Bastianini: "We've hit a stalemate on safety. We need a riders representative."

There’s no denying that  the MotoGP has made huge strides in safety in recent years, but this is an area where there’s always room for improvement. There are circuits that still have critical points. Le Mans is one of them. The first chicane, which is so “old school,” is one of the dangerous spots in the event of a fall, because the rider risks remaining on the track and being hit by others. Last weekend, Aldeguer and Di Giannantonio fell right at that point, bringing to light its safety limitations.

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The riders are aware of this, even if they often prefer not to talk about it. Instead, Enea Bastianini isn’t afraid to speak his mind and even take some of the blame.

“I’ll be honest, I haven’t been to the Safety Commission in a while because I’ve noticed some changes. At one point, it seemed like we had reached a stalemate,” he explained.

This is because the riders had requested modifications for certain circuits, but their requests were ignored. Bastianini knows what he’s talking about, because he had a close call last year in Hungary. After falling at the chicane on the first lap, he was miraculously avoided by all the riders following him at that moment.

“I expected a different Balaton Park this year. Instead, everything will be the same," he said with remorse. “What happened to me last year was extremely dangerous. That’s not a MotoGP-level chicane. We should talk about it, but it’s up to us riders to do something. We’re the only ones who can change anything. I know what I’m doing is wrong—not going to the Safety Commission—but there’s a bit of frustration because we asked for changes and they weren’t made.”

Why?

“Some changes come with costs. Modifying a chicane does," he responded. "Then there are historic circuits, like Le Mans. Do you change a corner? It’s difficult. It was done in Austria, but certain things are only done when something happens. Even if you brush against tragedy ten times, nothing changes.”

Some time ago, the riders seemed close to reaching an agreement to have their own representative, a sort of ‘union representative’ who would look out for their interests, especially regarding safety issues.

“It needs to be revived because we need someone to protect us and speak on our behalf. We have a thousand other commitments,” Bastianini said. “It shouldn’t be an active rider, because it’s a demanding job and there would be a conflict of interest. It should be someone outside the field. In my opinion, there are plenty of competent people who could do it.”