This Sunday, Le Mans hosted the first flag- to-flag race in more than three years and the show did not disappoint at all those who defend the showiness of this format. Vertigo settled in the pit lane at the start of the sixth lap, when all the riders agreed to change bikes. In that impás surprising scenes were seen.
Of the 22 riders who took part in this last French Grand Prix, half (11) had never faced a change of bike, a circumstance that explains the confusion that paralyzed some.
Fabio Quartararo, for example, got sideways confused in the Yamaha garage and released his bike to Maverick Viñales’ mechanics, for which he received a rodeo penalty. Joan Mir hit the ground just before she could face the entry lane, and instead of picking the bike up off the ground to try to get to the Suzuki workshop, she ran away. Jack Miller, the winner, had to dodge Franco Morbidelli while the Roman was being pushed by two members of his team after falling and not being able to get his Yamaha going again.
After the race, many of the runners gave their opinion about the method established by the organization to weather days as delicate from the meteorological point of view as those of Sunday. And the great part of them was resounding: it is very dangerous. Not so much the process of getting off one bike and getting on the other in the shortest time possible, but, above all, the time in which they must roll on wet asphalt when their prototypes are shod with smooth tires.
One of the clearest in this sense was Pol Espargaró. “People can’t even imagine how dangerous it is to ride a MotoGP bike, with slick tires and in wet conditions. You can fall even with the bike straight, and I don’t like that. I don’t think that’s good for our sport,” the Honda man responded to Motorsport.com’s question.
Despite the forcefulness of his explanation, the one from Granollers (Barcelona) also argued that the space to modify the regulations in this regard is very limited for various reasons. “We are a bit tied hand and foot. We depend on a television schedule that is the one that sets all the guidelines, so a flag to flag has to be made because the race cannot be delayed much”, adds the Catalan.
Another driver who doesn’t like the current dynamics either is Valentino Rossi, the only representative from the current grid present in 2005, when this procedure was introduced. “Personally I don’t like this system, because everything becomes more dangerous. More than stress, it is dangerous. Many times you have to ride with smooth tires on wet asphalt, and that’s horrible”, highlights Il Dottore .
On the other side of the scale is Alex Márquez, one of those who also made his debut at Le Mans with the change of bike. For the youngest of the brothers from Cervera (Lleida), the key is adaptation and foresight to make the best decision to enter the box, or not, depending on the moment and the conditions of the asphalt.
“It is clear that it is more risky than a normal test, but it is even more so when in a qualifying session you decide to put on slick tires and the track is still half wet. On that lap before entering you take many risks, but we are here to put on a show, and these races serve to see who adapts best to each moment”, reflects the Spaniard, whose strategy did not go badly at all: he finished sixth after having left the 19th.
In recent times, the methodology imposed on motorcycle changes has been fine-tuned to try to make it as safe as possible. Following Álvaro Bautista’s incident during the 2016 Argentine Grand Prix , in which he ran over one of his mechanics, all authorized personnel in the pitlane are required to wear a helmet. Marks were also placed on the ground indicating where each rider should face the entrance to his workshop, jumping from one motorcycle to another was prohibited and it was established where one unit should be left and how to get on and leave with the second. In short, a whole series of updates that seek to maximize the safety of a delicate maneuver.
This is Loris Capirossi speaking , Dorna ‘s Race Direction representative . “In recent years we have been studying all possible formulas, and we believe that the current flag-to-flag method is the most appropriate and safest. In grand prix like Le Mans, all the drivers enter at the same time, and it is normal for less experienced drivers to make mistakes”, says the Italian, whose last victory, in Motegi (2007), came in a test with change of motorcycle. “We cannot create an infrastructure that is then three years untested. For me, the regulations are well done”, emphasizes Capirossi.
The best photos of the chaos in the French GP 2021 of MotoGP
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