DAR130 wrote:I watched the race and was suprised in how many bikes there were in it.I think it was 16,how come it's only that many.I would have thought it would be in the 20's at least.Is it the cost of running a team as the lower classes looked to have a lot more riders in them.
Finances unfortunately.
Kawasaki pulled out a couple of years ago because of cost, so that is two out (although a privateer Kawasaki did run for one year) and Suzuki have cut their operations back to one bike this year (although Alvaro Bautista was injured for the first race).
The cost cutting plans introduced last year haven't really cut operating costs, mainly because the material costs were never that high in comparative terms. The costs came from the R&D that goes into creating an 800cc engine for a prototype chassis, something which the manufacturers wouldn't normally invest in unless they were seriously committed to GP racing - and only Honda, Yamaha and Ducati have been for the past three years.
This is the last season with 800cc engines, with the championship changing back to 1,000cc next year. That change should cut costs more dramatically as almost every manufacturer has a 1,000cc production engine to base their development on and it should also encourage more manufacturers into MotoGP. BMW is reportedly testing a prototype "MotoGP legal" chassis with the engine from the S1000RR Superbike and there has been occasional speculation surrounding Aprilia (who might have a few spare quid if they don't provide the engines for the new Moto3 championship next season).
In Moto2, all of the engines are identical Honda 600cc engines with only the chassis being different between bikes. In the 125cc championship, most of the bikes are either Aprilia or Derbi - two manufacturers who already produce huge amounts of 125cc engines, meaning lower R&D costs. Most of the riders are also in their mid-late teens, which means that they get paid peanuts if at all.
