2027 MX - No More Grates?

With rumours swirling around about a possible scoop tire prohibition, what about changing the conditions so scoops become a disadvantage? Teams openly favour muddy conditions and grates because they want their engine/mapping packages to have the best possible advantage. Meanwhile, scoops are rarely seen in SX and there are some MXGP rounds which call for an intermediate tire, because the starts are prepped to a minimum thin layer of dirt. Stop ripping the start 3ft deep and ditch the grates.

At first I was a supporter of allowing starting pegs so shorter riders could have comfortable accessibility on the line, but unfortunately it has been abused to the point where riders don't barely take their feet off the pegs and entirely mutuated traditional starting technique. Zero reason why someone over 6ft tall or able to sit on their bike with their feet planted flat on the ground should be allowed to use starting blocks.

I dont think holeshot devices should be banned, im short I need one, but i do think they should be limited on how low they can be set, they are getting ridiculously low

Half of the tracks in my area had concrete pads during the eighties and nineties.

No brooms allowed either!

Is there actual evidence that grates are contributing to first turn crashes?

Good question.  Feels a little like it tracks the changes in MotoGp, where start devices have gone away to try to create more separation into the first turn (although they've also space the grid out, which is not at play with MX).

Good! Get rid of grates, holeshot devices and start maps. Starting blocks are whatever 

I'm for it but I'll believe it when I see it. Who besides the fans want them to go away? Can't imagine the video reviews and license points and complaining about who did this or that to their rut or the one next to them and on and on. Would much rather see the starting devices go away. 

Not a fan of the grates for sure...  And agree with the majority, kill the start devices and the eliminate the foot blocks.  Back to man and machine.

But remember, these 450's with scoops are going to create massive trenches behind the gate if we start on dirt.  Going to be interesting.

Pretty simple solution: Make sure each mechanic wears a good pair of boots to knock down the canyon walls. Just like it was before.

Should we let a weaker guy use performance enhancing drugs as well?

I'll stand on the side of allowing it all, grates, starting devices, whatever, but I wouldn' complain here or there if they get rid of them. Though the talk of a scoop tire ban is interesting. Makes me wonder if thats what's pushing the hybrid scoop tire development from Pirelli and Dunlop the new MX32 mid soft is amazing and the experimental dunlop tire looks pretty sick.

This is just my rambling but I wonder if tire manufacturers are starting to complain because the MX14 scoop is such a massive advantage it pretty much destroys any other type of tire or brand from finding a way in. It almost because a detriment to run literally anything else save the two tracks a year in MX that a standard knobby tire works better. Save the Conens running Pirelli's hybrid scoops and winning this year. 

Ditch the steel grates for sure, starting devices too. Either concrete or dirt starts, if dirt then there’s equipment available to make it uniform behind the gate. 

I don’t personally care much about starting blocks, however I don’t think they should be attached or anchored down in any way. They help a rider stay upright, but don’t allow any push off with the riders legs. 
 

Take away the RPM gauges like the GET system. That shouldn’t be allowed. All starting devices should be scrapped and go back to pure technique 

Starting blocks? 

I think concrete is perfect. No maintenance for the track owners and the same for everyone. Why not get it wet too if you really want to add rider skills into getting the holeshot. Hose it off before the start, then everyone will have to be captain clutch control right off the gate, ease it onto the dirt then pin it. If you really want to add to the skill level needed to get a good start and spread out the first turn crowd 😄 

They could build tracks so the scoop would be a no go, too.

Think tampa 99'.

I’m actually for this for the racing side of things, no doubt. As for the companies, some would take a decent hit in sales and a waste of development. Not to mention when electric bikes eventually take over, we could lose some totally. Just my opinion that doesn’t amount to anything.

There’s 2 practice starts, 2 lcqs and 4 motos. How hard is it to maintain??

🤣

Is there actual evidence that the introduction of starting grates in motocross has yielded any benefit to the racing, or the sport in general? 

Depends on who you ask. For example, ask Honda and I would bet they think its benefited them quite a bit. Ask everyone else apart from maybe Prado and they probably want to go back to dirt starts lol.

Im not sure i get the love for concrete starts to make things more fair. IMO, the factory teams (especially Honda) would have that dialed in and make the starts even more unfair for the competition. The only real solution is go back to dirt starts. Holeshot devices are fine, starting blocks are fine. But dirt starts would get back to much more technique based. Picking a good rut on both sides of the gate, packing to your perfection, all that comes into play. 

Might as well go all out and use polished concrete while we're at it.

Map for that! 🤣

In addition to no more grates and banning starting devices, riders should be required to race on the same tire they qualified on. 

What I am hearing is twofold: the belief that grates make it too easy to get a good launch, so more people are getting to the first turn at the same time and this is causing more first turn crashes. And by reverting to dirt starts, this will benefit riders with the best launch technique, and result in fewer riders arriving in the first turn simultaneously, thereby reducing the risk of crashes.

I just think that if the problem we’re trying to solve is first turn crashes, there’s already a proven method that works 100% of the time: staggered starts. But nobody wants to hear that… lol

It helps the AMA guys that race the MXdN

I thought that was the whole reason grates were introduced. I don't see them going back to dirt IMO the teams would throw a hissy fit

Someone obviously thought there was a benefit to it.  If I had to guess (and I really don’t have any clue) I’d say the biggest beneficiaries are the track owners who have been able to do away with a lot of upkeep on the start area.

My question still stands - many people are hypothesising that grates = more first turn crashes but I haven’t seen any data.

Concrete starts absolutely suck, but they suck equally. And slowing down the first few feet should help spread out the pack a little. 

JMO..

Cut the field to 20 and give each person a double wide gate....