Markus Zörweg
Head of Motorcycle Department
With the outstanding MSM motorcycle gang, Markus keeps things running at MotoGP, WSBK & Co. Likes to irritate with an Austrian accent.MORE
In the run-up to the French Grand Prix in Le Mans, the MotoGP has announced its new regulations, which will come into force in 2027. In addition to the expected changes such as a reduction in engine capacity from 1000 to 850cc, the reduction in aerodynamics and the ban on ride height devices, the new regulations also include surprising points such as complete transparency in the area of GPS data.
On Friday there were Dorna managing director Carmelo Ezpeleta, Dorna sports director Carlos Ezpeleta and IRTA president Herve Poncharal
Something like this that probably won’t be particularly well received by MotoGP fans. “We have the best sport in the world, but we cannot ignore how the world outside of it is developing,” said the President of the World Motorcycle Association. “We have to become more sustainable and are working on reducing noise pollution from motorcycles. This will happen in a second step.” Dorna sports director Carlos Ezpeleta confirmed that they were in discussions with the manufacturers about this.
The MotoGP regulations currently set an upper limit of 130 decibels. At this value, sound theory of the pain threshold of human hearing. For comparison: a jet taking off at a distance of 100 meters reaches around 125 decibels. Street motorcycles only rarely reach more than 100 decibels.
The measurement of the MotoGP prototypes is carried out according to a given pattern. The engines are brought to 5,500 revolutions per minute and then measured in an open space ten meters around at a distance of 50 centimeters from the end of the exhaust.
It is not yet known how much of the MotoGP bikes’ characteristic sound will be lost. The change, however unpopular it may be with the hardcore crowd, has a logical background. At numerous race tracks, motorsports is battling with legal noise restrictions. At the Sachsenring, for example, a battle has been raging for years with residents who are disturbed by the soundscape. Even some production motorcycles are therefore not allowed to be driven on the track in Hohenstein-Ernstthal. If the MotoGP were to continue to stick to its brutal noise, certain courses could no longer be on the calendar in the future.
© Motorsport Magazine