Little by little, the Superprestigio has established itself as the only winter event bringing together many Grand Prix drivers, all categories combined.
Born in 2014 under the leadership of Jaime Alguersuari, former pilot and Spanish press magnate, the event developed in Barcelona, with Marc Márquez as a figurehead until 2016. For next year, there was talk of a transfer of the event to Paris, with then Johann zarco headlining, but it is still a little early to know whether this project will succeed or not, Claude Michy having not yet made any statement on this subject.
Regardless, there is one point we would like to raise before this really creates controversy.
The Superprestigio enjoys a certain success thanks to very simple rules: roughly speaking, everyone has the same bike and the same chances of reaching the final, only habit, talent and a bit of luck must make the difference to make the difference with his opponents.
This desire for simplicity is also perfectly transcribed in the technical regulations that we have obtained, and which only contain a few main guidelines.
However, it turns out that over the past two years, it seems that Traction Control may have appeared on the motorcycles of a few favorites...
Brad Baker was surprised, for example, when he saw the factory bike fielded by Marc Márquez and his MotoGP team in 2016: “There are an incredible number of buttons on Marc’s handlebars! »
This year again, despite the absence of the person concerned, certain motorcycles emitted a less than clear noise when accelerating (audible only during testing and not in the hubbub of the races)...
Today, Traction Controls for Dirt are based on sudden variations in engine speed and are no bigger than a 2 euro coin. In the event of a sudden variation, the magic box delays the ignition of the gas. To compensate for loss of desired grip when sliding, the system is equipped with a self-learning function that can be refined during testing...
Let's get along well, no prohibition of Traction Control appears in the Superprestigio regulations ! If someone uses it, it is therefore completely legal and it will never turn a draft horse into a Thoroughbred, but we simply find that this war on weapons goes against the very nature of 'test.
In this regard, the provision of Remy gardner, winner of a round of the 2017 edition with a 2-year-old 9-stroke without an engine brake while the motorcycles do not have one at the front, seems to us to perfectly illustrate the simplicity that the participating motorcycles should have. in this event: time for the exploits of the pilots on motorcycles with basic preparation!
So this is only our responsibility, but a simple line added to the regulations would make the event fairer and, consequently, even more interesting for the public…
