Moto2 Night and Day

I have Just visited the Valencia race track to get a feel of the new season's bikes and riders. Tom Jojic Chef engineer for the Tec3 moto2 team told me that the bike is basically a 120hp CBR engine put together by one company Geo-tec. Tom who spent many years with KR, Honda and many other race teams this time round has limited control of electronic settings. The bike has ten sensors that can give the team information to help choose the right settings. But as Randy Momola said in discussion, that there is less safety controls, if the bike spins the back wheel there is no assistance to stop it.
This is the age old argument about riders of the old school and the new era, who is riding, who is the passenger and when is safety more important than the racing?
It's true that if you stand on a corner as a GP passes all you can hear is the traction control cutting the engine in and out.


The as one Öhlins technician put it that there is always a compromise between, what the bike needs, what the rider wants. 'If tyres could talk' is one of Momola's slogans, Rossi's front tyre would be crying out 'easy on the brakes'.

All of these things affect the confidence of a rider. As Suppo head of HRC this season that riders always want the bike the competition has not because it's better but it seems to be.

Bradly Smith's Tec3

This weekend Bradly Smith was going through the motions with the Tech3 600, his work is not easy trying to get up the the same speed as those like his team mate that have been on the bikes a year. Bradly at twenty years old has the confidence that comes with his age. recently competing in an alpine triathlon coming just three minutes behind Jenson Button.  The next week of testing should see him move towards controlling the bike but it takes most riders some time. And a nasty fall like Aoyama's back breaking fall at Silverstone last year is a clear confidence killer.

It's clear that at what ever level you race it's harder than it looks but for sure the racing is much closer in Moto2.