A new MotoGP safety rule came into practice this year. The rule essentially means that any fallen machine with a stalled engine must be moved to a service road before attempting to restart the engine. Previously, if the bike was in working order after going down, riders would get a push to bump start the bike from the marshals, but officials decided this was too dangerous for the marshals. Unfortunately, the decision might put riders in more danger and lead to more crashes in the manner that took the life of one of MotoGP's brightest stars, Marco Simoncelli.
Often cited as the triggering incident for this rule change was Alex Rins's off at Mandalika during qualifying in 2025. Rins crashed toward the end of qualifying and took a long time to get his Yamaha going with the help of the marshals, which elevated the risk for everyone involved while a qualifying session was in progress.
