Dainese is investigating why its premium race suit became undone in a crash

Dainese has launched an investigation into what caused its premium race suit to open during a crash for Franco Morbidelli at the German MotoGP last weekend.

The bizarre incident occurred during Saturday’s sprint race at Sachsenring, in Germany, as Morbidelli’s suit came undone immediately after he fell to the ground.

For most track days riders wearing full one-piece suits, it’s unlikely you’re ever going to be riding at the same speed as a MotoGP rider – sorry to burst that bubble. That also means you’re unlikely to ever crash with the same velocity and impact.

However, it’s still a concern to know that the brand’s premium race suit opened in such a way. Morbidelli’s speed was already reduced from what it normally would have been as the race was taking place in wet conditions.

Luckily for Morbidelli, his airbag worked as intended which limited the force of impact, because had it not, then the Ducati rider could have been in a lot more trouble. 

Speaking to Italian press outlet GPOne, Dainese’s Racing Service Manager, Pietro Mastrapasqua, said: “We’ll bring the suit to the company to analyse it, since it’s an anomalous thing that has never happened before.

“We’ll have to analyse the data to understand the force of impact, since the suit was subjected to very significant movement. We’ll certainly have to work for the future, since these accidents are becoming more and more brutal.

“We’ll have to analyse the material, because at first glance both we and IRTA [International Race Teams’ Association] found no abnormalities. Something definitely happened, even if the suit passed all the previous tests. Our materials are super tested with self-locking zippers. It’s all very strange.”

Dainese’s product, together with Alpinestars, is regularly used by the world’s fastest and most skilled two-wheel racers, whether that’s MotoGP or World Superbike. And thankfully these types of incidents are very few and far between.

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