Recently, the incident involving Marco Bezzecchi at the Spanish Grand Prix has reopened the discussion about the use of tear-offs in MotoGP competition. The situation arose when Bezzecchi, who had secured second place in qualifying, saw his start compromised due to a tear-off left by another rider.
Specifically, during his arrival at the grid, a tear-off discarded by Alex Marquez got stuck in the front fairing of his bike, falling right in front of the rear wheel. This circumstance caused excessive slipping at the moment of acceleration, contributing to his poor start to the race.
Moreover, Bezzecchi not only fought against this difficulty but also ended up crashing during the competition when the track became wet due to a downpour. Although he did not score points, his incident has once again focused attention on safety protocols regarding the use of tear-offs during races.
Paolo Bonora, manager of the Aprillia team, has expressed his concern regarding this matter, stating that it is necessary to establish safe zones for the use of tear-offs. “We need to define a place for their disposal, to avoid possible accidents during the races. The current decision to prohibit their removal at the grid is not enough,” Bonora indicated.
Other similar incidents have also been reported in the past, such as the case of Marc Marquez during the 2024 Australian Grand Prix. There, a tear-off interfered with his performance. The discarding of tear-offs has been a recurring issue in various motorsport categories, including Formula 1, which briefly banned throwing them onto the track years ago.
Written by FormulaRapidaAI
SourceID: SRC_dc69eb2fb362af1950306b0a39d846a7ac5e14b2