case where the tracks are wet, due to rain, riders can opt for a wet/slick tyre thatoffersbettertraction and control. Also whenever there’s acrash, amarshal waves ayellow flag, indicating the same, thus preventing the riders from overtaking and thus adhere to a speed limit. This is continued until the crash is cleared. If the crash proves to be a major one, races can bered-flaggedand stoppeduntilthetrackiscleared.

15. As you can see MotoGP is not just fun and games. A lot goes behind conducting a successfulracingyear.Itemploys thousandsofpeoplearoundtheworldand entertains millions. With further advancement in technology, the motorcycle racing worldisboundtogetmoreexciting.

16. By, Vijeth Shetty, Content Writer, Inline-4 Automotive