During yesterday’s MotoGP qualifying session, the Sportmediaset commentator team brought up the discussions that are currently going on in the Safety Commission meetings, and that was rider-bike weights.
Specifically how to solve the problem between heavy riders and light weight ones, (we’ve already heard this one when Dani Pedrosa came to MotoGP in 2006) who may have some sort of ‘unfair’ racing advantage.
The ring leader of the proposal was giant-sized Marco Simoncelli, who suffered last season and in this year’s Qatar GP with fuel consumption and tire wear issues, and now Simoncelli has a small claque of heavier riders backing him, including Valentino Rossi.
Sportmediaset interviewed MotoGP director of technology Corrado Cecchinelli about what he knew of the ongoing discussion, but the new director denied that any type of proposal or how to solve the problem has even hit his desk, even if he admitted that he’s heard about it the question.
Also interviewed about the question, was the legendary World Champion Giacomo Agostini, who was visiting the Yamaha garage, who simply said the controversy is moot, “the bikes have 240hp and that can carry anyone, big or small.
Someone may have an advantage in some areas of a track, but a lighter rider will need more strength and muscle picking up the bike on the turns than a heavier one, so everything is more or less compensated.
”Agostini is definitely a wise and pratical man, but the problem that still remains are those miserly 21 liters of fuel and not ending up running on vapours if the fuel mapping sensors on the bike decides that they can’t finish a race.