A Gridful Of Trumpets

What is the collective noun for trumpets?

It is “a Flourish”. But there’s a new one this year, spawned by our own dear world championships. A Gridful. From the first race of the year at Qatar, the Triumphs have joined the Moto2 party, with all the thrill of a big brass band. This has the portents of an important moment. Moto2 is the middle class of grand prix racing, and should be a rung on the ladder towards the premier class.

That is how it used to be, back in the days of ring-a-ding two strokes. They were double the size and cylinder numbers of the starter 125 class, and half ditto the premier 500 class. But with the 500s gone to MotoGP, and the 125s themselves doomed in the near future, the quarter-litres were consigned to the smokey annals of history at the end of 2009. At the same time, the halfway house status was abandoned. Instead of doubled-up Moto3 250s, or bisected MotoGP 1000s, and in the wake of the world financial melt-down, Dorna instead opted for cost-saving. The middle class would use 600cc production engines in racing chassis, and nor would there be any competition between factory engines (as in World 600 Supersport). Everybody was supplied with Honda CBR600 engines, all as identical as they could be made.