This is a summation of a live broadcast that happened at 9:00 AM Italy time. Not quite exactly what I thought it would be but it is a tremendous start. First the GPs, then who knows, MX may be next.
The championship has already been approved by UEM (European Motorcycle Union) and will start in 2012. The intent of the workshop was to introduce the championship, its reasons, its spirit and to discuss the rules.
The general philosophy of the whole event was well sumarized by the cell phone interview with Jan Thiel. He said that: once, the world championship was the research, the cutting edge technology, and road going vehicles would eventually benefit from the discovers made for the competition engines. Nowadays, the reverse happens, the motoGP is sort of a make championships made of vehicles that are derived from the production vehicles, choked by a myriad of rules that prevent anything to be done. No technology innovation, ridiculous specific power, etc. etc. [we all know what he's talking about so no need to detail this].
So the spirit of this new championship is to take over things where they were killed 20 years ago, and restart/continue innovation.
Hence, the basic rule is: no rules.
More in detail, the rules:
- displacement: 50/125/250 cc
(as opposed to 4strokes oversize "bigger is better" low power
philosophy, let's restart with small displacement but high power)
(a 500 cc class may be added in following years)
- free number of cylinders
- free type of engine (it's not a championship reserved to two-strokes,
you are free to participate with a Diesel, a 4T, a Wankel, whatever,
if you are able to get enough power out of it)
- free choice of fuel with a bonus for those who use politically correct
bio-fuels (bonus in the form of "points" affecting the ranking)
- free choice of tire size
- free number of speeds in the gearbox, and free transmissions
(a gear shifter box isn't actually required, you can use CVT
or whatever else solution you can invent)
- supercharging allowed, free pressure
- free electronics with only two limitations:
-- _NO_ drive-by-wire
-- _NO_ GPS assisted traction control etc.
- free choice of construction materials, except those harming health
like Asbetos, Berillium, etc.
- noise level must be <= 97 db
(measured at 10 m distance, vehicle passing by full speed)
- free lube and lube system
- cooling: only water allowed
- free aerodynamics, within general FIM guidelines
- dimensions, same as per FIM rules
- the rules are made so that you are also free to take part into
competitions with old race bikes (hopefully restored and tuned)
Then, rules for limiting costs:
- each team may have a maximum of 2 bikes for each driver
- each team may be made of maximum 5 persons
And finally:
- no age limitations for riders, no forcing of a class change.
If you love a class, you can race in that class all your life.
This last statement has to do with another aspect of the championship philosophy, that was equally remarked by both Jan Thiel and the other organizers, that is to make bike racing a sport again, to revalue the human aspects and to reduce the "show-business" side at a minimum.
To give young riders time and chance to grow a drivers career, and not to trash them if they don't become a superstar in the first season.
To have the different teams friends with each other, and normal people able to access the paddocks and have a talk with drivers and mechanics.
To NOT have the best part of the paddocks reserved to the bigger displacement and television, and the minor classes confined to the back, but to have everything mixed together like it was in the old good times when motorbike competitions were a sport in the real sense of the word.
From what I understand, there will be a YouTube video in a few days. Have a great day, I'm going to celebrate.
