English
Italiano
The MotoGP is heading towards a complete freeze on development until 2022, CEO for IRTA - International Road Racing Teams Association -Hervé Poncharal, has revealed to crash.net. In recent weeks, they decided to homologate the engines and fairings for the 2020 season, although they still have not had one single race. Now they want to take another step in this direction.
The manufacturers are the first to agree on this proposal because, with factories closed due to the Coronavirus outbreak, cutting costs is a necessity for everyone.
“We unanimously decided to keep the 2020 technical specifications. The development of engines and aerodynamics will be frozen until the end of 2021," Poncharal said.
This will allow the teams to significantly reduce costs, and it will have a positive impact for satellite teams, which will be able to use the same bikes for two years, with a decrease in leasing price. These are all measures required to face a crisis that is not only a health one but also an economic one.
On paper, Aprilia and KTM are excluded from this provision, since they can take advantage of the concession system. Therefore, they have no limits in continuing to develop their motorcycles.
“They wouldn't do it even if they could," Hervé intervened. "I'm pretty sure it's the least of their problems. At the moment, the question is not how to spend the money but how to save your company."
"Stopping development won't mean a decrease in entertainment on the track," Poncharal said. And we can agree on this.
"We have incredible bikes. The test rankings in Malaysia and Sepang were incredibly tight," he said. "So we don't need to spend money in this field. We already have incredibly technological and high-performing bikes."
