Marc Marquez explains MotoGP’s “biggest problem” amid turn one safety concerns

Two weeks on from the huge turn one crash at the Hungarian MotoGP, concerns over the series’ race start safety remain prevalent, but Marc Marquez thinks the “biggest problem” the prototype series has in this area is not related to the bikes or the riders.

The start devices that have been used in MotoGP since 2019 have often been blamed for causing first turn crashes because of the unusual way in which riders have to brake at the first turn in order to unlock the front device and have suspension travel available for turning through the proceeding corner or corners.

This was also true at Balaton Park, where Jorge Martin careered into the side of Marco Bezzecchi and took Raul Fernandez, Fermin Aldeguer, and Fabio Di Giannantonio out as well.

Martin himself, speaking ahead of the Czech Grand Prix (19–21 June), said that the start devices had a part to play in the incident, and Diogo Moreira said he thought the devices make stopping the bike heading into the first turn off a start more difficult when he spoke to the media after the race in Hungary.

In Marc Marquez’s opinion, though, the influence of the start devices is at least only secondary to the quantity of starts MotoGP riders are now doing since the addition of Sprints and the practice start session at the end of FP1.

“For me, front device, rear device… The biggest problem is that on Sunday we arrive there and it’s the fourth time, the fourth start that we are doing because we are doing two in FP1, Sprint race, and the main race,” said Marquez, speaking in the pre-event press conference at the Czech MotoGP.

“So, the first rider normally is the one that marks the brake point and when you arrive in the fourth time there you have already the mark in your break point, in the limit. 

“I remember in the past that was the first time on Sunday that you arrived there, the first rider was always braking two times or three times because you don’t want to miss the corner and it’s the first time you arrive there. 

“Then the margin is higher, so now the problem is now on Sunday you arrive there, you know your mark. 

“For example, in Balaton, I was leading for the first time this year in the first corner and I had my mark and I braked at 100 per cent – a small mistake as Martin [made], because it was a small mistake because he braked on the point but just missed the front [and he had] no time to react.”

The Ducati Lenovo Team rider added that things were not perfectly safe at first turns before the start devices were introduced, either.

“With the rear device, it makes the exit of the corner easier, always,” he began. “It’s true that it makes easier, and at some points, like the first corner in Mugello, it’s safer because the bike is shaking less and it’s more stable. 

“So, in some parts, it’s safer, but easier – but never dangerous, the rear device. 

“About the front device, it’s true that the brake point is strange, but if you remember well, without device, I don’t remember if it was 2017 with Petrucci [Marquez made contact with Danilo Petrucci at the start because the Italian wheelied off the line veered to the left].

“We were starting and the wheelie was super-long, and the front wheel didn’t take the speed, and then when it landed on the floor it was locking sometimes and we were doing some strange movements on the straight because the front wheel was locking. 

“So, that was safe? No. But it’s true that the brake point was a bit more safe.

“But in the first corner always is the most dangerous point, and the problem now is that we have 44 starts. So, the statistics are higher.”