Casey Stoner: MotoGP “making champions out of engineers”

Casey Stoner has suggested a compromise solution for electronic rider aids in MotoGP, calling for a clear distinction to be made between safety and performance.

The double MotoGP champion, who retired at the end of 2012, has been consistently opposed to technology that reduces rider influence.

Instead, Stoner believes electronic rider aids should only kick in once factors such as wheel spin, slide angle or wheelie control have gone well beyond the point of peak performance.

Until then, it should be left in the hands of the rider.

"Making champions out of engineers"

“There needs to be a point that we stop adding all of this stuff, we stop making it easy to come out of corners. Because having anti-wheelie isn't a safety issue, that's a convenience,” Stoner said during his recent MotoGP visit to the Red Bull Ring.

“The rear end [controls], yes, [that’s a safety issue] up until a point, which is something we used to work with, which was a percentage of slip, up to 20%.

“We should be working within that, having no electronics whatsoever [until then], so you have to control that aspect yourself. 

"And then beyond that, having a point where the electronics can be [used as] a safety feature.”

Michelin has previously suggested that around 15% wheel spin is needed to maximise traction. Stoner’s 20% threshold would therefore mean electronics only intervene once the rider has gone beyond the optimum zone.

“But it needs to not be something just completely relied upon, because right now we're making champions out of engineers, and we're going into an era of all the mistakes that Formula 1 made.”

Casey Stoner verdict on Stability Control

“It's always a very difficult, touchy subject, because the riders are going to want it one way, and the engineers and manufacturers are going to want it another,” Stoner said of striking the right balance between rider and technology.

“So there's always this sort of argument, but as we're not creating street bikes out of these machines, I don't think we should be thinking about developing the electronics as far as they've gone.

“Especially now they've brought a whole other level of electronics.”

Stoner was referring to the introduction of Stability (or Slide) Control to the unified MotoGP ECU from Austria.

This is designed to prevent highsides in situations where the bike slides sideways despite relatively low levels of wheelspin, which would be ‘missed’ by traction control alone.

Francesco Bagnaia’s opening lap accident at Barcelona 2023 has been cited as an example of where stability control might have prevented a scary accident.

However, Stoner fears the system will inevitably be exploited for performance gains by keeping bikes at optimum slide angles.

“Speaking to the riders, you've got nearly 300 horsepower, but you can twist the throttle and nothing happens,” Stoner said.

“You've got the best riders in the world riding the easiest bikes to ride in the world.

“You have no more control over how much slide you have.”

The Australian added:  “I want to see these incredible slow-motion cameras showing sliding. I want to see tyres squishing, someone controlling a wheelie.

“At the moment, it's just literally come out of a corner, press a [ride height] button.

“You're not climbing all over the bike to keep the front down. Everything's sort of being done for you.

“These riders are incredibly talented, and we need to show it.”

MotoGP title leader Marc Marquez was among the riders Stoner was seen speaking to about the new slide control system in Austria.

The Spaniard echoed Stoner's opinion when speaking to the media: “For me, it’s clear that the more things you introduce on the bike, in this case electronics, the less difference the rider can make. 

"I tested this new control in Aragon and Malaysia, and it's just easier to ride. You can [rely on] the control, and the bike is doing everything. So as a rider, I don’t like it. 

"If it’s safety or not, every manufacturer has a different point of view.”

Like traction control, stability control will not prevent off-throttle highsides.

Casey Stoner has safety concern in MotoGP

Stoner also believes that making the rear too stable forces riders into taking more risks under braking.

“If you take all of the control out of the rear of the bike, you lose any fear of the bike, and then you just start to push harder and harder in one aspect, which is the front end,” he said.

“And so often when you lose the front, the [fallen] bike comes back onto the track. And we've seen catastrophic accidents when you lose the front end of the bike and it comes back.

“So the more safe you make the rear, the worse it's going to be on the front.”

Ride height devices will be banned under the revised 2027 regulations, alongside smaller 850cc engines and reduced aero.

However, Stoner remains convinced that the new rules don’t go far enough.