Photo: motogp.com
Following the high-speed crash Avintia's rider Loris Baz was involved in during the first IRTA test at Sepang last week, the Grand Prix Commission (GPC) refined some of the technical regulations that deal with the minimum tire pressure for the premier class motorcycles.
All teams and riders will have to inflate their tires to a minimum pressure, and the Technical Direction staff, aided by the engineers of the official tire supplier, will increase their efforts to ensure that the specified values are being respected.
The new technical regulations say, according to the FIM, that tire pressure sensors are to be implemented, too, in the future. Their readings will be recorded by the dataloggers on each motorcycle and all the collected data will be accessible to the technical staff via download.
Technical Direction must find the sensors that will be used and see to the software implementation for their functioning, followed by the integration of such readings in the "big software picture." Thinking about this specific aspect, having the entire grid running the same ECU software will make the job easier.
Until the tire pressure sensor issue is made fully operational, "the technical staff and the staff of the official tire supplier are now authorized to manually verify tire pressures at any time," the Grand Prix Commission says.
Loris Baz' crash was apparently linked to the possibility that the pressure in his rear tire was lower than the ideal value. An official result of the investigation regarding his 290 km/h (180 mph) crash is still expected, but we're ever so glad to see that he walked from the site almost unscathed.
As some riders preferred to pay the fines for not showing at these events, Dorna saw that the financial penalties were nowhere near enough to correct the situation, especially for the riders/teams with heftier paychecks.
Sporting penalties will be added as of the 2016 season as a complement to the financial ones. "A number of obligations for riders to participate in promotional activities, already contained in the Participation Agreements between IRTA and the Teams, will now also be included in the Grand Prix regulations.
"Such obligations include the requirement for riders to participate in autograph signing sessions, press conferences, parade laps, etc. The effect is that non-compliance by riders can now result in sporting penalties in addition to the financial penalties contained in the Participation Agreements," the FIM documents reveal.
Not sure how happy some riders will be when they learn about this. Non-racing related issues have also been one of the reasons that led to Casey Stoner's retirement from the professional racing scene. It most likely won't be the case for anyone in 2016, but being forced to sign autographs IS a bit funny.
The new technical regulations say, according to the FIM, that tire pressure sensors are to be implemented, too, in the future. Their readings will be recorded by the dataloggers on each motorcycle and all the collected data will be accessible to the technical staff via download.
Until the system is perfected and all the bikes receive their sensors, manual verifications will be made
While the most recent meeting of the Grand Prix Commission only stated that tire pressure monitors would become standard equipment for the MotoGP bikes, it will take some time until all the pieces in the puzzle are in the right place.Technical Direction must find the sensors that will be used and see to the software implementation for their functioning, followed by the integration of such readings in the "big software picture." Thinking about this specific aspect, having the entire grid running the same ECU software will make the job easier.
Until the tire pressure sensor issue is made fully operational, "the technical staff and the staff of the official tire supplier are now authorized to manually verify tire pressures at any time," the Grand Prix Commission says.
Loris Baz' crash was apparently linked to the possibility that the pressure in his rear tire was lower than the ideal value. An official result of the investigation regarding his 290 km/h (180 mph) crash is still expected, but we're ever so glad to see that he walked from the site almost unscathed.
Riders that fail to participate in promotional activities will receive penalty points
The GP regulations book will include new requirements that riders have to abide by. They deal with the promotional activities riders must take part in as specified in the agreements Dorna has with the teams.As some riders preferred to pay the fines for not showing at these events, Dorna saw that the financial penalties were nowhere near enough to correct the situation, especially for the riders/teams with heftier paychecks.
Sporting penalties will be added as of the 2016 season as a complement to the financial ones. "A number of obligations for riders to participate in promotional activities, already contained in the Participation Agreements between IRTA and the Teams, will now also be included in the Grand Prix regulations.
"Such obligations include the requirement for riders to participate in autograph signing sessions, press conferences, parade laps, etc. The effect is that non-compliance by riders can now result in sporting penalties in addition to the financial penalties contained in the Participation Agreements," the FIM documents reveal.
Not sure how happy some riders will be when they learn about this. Non-racing related issues have also been one of the reasons that led to Casey Stoner's retirement from the professional racing scene. It most likely won't be the case for anyone in 2016, but being forced to sign autographs IS a bit funny.
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