Crafar: 'CRT is the future'

Said it before, Mr. Crafar speaks sense.

Posted: 16/02/2012 at 12:57

But its not GP it another form WSB

Posted: 16/02/2012 at 13:03

CRT is a great move, not to mention a necessary one. So they where a few seconds off the full gp bikes at the FIRST TEST OF THE YEAR? so what?

If everyone switched to crt bikes tomorrow i bet the top teams would have them on the same pace as they would have been on a full gp machine by the end of the year anyway.
If everyone gives it the chance it deserves and actually puts some effort into it I have no doubt it would turn out ten times better than what we have at the moment.

Casey stoner ringing the bollocks off a crt bike, would it really be that much slower?

Posted: 16/02/2012 at 14:36

I think it'll be good in time, but it needs more money and decent minds thrown into the mix. At the minute it's all the teams that in the grand scheme of things are quite skint and with limited knowledge that are building these things.

I think the rules will change again as the factories go into this. At that stage, then I think it'll get interesting.

It'd be nice to go to the 70s/80s model of a leased factory engine and then let the customer build their bike around that motor/electronics package.

I'm quite surprised none of the CRT teams have complained about getting heat into the bridgestones yet, as far as I know they have the same tyre, but I could be wrong.

According to Edwards the big issue was electronics, and until thats sorted it's hard to find the limits of everything else. It'll be interesting to see what else the CRTs get in terms of electronics. I'm interesting in seeing what Gresini get with their Fireblade based CRT? I wonder if Honda/Ten Kate throw in help in the electronics department? I know the RSV is the one to beat but I wouldn't bet against a HRC/Ten Kate/Gresini effort either.

I suppose CRT is going to evolve as the factories go into it, but either way it all seems to be aimed at more exciting racing and getting more bikes on the grid so It does look like we'll get a good few years of GP coming up.

Posted: 16/02/2012 at 15:33

I've said it before, and I'm going to keep saying it. CRT is a good idea!! The above points are all very valid. It's going to take time, it always was, you simply cannot run any form of racing bike at the front or even near the front straight outta the box.

Deffo the top teams would still be the top teams if they ran CRT, that's a given. It just needs time and effort, which is gonna come.

I wouldn't say Aspar is a team with limited knowledge and funds Rob mate. With the factories, I reckon it's 2-3 years off yet, but it's coming, wether Dani Pedrosa or any of the rest of them like it or not.

I'm certain all the teams are using Bridgestones, there's no choice for them. Not really heard enough to know about them getting heat into them, but, given the stink Ducati kicked up about it last year, it's fairly odds on that Bridgestone have made some changes to the compounds they use.

Edwards spent most of Sepang sorting out electronics, and then trying to get to grips with the massive amount of chatter they had. Again, I've not heard much about what anyone else was working on a Valencia.

I did hear that Ten Kate are getting involved with Hiro's bike quite a bit, as Gresini haven't really had much experience with the Fireblade. The one thing that does worry me about CRT, and it's the only thing is the concept of a "tricked out superbike"...we really don't need another Superbike series, the one we've got is cracking already.

Given that the most expensive bit on these things is the electronics, I think it's gonna be a bit daft for Dorna to attempt to drive down costs and then let teams spend a fortune on ECU's and other jiggerypokery to make them go quick.

But, as you say Rob, once the factories properly get on board, it'll only be a matter of time before CRT is as quick as prototypes are now. Clever fella's make these things after all.

Posted: 16/02/2012 at 20:07

CRT is a joke now, and will be in the future. MotoGP will be dead and buried before you know it. You can try and talk it up all you want, but the bottom line is, it is high level club racing. Factory teams won't care because all their efforts will surely shift to WSBK where their efforts will be used to win and then make money in the sale of their products. I laugh at the attempts to try and make CRT seem like they are true prototypes and are worthy of motoGP. Mark my words, in the next 5 years the market share of this GP sport will dwindle to a new low. Sponsors want to have prestige, and there is none being had with a CRT bike, when they can go to a factory bike in WSBK. I love MOTOGP, sad days are ahead. The road to hell is paved with good intentions and I know Dorna means well, but they are going to put the nail in the coffin with CRT. The solution for the money issue is to stop making all these rule changes, and spec changes. So far all the changes made cost more money and safety than had they left it at the 990cc four strokes. One thing though, it will be interesting to see what will happen. I hope I am wrong, but CRT is NOT in the spirit and soul of MOTOGP by any real stretch.

Posted: 18/02/2012 at 18:51