The recent race of the Silverstone GP has brought to light an unexpected controversy related to long-distance devices. Despite the explicit prohibition of holeshot devices at the start, two riders who made it to the front row were affected by stuck devices, surprisingly losing positions.
Jorge Martin, who took pole position, entered the first corner aiming to maintain his lead, but ended up losing it to race winner Raul Fernandez. At the same time, Ai Ogura, also riding an Aprilia, experienced a similar situation that caused him to drop in the rankings.
Replays clearly showed that the rear of Martin’s and Ogura’s bikes was dragging on the asphalt, suggesting that the distance regulating device hadn’t deactivated as expected. Although this malfunction could have caused a serious incident, both motorcycles were able to continue after unhooking their devices, with Martin recovering to finish in second position, while Ogura fell further down during the race.
This weekend marked only the second competition since MotoGP banned front holeshot devices due to the accidents that occurred at the Catalonia GP. However, it should be noted that all bikes are still equipped with rear distance regulating devices. These devices are mainly used to accelerate into slow corners during the race but are also applied at the start to achieve a better launch.
Traditionally, riders have expressed that the most common problem was that devices refused to unhook, even when adequate brake pressure was applied. However, both Martin and Ogura accepted responsibility for their poor starts this weekend.
Martin acknowledged that he did not make a good start, admitting that Fernandez got the contest underway better. “In the first corner, I just wanted to maintain the first position and I didn’t brake enough, so my rear device didn’t disengage,” Martin explained.
Ogura, for his part, indicated that despite losing some positions, he did not feel in danger and simply struggled to adapt to the situation due to the braking error. He commented: “I didn’t brake with the necessary intensity to unlock the rear. I lost some positions, but nothing concerning.”
The British GP highlights that riders will continue to face issues with long-distance devices during starts until they are completely banned in 2027 with the arrival of the 850 cc era. There are divided opinions on how MotoGP should manage these devices, with some manufacturers having developed more sophisticated systems than others.
The debate over safety is recurring, and while some voices demand the banning of these systems, other riders believe that falls at the start are inevitable. In response, MotoGP has decided to increase the distance between riders on the grid, from three to four meters, a change that was implemented starting from the German GP.
Written by FormulaRapidaAI
