Motorcycles: July 2018

Browse pages
Current page

1

Current page

2

Current page

3

Current page

4

Current page

5

Current page

6

Current page

7

Current page

8

Current page

9

Current page

10

Current page

11

Current page

12

Current page

13

Current page

14

Current page

15

Current page

16

Current page

17

Current page

18

Current page

19

Current page

20

Current page

21

Current page

22

Current page

23

Current page

24

Current page

25

Current page

26

Current page

27

Current page

28

Current page

29

Current page

30

Current page

31

Current page

32

Current page

33

Current page

34

Current page

35

Current page

36

Current page

37

Current page

38

Current page

39

Current page

40

Current page

41

Current page

42

Current page

43

Current page

44

Current page

45

Current page

46

Current page

47

Current page

48

Current page

49

Current page

50

Current page

51

Current page

52

Current page

53

Current page

54

Current page

55

Current page

56

Current page

57

Current page

58

Current page

59

Current page

60

Current page

61

Current page

62

Current page

63

Current page

64

Current page

65

Current page

66

Current page

67

Current page

68

Current page

69

Current page

70

Current page

71

Current page

72

Current page

73

Current page

74

Current page

75

Current page

76

Current page

77

Current page

78

Current page

79

Current page

80

Current page

81

Current page

82

Current page

83

Current page

84

Current page

85

Current page

86

Current page

87

Current page

88

Current page

89

Current page

90

Current page

91

Current page

92

Current page

93

Current page

94

Current page

95

Current page

96

Current page

97

Current page

98

Current page

99

Current page

100

Current page

101

Current page

102

Current page

103

Current page

104

Current page

105

Current page

106

Current page

107

Current page

108

Current page

109

Current page

110

Current page

111

Current page

112

Current page

113

Current page

114

Current page

115

Current page

116

Current page

117

Current page

118

Current page

119

Current page

120

Current page

121

Current page

122

Current page

123

Current page

124

Current page

125

Current page

126

Current page

127

Current page

128

Current page

129

Current page

130

Current page

131

Current page

132

Current page

133

Current page

134

Current page

135

Current page

136

Current page

137

Current page

138

Current page

139

Current page

140

Current page

141

Current page

142

Current page

143

Current page

144

Current page

145

Current page

146

Current page

147

Current page

148

Current page

149

Current page

150

Current page

151

Current page

152

Current page

153

Current page

154

Current page

155

Current page

156

Current page

157

Current page

158

Current page

159

Current page

160

Current page

161

Current page

162

Current page

163

Current page

164

Current page

165

Current page

166

Current page

167

Current page

168

Current page

169

Current page

170

Current page

171

Current page

172

Current page

173

Current page

174

Current page

175

Current page

176

Current page

177

Current page

178

Current page

179

Current page

180

Current page

181

Current page

182

Current page

183

Current page

184

Current page

185

Current page

186

Current page

187

Current page

188

Current page

189

Current page

190

Current page

191

Current page

192

Current page

193

Current page

194

Current page

195

Current page

196

Current page

197

Current page

198

Current page

199

Current page

200

Current page

201

Current page

202

Current page

203

Current page

204

Current page

205

Intelligence has always been an important part of going fast, but never more so than in racing’s electronics age

Knowledge is lap times. We all know that. There are two ways to gain this knowledge: you either learn it or you buy it.

Time is a precious commodity in all kinds of ways in motor sport, which is why teams and manufacturers sometimes decide it makes more sense to write a fat cheque than attend a two-year training course.

This has happened throughout the history of motorcycle racing. In the 1950s, Gilera and MV Agusta hired British riders – Les Graham, Geoff Duke and John Surtees – to learn the chassis secrets of their fine-handling Nortons. In the 1960s, Suzuki paid East German rider Ernst Degner to defect, so he could bring the hard-won secrets of two-stroke engine design from MZ (Motorenwerke Zschopau) through the Iron Curtain. Many of the early successes of the Japanese industry were built on that single Cold War deal.

Thirty years later Suzuki signed British engineer Stuart Shenton from Honda, to help transform its fast but fickle RGV500 into a bike good enough to beat Honda and Yamaha to the 1993 500cc world championship. A little less than a decade ago, Honda poached vital know-how from Yamaha. The company hired three of Yamaha’s European electronics boffins to rewrite its rider-controls software and regain the premier-class title, which had remained out of its reach for four seasons, Honda’s longest drought since the 1970s.

Inevitably, most of MotoGP’s current defections also centre around the electronics side of racing. Two years ago MotoGP rights-holder Dorna somehow convinced the factories to allow the introduction of unified software, with the intention of reducing costs, slowing the software arms-race and narrowing the performance gap between different machines. Although the factories can no longer undertake their treasured software R&D, MotoGP has benefited from this change: the riders are more in control of their own destinies and the racing is better as a result.

However, one thing hasn’t changed. Tailor-made software or unified software, the electronics engineer who can find the best way through the labyrinth of computer codes can name his or her price.

In 2016, Dorna granted Magneti Marelli the MotoGP unified-software contract. The Milan-based company had written and developed Ducati’s MotoGP rider-control systems for more than a decade, so Ducati had a head start in this new age of electronics warfare. Then the Bolognese hired a technician from Magneti, just to make sure.

Yamaha, Suzuki and Aprilia had also worked with Magneti Marelli over the years, so they too had some idea of what was going on. The only MotoGP constructor that was completely foreign to Magneti code was Honda, which had always done its electronics development in-house.

During much of 2016 Honda struggled like hell to match the Italian electronics to its own RC213V MotoGP bike. “For the software, we need to learn how to think like Italians,” said one Honda Racing Corporation engineer, with a hint of panic in his face.

Despite this, Honda went on to win the 2016 MotoGP title, thanks largely to the remarkable make-it-up-as-you-go-along riding talent of Marc Márquez. But at the end of 2016 Honda did the sensible thing: instead of spending the weeks, months or years necessary to learn how to think like Italians, it instead hired an Italian electronics engineer. It signed one of Magneti Marelli’s best technicians to integrate the company’s software better into the RC213V. As a result, both Honda and Ducati had a significant advantage over their rivals in last year’s MotoGP series. Between them they won 14 of 18 races, while Yamaha had its worst season in years.

“Honda and Ducati discovered something in the power delivery, from the electronics, to help the rear of the bike,” said Valentino Rossi’s crew chief Silvano Galbusera at the end of last year. “When the rider picks up the bike, the system recognises this and then the rider can push. If you listen to their bikes you hear less cutting noise from the electronics, so they have better acceleration. Yamaha needs to work on the electronics to find something like this, because we need acceleration without destroying the tyre.

“The problem for Yamaha is that both Ducati and Honda have taken staff from Magneti who know everything about the system, so it’s easier for them to find the right settings. I don’t think there’s anyone left at Magneti with that kind of experience.”

Yamaha is making progress but still seems at a disadvantage. So much so that the situation has confused Magneti Marelli. “It’s very difficult to understand if Yamaha are lost in themselves or not,” says one Magneti MotoGP technician. “This situation is really hard for us to understand. We have asked Yamaha if they wanted help, but we received no answer.”

Yamaha seem intent on working things out for themselves, having missed the chance to buy intelligence from outside.

“Unfortunately we missed the opportunity!” says Kouichi Tsuji, the general manager of Yamaha’s motor sports division with a grin. “But although the software is made by Magneti, we are not sure they have the knowledge to make our bike faster, because bike development and software development must always be in parallel.”

By the time you read this, perhaps Yamaha will have made those vital few clicks with the mouse.

But if Valentino Rossi and Maverick Viñales are still unable to challenge consistently at the front, you know why.

Mat Oxley has covered premier-class motorcycle racing for many years – and also has the distinction of being an Isle of Man TT winne