Tardozzi Bucking The trend - MotoGP Should remain "Technological Challenge"
Categories: MotoGP
Davide Tardozzi thinks little of what some aerodynamics critics say. The Italian makes a clear statement.
In the last months, more and more voices have been raised in MotoGP that the technological development of bikes has to be restricted.
The effects on safety and the attractiveness of the premier class are no longer sustainable for the near future. The immense aerodynamic developments are particularly criticized.
After Ducati started the cat-and-mouse game about wings and aerodynamic aids in the mid-2010s, the entire grid has gotten into a frenzy of development.
Even influential figures in the current paddock, such as KTM motorsport boss Pit Beirer, have warned several times about the possible consequences.
Only recently, at the presentation of the 2023 spec RC-16, did he state:
“I have the feeling that the bikes are so good now that anything we bring now will result in the riders braking later and coming around the corner faster. But then where is there going to be overtaking in the future?”
Massive criticism also comes from outside the paddock. Fans and supporters of the sport fear the premier class races could become an actionless farce – a restriction on aerodynamic development is urgently needed, they say.
On top of that, the immense costs of development are a source of concern for various factories.
So far a rather solitary discussion, Ducati team manager Davide Tardozzi now harshly disagrees.
“I believe that technology should be the most important element in MotoGP because you have to show where motorbike technology can go. MotoGP should be a technological challenge and it has been for Ducati in the last years.”
The Italian is disappointed with his fellow competitors. After all, Ducati has been the only manufacturer to innovate in recent years.
“In the last six, seven years, only Ducati brought innovations in MotoGP. Nothing that the other manufacturers have done has been copied by the competition,” Tardozzi teased in an interview with SPEEDWEEK.com.
After all, MotoGP is still a world championship, the fundamental idea is to identify the best bike, not the best rider. The 64-year-old says somewhat provocatively:
“If we want to have a championship that is all about the riders, it would be best to have a championship where everyone is on the same bike.”
The Italian points to the responsibility of the premier class to further develop motorbike technology.
“We are in the ultimate motorbike championship, where the technology of the future is being researched. So it’s only natural that new technologies emerge.”
