VOLUME 58 ISSUE 23 JUNE 8, 2021 P133
nowadays. This is thanks in large
part to better crash helmets and
clothing, rider airbags and back
protectors, and also to better
medical intervention.
More than any other factor,
it is thanks to safer tracks—the
worst of them simply aban-
doned, others subject to en-
forced modifications such as
revised layouts, improved run-
off, air-fences and more. At first
in response to rider pressure
and recently thanks to the rigour
of Dorna.
It is noteworthy how the
World Championship death toll
fell sharply after the Isle of Man
TT was taken off the calendar
in 1976. This was followed,
gradually, by other notoriously
dangerous circuits, like Spa
Francorchamps and Austria's
super-scary Salzburgring.
A run through Wikipedia's
epitaph of 104 names of grand
prix victims (including sidecar
drivers and passengers) is most
revealing. In the first decade,
from 1949 to 1958, there were
31 deaths. The next decade, 25,
from 1969 to 1978 27. An aver-
age of almost three riders lost
every year.
Thereafter, only 13 between
1979 and 1988, and since then
just a smattering. The next three
decades together recorded
seven deaths, and now in 2021
one more.
No wonder what was once
regarded as a normal hazard
now occasions such a shock.
Brutal notification of the serious
dangers of motorcycle racing
comes so seldom that it is easy
to forget and make light of it in
the interim.
When the victim is still in his
teens, when any parent can feel
the agony even at second hand,
the shock is all the more se-
vere. And likewise, to his peers
and his on-track rivals. The "it
couldn't happen to me" feeling
nullified at a stroke.
Then comes the why-oh-why.
The feeling that somehow these
daredevils should be protected
from themselves, that if the teen-
age brain has not yet developed
risk-averse strategies, then
adults should step in to take
responsibility.
This tempting argument,
however, doesn't hold water.
These Moto3 kids are much bet-
ter off engaged in professional
motorcycle racing, fully super-
vised and with first-class medical
attendance on first-class tracks
than they would be out taking
freelance risks, tomb-stoning,
after-dark parkour, base-jump-
ing, etc.
There was inevitably a lot of
posturing on the dark day that
Dupasquier's fate was confirmed
as racing got under way on
Sunday. A lot of dedications of
rostrum finishes and post-race
pointing at the sky, probably
comforting and definitely sin-
cere. The tributes continued the
following weekend at Catalunya.
As often, it was Miguel Oliveira
whose heartfelt but matter-of-fact
comment summed it up best. "I
wish this sport could not be so
cruel...but it is our passion." CN
"These Moto3 kids are much better off engaged in
professional motorcycle racing, fully supervised and with
first-class medical attendance on first-class tracks than they
would be out taking freelance risks, tomb-stoning, after-
dark parkour, base-jumping, etc."
"It is remarkable, however, to
measure just how much safer World
Championship racing is nowadays."
