MotoGP Review: Cruel to be kind

There was an air of frustration and negativity over the Malaysian GP weekend that must be similar to the feeling currently whizzing around the banks of the world. Just what is going on?!

We seemed to be bumbling along very nicely with 990s and then the 800cc formula last year producing Stoner's stunning form that took Ducati to the title they so richly deserved in 2007.

But then everyone had a 'love in' with Bridgestones as they thought it was the only way to win a championship, and yet they still haven't thought it through properly. In order to beat Rossi, you may well have to be on exactly the opposite type of tyre - see Stoner last year. (The year before was when Rossi was hardly helped by engine blow ups and crashes rather than tyre failures.)

In 2009, everyone has Bridgestones and it ain't going to change the order. The best guys will still win just as they have done in the 125cc, 250cc and 500cc titles for the last decade, as well as F1 and WRC. Nothing will change, less for people complaining about the tyres not being to their liking after so many seasons of tyres being made to their individual preferences.

Valentino Rossi confers with a Bridgestone engineer during qualifying © Back Page Images

I heard from an insider present at the MSMA meetings over the weekend that it was laughable how the discussions went for the decision, or indeed how seriously some manufacturers didn't take these important discussions. But surely sportsmen make bad trade unionists?

And then there is the biggest of black thunder clouds hanging over the 250cc paddock. Holding an imaginary gun to peoples heads and asking if they are going to be in or out of the championship next year, many said they'd far rather be out than in due to the potential lack of TV coverage and the silly price of leasing bikes.

Aprilia now have a near monopoly in the class after KTM announced last week that they'd be pulling out after this weekend's Valencia GP. There just is no-one else to get a bike from and there are only two more seasons left of the 250 class before the MotoGP2 class or whatever it's going to be called.

So are my words of 25th April 2007 coming home to roost in a slightly different way?

I wrote that week:

The best one has to come from a man who may soon wield a great deal of power in the paddock. Giampiero Sacchi of Piaggio oversees the Aprilia, Gilera and Derbi brands in 125 and 250. That's 24 of the 34 runners (70 per cent) in 125, and 16 of the 24 runners (66 per cent) in 250.

"If they (the MotoGP teams) think that building a fence around them (for an inner MotoGP paddock) to get more money is the answer, then let them get on with it," he added. That is a comment that has many connotations. He has the power to not supply bikes to those classes, leaving a grid of ten 125s and eight 250 bikes to line up.

The reality of Sacchi pulling it all is remote, as he makes cash from leasing all those bikes, but you never know if he might get a call from fellow Italian FG Sport to go and run a support race over there alongside World Superbike. Dorna has a contract with the FIM to supply three classes of grand prix motorcycle racing and that could leave Madrid in a very difficult situation indeed.

Dorna have either got themselves in a mess here or are being exceptionally clever in drilling down the price that the Piaggio Group lease their bikes out for. Whatever has happened, KTM, the only-just-second-largest European manufacturer has been allowed to march out of the MotoGP paddock and now the 250cc paddock. I thought the job was to keep people on board?!

And where are the FIM in all of this quandary of single tyre and crisis of 250?

Gilera rider Marco Simoncelli leads the KTMs of Julian Simon and Mika Kallio, and the Aprilias of Alvaro Bautista and Alex Debon © Back Page Images

Or is all this down to too many championships being allowed to happen by the FIM? One of the reasons why F1 is so dominant the world over, is that there is really only one pinnacle of motor racing, not five as we have in bikes with three GP classes and two Superbike/sport classes.

Superbike and MotoGP are trying to pull each other across the playground, with Superbike getting an advantage for a while during the Fogarty era, then for MotoGP to advance with the Rossi era. Rossi is still here, but SBK are fighting back with Aprilia (Piaggo Group) and BMW entering the series next year. They certainly have some momentum up at present.

The FIM needs to show its hand here and just bang the table; get rid of the two stroke or whatever-they're-going-to-be classes from a top billing spot and have them on Saturday, then having World Superbike as the day's opener, headlining with the MotoGP race just after lunch. Hey, some riders may even swap over and do both races!

In this world where sports are battling for TV figures and budgets decrease pro-rata, there needs to actually be less motorsport on TV rather than more. People only have so much time to watch TV and they don't want all of their spare time doing as such, so pare it down and streamline it. Less is more; leave people hungry.

Sure they'll be a fair amount of blood spilt along the way, but what's the saying? You've got to be cruel to be kind.