You would think that the organisers of the FIM Motocross World Championship would have done something to sort out those sticky start gates by now as, not only did they make making a Mantova getaway a bit of a lottery, but they’ve also just potentially cost Tony Cairoli a record-equalling 10th world title.
Is that an overreaction?
Maybe it is but then again maybe we should ask Kurt Nicoll what he thinks…
For those of you who aren’t in the loop Youthstream’s PR machine stated that ‘Cairoli jumped his gate’ in moto two of the French GP which is contradicted by their own TV coverage. That footage shows that the Italian KTM star’s gate – plus a few more – drop after the majority, which means that, although Cairoli reacted similarly to everyone else, he ran into his as it was still fully up, while most other’s were fully down (and according to the Grand Old Duke of York those that were only halfway up were neither up nor down).
Although Cairoli and Pauls Jonass were the only two who were fully penalised by this, Jeremy Seewer and Tim Gajser were also affected, albeit more from Cairoli clanging his sticky gate at full pelt, rather than the speed at which their own gates dropped.
The problem was potentially exacerbated by the steel mesh giving 100 per cent traction and instant forward momentum, whereas a dirt start would normally add an element of wheelspin-facilitated delay into the equation. Either way there was a gate malfunction and ultimately that cost Cairoli and all quite dearly, much like Hawkstone Park’s problematic T-bars monkeyed with Kurt Nicoll’s mojo way back in 1992 – the year he lost the world championship by just two points.
In an interview that ran in Dirt Bike Rider a while back, Kurt himself admitted that “when the start gate jammed at Hawkstone Park, in retrospect, I just screwed myself up.
“At the time I blamed it all on the start gate. The fact is I pulled out of that race when I probably could have got 12th or something which would have won the title”. Fortunately for Cairoli he plugged away for a 17th place finish and four potentially vital world championship points.
To be fair, though, it probably shouldn’t be up to the rider to decide whether there was a malfunction with the gate or if he banged the gate by being overly anxious.
“Surely in the case where several riders end up trapped, Race Direction should take an instant look at the footage – in the case of MXGP this would take seconds – and make a decision regarding whether a rerun is needed or not…
I absolutely hate this idea but with transponder technology it’d even be possible to do away with the start gate altogether and judge the lawfulness of a start based on rider reaction/bike movement as they do in MotoGP.
Would it be a good or bad thing for the sport if those found cheating to have to come into pit lane for a stop and go penalty? I’m not sure that would actually work fairly, though, as the benefit of a good start in a mud race is worth way more than a stop n’ go two or three laps in…
Perhaps the real answer lies with the gates themselves, perhaps it’s time gates are mechanically/hydraulically/pneumatically dropped (with a failsafe should a rider jam their front wheel in there prematurely) or perhaps that geezer with the red flag who’s paid to watch the gates just needs to man-up and do their job properly…
In other news how fair do you think the flag start at Erzberg on Sunday morning is gonna be? Pfffftttt…
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