Sunday in Mandalika did not go as expected for Luca Marini, who after starting from the first position, was put out of the race by Brad Binder.
And although Marini was sympathetic to his colleague, he made clear his opinion on future penalties in case of more than one racing incident, stating that it was strange for Binder to be double penalized and still get a good result:
– Yes, it is a strange case that perhaps happens for the first time. A lot of riders also crashed, but maybe we can talk a little bit about the penalties and the second one maybe could have been a little bit worse than the first, like in football with the yellow card and the red card. Something like that. Try to think about it all together because we want more security, as usual. This is going to be a point in the next safety committee, I think.
The Italian Mooney VR46 rider was also asked about a possible riders’ committee led by Sylvan Guintoli to help improve the spectacle and the championship, and a minimum salary for all riders on the MotoGP grid, suggested by Johann Zarco:
– At the moment I don’t really know how the situation is, because I missed Japan and in India I haven’t been exchanging so many messages on the phone, so I’m a little bit behind in this (riders’ committee). I know that they are talking and that we are trying to do something good for the future and I hope that everything can be good, because we also need help to put on a better show and make sport better for everyone. It’s in our best interest as well. (…) I think it’s a very complicated thing. It’s a good option, everyone would be happy, especially me and all the riders from the satellite teams, but I think it’s going to be very difficult. But it’s true that now the stress and lack of time is unbelievable. A MotoGP rider currently is in a very complicated situation during the weekend, it’s never easy and if you’re good on the bike, the job is easier, but if you’re struggling and you need to work spending hours in the garage, then you’re also going to need 4/5 hours a day outside the garage and it’s very difficult for us, But with more money, of course, all the drivers were happier.
Finally, and following the idea of a commission and a minimum wage, Marini said that he does not think it is possible to improve the format of MotoGP race weekends, saying that it is also up to the riders to adapt to it, and if everyone had a Ducati, it would be easier:
– It’s impossible at the moment to improve the format, in my opinion we just have to adapt better. From my side, since the beginning of the season I have understood everything better, I have a better plan and we manage everything in a better way. Of course, with more time, more experience we will be able to adapt even better, but in my opinion the format is now impossible to change, because it is something that is working and the Sprint races are also a good spectacle for the televisions, for the people and for all the fans. (…) We don’t have enough time to work at this point already. On a Ducati I would say maybe we could come here on Saturday and do the Sprint, but for the other riders on the other brands it’s not fair.