After many years, Franco Uncini, 500cc world champion in 1982, MotoGP legend since 2016, has decided to say enough and enjoy his retirement. “Actually, however – he specifies – I’m still following up on some issues related to the circuits, I’m not completely at rest yet… And I couldn’t resist: I decided to come to Portimao to see the first ever SprintRace” he tells us on the phone as we record episode number 107 of #atuttogas, the Sunday podcast of Moto.it.
Franco, until last year, was one of the three members of the Race Direction, in the role of FIM representative: in the podcast he explains what one of the most criticized organs of the world championship is and how it works.
“Since 2015, after the famous episode between Valentino Rossi and Marc Marquez in Malaysia, it was decided that the Race Direction should no longer also perform the role of assigning penalties: for this reason the Stewards Panel was created. Sometimes, even today, I read: “Race Direction was wrong to give the punishment”, but it is no longer the RD that decides this thing”.
In the podcast, Uncini talks what happens when something happens on the track: what is the procedure, what is the division of roles like and so on.
Franco, as we know, is also a great expert on circuits: to him we owe the indisputable improvements of many structures. Again, it is interesting to know how approvals work, what interventions are required, how to proceed, for example, if the stones in the Portimao escape routes are too large.
E What is the innovation introduced in recent years that makes Uncini most proud? And where can you still improve in terms of safety? And what does Franco think of the continuous increase in power: are the circuits still suitable or, as Massimo Rivola argues, if we don’t intervene quickly, will today’s slopes no longer be suitable in a short time?
All the answers in the 107th episode of #atuttogas.
See you next week for a new episode of #atuttogas
