MotoGP riders are largely unconvinced by this week's announcement: Dorna will test radio communications. HRC driver Stefan Bradl experimented with the system during Friday's testing at Misano before it was put to the test by all drivers during Tuesday's test at the Italian circuit.
Although it was initially designed to allow Race Direction to notify drivers of incidents on track, there are nevertheless plans to deploy this system to allow two-way communications between drivers and their teams – an altogether more convenient option. controversial.
“Initially it will only be used by race management to communicate recorded, predetermined messages about flags, penalties, things like that,” explained Carmelo Ezpeleta, Managing Director of Dorna, the promoter of MotoGP.
“In the future, if teams and drivers agree, it could be open to communication from teams and even riders to teams. »
A conclusive test for Bradl
Bradl is not the first to test such a system, with previous attempts having been abandoned when it was recognized that the technology was not yet mature enough. However, although the systems may have evolved, Bradl admitted after his first try that although the system worked relatively well, there was still work to be done to perfect it.
“I was able to listen to two messages they gave me – such as Yellow Flag ou Disclaimer – but I couldn’t hear the third one clearly with the wind,” did he declare. “The voice in my ear was good. I could hear him very well. It wasn't dangerous and didn't distract me. But we need to find better solutions because we move our heads a lot more than F1 drivers. If you are protected by the bubble and stick your head out, the noise changes a lot with the wind. We need to find better earplugs, covering the noise. »
He ends with a touch of humor, adding that “If we can understand the messages, we're not going to sing like Lando Norris, but it should be possible to just say Yes ou not, to confirm requests from the team or Race Direction. We're not as relaxed as F1 drivers when driving, so we won't chat on track. »
Rossi approves
The concept already had a strong advocate in the form of nine-time world champion Valentino Rossi. A racing enthusiast and endurance rider particularly in his spare time, Rossi has considerable experience using similar systems and believes they can only add to the spectacle in MotoGP.
“It’s true that I’m an old-school driver, but I’m also a car driver sometimes and everyone uses audio communication,” Rossi said.. “It’s very good and it would be a good step forward for MotoGP. The advantage of MotoGP over F1 is that the races are more fun, because the battles are more intense. »
A fine connoisseur of F1, he adds that “It's the best motorsport in the world, the performance of the cars is incredible and the challenge is to build the fastest cars in the world. Sometimes races are boring, but not because of radio communications. We hear a lot of communications because they are fun and interesting, and there can be a lot of turns where nothing happens! »
Franco Morbidelli and Maverick Vinales join the Doctor on this, with the Spanish driver adding “I talk a lot in the headset, maybe it's also nice to hear how it's done in F1. I'm curious to try it »
But not Espargaro nor Quartararo
This enthusiasm is not shared by the entire MotoGP grid, with KTM factory rider Pol Espargaro claiming that radio links between the pit lane and the rider would destroy the whole nature of racing if fully implemented. work in the future. “The problem for me will be noise, and if we can do that and get communications with Race Direction for safety reasons, that's great.”, did he declare.
“But I like that ultimately it’s the rider who decides what happens on the bike. If we put radios in place, the next thing will be the engineers will monitor what's happening on the bike, and then they'll be able to look at all the telemetry from the bike and will tell the rider what to do. It will be less human, like what happens in F1. I don’t like it and I want it to remain a human sport.”
While the goal of the current trial is to improve security, Fabio Quartararo said there are bigger security measures that could be implemented first - such as updating the current system of messages to the dashboard so that they arrive instantly. Indeed, currently, messages are broadcast at each end of sector, which can cause a delay of around twenty seconds between sending and reading of the instruction.
“It’s hard enough to ride without someone talking in your ear, so I can’t imagine how hard that would be,” Quartararo said. "I don't know if we can do it with the radios and we won't know until we try it, but for sure Dorna needs to work on sending us clearer messages." »
A new test Tuesday
The topic has come back to the table following a number of recent incidents where drivers were unable to see the yellow or red flags at the edge of the track – and this is where Espargaro believes a different example of F1 should be implemented: “I want to try yellow light panels like they do in F1. They said they will try to do so in the future, but will come up short Ultimately, they want to try radios. »
While communications between the rider and his engineers may not be a consideration in the near future, there are still a few riders on the MotoGP grid who are a little worried about what might happen if they are broadcast. during races. “It will be quite funny!” » for Cal Crutchlow, who explains it this way: “I would be the Kimi Raikkonen of MotoGP – can you imagine Jack [Miller] and I talking to the teams? We wouldn't stop and we would be censored! »
During the official test at the Misano track this Tuesday, more drivers will have the opportunity to try this system. We will see what their feedback will be.
