W
hat makes MotoGP so ap-
pealing? Is it the exotic
high-tech machines? The
star riders? Different fans might
single out one or the other, but for-
tunately for MotoGP it has both. It's
a complete package. Even though
there's not as many of the exotic
high-tech prototypes that there used
to be with the dilution of the Open
class, they still have them. And just
when many were starting to fret
about who was going to fill the void
when mega-star Valentino Rossi re-
tired, along came another one in the
form of Marc Marquez.
Yes there are fans across a broad
spectrum, but you can generalize
them into two categories: the gear-
head and the racing fan.
The gearhead is all about the
technology. They're attracted to the
best possible machinery made by
man. They want the trickest bikes.
They want the hounds unleashed,
none of this restriction garbage and
they want tire wars. Competition is
there to reward those who do their
homework and their best. None of
this evening-the-playing-field stuff.
So the gearhead, the hard-core
motorsports fan, doesn't necessar-
ily care about five guys battling for
the lead. In fact they don't neces-
sarily care if it's one guy dominating
every race with a 10-second lead.
They want to see the best of the best
- even if it comes down to just one
rider. A bunch of riders fighting for
the win… well, that's just an added
bonus.
Gearheads are also into all the in-
tricacies, especially the rules. They
can be completely turned off on a
series just based on rules, no matter
who's racing. If the powers that be
kill the high-tech machines, their in-
terest will wane. Unless they decide
BY ANDREA WILSON
CN
III TRACKSIDE
GEARHEAD VS. RACE FAN
P122
