Quote Originally Posted by blaircsf View Post
I enjoyed watching the battles that did go on during the Aragon race. The winner was honestly pretty much decided by 1st practice, but there was some good racing still. I still wonder if people were this negative during the Rossi era in the early 2000s...
I do remember some of the backlash then when Rossi was winning, especially on the Honda. When he switched to Yamaha, it wasn't as bad as he was on an inferior bike(least the 2004 M1 was). His 2005 season was just pure dominance and I think everyone knew he was going to win again.

Honestly, I enjoyed the 800cc era. Seemed to me we had very close racing during then and we started to see more and more riders feature for race wins.

For me, the darkest era was during the CRT era bikes. 2011-2012 seasons were dismal and not because Rossi was losing, just the racing in general was rather blah...

The switch back to the 1000cc bikes has lit a fire for the manufactures and we are getting better and better racing. Well until now, and it's not so much that Marquez is winning all the time, it's the fact that no one has an answer for him. That's what gets old and makes MotoGP similar to Formula 1, only the top guy is untouchable and the rest of the race is for 2nd place. For many fans, that's boring racing and no one really care or they start to lose interest. If(and big IF) we were getting ultra close racing with Marquez barely winning battles right at the end of the race, then it would be more interesting. The best races this season have been when he's been beaten on the last lap or last corner.

For me, what I'd love to see MotoGP go back too(but it never will) is get rid of this compulsory ECU, and go back to the 990cc days and let riders use different tires/rubber.

I know some think it was costing MotoGP tons of money and manufactures were getting out of hand. But look back at the "golden era" of the 990's, when riders used Dunlop, Michelin, Bridgestone or Pirelli. Bikes were getting updated every weekend and the engine allotment was unlimited for the most part. And look at the kind of hard and genuine racing we got.

Obviously we can't go back to those rules completely, but what I think MotoGP should do is at least let the manufactures go back to their own custom software. If DORNA is going to make everyone run these dumb**s Michelin tires, then at least let the manufactures tune their own ECU's to handle this kind of garbage that Michelin brings. Because at this point, it's blatantly obvious that the Michelin tends to favor one or two Manufacture's over the rest of the field.

3 things that I think would help MotoGP be more competitive:

1. Manufactures go back to their custom software to handle lame ass Michelin tires
2. The 7 Engine limit remains but allow engines to be tuned(no more of this sealed engine nonsense), however limit to 20L's of fuel.
3. Allow for more test days, from 5 official test days to 8 days(scattered through the season). Also bump pre-season testing to 5 official tests(post-Valencia, Qatar, Sepang 1, Sepang 2 and Phillip Island). This would allow teams more time to dial in their bikes and deal with any problem areas.

If these three key things were allowed, all teams would have fairly level playing fields. No more concessions for some teams, and restrictions for others. I guarantee you'd see KTM throw a ton more money into engine development and ECU development if they could use their own. Others I think would follow suit as well.