A number of people have posited over the last year or two that in today’s MotoGP, there is no such thing as a ‘Sunday Man’. In the past, qualifying was a less relevant part of a normal race weekend, as there were always certain riders that could be relied upon to get to the front of the race seemingly regardless of where they started. Valentino Rossi was an excellent example: Although he had quite a strong qualifying record, it seemed that even if he were to start the race on Sunday in the middle of the pack, he would end up fighting for the podium and the win anyway. Qualifying was simply a formality to decide how hard he would have to work during the race.
Nowadays, qualifying plays a far more serious role in the outcome of a race weekend. This is due to a number of factors, namely the current format for Friday and Saturday, and the overall competitiveness of the field. Because of the Q1 and Q2 system currently used in MotoGP and the minor classes, a rider has to be fast in multiple sessions to guarantee a good qualifying result. To make it into Q2, you have to be one of the fastest guys between Friday and Saturday’s practice sessions, and if you fall short of the mark you must go through Q1 and face the possibility of starting towards the back of the pack. This is compounded by the fact that we currently have one of the most competitive MotoGP grids the sport has ever had. If you can’t make it into Q2 to take a shot at the front few rows, your chances of a podium are slim at best.
So riders have to spend FP3 and the qualifying sessions trying to chase a fast lap. Doing so on your own is a difficult task, but not impossible. Doing so behind another rider is a different matter altogether. Slipstreaming your way around the track – that is, riding behind another rider in order to reduce drag and increase your speed – is something that is generally frowned against as being unsportsmanlike, but it doesn’t break any clear rules of the sport. The importance of qualifying well actually incentivises riders to deploy this tactic, as getting towed around the track to a faster time means less people starting the race ahead of you on Sunday.
The issue that has arisen from all this is that of riders dawdling during practice and qualifying sessions as they wait for a tow to appear. You only need to watch any one of the Q1 sessions this season to know what I mean by this. Riders will sit on their bikes, ambling around the circuit at low speeds until another rider goes by carrying greater momentum, then latch onto the back of that rider in the hopes that they will provide a tow for the next full lap. This is a dangerous, frustrating tactic that has caused a whole lot of controversy so far this year, and in reality it has been going on for years now.
The issue is not restricted to the MotoGP class either, and has been the source of much ire in the lower classes for a number of seasons. Moto3 (the junior class) has been the most challenging one in this regard. Since Moto3 bikes are all incredibly similar thanks to the technical restrictions in place, the difference between a lap done by a single rider versus a lap done with slipstream is far more extreme than any other class. This has led to ridiculous scenes such as groups of riders on circuit together going at something resembling walking speed, or riders sitting on their bikes in pitlane as the clock on the session ticks down simply to wait for the fastest man of the session to lead them out onto the track. The safety commission are clearly not a fan either as we have seen increasingly heavy punishments handed down to the riders found guilty. Long lap penalties, pit lane starts, and even ride-through penalties have all been served over the past two or three years, and yet the riders continue to lag around the circuit come Saturday.
Why would they continue to bring down the ire of the FIM stewards if they know the punishment is so severe? The main issue brought up in interviews is that of the similar machinery and the time that can be saved with a tow, but there’s another one that perhaps should be talked about more, and that is of the example set by the premier class riders. When you’re a junior Moto3 rider being harassed by the FIM for continuously dragging your heels during qualifying, it must be incredibly frustrating to then see MotoGP riders doing the exact same thing an hour later when the bigger bikes hit the circuit. Sure, the methods used by Moto3 teams are arguably more extreme than those used by the MotoGP riders, but the same logic applies to the strategy. Why was Miguel Oliveira able to come almost completely to a standstill during qualifying a couple of weeks ago without facing any punishment, yet a whole swathe of riders in Moto3 had their races essentially ended by a ride-through penalty for the same tactic? It’s a perplexing stance that the FIM have taken, and one that desperately needs to change.
MotoGP riders have started to voice their complaints about it. Miller and Mir have both been very vocal this season about their dislike of the strategy as a whole, and have even mentioned how difficult it must be for the younger riders looking up to them. In a way, that’s the crux of the issue: MotoGP riders are role models to riders in the lower classes, especially the teenagers in Moto3, and when they aren’t being held to the same standards it can cause catastrophic results like the ones we’re seeing at the moment. If a MotoGP rider was handed a ride-through penalty for hanging around for a tow in Q1, it would send shockwaves through the paddock, but it would also make a very clear message to all riders in all classes: this will not be tolerated anymore. It is dangerous, it is unsportsmanlike, and you will face punishment for it no matter who you are.
The danger of it should not be overlooked either. More than once this season in Moto3 we have seen riders suffer heavy crashes and injuries thanks to these strategies, likely due to their tires losing heat as they meander around the track. It also came to a head in the Catalunya Moto3 race, when heading into the final lap a number of riders took wide lines and slowed their bikes in order to make sure they weren’t leading the pack heading into the start finish straight. This was to ensure they would have someone to tow them down the straight, and as a result we ended up with a pack of riders going nine-wide into turn 1 at the bottom of the hill. It was thrilling to watch, sure, but only in the sense that your whole body would tense up with stress as you hoped against hope that all of the riders would make it safely through the first corner.
Again, the risk was taken by the junior riders, but it feels like the responsibility rests on the shoulders of the FIM and the premier class riders to lay down the rules and set an example. Sure, you can penalise the riders involved for causing such a dangerous scenario, but the only reason any of them would even consider doing such a manoeuvre is because no MotoGP rider has ever been punished for doing such a move themselves. It also gives these older riders a certain level of arrogance, as if rising to the level that they ride at makes them invulnerable to such a penalty. If Marc Marquez is slowing purposefully to find a tow – and that’s not an example I’m pulling out of nowhere, he’s been doing it ever since he returned to racing – then you just know no-one is going to do anything to stop it given his stellar championship record and massive fanbase he brings to the sport. This simply shouldn’t be the case.
One can only hope that the stewards can see the damage that is being caused here, and that they begin the process of changing things in the sport. These rules should be applied to all classes, because if they aren’t then they may as well not exist at all. And until they begin to be enforced, we will continue to have these heart-in-mouth moments every time a qualifying session kicks off. And that is something the sport seriously cannot continue to have happen.
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