Rossi fears MotoGP snoozefest

Valentino Rossi

MotoGP legend Valentino Rossi fears next season's new six-engine restriction will turn MOTOGP into a SNOOZEFEST.

The new cost-cutting rule means teams will only be allowed to use half a dozen engines for the entire 18-race championship and mirroring the restrictions at the end of this season, the Italian believes performance will be sacrificed in order to gain durability.

Critics hit out as Rossi's Yamaha was limited for the final seven races of this season – as teams were only permitted to use five engines.

With spiraling costs and only 17 bikes currently signed up for next year's championship, Rossi believes riders will ease off the throttle to conserve their engines and ruin the spectacle for fans: "Maybe next year a lot of bikes are waiting in the pits in practice to save the engine, and already there are not a lot of bikes. Also is a big problem is crashes. In a normal season you make a minimum of five crashes. And when you crash 80 per cent of time the engine is finished because of stones or the throttle stays open," he said. News of the World