Safety in Moto2, absurdity at Phillip Island: riders down, animals on track and flags

The Moto2 race finished with a clear victory for Alonso Lopez ahead of Pedro Acosta and Jake Dixon, but there was one fact that perhaps went unnoticed by many, Race Direction included.

Navarro at the side of the track

We’re talking about Jorge Navarro’s presence at the side of the track. The Spanish rider crashed in front of Simone Corsi shortly after exiting Miller Corner and was hit by the same rider who was unable to avoid him.

The team Pons rider was lucky to ‘only’ fracture his femur (he has already undergone surgery), but what was so incredible and absurd is that, with the rider down and lying not far from the kerb and the marshals around him gesturing for a stretcher, Race Direction showed no flags and made no attempt to stop the race in order to transport the rider to the medical centre.

The race continued for several laps with Navarro still at the side of the track and the marshals waving before he was recovered and taken to the circuit medical centre, and then the hospital.

Geese on track

A dangerous situation that could have become something else entirely if another rider had crashed and hit either Navarro or the marshals who were attending to him. Especially considering that Q2 was stopped with a red flag just 36 seconds from the end due to “safety reasons”, or rather two geese crossing the track.

A flag that came out despite the fact that no bikes were in the vicinity of the birds, which crossed the track undisturbed and without bothering anybody.

And so the question is, why stop qualifying for “safety reasons” in the presence of animals (geese to be precise) and not stop the race or at least wave a warning flag when there was a rider and marshals at the side of the track?

Why not take inspiration from Endurance (or Formula 1 itself) and bring out a Safety Car when there’s a bike down on track creating a dangerous situation? The Safety Car would help marshals attend to riders and would also facilitate recovery of the bike, with the other bikes lapping at a slower pace. A form of support to be used only in certain cases, since there would be a risk of tyres cooling down which might make for a dangerous situation when the race restarted...

Traslated by Heather Watson

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