“It’s even more dangerous”: MotoGP start safety proposal met with rider kickback

An effort to improve race start safety in MotoGP has been met with some resistance from riders, with one saying a solution trialled on Friday at Brno makes starts “even more dangerous”.

Friday at the Czech MotoGP was an ordinary day of practice for the most part at Brno. Marc Marquez started quickly, the Aprilias were faster in the afternoon, KTM were close but not among the absolute favourites, and Yamaha were slow.

But at the end of the day was something different, a start practice session at the end of Practice.

The FP1 practice start session took place as usual, but the Practice one was new, and introduced by MotoGP for this weekend to trial a potential solution to the race start safety issue that has been especially prevalent in recent grands prix, including at the previous round in Hungary.

The solution trialled was to disengage the front start device and leave only the rear one engaged off the line, the idea being to make braking more ‘natural’ at the first corner since the riders would have full suspension travel in the moment they grabbed the brakes and would not have to brake unusually hard in order to ‘unlock’ the front fork.

The trial was optional, so not all riders did their starts without the device, but some did, including Pedro Acosta, whose impression was less than positive.

“I think it's even more dangerous,” Acosta said.

“The front, to let you know how we disengage, is quite like motocross. You try to hit the brake as hard but for a short period, let's say. 

“Now the problem is that the rear comes back depending on how you set up the thing, [so] this unnatural manoeuvre becomes longer in time. 

“For this reason also not the same. Don't be able to disengage the front and make the corner with the front down, chatter or whatever but down, and then try to disengage in the next one, this for example happened many times to me since I'm in MotoGP. 

“Then make it with the rear down [but the front disengaged] that you cannot turn, the front is in the air I would say. And you are touching the belly pump and if you have a hole then they can disqualify you. 

“I think it's not the safest thing. 

“I think if they want to maintain the [devices at the] start, they will be able also to maintain in the track. 

“But if they decide to take everything out in the starts, I think we should take out also if we are riding [around the lap while using the ride height device]. 

“Or everything or nothing. Because at the end it's a matter of time that we ride without. It's a matter of four months.”

Acosta’s experience of the rear device being more difficult to disengage without the front device being engaged was shared with Alex Rins.

“For sure, what I felt is, starting only with the rear device, it’s really difficult to disengage, to recover,” Rins explained.

“So, if they remove the front in the middle of the season, it’s going to be really difficult to get the extension [of the suspension].”

Quartararo: “We need to practice more”

Rins’ Monster Energy Yamaha team-mate Fabio Quartararo was less obviously negative about starting without the front device, but he was not completely sold on it yet, either.

“It was strange,” he said. “We are used during four years to do the practice start with both devices, so without the device, [...] the first one I nearly stalled the bike because the revs were so low. The second one, I held too much the clutch. 

“I think we need to practice more and more if we really want to do that. It’s just a matter to get used to it.”

Marini: “In assen we will have everybody agree to take it out”

Honda HRC’s Luca Marini, on the other hand, was pleased with the way his bike worked off the line without the device, but was also willing to go another race with it engaged off the start given his belief that the front devices will be banned from the next race in Assen.

“We are already on a good level and I think it's a good step,” he said.

“I didn't understand why we are not racing here without the device, but for sure maybe in Assen we will have everybody agree to take it out. 

“We did many years with the front device also, so one more race is no problem.”

Reigning champion Marc Marquez added little because he was not involved in the Safety Commission meeting that decided on the no-device start practice.

“I cannot answer because I was not on the Safety Commission, so I don't know if they discussed inside there,” he said.

“But it's true that we are trying different things for the future, but not the next year, I mean for the next races. 

“What I understand is that this race we will keep using the device, front and rear, and maybe for the next races... but at the moment we are trying, and of course the organisation will listen to our comments.”