by julian ryder, on the ground in the uk
Wednesday, March 28, 2012
Not long to go until kick-off, so time to wonder aloud if the demise of the unlamented 800cc formula will make any difference to what happens on track.
When the change from 800 to 1000cc was announced a lot of people who should know better hailed a return to the days of the first, sliding, tyre-smoking days of the 990s. That won't happen. The sophistication of modern electronics needed to eeke out the 21 litres of fuel allowed will see to that. However, we may see some deviation from the one-line-only racing of the 800s thanks to the more flexible motors. It may be possible to square the corner off and fire out rather than rely totally on corner speed. However, these differences will be small. Top speeds will be faster, lap records will continue to be trashed and Casey Stoner and Jorge Lorenzo will continue to be fastest....more