Pit Shadow

I am feeling very uneasy right now, because Dorna overlord Carmelo Ezpeleta is weighing in hard on the WSB debate, and I’m convinced he’s going to ruin it. That may make some of theWSB haters here in the MotoGP paddock happy, but not me. WSB isn’t just a ‘rival’ series, it’s a livelihood for hundreds, if not thousands, of people.

Mr C E has been reported saying WSB should be more Superstock than ever, which on the one hand doesn’t sound too bad given how incredible production machines are. However, when you really start to think about it, while it could prompt great stuff for consumers, at the same time it could makeWSB less competitive too.

Let’s be honest here, Ezpeleta never really wanted control of WSB, all he wanted was to stick one to the Flammini brothers (erstwhile WSB bosses) who were a constant thorn in his side. Since Dorna’s aggressive takeover (the two series were owned by the same umbrella corporation), they have severely curbed the rules when it comes to tuning and so forth. They have already made them more ‘stock’ than ever before, including limits on how much things like ECUs, electronics and suspension costs. They’ve tried their hardest to slow them down so much that there’s a clear gap betweenWSB and MotoGP. It’s testament to those racing in WSB that they’ve still managed to go faster despite being restricted, but for Dorna, they’re still too close to MotoGP machines – and we can’t have anything come close to the golden cash cow, can we?

So what will happen if he invokes pure Superstock rules? Well, the superb Superstock championship will go for one thing. A pity, as that’s a great feeder class for WSB just like the epic Superstock 600 series was for Supersport. What happened to that? Oh yeah, Dorna canned it… Anyway, what could occur is we see some manufacturers creating ever more incredible production machinery. I think those such as Ducati, Aprilia, Kawasaki (given all they’ve invested in the series) and perhaps Yamaha would do that. But what of the rest? Or those thinking of entering? The more ‘stock’ it becomes, the more the better machines out of the box will find success. Maybe not right away, but after a while those taking it really seriously will prevail.

The truth is that it’s a fallacy to think that going down the stock route will ‘fix’ WSB. The current rules (already a shadow of their former selves tuning-wise), still allow nearly every manufacturer to be competitive if the right effort is applied. And, as always in any race series anywhere ever, those with the most money to pour into it will be at the front, stock rules or otherwise.

What WSB needs is more promotion, more incentive for top riders to go there, just for a start. Both things are easily within Dorna’s control. Having Kawasaki and Ducati at the top of theWSB pile is no different to Yamaha and Honda winning nearly everything in GP. Make no mistake, this move to ‘stock’ rules is nothing to do with fixing WSB, or making it better, it’s all about making MotoGP look the best – when we already know it is! That alone is reason to try and thwart these nefarious plans…