In that race, not only did Loris Baz knock one of his mechanics over, but Iannone coming in collided with the exiting Aleix Espargaro. Iannone fall off, and his sliding Suzuki skittled team-mate Rins’s bike as mechanic scattered.
Riders discussed alternatives to the current “fast-as-you-can” system, which had riders pulling up alongside their new bike, and in Marquez’s case leaping from one to the other without even touching the ground.
Discussions at the Austrian GP’s riders’ Safety Commission of ways to improve revealed a complete lack of consensus. In the interim Race Direction came up with its own proposal, to be tried out at Silverstone.
This is a less hectic and better-controlled procedure.
Rather than parking the bikes side by side, riders must enter their part of pit lane at 45 degrees and stop with their front wheel at the new bike’s rear wheel.
The second bike is also parked at 45 degrees; and the rider’s exit is controlled by a pit crewman with a stop-go lollipop.
The trial appeared to go well, all though no hasty decisions will be made, pending not only discussions at this evening’s Safety Commission meeting.
The system does make the bike change a lot slower. As riders pointed out at the last meeting: you can make up (or lose) tenths of a second on the track, but whole seconds in the pit lane.
The slower procedure will skew the decision on the timing of bike changes, potentially making it worth staying out on the wrong tyres should conditions change towards the end of a race.
By Michael Scott
