With the recent introduction of the ‘stability control’ ECU algorithm in MotoGP (click here for full story) our sport is slowly heading down the ‘can’t someone else do it?’ path. So what if we speeded up this process and did away with the human aspect altogether? What if robots were to replace the riders and MotoGP went fully autonomous?
We at MGPNews explore the pros and cons of this logical next step.
Pros
Awesome crashes
Crashes in F1 are brilliant – especially if Lewis Hamilton’s involved. But the problem with motorcycle crashes is they always run the risk of the rider being injured. Autonomous racing would fix this!
Michael Bay style cinematic crashes could be the norm as our robot racers fly off at all angles causing them to get their heads stuck in chain sprockets or compressed into a conveniently parked ‘safety’ car.
Too dangerous for spectators? Well replace the fans with monkeys dressed in rider’s t-shirts and tethered to their seats. Problem solved!
Better tracks
With the need for rider wellbeing out of the window faster than a failed Russian military general all race circuits could be vastly improved by increasing speed and lowering safety. Like in the good old days.
Better still we could see the welcome return of the Isle of Man TT to the GP calendar! Who wouldn’t cheer frantically with delight when the Hondadroid 3000 loses control at Union Mills and crashes through Mrs Migging’s front window interrupting her serving tea to the local vicar?
Faster bikes
With improved tracks and two fingers stuck up to safety the motorcycle regulations could be ‘relaxed’ to allow for hideously fast machines. The tired ‘reduce engine sizes to reduce corner speed’ mantra could be gladly replaced with ‘not enough amazing crashes – increase the engine size and double the amount of nitrous oxide’.
Neon racing
Full on Cyberpunk style races would be far more entertaining and visually stimulating than having to suffer the racing at Valencia.
Impossible AI match ups
Here’s where things get interesting! The ‘greatest of all time’ debate goes on and on. Some say it’s Rossi. Others claim it’s Marquez or Hailwood. Or maybe you’re in the ‘Bradley Smith’ camp – a camp that currently consists of no one. But what if we could actually find out who was the GOAT?
Using AI all the great rider’s personalities and riding styles could be programmed into different robots and then thrown on the track to race each other. The Doohan droid could even harbour his trademark terrible haircut and, using nano-technology, a 1-2-1 Pedrosa constructed.
Who wouldn’t want to see the greatest riders of all-time smashing fairings on track? And who wouldn’t then want to laugh at the Foggy robot coders complain that it was unfair as they were used to having a 25% engine capacity advantage?
Cons
No soul
Motorcycle racers are brave, daring heroes who we all idolise in one way or another. Computer programmers, meanwhile, have never been idolised which is why they’re stored in their mother’s basements.
It would probably be awful
As great as this all sounds we sadly do have something to base robot MotoGP racing on – Roborace.
Roborace was set to be the first autonomous racing series that pitched AI controlled cars against each other. The idea was pretty great – but the reality pretty dreadful.
The cars were crap. Initially they were designed as futurist cars from Tron but ended up being ten-year-old WEC cast-offs found dumped behind a Toyota factory. It also then became apparent that no one was actually interested in Roborace – it was the ‘women’s sport’ of motor racing.
Roborace’s finest hour came in 2020 when finally a car managed to make it onto a track to race itself with utterly pathetic results. See video below.
No real rivalries
Doohan vs Criville. Rossi vs Biaggi. Chantra vs the pace car. MotoGP’s classic rivalries are what fuel the sport. Can you honestly see Italians and Spaniards fighting over which robot has the most efficiently optimised code? Actually they probably could…but that’s beside the point.
Boring Press Conferences
Human riders give us gold—petty feuds, cryptic jabs, or tearful rants about fuel tank sizes. Robots? You’ll get “Query processed. Response: Optimal performance achieved” or, worse, a blue-screen-of-death mid-sentence – a bit like a Kimi Raikkonen interview.
Tech Support Nightmares
Imagine the race leader freezing mid-corner because its software’s stuck in a well-timed Windows Update loop. Or the entire grid stalling because the Wi-Fi in Mugello has gone out again.
Instead of pit crews swapping tires, you’ll have spotty-faced nerds in headsets yelling, “Did you try unplugging the battery?” Fans don’t want to watch a 20-minute reboot sequence while the crowd chants “Ctrl+Alt+Delete.”
