Motorcycle Forum / General / Racing / September 2008

What I was suggesting was something of a cross between what they might
have come up with had this actually been negotiated in a serious manner
this year and what might ultimately get settled over time. Right now it
seems rather likely that what they'll do is agree on a one-year
extension of the current structure with more change to happen in 2010.
But even that would likely include some immediate changes.

The problems with just extending the '08 package are numerous - there is
no 1200cc twins rule in SB, there are nothing but 600s in SSport, SStock
was supposed to be on the slab, and it doesn't include larger twins
either. Plus Daytona can't be all that wild about another year of FX in
the 200.

Use of the proposed '09 rules in SB would solve that class' problem.
Elimination of SStock seems inevitable, no one besides Suzuki (today)
really wants it and DMG was only using ASB as a thorn to stick into the
factories' side anyway. So dropping that takes care of the liters.

The middleweights is where it all gets sticky. Unless the deal is that
the current structure is retained verbatim, FX is gone. DSB is the one
real foundation of the DMG "vision", and I think people get it wrong
when they picture it as a middleweight class. Maybe that's the way it
would turn out in reality, but I don't think that's Rog Ed's concept;
he's focused on the bigger bikes as much as 600s, if not more. That's
why I figured the reasonable compromise would be to run both DSB and
some sort of 600 SSport/SStock class, novice or otherwise.

So what can the do to DSB to make it work as the sole middleweight
class? Obviously removing the dyno test on 600s isn't enough, and I
doubt that the factories would accept a weight minimum that required
them to ballast their 600s. And you can't really run all the eligible
machines against each other without some sort of limitations. Hell, you
can't even run an 848 against the 600s under SSport/SStock rules, that's
too much of a displacement disparity. So what you probably end up with
is something like the recent SB rules, balancing displacement and
cylinder differences with weight and tuning restrictions, plus the
jettisoning of some of the eligible bikes (probably the naked bikes).
Another way to look at this is to start from SSport or FX and then
figure out how to add more bikes.

What we do know here is what the OEMs can and want to run in such a
class, 600s somewhere between FIM SStock and AMA FX. What we don't know
is what's important to Edmondson and DMG at this point - are they still
largely wedded to DSB or have they awakened and smelled the coffee in
realityville? Where the middleweights end up really will be determined
by that, is there going to be a big fight and lots of rules
negotiations, or has DMG pretty much conceded their concept, or are they
going to put it off until another day by running two classes next year?

On MOTO-ST, I think the factories are going to put up a real fight
there, unless the agreed structure is just SB and SSp/DSB. If they stick
with the current four classes then there is no room, and even three gets
squeezed down. And there is no value to the Japanese OEMs in MOTO-ST,
they essentially have no hardware that's eligible. So DMG better be
ready to get that sh.t out of there, unless some promoter wants to run
it in the evening or something.

Regarding what the factories are willing to concede, I think it's a lot
beyond the two classes they need. Spec tires, obviously, that's all the
rage elsewhere. Spec fuel, sure. The approved parts list? Clearly it's
"no" in SB, but might be "yes" with middleweights. Then the big one -
DMG's ability to change rules at the drop of a hat in order to "enhance
competition". At this point I just don't see the OEMs living with that,
they really need a year of working together in order to establish any
minimal level of trust. So count on rigid rules for next year, at least
in the classes the Japanese care about.

Anyway, we may well end up with what was proposed for the AMA in '09
after all, but maybe with FX tweaked to look a bit more like DSB, to
make Edmondson and France happy(ier).

You should read Abrams' column in CN this week, on the changes coming
out of Indy. It's a good overview even if it doesn't include much detail
or class speculation. But it's refreshing to read something reasonably
positive that's grounded in reality, especially after being subject to
Ulrich's RRW and their one-sided, viral vindictiveness on a daily basis
of late.