The 2024 Austrian Grand Prix will not be remembered as one of MotoGP’s best. In fact, its monotonous proceedings will probably be forgotten to the point where someone will one day win over the crowd at a pub quiz.
Not every race can be exciting, but no race should be as boring as this one. Social media is all about emphasizing the dominance of Ducati and its GP24. You only have to look at literally any other period in history that is considered classic to see how weak that argument is.
We all remember Barcelona 2009 as arguably the greatest MotoGP race. But we forget that people were complaining in the run-up to that race about how boring MotoGP was and that there hadn’t been a last-corner overtaking maneuver for years. We also forget that the title fight fizzled out and only the same four names were consistently on the podium.
You can’t blame Gigi Dall’Igna’s team for simply doing a better job than everyone else. They all work by the same rules and even then Ducati’s rivals make concessions of some sort to give them an edge in closing that gap. Not that any of them would have done that in 2024.
If you want to take your anger out on anyone, blame it on Ducati’s rivals, who simply performed below par. The Austrian GP results list reads like an old one, with a whopping 30.2 seconds separating the top 10.
This is a far cry from the Austrian GPs we used to see, when a final corner battle between Marc Marquez and Andrea Dovizioso was almost a given. Even during the COVID years, Austria provided thrillers.
So is Ducati really to blame for the boring races in Austria in recent years? Of course not.
Problems with ride height adjustment?
Probably the most exciting thing about the 2024 Austrian GP was Marc Marquez riding a Ducati, albeit one from 2023.
But the eight-time world champion enjoyed one of his best weekends of the year in terms of pace on the Gresini-run GP23. A crash in the sprint denied him a guaranteed podium finish, but he was a threat in the Grand Prix before running out of wheels just before the lights went out.
The trigger for his problems was a broken tyre valve, which prompted his mechanics to make a hasty visit to Michelin’s awning in the paddock to have his race tyres fitted to a new rim. They were successful, but as he spent the time without a warmer, his centre front tyre had cooled down.
In an attempt to regain some temperature, Marquez applied some force to his front brake on the way to the start line. The problem was that this caused his front holeshot device to fail and he was unable to reset it. As a result, he had a poor start and then collided with Pramac’s Franco Morbidelli, dropping him from third on the grid to 13th.
Marquez recovered to reach fourth place at the checkered flag, and his speed was enough to at least challenge for the podium.
“We cannot ban a device (early) just because I made a mistake. It’s the same for everyone and other riders have done it in the past,” Marquez said when asked if ride height measuring devices would be banned before 2027.
“It’s true that we have to (manage) a lot of things on the bike now,” he added. “When some riders come from Moto2, they say: ‘We have so many things to do.’ But today, after the chaos with the front tire, I paid more attention to getting the tire temperature up and focused less on the front wheel.”
“I activated it, but when I thought about the temperature at the front, I deactivated it again by applying load and pressure to increase the temperature. It is what it is.”
Marquez has long been a critic of what he sees as the “F1-ization” of MotoGP bikes, with an increasing reliance on aerodynamics and the evolution of ride height devices, which he believes make riding less instinctive and leave little room for a rider to use his talent to make a difference.
The Red Bull Ring is arguably one of the racetracks where the negative effects of these devices are most clearly felt. The track layout places an emphasis on low gear acceleration, and the ride height devices help with this by keeping the centre of gravity low and preventing the front wheel from snoring in the air.
The effect, however, is that everyone exits corners more or less the same way. When you consider the battle with tyre pressure that riders now have to fight under the current regulations – exacerbated by the high downforce that the bikes now generate – it becomes more difficult to regain an advantage under braking on a track like the Red Bull Ring.
Marquez’s starting difficulties with his holeshot device were also dangerous. Since everyone can start so well, any sluggishness at the start immediately puts you in the pack.
The contact with Morbidelli – although rightly classified as a racing accident – could have had devastating consequences if both had not remained on their machines.
There have been numerous incidents where drivers’ devices failed to release in the first few corners of a race.
From an entertainment perspective, Marquez’s problems have denied us a potentially more exciting battle for the podium. While you can say it was his fault, the situation with his front tyre forced him into it. After all, a good start is worthless if your front tyre is so cold that you simply shake off the other riders when you first brake.
Like any Pandora’s box, once it’s opened, it’s almost impossible to control the contents. MotoGP has done a good job of getting manufacturers to agree to restrict aerodynamics and ban all height compensation devices altogether for the 2027 rule change.
But that means the current regulations will ruin two more years of racing. Perhaps the rule makers should now consider speeding up the ban on height adjustment devices…
