Luca Marini has revealed he and other MotoGP riders are pushing the series’ safety commission to consider implementing a button riders can press if they feel a red flag is needed.
Speaking to MotoGP.com during the Australian Grand Prix last weekend, the VR46 Ducati was answering a question posed about the amount of crashes in Moto2’s opening practice outing as a result of high winds – prompting the Italian to reveal that plans had been suggested by the MotoGP rider’s to introduce a new button that would allow them to tell race control whether they feel a session should be stopped.
Currently pilots have to slow down and raise their hand so that officials can see that conditions are too extreme to continue, though this can be tricky to see properly if for example a race has been compromised by a heavy rain shower that produces a significant amount of spray that hides the rider’s.
Furthermore these hand signals can only be seen via the TV feed, an issue not so prevalent in races but more troublesome in practice and qualifying where riders can be strewn all around a circuit – making it tricky for officials to get a clear view of the rider’s opinions out on track.
The suggestion of a button for rider’s to make their feeling known on a potential red flag could play out “like a vote, like a political situation” according to Marini, a solution he feels could help make the decision to suspend a session easier and swifter than it currently is.
“With the wind like this, braking in Turn 1, you go out of the track,” explained Marini.
“And after a crash, red flag, it’s difficult also to take this decision.
“It’s not an easy job for them because they are not on track, they are here (race control) and from here you don’t feel the wind.
“So we are asking to them, also in the Safety Commission, to have a button to push and maybe if 80% of the grid pushes this button, also in a race for example, they can have a red flag.
“I think it’s now the technology is much better, and when you lift your hand, you just see the three or four guys in the front.
“They can have something in their mind to have an advantage for lifting their hand in that moment.
“But when 80% of the riders, even the last one, even the 16th place pushes a button, and sends a signal that it is a dangerous situation, it’s like a vote, like a political situation.
“I think it will be easier for them if we can send them information.
“It’s too difficult to speak, but pushing a button we can do easily because we are all around all the lap pushing something, so one more is not a problem.
“We are open to other things as well, but this was the easiest one.”
