Marco Bezzecchi
Former MotoGP team boss Oscar Haro has revealed how Marc Marquez’s idea to create a safety feature that “practically all sports” have was rejected by the sport’s top brass.
Safety in Grand Prix motorcycle racing has been a prevalent topic for decades now, with every new injury rehashing the argument that MotoGP simply needs a riders’ union in order for the grid to be properly protected.
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Following Alex Marquez and Johann Zarco’s respective crashes at this year’s Catalan Grand Prix, the topic was brought up yet again, with Francesco Bagnaia calling out his fellow rivals for failing to show up to the weekly Safety Commission meetings.
The violent nature of both crashes that occurred in Barcelona left a lot of the grid shaken. Fabio Quartararo was left in tears after witnessing what happened to his compatriot, leading Pedro Acosta to question why the race was restarted for a second time.
If there had been a riders’ union, the grid would have been able to voice their immediate thoughts on the matter, and it isn’t the first time that such a notion has been put forward by some of the grid’s occupants.
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Oscar Haro reveals MotoGP rejected Marc Marquez’s idea of creating a riders’ union ‘years ago’
Speaking via Nico Abad’s YouTube channel, former LCR Team boss Oscar Haro drew attention to Marco Bezzecchi’s heavy crash during the Dutch Grand Prix as another reason why riders need some sort of committee to voice their concerns.
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The Italian rider fell off his Aprilia prototype at around 120mph, but it was his trip through the gravel trap that did the most damage. Bezzecchi was sent spiralling as he reached the gravel trap, and appeared to be unconscious as the trackside medical staff attended to him.
“Marco Bezzecchi’s crash is a real shame – the way he went into the gravel and bounced out of it,” the Spaniard began. “As Marc [Marquez] said back in 2025, we’re going to get hurt on this gravel, and Bezzecchi could have been seriously injured.
“Then they complain that the riders don’t attend the Safety Commission meeting on Thursdays, but what’s the point if no one listens to them?
“I don’t know if it’s down to Dorna or Liberty, but I think we need to treat the riders a bit more like people and not just as part of a show, because they’re getting seriously injured.”
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He later revealed that Marquez had put forth the idea of creating a union “a few years ago”, which was swiftly met with a closed door.
“There is no riders’ committee,” Haro added. “Marc wanted to do it a few years ago, and they wouldn’t let him. There has to be a committee that, when the 22 drivers on the grid meet, say, ‘Guys, what we say goes’. But that committee doesn’t exist.
“Probably because there is no interest in forming a committee. But as far as I know, in practically all sports there is one.”
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