A new electronic system will make its debut in MotoGP at the Austrian Grand Prix: stability control. All manufacturers will be free to use it on the race weekend, and it is no small innovation. We asked Corrado Cecchinelli, MotoGP's director of technology, to explain why it was decided to introduce this device and how it works.

"It's simply a safety device that made sense to introduce - was the engineer's answer - However, there was a particular event that inspired us, I'm talking about Bagnaia's highside in 2023 in the Catalan GP (when he crashed at the second corner and was run over by Binder, ed.), that gave an acceleration to the project and convinced us about its introduction. It is a complicated system, so that was the technical time frame: we had to put together the needs of all the manufacturers, then the software was written by Marelli and tested for months. We also didn't want to give advantages to those who had tried it before."

So the manufacturers were involved in the development?
"It was given to the manufacturers to try months ago and then the Austrian GP was set as the race in which to introduce it if there were no contraindications. Each manufacturer did the testing they thought necessary, with the riders they thought necessary, only in testing, not on race weekends."

There is already traction control, why add stability control?
"They are two conceptually different systems, even though they both act on the same way. They are all vehicle control strategies implemented through the engine; we don't have vehicle actuators, like ABS, for example. Specifically, when the strategies decide that torque reduction is needed, the software determines the reduction to be implemented. In this sense, stability control and traction control may require torque reduction at the same time, so you would get the same effect even having only one. However, they are conceptually different."

How?
"The key difference is that traction control reacts to what is called spin, which is the rear wheel rotating too fast compared to the front. It can be seen as a system that reacts to issues pertaining to longitudinal motion. Stability control, on the other hand, reacts when the bike yaws technically speaking, goes sideways vulgarly speaking. We are therefore talking about transverse motion. Very often these two things happen together, but there are cases where there is a loss of transverse stability with very low spin values."

Is this exclusively a safety device or will it also affect performance?
"This is a difficult issue. In my opinion, there are no safety systems and performance systems because in racing performance and safety are related to each other. Every modification allows you to go at the same speed with more safety, but the result is that you go faster. On a road bike a safety device can be assumed to only increase safety, but in racing you also go faster. They all tend to be safety devices, but if they act better than an experienced rider, then they also increase performance. Getting to the end of a race instead of crashing is already a performance increase. Stability control is a safety device because it does not increase the performance of the bike but slows it down, however, it can do it with a better reaction time than a human being."

There are those who argue that there is too much electronics in MotoGP, that riders are making less and less of a difference.
"It's definitely an issue and it's also nice that everyone has their own opinion. One can answer it like in a bar chat: ask the riders if it's really easy to ride today's MotoGP bikes and if anyone can make them go fast. The other answer, however, is more technical: when one says there is too much or too little electronics one should establish with respect to what. For example, compared to a road bike we have much less electronics, we have it refined but on less evolved functions. Formula 1 does not have traction control, something you find on any hatchback. I think we have the right balance of electronics that keeps the technical level interesting for the manufacturers and does not deaden the talent of the rider."

Will it be mandatory to use stability control?
"No, like all systems it is available in software and can be excluded."

How do you think it will be received by manufacturers and riders?
"I've had positive informal feedback that makes me think everyone will try to use it as early as this GP, and that's not a very common thing for an innovation. I haven't talked to the riders, but I think it will be welcomed because it increases safety and, in case of problems, you can turn it off."