Valentino rossi ("The doctor")
Valentino Rossi power sliding out of a turn, even while having traction control equipped on his motorcycle. Just goes to show that the TC system does not always work, and still allows the rider to spin the rear wheel. (Traction Control Valentino Rossi)
Bumper sticker
"It's all in the wrist! It's all in the wrist!" --- Valentino Rossi
T.v. interview with Reporter
Reporter: Good morning Valentino.
Rossi: Good morning. It's a little early for me though, but I am glad to be here with you.
Reporter: Since traction control systems have been allowed to be used in MotoGP there has been a heated debate over whether or not they are a good addition or bad. We brought you here today to see what your opinion is on the topic, because unlike many of the racers today you have been racing in MotoGP before this technology came into motorcycle racing. First, I would like know if you like having traction control on your motorcycle?
Rossi: Having the traction control system makes riding the motorcycle much easier, and allows me to open the throttle more rapidly without launching me into a highside. Unfortunately, it takes away from the rider's natural ability and feel for the motorcycle, and makes it easier for people to compete with those who they couldn't before having this rider aide. It is basically cheating.
Reporter: What do you mean it allows more people to compete with those who couldn't before traction control came out?
Rossi: "There are many different things that affect traction. Learning to manage them all might sound overwhelming at first" (Parks 16), but once you have learned how traction is affected and can be controlled by the rider it makes racing much more exciting. When you have traction control on a motorcycle you can set it up in many different ways, and if you're not as skilled as others you can increase how much the traction control takes over, and this allows some of the rookies and other slower racers to catch up because they are not going to make as many mistakes as they would if they did not have the traction control system.
Reporter: Why do you think MotoGP has allowed traction control systems?
Rossi: Well bottom line is that it provides safety to the riders which is above all the most important thing. Since traction control systems have been introduced there has been about a 60% decrease in high side crashes per year, which results in less injuries and worst of all things death. So, having these systems on these high powered machines is very important. Also, many of the manufacturers are using the knowledge that they get from testing with us and use the engineering and knowledge to put on their public consumer products to give their customers the most advanced technology to date in order to keep them happy.
Reporter: "Imagine you could invent a new motorcycle racing championship, what would your rules be (Cope)?"
Rossi: "Firstly, the right number of competitors is 24 or 26. At the moment, I would keep the four-stroke. It is true that everyone likes the 500cc 2-stroke but the world now unfortunately goes with the four-stroke. I believe the correct displacement is 1000cc, not 800cc with a limit of 16,000 to 17,000 rpm, not 19,000 as it is right now, so that the bikes cannot reach 220mph. In my opinion, 195 mph is sufficient. Then, I would remove a lot of electronics and many tricks that help guiding the bike. It might take a little traction control, a little help, because the bikes would be powerful, but I would like a quarter of electronics we use now. You know, we can now set the power, gas and traction control at every corner, for each gear. The bike knows exactly where it is on track. When taking advantage of the electronics, you can adapt it so that it takes every curve perfectly. I would keep the traction control but it should be fixed, not adaptable to any type of curve.And no anti-surge control, no control on the brakes: so we would see beautiful overtakes, large drifts in the braking zone and good battles during the races. For me, the championship would be better that way (Cope)."
Reporter: Thank you so much for your time today Valentino. Have a great day.
Rossi: You are welcome, and thank you for having me.
Rossi: Good morning. It's a little early for me though, but I am glad to be here with you.
Reporter: Since traction control systems have been allowed to be used in MotoGP there has been a heated debate over whether or not they are a good addition or bad. We brought you here today to see what your opinion is on the topic, because unlike many of the racers today you have been racing in MotoGP before this technology came into motorcycle racing. First, I would like know if you like having traction control on your motorcycle?
Rossi: Having the traction control system makes riding the motorcycle much easier, and allows me to open the throttle more rapidly without launching me into a highside. Unfortunately, it takes away from the rider's natural ability and feel for the motorcycle, and makes it easier for people to compete with those who they couldn't before having this rider aide. It is basically cheating.
Reporter: What do you mean it allows more people to compete with those who couldn't before traction control came out?
Rossi: "There are many different things that affect traction. Learning to manage them all might sound overwhelming at first" (Parks 16), but once you have learned how traction is affected and can be controlled by the rider it makes racing much more exciting. When you have traction control on a motorcycle you can set it up in many different ways, and if you're not as skilled as others you can increase how much the traction control takes over, and this allows some of the rookies and other slower racers to catch up because they are not going to make as many mistakes as they would if they did not have the traction control system.
Reporter: Why do you think MotoGP has allowed traction control systems?
Rossi: Well bottom line is that it provides safety to the riders which is above all the most important thing. Since traction control systems have been introduced there has been about a 60% decrease in high side crashes per year, which results in less injuries and worst of all things death. So, having these systems on these high powered machines is very important. Also, many of the manufacturers are using the knowledge that they get from testing with us and use the engineering and knowledge to put on their public consumer products to give their customers the most advanced technology to date in order to keep them happy.
Reporter: "Imagine you could invent a new motorcycle racing championship, what would your rules be (Cope)?"
Rossi: "Firstly, the right number of competitors is 24 or 26. At the moment, I would keep the four-stroke. It is true that everyone likes the 500cc 2-stroke but the world now unfortunately goes with the four-stroke. I believe the correct displacement is 1000cc, not 800cc with a limit of 16,000 to 17,000 rpm, not 19,000 as it is right now, so that the bikes cannot reach 220mph. In my opinion, 195 mph is sufficient. Then, I would remove a lot of electronics and many tricks that help guiding the bike. It might take a little traction control, a little help, because the bikes would be powerful, but I would like a quarter of electronics we use now. You know, we can now set the power, gas and traction control at every corner, for each gear. The bike knows exactly where it is on track. When taking advantage of the electronics, you can adapt it so that it takes every curve perfectly. I would keep the traction control but it should be fixed, not adaptable to any type of curve.And no anti-surge control, no control on the brakes: so we would see beautiful overtakes, large drifts in the braking zone and good battles during the races. For me, the championship would be better that way (Cope)."
Reporter: Thank you so much for your time today Valentino. Have a great day.
Rossi: You are welcome, and thank you for having me.
My Word: 463
Other: 200
Other: 200
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