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2023 Author: Nicholas Abramson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-05-21 14:58
In a season with so many consecutive motorcycle races, details that can be very important for the future of the competition are overlooked. One of them is radio communication, which MotoGP already tested at the Misano circuit, both during the San Marino Grand Prix and in the subsequent test day.
The organization of the Motorcycle World Championship is testing a system by which Race Direction communicates directly, through the radio, with the pilots. It would only be for safety reasons and, in no case, would it be allowed for there to be communication between the team and the driver. At the moment the system has liked, but it has drawbacks.
Valentino Rossi wants radio to also extend to teams
The first to try it was Stefan Bradl in the FP1 of Misano but he only went around. He said that "it does not seem dangerous to me", but preferred not to continue using it due to the main problem that the mechanism is having: its headphones are much less soundproof than the earplugs that MotoGP riders usually use to isolate themselves from engine noise.
Andrea Dovizioso, who tested them during Misano's test, had an impact on this, and said that "it works quite well because the sound is clear and you can understand the messages they gave me. It is interesting", however he added that "But you have to change those headphones. They don't prevent the sound of the engine.".
The radio system that Race Direction wants to implement would serve to notify the pilots in the event of a safety problem. The FIM has been very serious about the yellow flag and they want to warn every time there is a danger on the track, to avoid accidents like that of Enea Bastianini and Hafizh Syahrin in the Moto2 race in Austria.
The same problem was seen by Joan Mir, second overall, who said that "the earplugs we use cancel the noise a little more. We hardly hear anything from outside, and with this it seems that we hear more". In the same line, Pol Espargaró complained that "it is impossible to drive with this noise".
Too there is some debate as to whether the role of radio should be extended to the team wall, something similar to what happens in Formula 1. Pecco Bagnaia, the young man from Ducati, was in favor of this, explaining that "this type of communication is very important, so it would surely be interesting."
But if there is an influential person in the MotoGP paddock that is Valentino Rossi, and the Italian is also in favor of radio communication with the team: "I'm an old-school rider, yes, but I think it would be a step forward for MotoGP. It would allow us to go faster in certain situations and I don't see the DNA of the sport changing."