MotoGP, Flag to flag? E' un rischio, riduciamo la velocità ai box!

The contact between Dovizioso and Iannone was undoubtedly one of the hot topics during the Termàs de Rio Hondo round. No less important however was the danger involved in changing bike during the  flag-to-flag race. The video of Alvaro Bautista who, while returning to the garage lost the front, taking out his mechanic, has highlighted the risks that team personnel are exposed to.

Safety was in fact one of the most talked-about subjects during Thursday's press conference at Austin. Marc Marquez, Jorge Lorenzo and Valentino Rossi all spoke about it, coming to the same decision, which would be to further reduce the speed limit in pitlane when riders are coming in to change bike.

The Honda rider compared the situation to that of F1: “Fortunately these are rare occurrences that also happen in Formula 1 – stated the current championship leader – to limit the danger, perhaps we could reduce the speed limit and, at the same time, limit the amount of people in pitlane, as riders have to swerve to avoid them”.

Jorge Lorenzo shares the same opinion, but is not a fan of the two-part race: “I preferred the old races – commented #99 – probably this is more spectacular in terms of TV but the danger is considerable. In Argentina I didn't have to deal with this situation, as I had already retired, but the risks were clear”.

Valentino Rossi also said his piece. At Rio Hondo the second part of the race turned out to be an ordeal for #46. He too believes that reducing the speed would be the best solution, rejecting the alternative of a tyre change: “I saw the video of Bautista's crash, maybe he arrived too fast or perhaps it was wet in front of his garage – he commented -  we could do as they do during the 8 hours of Suzuka,  though this wouldn't completely solve things. The system required for a rapid tyre change would be expensive – concluded the Italian - because the bike would have to be modified”.

For once it seems that Valentino Rossi, Jorge Lorenzo and Marc Marquez are all in agreement when it comes to safety. Now it's over to Race Direction...