Marini suggests new Safety Commission model amid poor rider turnout

Luca Marini has called for a single voice to represent MotoGP riders in Safety Commission meetings amid declining attendance from the 2026 grid.

Every Friday ahead of a grand prix weekend, riders are given an opportunity to raise concerns and discuss safety matters directly with MotoGP organisers Dorna and the FIM. 

However, attendance at these meetings has steadily declined in recent seasons, with only a handful of riders regularly taking part on a regular basis. Tech3’s Enea Bastianini recently revealed that he stopped attending these forums due to his frustration with a lack of progress on key issues.

The low turnout, in theory, can weaken the riders’ collective influence and make it harder for them to establish a unified position on major topics.

But Marini believes making attendance mandatory would not improve the situation either, arguing that each rider has their own vested interest.

Instead, he proposed that riders elect a representative to speak directly with championship organisers on their behalf.

“No, I don’t think [mandatory attendance will help]. In the past, we were 20 [people] inside that room and it was more chaotic than being three or four,” he said.

“Maybe we need to be all together and with one representative who can talk more with the organisation. But we tried many times to do this and until now, it is still not possible, so we will see in the future.

“But it’s not a problem of numbers. It’s just that we need to be more together.”

Marini said he had no preference for who the representative should be, but stressed that demands placed by modern-day MotoGP already make it hard for riders to devote energy towards raising safety concerns.

“It doesn’t matter at the moment who it is,” he said. 

“It’s just that it must start from us. There are still some riders who maybe don’t want or don’t talk about this because there is no time during the GPs. 

“MotoGP is really demanding on the mental side and taking care of this [is also important]. You don’t want [to discuss these matters], you just give up, because it’s one less [item] on the list of the stressful things that you can have as a MotoGP rider.”

Marini called for unity among riders in important safety discussions, echoing a comment made by Yamaha’s Fabio Quartararo in March.

MotoGP does not have an equivalent to Formula 1’s Grand Prix Drivers’ Association, with talks of creating a rider union in the early 2020s coming to nought.

“From my point of view, the real problem with this is that we cannot be all together as riders,” he said.

“It’s really difficult to be in the same direction with all the same ideas because everybody thinks on his own.

“I think it’s the same in every job, but it would be fantastic if in the future the riders can have better communication and better relationships between each other. At the moment there is a lot of respect between everybody, but we need a more open-minded view.”

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