Honda against bike/rider weight limit in MotoGP

Honda will fight any bid to introduce a combined bike and rider weight limit currently under discussion in MotoGP.

Marco Simoncelli is at the forefront of a campaign to introduce a combined bike and rider weight limit, which was recently raised during discussions at the Spanish Grand Prix in Jerez last month.

The Italian fears he is at too much of a disadvantage on acceleration, tyre wear and fuel consumption compared to lighter riders like Dani Pedrosa.

The talks sparked a furious backlash from Pedrosa and HRC has confirmed it will fight any proposal becoming reality.

HRC boss Livio Suppo told MCN: “A rider like Dani has some advantage but sure he also has some disadvantage because of his weight. It is not horse racing where you must be as light as possible. If you have an advantage on acceleration or fuel consumption then it is not so easy to measure because there is also the influence of the riding style. And the bigger riders have an advantage in braking and change of direction, so it is impossible to measure it.”

“To me Dani is not fast because of his size, he is fast because of his talent. Dani is the only rider of his size who can be at the level he is, so that proves it is down to talent more than his size. Honda would say no if it became a formal proposal, but that would be nothing to do with the fact that we have Dani.”