MotoGP: 360 km/h peak at Mugello in 2020?

Top speed in MotoGP becomes a hot topic when we approach the meeting of the Italian Grand Prix. And for good reason: this meeting takes place on the intimidating Mugello track which offers the opportunity to open the throttle wide and push the machine hard. As long as a good suction is taken, the inflation of km/h gets out of hand and makes you dizzy. The site crash.net has taken stock since 1999 while Dorna's technical man swears that there is no reason to panic about a possible 360 km/h in 2020...

Nothing to panic in absolute terms perhaps, but this year we saw a Dovizioso take off a little more from the front wheel at the end of the straight and get a scare that we all shared. Is it reasonable to maintain this pace without the now prohibited fins? This is an element of the debate which began in 1999. The latest 500cc two-strokes are 35 km/h slower than the latest MotoGP prototypes. And in this matter, it is the Ducati which sends wood.

The progression was made by 10 km/h every four or five years in a period where we went from 990cc to 800cc and now rise to 1cc. The engine is however constrained in bore and stroke, but it still climbs. In 000, Pirro did 354.7 km/h, a little less than the 354.9 ofAndrea Iannone in 2016. Two Desmosedici, by the way.

Impressive figures, but Dorna's technical director Conrad Cecchinelli tempers: “ This is certainly a concern, but you shouldn't be too impressed. The values are frightening at first glance, but in fact it is rare to have a serious accident due to top speed. This is not the most serious accident scenario. We would like to cap this top speed rather than trying to reduce it ».

How ? “ The factories are against solutions like a rev limiter which has already been proposed.” And which would level down the values of the engines. " The consumption ? It would also be complicated because they would manage to save fuel on braking and acceleration. ". Even in the case of the apparently single electronic control unit. So we'll leave it there. At least until 2021 when talks on technical regulations will resume.

Italian MotoGP weekend top speeds: 1999-2017 from crash.net

2017: 354.7km/h Pirro (Ducati) MotoGP 1000cc

2016: 354.9 Iannone (Ducati) MotoGP 1000cc

2015: 350.8 Iannone (Ducati) MotoGP 1000cc

2014: 349.6 Iannone (Ducati) MotoGP 1000cc

2013: 344.6 Iannone (Ducati) MotoGP 1000cc

2012: 346.9 Rossi (Ducati) MotoGP 1000cc

2011: 335.7 Barbera (Ducati) MotoGP 800cc

2010: 345.7 Barbera (Ducati) MotoGP 800cc

2009: 349.3 Pedrosa (Honda) MotoGP 800cc

2008: 330.8 Melandri (Ducati) MotoGP 800cc

2007: 323.3 Stoner (Ducati) MotoGP 800cc