Marco Bezzecchi
Peter Bom has explained why Liberty Media’s cynical push for MotoGP teams to have just one bike is bound to backfire.
Liberty Media’s involvement in MotoGP has not gone down well with the fanbase and the wider figures within the sport.
A lot of criticism has been levied at Liberty Media for using the F1 playbook with MotoGP since they purchased the premier motorcycle racing league last year.
Is this a step in the wrong direction from Liberty?
Perhaps no decision has earned Liberty Media more criticism from fans than their recent push to reduce the bike limit to just one per rider.
And now, former crew chief Peter Bom has explained exactly why this decision from Liberty Media will massively hinder MotoGP and its riders.
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Peter Bom says Liberty Media’s proposed ‘horrific’ rule change is to save money
Speaking on the Oxley Bom podcast, Peter Bom explained why the decision to change the per-rider bike limit to one will backfire massively.
He noted that this puts a lot more pressure on riders and significantly hinders the entire schedule of race weekends going forward.
On top of that, he explained how Liberty Media was trying to be frugal, as eliminating an extra bike would reduce the need for staff and engineers for each team.
“For the teams and for the riders, it’s a horrific, terrible idea, because it becomes more of a lottery. You can’t afford to have a biggie most of the time in the weekend. You can’t just because of the schedule.
“And that makes it more of a lottery because you don’t always crash by yourself. People can help you with that, or there can be a mechanical reason. Then, you’re screwed so bad.
“Yeah, it saves cost, because it’s not just the bike, it’s also the people that you need to have to have two bikes always prepared. So you have less people. People are expensive, bikes, not so much, because if you don’t crash, you save five bikes, compared to somebody who crashes every day.
“It’s not the bike, it’s the people that need money, flights, and hotels. I think it’s a bad idea. If I was Liberty, I would say, ‘Oh, wait, we’re just going to try to put as many bikes always on the greatest we can.’ And certainly, we have one bike less in practice sessions or maybe two bikes less.”
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Peter Bom explains why Liberty Media’s one-bike rule is an ‘attractive prospect’ for MotoGP
Speaking further, Bom suggested that MotoGP Sports Entertainment Group would be in favour of this decision, as it would add a layer of unpredictability to race weekends, which could help to attract larger audiences.
“The good thing could be because Dorna likes the lottery system. They don’t like a guy that’s obviously going to win the races if he doesn’t make mistakes.
“They would love to have a sprinkler that they can switch on every now and then on the track just to shake it up a little bit. That’s the good thing. If somebody makes whatever mistakes, or has a mechanical (issue), suddenly, he’s not even in Q1, and he will start the last…
“That’s an attractive perspective from Dorna’s point of view. But there will be a downside. There will be, probably, a couple of times, less bikes on the grid.”
Much has been made about Liberty Media trying to ‘F1-ise’ MotoGP since the purchase, but this push to reduce the bike limit suggests that Liberty’s higher-ups don’t fully understand the entity they’ve bought.
Liberty Media’s scrutinised approach to MotoGP rider safety has only added to this discussion. One could argue that Liberty Media have shown almost no regard for MotoGP and its history.
Hopefully, common sense can prevail, and Liberty Media can take MotoGP’s traditions into greater consideration when making decisions about their future.
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