MotoGP rightholders Dorna have spent months looking for a system of some type to improve pit-to-rider communication during the race. Until now, communicating information has only been available through the pitboards that are hung out by the crews along the start/finish straight. Obviously, the information can only be communicated once per lap, and the riders only get to see the board in the span of one second or less as they fly past the start/finish line at more than 190 mph.
The project, at an advanced stage of development, is known as the “virtual board.” And no, it was not launched because of a suggestion from Valentino Rossi following the poor decisions he made—and resulting dismal race results—at the Grand Prix of the Netherlands (Assen) and in Germany (Sachsenring) this season when he failed to follow the recommendations of his pit crew. After those races, Rossi proposed resurrecting the F1-style radio communication system that was tested 10 years ago but the idea was summarily dismissed.
"There are circuits where riders have serious difficulty seeing the pit board. There are boards blocking other boards. And, make no mistake, there are riders who have trouble seeing and understanding the notices," explains Javier Alonso, one of the Race Direction members working on the project. "So we decided to talk to our engineers and specialists to see if the system that Race Direction uses right now to warn riders in the middle of the race and in extreme situations, could have more channels and power to make it available to teams so they can send not only what they put on the boards, but much more information with the advantage that such information or advice can register on the dashboard display for as long as they want."
As Alonso alluded to, Race Direction is already communicating with the riders during the race via a message that is displayed on their bike’s LCD instrument panel, providing them with one of four messages: red flag (suspension of the race); black flag (you have been disqualified); a jump start notice that means a rider has a ride-through penalty, and finally, a bike has a malfunction and the rider must retire.
That same virtual messaging system apparently will soon be augmented by about 20 to 25 different brief alerts, which Dorna and the teams are discussing right now with the engineers and team strategists. To unify this communication, each team already has specially encrypted computers (one per rider) connected solely with Race Direction to interact with the judges of the race, make comments or present protests. Those same computers will also be used to individually send messages to each rider during the races.
The range of messages that each rider will personally receive on their display will be sent via the multiple antennas distributed around the circuit, and can include not only current lap times of direct competitors or the distance between them, but also track conditions, suggestions to switch the bike’s power map and, in the case of a wet race, suggest when to change bikes, the type tire to use, or for example, when a rival is changing bikes and how they are doing after the change, to help a rider make a decision when to enter the box to change bikes.
A message in that sense could be a simple as “93 S 2:15.309”, meaning Marc Márquez (93), on slicks (S), is running a lap time of 2:15.309. Ironically, this is the information that Rossi had wanted and needed in Sachsenring (Germany) to know that Marquez had already swapped his rain tires for slicks and was turning lap times seven seconds quicker per lap than he was.
It appears that the radio communication option has been discarded by Dorna. "Our races are sprint races and therefore it makes no sense to have radios,” explains Alonso. “They are very expensive, very complicated and also can be dangerous distractions to riders. We want to increase the access to the information they need and, above all, display that data more than just a thousandth of a second, which is the time they have to see the pitboard. With this new system, riders will have the information more easily, it will be more readable and available as long as they want, because they themselves decide when it will disappear from the display screen.”
"Radios in motorcycle racing are not recommended," explains Michele Zasa, the Italian doctor responsible for the championship’s Clínica Móbile. "Humans are endowed with mirror neurons that help us to see, read, retain and record, immediately, the message we see. Logically, in the case of a rider going 200 mph on the straight or 120 mph leaned over in a corner, this message must be very short. But of course, it’s much easier to understand than the talk that might be coming through an earpiece. It’s easier to understand a written message at a glance than hearing it for two or three seconds while racing.”
Most of the riders seem to be in agreement for the most part with using the dashboard messages. “I agree, especially for safety,” Ducati’s Andrea Dovizioso said. “There could be a really important safety message, because if somebody crash in front of you, the marshal have to react [and display the yellow flag], but sometimes if the crash happens in a difficult part of circuit, it can help.” But Dovizioso was cautious about bringing up too much information. “I don’t agree if they open it up too much, because when you are riding it is very difficult to read. So it’s important to have just the safety message, not all the details about what happened, lap time, blah blah blah…”
Rossi was obviously in favor of the virtual boards, and as mentioned, also would like to have radio communication. “Yes, I agree, it’s good. I like, and I also want the radio because during the race, especially in a flag to flag (where the rider can come into the pits to change bikes due to weather conditions), it can be a help. And also it can be good for safety; if you have a crash in front, or a yellow flag, or some people have a problem with the engine and oil on the track. Also, because I always make the wrong decision (laughter), so maybe with the message on the dashboard, it’s more easy.”
Dorna is also looking into the possibility of displaying those messages so that TV and online viewers can know what an engineer is suggesting to his rider from the pit wall, adding another layer of excitement to the race broadcast. The company believes MotoGP can start practicing the new “virtual board” system before the championship begins the trifecta of races in Japan, Australia and Malaysia in October.