The new rules are linked to the percentage of points won by each team and assign, in proportion, tires and test days, but also the possibility of developing the engines
– Milan
On the eve of the 2024 pre-season tests, MotoGP announces the new concessions for MotoGP, with immediate effect, to try to level the values a bit. In summary: builders are divided into 4 classes depending on the points collected in two time windows, with progressive impact on the tires available in the tests, test days, wild cards, engines and related aerodynamic developments and updates.
today free development for honda and yamaha
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Translated, it means today “free” engine development for Honda and Yamaha and limitations for Ducati which will not have wild cards and will have fewer tires for testing. The central objective, beyond technical quibbles and turns of phrase, is to bring those who are currently behind (Yamaha and Honda) further forward and, even if we don’t want to admit this, to try to slow down those who dominate today (Ducati). . All in the name of the spectacle that benefits if the bikes on the track are able to run without technical gaps, with the same times, giving all riders the same chances.
when the single control unit arrived
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The same logic that almost a decade ago led to the obligation of the single control unit, the Magneti Marelli control unit, for the Premier Class is, in fact, overturned: at the time a “punishment” especially for Honda (which even threatened to abandon the World Championship) and, it must be said, a nice help for Ducati. Dorna’s objective was to contain costs and “level out” the performance of the motorcycles. In fact, the new control unit created by Magneti Marelli for Dorna and mandatory since 2014 for all the bikes on the grid then led to today’s MotoGP, with its “pros” and “cons”. Now comes this new regulation, “brain-like” (above the table) and, we will soon see, how interpretable it is.
Undoubtedly a “help” to Honda and Yamaha who should (the conditional is a must) acquire benefits and advantages of no small importance: free tests (with the limit of 260 tyres), 6 wild cards, 2 aerodynamic updates, but above all the possibility of developing the engine during the season. This, however, is not in itself a guarantee of recovery of the current Japanese gap. Beyond the difficult and not obvious unanimity achieved, there will be no shortage of new controversies, problems of application and management of the new rules. After having standardized the various electronic platforms with restrictive rules on the various technologies, the risk is that of a total technical standardization obtained by mortifying the construction philosophy of the manufacturers involved in MotoGP. The new system covers test days, drivers, wildcard appearances, number of engines, engine specifications and blocks, aerodynamic upgrades and the number of tires supplied for testing.
Factories will be classified into four groups – A, B, C or D – based on the percentage of the maximum possible points they have accumulated in each window. A novelty is that they are foreseen two windows in which the performance of each factory is evaluated: the first window goes from the first GP of the season to the last; the second goes from the first event after the “summer test ban” to the last one before the “summer test ban” of the following season. This allows, or rather would allow (the conditional is a must) houses to obtain, or lose, their concessions more quickly based on their most recent form, ensuring that competition can remain as balanced as possible. All the manufacturers, through the MSMA, approved the proposal although not all with the same level of satisfaction.
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