MotoGP calls for new safety measures

The organisation held a meeting with all the MotoGP riders at Brno on Saturday night to discuss potential regulation changes that could improve the level of safety in the sport.

The 2008 season has featured a string of injurious crashes, resulting in several leading riders being temporarily sidelined - with Jorge Lorenzo, Dani Pedrosa, Loris Capirossi and John Hopkins all forced to sit out events following violent accidents in the first half of 2008.

Although the 800cc engine formula and fuel restrictions that were introduced last season have succeeded in reducing straightline speeds, cornering speeds have now become a more significant issue, with faster lap times being produced at most circuits despite the cut in power.

Dorna CEO Carmelo Ezpeleta therefore believes that cornering speeds must now be reduced in order to keep the bikes' performance within safe limits.

"In principal, in the last races we realised that the speed in the corners has been increased dramatically," said Ezpeleta. "In Laguna Seca the straightline speed was almost the same as last year, but the lap times were 1.5 seconds faster.

"It is important to realise that we are increasing the speed in the corners, that means that all the work we are doing with the Safety Commission regarding the safety of the circuit is every time more difficult.

"I received from the promotors that it is important to talk about that, exactly the same as what has happened with the reduction of the speeds on the straight with 990 to 800. This is the problem we have right now."

He added that the significance of the issue was such that it had been necessary to consult the entire MotoGP paddock rather than just the existing Safety Commission.

"I think this is very important," Ezpeleta said. "Yesterday we talked in the Grand Prix Safety Commission with some of the riders, but due to the importance of the matter, we decided to talk with all of the riders.

"We asked all them to come to the meeting, I introduced to them the problem, they agreed, they discussed it for one hour. They proposed some ideas to be presented to the Grand Prix Commission to try to solve it.

"We will present that to the GPC, which is made up of the FIM, MSMA and Dorna, then everybody will discuss it."

The Dorna boss said the issue had arisen partly because the owners of the MotoGP circuits were now having to spend significantly more on safety facilities to cope with the increased cornering speeds of the modern bikes.

"The promoters of the circuits have spent more than 80 million euro, and presently they are spending more than 1.7 million more than they were three years ago on safety," said Ezpeleta.

"This is something that cannot continue, and is it necessary to go more and more fast? No it isn't."

Ezpeleta also played down suggestions that Dorna had proposed the adoption of a single tyre rule during the meeting.

"They discussed things but we cannot tell what is the outcome," Ezpeleta told autosport.com when asked whether control tyres had been proposed.

"We have decided that what they proposed will go to the MSMA, not to the press.

"This meeting was to discuss rider safety. Single tyres could be one of the issues to discuss, but it was not the issue to discuss, which was safety."

The possibility of control tyres for MotoGP had been floated last autumn amid suggestions that Bridgestone's dominance of the 2007 season was affecting the quality of the racing, but was ultimately rejected in favour of tweaks to the tyre testing and allocation rules.