'Old school' Valentino Rossi would welcome radios in MotoGP

Valentino Rossi may be a self-confessed 'old-school' rider but he would welcome the introduction of rider radios in MotoGP.

On Friday at Misano it was revealed that Honda stand-in Stefan Bradl had been asked by Dorna to test a helmet radio system, which will now be offered to the full-time riders during Tuesday's test session.

The initial purpose of the radios would be to communicate safety messages from Race Direction, such as yellow or red flags, but Dorna confirmed the system could eventually include team-rider communications as in F1.

"I like it. For me, it's good. Because it's true that I am an old-school rider, but I am also a car driver sometimes, and with the car, everybody uses communication with the pit box," Rossi said. "For me, it will be a good step forward for MotoGP."

But many grimace at the idea of teams having even more influence over their riders during a MotoGP race, in addition to the current pit boards and dashboard messages.

The biggest fear is that it could result in the often wild and unruly MotoGP races being dulled down to the more orderly style of Formula One.

"I like that the rider decides the maps and all these things," said KTM's Pol Espargaro. "If we put the radios on then the next step is that the pitboxes will control what’s going on with the bike. The third step is that the guys in the box will see that the tyre wear and spin and all these things and will tell the rider what to do.

"It will be less human and more machine and this is what is happening in F1 and I don’t really like it. I want to keep it more human and more sport. Already with the motorbikes involved, it is not really fair! If we keep putting these kinds of things then it will be less fair."

However, Rossi insists radio communication is a 'fun and interesting' part of F1 and 'won't change the DNA of our racing'.

"What I think is that the strong point of MotoGP compared to Formula 1 is that the races are more fun because the battles are stronger," said Rossi. "Formula 1 is the top motorsport in the world, the performance of the car is unbelievable. But sometimes the races are boring, but not because of the radio communication, I think.

"In Formula 1 we hear a lot of radio communication because they are funny, and interesting, and because during the race you have a lot of laps when nothing happens.

"But I don't think that the MotoGP is more fun because there is no radio communication.

"So for me, we are the top level of motorcycle racing, and the communication with the box would increase our level. I think that we can gain time during practice, when you slow down, you can speak with the box, a little bit like with the race cars.

"For me it's interesting. It will not change the DNA of our racing, I think."