The subject began to become sensitive and two miracles sounded the alarm about a provision that was obligatory but which was clearly not always respected. This is the port of airbags in the pilots' suit. A significant safety element and yet, during the last two major accidents experienced in MotoGP, in France and Italy, the riders who were victims were without it...
At Le Mans, Cal Crutchlow who suffered a heavy fall during Q.1 at Le Mans, admitted that at the time of the incident, he was not equipped with his airbags. The fault lies with another accident which took place during FP4 and the specificity of his equipment which would have forced him to change his suit to benefit from the safety device. But the Briton no longer had time between the two successive sessions to get dressed.
Then there was the terrible caper of Michele Pirro who had to endure the shocks also without the help of airbags and always because of the brand of his suit. Drama was avoided each time, but, by definition, miracles do not mark the daily life of a pilot.
So the Grand Prix Commission put things straight before the launch of hostilities from Grand Prix of Catalonia, which will take place this weekend: “ from the 2018 season, all drivers must be equipped with a suit, meeting FIM standards and equipped with an airbag. Substitute or wildcard drivers were exempt from this rule for the first two events in which they participated. However, after the incident at Mugello with Michele Pirro, the Grand Prix Decision has decided to make the following changes, in consultation with medical staff and suit manufacturers ».
We should therefore no longer have drivers without airbags from now on…
