Until 2005, when in the middle of a MotoGP race it started to rain, chaos ensued. The pilots who were in the lead were in charge of raising their hands to notify the Race Director of the state of the track and wait for the red flag to come out to stop the race. If two thirds of the total laps had not been completed, the end was not declared.
The drivers could then return to the pits for tire changes and set-up. On occasions, when all the practices had been dry, an extra 15 minutes of practice were allowed before giving the new start at a reduced distance.
All this implied a delay in the schedules of television broadcasts and logistics. To avoid this, Dorna decided to change the regulations in 2006 and introduce flag to flag or bike change races.
“The flag to flag procedure means that in wet conditions, the riders are allowed to take the second bike to race,” explains Mike Webb , MotoGP race director, on the official website of the championship. “It only applies to MotoGP because they have two bikes. It was implemented years ago, basically at the request of the riders. We used to stop the race in case it started to rain. The riders warned us and we had to decide when to stop. The answer was to let them that they decide when to enter the pit lane.
What are MotoGP ‘flag to flag’ races?
The flag to flag procedure is applied exclusively in the MotoGP category when it is not dry. In short, it consists of the fact that as soon as the presence of rain is detected on the circuit, the marshals show the white flag and from that moment on the drivers are free to enter the pit lane at any time from then on – where the speed is limited to 60 km/h – to take the second bike, with wet settings. This way you don’t have to stop the test and the scheduled times are met.
Before the race, each team has the second bike of its riders ready in the pit lane with wet set-up if there is a threat of rain, including softer suspension, steel brakes instead of carbon discs, adhesive tape on the radiator to help heat the engine and the fairing screen sprayed with a liquid to promote water flow and improve visibility.
The flag to flag is also applicable if the race is declared wet. There, the pilots are free to go out with rain tires or slicks to start and change later if the track dries out to finish with the dry prototype.
The pilots are free to enter as many times as they want after the white flag is shown, either because the asphalt conditions change or, for example, because they suffer a crash.
“The flag to flag means that as soon as we see some rain falling, we show the white flag to warn that it is allowed to change motorcycles. The riders decide when to enter. It can be before the race, because the race is declared wet from the beginning before the reconnaissance lap. As soon as it is declared wet, you can go in to change bikes. You can change bikes as many times as you want. It doesn’t matter if it stops raining. The race is declared flag to flag . It doesn’t matter what tires you put on the bike. It doesn’t matter if you go from dry to wet, wet to dry, dry to dry or wet to wet. You can change as many times as you want,” summarizes Webb.
How MotoGP ‘flag to flag’ races work
In the early years of the flag- to-flag procedure, the mechanics would place the second bike at the pit lane door in front of the box regardless of the specific location. Upon entering, the pilot stood parallel to the second unit and jumped from one to another. This caused some incidents and in 2017 the regulations were revised.
Then it was established that each rider had a mark in front of his garage where he could leave the motorcycle, forming a kind of V with the second one that prevents jumping from one to another, since it is mandatory to step on the ground – something that Marc Márquez did not do. . To get out, a mechanic waits with a lollipop and is in charge of checking that no opponent is approaching from the pit lane before authorizing the return to the track.
In this type of race, it is very important to choose the exact moment to change bikes. “The drivers are happy with this and they can choose their strategy according to the amount of rain, if they want to go a few laps and take the lead or come in earlier. Before there was the limit of what you could change, the tires, this or that. Now it’s simpler,” says Webb.
The flag to flag procedure is only applicable to the MotoGP category, since they are the only ones that have two bikes since it was decided to have only one in Moto2 and Moto3 to save costs. In the small categories, in case of rain, the old system of showing a red flag is followed, ending it if two-thirds of the laps have been completed or resuming it with the remaining ones if not.
Finally, as a curiosity, it should also be noted that MotoGP has used the flag- to-flag procedure on two occasions in the dry, Australia 2013 and Argentina 2016. In both races there were problems with the duration of the tires and the riders had to go in to take the second bike with dry setting in the middle of the laps.
