MotoGP winner reveals how series’ safety forum has failed to deliver for riders

Fabio Di Giannantonio is one of a majority of riders who generally skip MotoGP’s safety commission, which he says is down to a lack of effectiveness.

The safety commission is held every race weekend after practice on Friday. The intention of the commission is to give riders a platform to tell the championship about concerns they have over safety and rider welfare. 

Increasingly in recent years, riders have stopped going to the meetings.

At Motegi last week, only four riders attended the meeting at which MotoGP presented to them its plans for the new weekend format that will be implemented from 2027.

For Fabio Di Giannantonio, the commission has become ineffective at creating change within the championship to benefit the riders.

“I stopped to go to the safety commission because I saw that it was really difficult to get promises on the things that we were trying to ask,” the VR46 Racing Rider said, speaking ahead of the Indonesian Grand Prix in Mandalika.

“Absolutely, there are many things that it’s tough to consider, it’s not just that the riders ask this and the organisation does another thing – there are many things in the middle that not always we consider. 

“I’m sure that MotoGP, the organisation, wants to give to the riders the best solution possible, but has to also give [consideration] to the teams, the manufacturers, the fans, the countries and whatever. So, on my side it’s just this. 

“We’ve been quite close, actually, to make this kind of association with the riders [a riders’ association comparable to F1’s GPDA], but many riders did some [obstructions] to really make it. 

“So, once I saw this I decided to invest more time on my body and on my box.”

The lack of riders at the safety commission in Japan meant that if any opposition to the format change existed among them, there was limited capacity to air it.

This doesn’t matter to Di Giannantonio, though, who has no strong opinion on the change.

“A the moment it’s just a change,” he said.

“I think it will be great for the riders and the teams that it will match perfectly, because at the end you have less time on track, so it will be okay. 

“But for the ones that it would be better to have more time on track to do more tries, to get that feeling, for sure it will be a little worse. At the moment it’s just a change – it’s okay.”