Diogo Moreira: Start devices add to Hungary MotoGP turn one crash likelihood

Diogo Moreira thinks that start devices added to the likelihood of a turn one crash at the Hungary MotoGP.

07 Jun 2026

Turn 1 accident, 2026 Hungarian MotoGP.
© Gold and Goose

Start devices added to the likelihood of a first turn crash at the Hungarian MotoGP, Diogo Moreira thinks.

Moreira was one of the riders to benefit from the turn one crash caused by an error in braking from Jorge Martin, finishing sixth in the end.

Aprilia Racing CEO Massimo Rivola said after the race that the crash happened because of a braking error committed by Martin, but Moreira himself thinks that the start devices MotoGP is set to get rid of in 2027 made the crash more likely by making it more difficult to brake for the first corner.

Jorge Martin after turn one crash, 2026 MotoGP Hungarian Grand Prix. Credit: Gold and Goose.
© Gold & Goose

“It’s always difficult to stop the bike in turn one here, and also it's even worse with the device,” Diogo Moreira said after the race in Hungary when he was asked what he had seen of the crash.

“So, at the end, I saw Martin, he locked the front, [...] he released a bit the brakes, and at the end, it's normal, no? At the end, it can happen, things like this.

“I think they are okay, in general, after the crash, so at the end, you know, it can happen.”

The start device was also a problem for Moreira himself having changed his approach to braking for the first turn.

“Today, I was a bit more smooth in turn one, because yesterday [in the Sprint] I braked super late, and today, I said ‘Okay, it's a long race, so at the end, we just need to pass turn one, and after that, we start the race’.

Martin, Bezzecchi, 2026 Hungarian MotoGP.
© Gold and Goose

“So after that, I was at P3, but I didn't disengage the front [device], so after turn four many people passed me. But I think we make a good race.”

After that, Moreira encountered the problem of his rear tyre choice, having gone for the medium-compound. It was the tyre that Marc Marquez won with, but Moreira felt he’d have been better with the soft.

“I think, for me, I made a wrong decision with the rear tire, because we chose for a medium,” the LCR Honda rider said.

“So, at the end, I think I make a wrong decision, but at the end we make the race, and we finish the race. It was important, and the pace was not so bad.”