Less young and fewer riders, improved equipment and means of communication in the event of an accident: the International Motorcycling Federation (FIM) and Dorna, promoter of the main motorcycle speed championships, announced on Friday 22 October measures to improve the track safety.
They follow the deaths of three young riders (the Spaniards Hugo Milan, 14, in European Talent Cup, and Dean Berta Vinales, 15, in the WorldSSP300 category, and the Swiss Jason Dupasquier, 19, in Moto3) during accidents this year. In the seasons to come, “new age limits for each category, series or championship will come into force (…) worldwide”, is it announced.
The number of competitors on the track will also be limited category by category. With regard to the Motorcycle Sprint World Championship, which includes MotoGP, Moto2 and Moto3, it has been proposed to place this limit at 18 from 2023 for all categories, against 16 currently in classes. lower (with an exception at 17 for the winners of the Junior Moto3 World Championship and / or the Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup, as well as for younger riders entered before this date).
From 2022, the obligation for pilots to be equipped with airbags will also be generalized.“improve the level of protection offered by the riders’ equipment (helmet, suit, chest and back protector, editor’s note), with emphasis on their protection against the impact of another competitor or another motorcycle , especially at the level of the chest and neck “.
The means of communication between the track marshals and the race direction on the one hand, and the pilots, their teams and the race direction (dashboard, light panels at the edge of the track, etc.) on the other, must also continue to progress.
“The objective is to set up automatic and almost instantaneous warning systems for all the riders / motorcycles that follow” after an accident “in championships of all levels”.