Motorsport on two wheels has been on track for almost a century now. The previous championships involved a showdown between two strokes (Limited to 500cc engines) and also was a 2 stroke vs 4 stroke affair in the 1970's. The regulations then became more stringent and manufacturer-friendly to attract more number of bikes onto the starting grid and gain the reputation as the best form of racing amongst purists.
MotoGP (Previously known as the 500cc world championship) allowed innovative ways of packing five hundred cubic centimeters of space in the most compact and lethal way possible. Cylinder configurations ranged from V twins, V3's and V4's. Honda experimented with all the three layouts with the NS500 being a V-twin and V3 engined bike and the Monstrous NSR500 with an obtuse angled V4 (112 degrees. No Fuel injection; the Vee had enough space to pack four 36mm kaihin carburetors on the intake manifold). Fans enjoyed the raw action and the two-stroke symphony along with close rivalries like the Rainey- Schwantz- Doohan Rivalry, Valentino Vs Biaggi in the 250cc class and 500cc class and so on.
2002 marked the birth of the four stroke era, waving goodbye to the aging 2 strokes and embracing the bigger and heavier 4 stroke machinery. Nothing's changed except that the Volume concealed is doubled (990cc engines are allowed) and the mechanism of working has become complicated. That didn't deter manufacturers from producing magnificent machinery like the Honda RC211V, the Yamaha YZR-M1 and the Aprilia RS Cube. everything went on well for the first four seasons, until.
The organisers felt the bikes are becoming more and more fast around the corners and on the straights (Top speeds averaged 330 km/h) thus risking the lives of the racers. Thus the capacity of the engines were cut short to 800cc, causing manufacturers and Privateer teams to pull out of the GP paddock due to skyrocketing costs of developing, maintaining and running a MotoGP prototype for one season. The rules were changed again for 2012 allowing 1000cc prototypes to race. The Grid size dwindled from 22 prototype bikes to only 12 in the 2012 season, with the rest being beefed up superbike engines in a bespoke chassis (CRT class). These changes caused a bit of concern among fans, but the manufacturers didn't let them down. Manufacturers like Kawasaki, Aprilia and Suzuki left the paddock during the five year nightmare.
FIM amended the rules, abolishing the grid filling CRT class with a more competitive Open class. Open class bikes had more allowances like a soft tire for qualifying, more fuel during the race (24L Vs 20L for the factory aliens) and a simpler Magneti Marelli electronics suite eliminating the need of multiple technicians analysing the terabytes of data collected via telemetry. The Grid size increased considerably from 12 factory and satellite bikes to 15, and the grid size went from 22 to 25. Not a big change. But hey, Quality> Quantity!
Fast forward to 2015, Manufacturers who abandoned MotoGP have returned to the grid. Aprilia and Suzuki joined the elite trio of manufacturers in 2015, with KTM set to join as the sixth manufacturer on the grid in 2017. The electronics suite has been optimised and made more simpler for all the 22 bikes, making it a more level playing ground for all the riders. This is to reduce the amount of money invested in developing sophisticated electronics for the factory bikes whereas the open bikes struggled due to lack of support from the manufacturer. (The Honda RC213V and the RC213V-RS might look the same, but they're as contrasting as a raging bull and a buffalo).
From four manufacturers in 2003 to three in the 2008-2014 era, to six by 2017. MotoGP is flourishing as the most intuitive and exciting to ever happen on black asphalt and black rubber. Though the FIM (The governing body of the sport) took wrong decisions, it did its best to recover from the shocking downfall and establish itself among the elites.
By: Suraj
MotoGP (Previously known as the 500cc world championship) allowed innovative ways of packing five hundred cubic centimeters of space in the most compact and lethal way possible. Cylinder configurations ranged from V twins, V3's and V4's. Honda experimented with all the three layouts with the NS500 being a V-twin and V3 engined bike and the Monstrous NSR500 with an obtuse angled V4 (112 degrees. No Fuel injection; the Vee had enough space to pack four 36mm kaihin carburetors on the intake manifold). Fans enjoyed the raw action and the two-stroke symphony along with close rivalries like the Rainey- Schwantz- Doohan Rivalry, Valentino Vs Biaggi in the 250cc class and 500cc class and so on.
*** Massimilano "Max Biaggi" on the 2001 Yamaha YZR500.
2002 marked the birth of the four stroke era, waving goodbye to the aging 2 strokes and embracing the bigger and heavier 4 stroke machinery. Nothing's changed except that the Volume concealed is doubled (990cc engines are allowed) and the mechanism of working has become complicated. That didn't deter manufacturers from producing magnificent machinery like the Honda RC211V, the Yamaha YZR-M1 and the Aprilia RS Cube. everything went on well for the first four seasons, until.
*** Noriyuki Haga, Aprilia RS3 (The most advanced and powerful GP machine of its era)
The organisers felt the bikes are becoming more and more fast around the corners and on the straights (Top speeds averaged 330 km/h) thus risking the lives of the racers. Thus the capacity of the engines were cut short to 800cc, causing manufacturers and Privateer teams to pull out of the GP paddock due to skyrocketing costs of developing, maintaining and running a MotoGP prototype for one season. The rules were changed again for 2012 allowing 1000cc prototypes to race. The Grid size dwindled from 22 prototype bikes to only 12 in the 2012 season, with the rest being beefed up superbike engines in a bespoke chassis (CRT class). These changes caused a bit of concern among fans, but the manufacturers didn't let them down. Manufacturers like Kawasaki, Aprilia and Suzuki left the paddock during the five year nightmare.
*** Loris Capirossi on the 2010 Suzuki GSV-R (Motogp.com)
FIM amended the rules, abolishing the grid filling CRT class with a more competitive Open class. Open class bikes had more allowances like a soft tire for qualifying, more fuel during the race (24L Vs 20L for the factory aliens) and a simpler Magneti Marelli electronics suite eliminating the need of multiple technicians analysing the terabytes of data collected via telemetry. The Grid size increased considerably from 12 factory and satellite bikes to 15, and the grid size went from 22 to 25. Not a big change. But hey, Quality> Quantity!
*** Alex de Angelis, Iodaracing Aprilia (CRT class)
Fast forward to 2015, Manufacturers who abandoned MotoGP have returned to the grid. Aprilia and Suzuki joined the elite trio of manufacturers in 2015, with KTM set to join as the sixth manufacturer on the grid in 2017. The electronics suite has been optimised and made more simpler for all the 22 bikes, making it a more level playing ground for all the riders. This is to reduce the amount of money invested in developing sophisticated electronics for the factory bikes whereas the open bikes struggled due to lack of support from the manufacturer. (The Honda RC213V and the RC213V-RS might look the same, but they're as contrasting as a raging bull and a buffalo).
From four manufacturers in 2003 to three in the 2008-2014 era, to six by 2017. MotoGP is flourishing as the most intuitive and exciting to ever happen on black asphalt and black rubber. Though the FIM (The governing body of the sport) took wrong decisions, it did its best to recover from the shocking downfall and establish itself among the elites.
By: Suraj