There was a time when most of the Grand Prix field was made up of private drivers with a small truck and a caravan. The factory teams were larger, but very small compared to current teams. In a way, it’s almost a different profession now.
« The two-stroke engines were completely dismantled every day, and there were specialists for these two-stroke engines – now you can't do anything to these engines – you only make adjustments " estimated Loris Capirossi.
“In my time, seven or eight people worked for me, and today teams can number 20 or 25 people ", remember Giacomo Agostini.
“Before, it was a small family, today each team is a big family ».
Jorge Martinez also remembers bygone eras: “ The past had its charm, there were beautiful scenes: at three or four in the morning, the mechanics were working on the engines or parts, before we could go to sleep, We had to make sure the crankshaft was correctly balanced, it was a different time ».
In the 1990s, the Motorcycle World Championship was far from today's professionalism. “ There were nine of us, including the truck driver and the two pilots, and today with nine people you couldn't even do the communication job jokes Kevin Schwantz, who rode for the Suzuki factory team. “ It's getting bigger and bigger, and now there's one employee who takes care of the fuel, one for the stand, one for the fork, one for the fairing, and so on. »
“At that time, the engines were completely dismantled every afternoon, the cylinder heads removed, the transmission removed. Everything was completely dismantled and rebuilt “, remembers Kenny Roberts junior. “ Now it's like a puzzle, there's the motor and the electronics, everything is taken apart piece by piece and reassembled. »
Source: Motogp.com / Dorna
