SINCE its introduction last season the Moto2 class has provided an entertaining race spectacle, but Andrea Dovizioso believes that the former 250cc class was better for progression to MotoGP than its four-stroke replacement.
The former 125 champion and 250 runner-up criticised the class' lack of development for a rider's style, from the low horsepower and peculiar handling of the CBR600-engined prototypes. "There is no comparison; Moto2 is so bad about that for many reasons." started Dovi.
In defence of the defunct 250s as a better preparation for the premier class, he continued, "The 250 two-stroke, there’s nothing similar to MotoGP, but if you are fast on a 250, you are fast, because it’s so difficult to be fast on a 250. So when you arrive with good speed on a 250, it means you did a good job, you can understand many things and you are really precise on the throttle.
"Sure, you don’t have the experience of riding four-strokes, but if you see in the past all the talent came from 250 and from the first year they can fight for the podium and fight for the victory. Many people come from Superbike and it’s very similar to MotoGP, but nothing happens. It means if you are fast in 250 there is a reason. In Moto2, no." The damnation of the class in part linked to the struggles of Toni Elias to acclimatise to MotoGP after a year away winning the 600cc class.
"I never tried the bike, so I can’t say exactly, but it looks like there isn’t enough power. So it’s easy because it’s a four-stroke and you have too much engine braking. This makes it slide on the entry and this is the opposite way of riding 250 and MotoGP, completely the opposite way."
"So you learn a style different from MotoGP and this style makes the talent of the riders close, because this is the limit of the bikes. You can do nothing about that." concluded the Italian.
