With almost a decade of lag (or “delay”) on the car, the pinnacle of motorcycle competition was resolved in 2016 with the adoption of an electronic box common to all competitors. Can this redistribute the cards? Does this explain the form of the Suzukis or the difficulties of the official Hondas? This is what we sought to find out, while taking into account the experience that Formula 1 had at that time.
From now on, in addition to the tires, all the machines present on the starting grid in the MotoGP category use the same electronic boxes and software. Developed and perfected largely by Magnetti-Marelli, they are supplied by Dorna.
Single electronics, more economical?
In 2007, the move to single electronics in Formula 1 was initiated by Max Mosley, the President of the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile. The objective was to control the costs of the teams which spent colossal sums on the electronic management of their machines, and above all to better control the activity of the teams entered in F1. The specter of the return of so-called “smart” cars is increasingly present. In other words, the single-seaters were governed more by the algorithms of the electronic boxes than by the talent of the drivers, and particularly in terms of anti-slip. Prohibited by the regulations, the manufacturers knew how to hide it perfectly from the sporting authorities who were always one step behind the engineers of the big teams...
In MotoGP, traction control being accepted, the notion of better team control takes a back seat. It is therefore above all a question of preventing the manufacturer with the greatest financial capacity from systematically taking the advantage thanks to better development of its electronics.
With Dorna and Magnetti-Marelli ensuring the development of new software, manufacturers will thus be able to save on an item of expenditure which has become more important each year. Certainly we have noted an increase in personnel dedicated to the operation of these new ECUs (especially at Honda and Yamaha, Ducati being already familiar with the software base, already used in the Open category), but operation alone will always require less personnel as development AND operation.
However, will this save money? To believe in this would be to show great optimism because the second this item of expenditure disappears, it is transferred to another sector.
On 4 wheels, the effort was immediately focused on aerodynamics. Already very present before, aerodynamics have become decisive in the space of a few months. Predicting that we could see aerodynamic appendages flourish on MotoGP would be taking a huge risk... unless the phenomenon has already started...
At Yamaha, we saw the first fins appear a few weeks after the 3-tuned firm (as well as Ducati and Honda) was forced to freeze the development of its “factory” electronics… Honda has just followed suit in Qatar . We could thus see, tomorrow, appendages as sophisticated as in F1, entirely determined by computer batteries, and no longer by human intuition of aerodynamic flows.
Single electronics, more equitable?
By providing identical equipment to all competitors, we logically believe that everyone is placed on an equal footing. The principle is valid for tires, it is just as valid for electronics. The situation is very different today for MotoGP compared to F1 in 2008 because the tender launched by the FIA at the time was won by McLaren Electronic Systems. A bit as if Honda had become the sole supplier of MotoGP. Derived from the equipment used until now in the “Open” category, the new ECU still seems better mastered by Ducati than by Honda and Yamaha who are still in the discovery phase.
Has this redistributed the cards in Formula 1? At first glance, not really. Ferrari won the manufacturer's title in 2007 (before the unique electronics) and in 2008 (first season under this regulation bridge). So no upheaval. For the record, in 2007, McLaren scored 14 points more than Ferrari but was ultimately disqualified for cheating. Fortunately for us, motorcycling is safe from unsporting behavior…
The Scuderia had adapted remarkably well to the system developed by its great rival McLaren while at the same time, the Renault team had experienced pre-season testing punctuated with glitches. Difficulties which are reminiscent of those encountered by Honda during the first tests a few weeks ago and which still persisted in Qatar.
In fact, it was not until the 2009 season that we saw the indirect effects of the adoption of unique electronics on the Formula 1 hierarchy. The importance taken by aerodynamics then materialized in the form of a decisive discovery, the double-diffuser. Thanks to this invention by Ross Brawn, the BGP001 became world champion in the hands of Jenson Button. In other words, a very small team had managed to stand up to the behemoths of the discipline. Ironically, this car, developed by Honda, had been renamed and triumphed under the colors of the Brawn GP team because the Japanese manufacturer had decided to throw in the towel before the start of the championship.
