Minimum weight

[TK4]

Scott Redding reignites the discussion: ‘Why is there not a rider minimum weight limit?’

Álvaro Bautista leads the World Superbike Championship by a big...

www.motorcyclesports.net

 

[timtune]

Is anybody saying Redding can't go on a diet?

 

[Relax]

That's so ridiculous. What's wrong with a lighter rider having an advantage? Same thing as a taller player having an advantage in the NBA.

 

[Relax]

On top of that, he's lucky he's racing motorcycles and not horses. Jockeys have a maximum weight limit.

 

[Priller]

There are already enough sports where being small is a huge disadvantage. I played rugby in high school. Alvaro Bautista would have been punished on that pitch, just as I wasn't born to be a successful racer.

Also, heavier riders would have an advantage with a minimum weight because they can use their weight in the corners while the lighter riders are stuck with immovable ballast.

For me, as someone who idolised David Jefferies partly because he was the first successful racer I'd ever seen who wasn't shaped like either a jockey or a beanpole (in other words, looked more like me), every successful racer is tiny to varying degrees. Who decides the minimum weight? 130 lbs? 150? 200? Should John McGuinness have things leveled for him, too?

I understand Redding's frustration, as his size will always be a handicap in short circuit racing, but them's the breaks. I recall the moral outrage when wee Dani Pedrosa arrived in MotoGP, particularly from the Nicky Hayden fan club (that obsessive from Soup is still banging on about it), about how it would mean a grid of jockeys and ruin the sport forever. In the end, Pedro's size was more of a handicap than advantage, with his tiny bones breaking with every crash and later being unable to generate enough heat in the front Michelin under braking.

There's enough rules in the sport, no need to complexify it even more...

 

[Jayv]

That's so ridiculous. What's wrong with a lighter rider having an advantage? Same thing as a taller player having an advantage in the NBA.

One part of it is the Ducati has a ridiculous speed advantage already over Kawi and Yamaha.

 

[Relax]

One part of it is the Ducati has a ridiculous speed advantage already over Kawi and Yamaha.

Then Kawi and Yamaha have some engineering to do. That's the nature of top level racing.

 

[TK4]

Perhaps a minimum combined rider/machine weight like they have in Formula 1 ?

 

[Relax]

I don't follow racing closely, but it seems to me that Redding is just sore because he switched from Ducati to BMW after not being able to win a championship, and now seeing Bautista on his way to do what he couldn't.

 

[Jayv]

Then Kawi and Yamaha have some engineering to do. That's the nature of top level racing.

Not even racing at this point, it’s such an advantage. Series has always been geared to give the Duc’s an upper hand.

 

[Priller]

Then Kawi and Yamaha have some engineering to do. That's the nature of top level racing.

Or some losing to do so they get their revs back...

Perhaps a minimum combined rider/machine weight like they have in Formula 1 ?

F1 drivers don't affect the handling of their cars by shifting their body weight. You can't say a pound of lead in a belly pan is the same as a pound of muscle on a rider...

Not even racing at this point, it’s such an advantage. Series has always been geared to give the Duc’s an upper hand.

Those days are long gone. They really ended when they introduced 1000cc fours and Ducati moved their focus to GP's in response. Bologna hasn't been a factor in WSBK for ages. But Ducati has done a mountain of V4 development in GP's and applied it to their streetbikes while everyone else is sticking with I4's rooted in 2005 technology.

It could be argued that GP's have a bigger Ducati problem, as they can introduce tech that actively hurts the racing (ride height devices as exhibit A), but the rules are currently set up such that unless it's a clear safety issue, Ducati can veto any attempt to change. While I admire Gigi's innovation and creativity, they need to change that to a 2/3rds majority in the next MSMA agreement. Sprint races are only going to compound Ducati's power advantage, too, as the fuel constraints are even less strict...

 

[Relax]

Not even racing at this point, it’s such an advantage. Series has always been geared to give the Duc’s an upper hand.

If you want pure racing, then you want a one-make racing series, not WSBK. Even better if they had something like the old "International Race Of Champions (IROC)" car series where all vehicles cars were prepped identically, and racers didn't even know which one they would get until just before the race.

 

[Jayv]

If you want pure racing, then you want a one-make racing series, not WSBK. Even better if they had something like the old "International Race Of Champions (IROC)" car series where all vehicles cars were prepped identically, and racers didn't even know which one they would get until just before the race.

It’s called Moto2. I like the series, but it doesn’t get much love.