{"id":838780,"date":"2021-12-07T10:22:39","date_gmt":"2021-12-07T10:22:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.motorsportmagazine.com\/?p=838780"},"modified":"2021-12-07T10:22:44","modified_gmt":"2021-12-07T10:22:44","slug":"is-it-time-to-turn-down-motogps-traction-control","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.motorsportmagazine.com\/articles\/motorcycles\/motogp\/is-it-time-to-turn-down-motogps-traction-control\/","title":{"rendered":"Is it time to turn down MotoGP\u2019s traction control?"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Dorna pulled a masterstroke in 2016 when it convinced the MotoGP<\/a> factories to stop their own electronics R&D and submit to same-for-all electronics hardware and software.<\/p>\n

During the previous decade MotoGP electronics had evolved so much that, for example, the best traction-control systems proactively adjusted themselves lap by lap, corner by corner, according to the available grip, measured by accelerometers, gyros and other sensors.<\/p>\n

In other words, the little black box \u2013 featuring TC, anti-wheelie, engine-braking control, launch control and so on \u2013 was working harder than the riders. Most riders hated this, even though it allowed them to ride faster and more consistently over full-race distance. Dorna also hated this, because when riders can run their pace consistently throughout a race there will be less overtaking, which means less excitement, which means less people turning on their TVs, which means less money coming in.<\/p>\n

When factory electronics were replaced by the spec Magneti Marelli kit the bikes became more demanding and more fun to ride.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt first you are angry and you say, \u2018f***!\u2019, because the bike is more difficult to ride,\u201d said Valentino Rossi<\/a> after his first test with the spec software. \u201cBut for the racing this will be good because it will be a lot more difficult to always make the same lap time, so the battles will be better and more fun.\u201d<\/p>\n

“It\u2019s difficult to make the difference: all you have to do is lift the bike straight and release all the power.\u201d<\/blockquote>\n

Traction control has always been the most controversial rider control, because real race fans want to see riders playing with the throttle and smoking the rear tyre while controlling slides.<\/p>\n

And from 2016 this is what happened.<\/p>\n

\u201cBefore we could go from 30% throttle to wide open and the TC was that sophisticated it would sort everything out,\u201d Bradley Smith<\/a> told me that summer. \u201cNow if you go wide open to maximum torque request you\u2019ll go sideways.\u201d<\/p>\n

There was plenty of sideways, tyre-smoking action in the early years of spec rider controls, but there isn\u2019t anymore, because although the software has remained essentially unchanged, factory electronics engineers have found their way through the labyrinthine programmes to make the bikes as easy to ride as they were before spec software.<\/p>\n

In fact they haven\u2019t done this via traction control, because, despite all the rumours and hearsay, MotoGP\u2019s spec TC is simply too basic.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe TC these bikes use isn\u2019t a TC that can save riders from a highside at high lean,\u201d says Aprilia\u2019s<\/a> chief engineer Romano Albesiano. \u201cTo save a rider from a highside in a high-lean situation you\u2019d need something more sophisticated and with a different concept. So the first part of acceleration at high lean is in the hand of the rider. You cannot go like this [Albesiano mimes \u2018full gas\u2019 with his right wrist] or you will fly.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n \"Pramac\"\n
\n

Jack Miller burning rubber at Sepang in 2019<\/p>\n

\n Pramac \n <\/p>\n <\/figcaption>\n <\/figure>\n

Instead the engineers have performed their magic with the torque-demand maps, which tell the engine how much torque to send to the rear tyre.<\/p>\n

The torque-demand programme (like all the others) can be split into 25 sectors per lap, so that engineers can work out how much torque the tyre can handle at each and every corner, according to all sorts of inputs.<\/p>\n

\u201cNow they have many, many things that help the rider to always put the good power to the asphalt and not let the rear tyre slide,\u201d says Danilo Petrucci<\/a>, who recently ended a ten-year career in MotoGP. \u201cSo we don\u2019t see lots of slides and smoke, like in the past.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt the start of the new ECU we had to be really careful opening the throttle, but now it\u2019s much easier. So the bikes are safer and it\u2019s really difficult to make the difference because all you have to do is lift the bike straight as soon as possible and release all the power.\u201d<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n<\/section>\n\n\n

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Moto2 riders use the same engine, tyres, software, fuel, oil and gearbox, so why is the racing more spread out than MotoGP and Moto3?<\/p>\n\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t

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By\n\t\t\t\t\t\tMat Oxley<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\n<\/article>\n <\/div>\n
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Making the bikes easier to ride does make the racing closer, but it also allows riders to run the same pace from start to finish, just as they did before spec software, so there are fewer overtakes.<\/p>\n

I did a random calculation of five events, comparing the 2017 and 2021 Austrian, British, Catalan, Italian and Qatar GPs at Red Bull Ring<\/a>, Silverstone<\/a>, Catalunya<\/a>, Mugello<\/a> and Losail<\/a>. In 2017 there were 68 changes of position among the top three in those five races, against 52 in 2021, a reduction of 25%.<\/p>\n

One of the big plus points of spec software is that Dorna can ask Magneti Marelli to adjust the parameters of each rider-control system, to change the nature of the racing.<\/p>\n

So will Dorna do this now, to shake up the races a bit, while at the same time bringing back spinning and sliding?<\/p>\n

\u201cNo,\u201d Dorna director of technology Corrado Cecchinelli told me last month at Portimao<\/a>. \u201cI understand that some people, like you and me, like to see tyres spinning and smoking, but I don\u2019t think there\u2019s ever been a period when the races have been so nice to watch, so we are not going to take a step back. The single software has closed up the races, which is a huge added value to MotoGP, which we don\u2019t want to lose.<\/p>\n

\n \"Cecchinelli\"\n
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Dorna\u2019s director of technology Corrado Cecchinelli doesn\u2019t want to reduce MotoGP electronics<\/p>\n

\n Dorna Sports, S.L.\n <\/p>\n <\/figcaption>\n <\/figure>\n

\u201cAlso, the development done on torque maps in MotoGP is very road relevant. Anyone who\u2019s ridden a new motorcycle recently can appreciate the difference \u2013 how smooth they are with the concept of torque maps and other concepts, like not delivering all the torque in first gear.<\/p>\n

\u201cSome people may be nostalgic for the step power delivery of a two-stroke, but that\u2019s a personal feeling, not progress.\u201d<\/p>\n

Twice MotoGP king Casey Stoner<\/a> is one of the cognoscenti who disagrees with Dorna\u2019s position.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere needs to be a big reduction in electronics,\u201d says the 2007 and 2012 champ. \u201cI want to see the guys sliding, I want to see mistakes, I want to see people struggling for grip.<\/p>\n

“I fitted a rear tyre, opened the throttle too soon and I saw Mugello from up in the sky!”<\/p>\n

\u201cMaybe some riders will start the race really well, but then maybe because of their tyre selection they\u2019ll drop back, while people who started slower will move forward, so the overtaking would be better than what it is now. And the overtaking wouldn\u2019t only be on the brakes, because all the riders come out of corners the same \u2013 you\u2019d get someone mess up the exit and someone would get the run on them. A few changes would make for some incredible racing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Of course, it\u2019s not only electronics that have made MotoGP bikes more consistent and easier to ride to the limit over 25 or so laps.<\/p>\n

It is the job of race engineers to make the motorcycles easier to ride in all areas, because the world\u2019s fastest riders don\u2019t use that wider comfort zone to make their lives easier, they use it to dig even deeper, shaving maybe a tenth of a second off their lap times, until they find their way back into the danger zone. This is racing\u2019s never-ending story.<\/p>\n

The other two areas of machine performance that have changed a lot in recent years are also linked to that hugely significant rewrite of the rules going into 2016.<\/p>\n

Firstly, tyres. MotoGP ran Bridgestone spec tyres from 2009 to 2015. The Bridgestone front was an incredible tyre but it took real talent to unlock its full potential, while the rear wasn\u2019t so great and would bite you if you didn\u2019t treat it right.<\/p>\n

\n \"Ducati\"\n
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Pecco Bagnaia lifts the rear wheel at Jerez last season \u2013 downforce aero has made MotoGP bikes even stronger on the brakes<\/p>\n

\n Ducati\n <\/p>\n <\/figcaption>\n <\/figure>\n

\u201cWhen I joined MotoGP [in 2012] I sometimes crashed without knowing what happened because the tyres [Bridgestones] were really difficult,\u201d Petrucci recalls. \u201cI remember at Mugello I fitted a rear tyre, opened the throttle too soon and I saw Mugello from up in the sky! The Michelin [rear] is more friendly and easier to understand for the rider.\u201d<\/p>\n

Secondly, aerodynamics. The spec software\u2019s anti-wheelie programme is so low-tech [it simply waits for the forks to top out, then the throttle butterflies cut the power] that Ducati<\/a> had the bright idea of developing downforce aero to keep the front wheel on the ground exiting corners, allowing riders to accelerate harder. The benefit was so obvious that all the other factories immediately copied the technology.<\/p>\n

The downforce aero increases performance both on the gas and on the brakes, once again making overtaking more difficult.<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/section>\n\n\n

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