MotoGP, Dainese replies: "the camera on the hump? It's absolutely safe"

In the Qatar Grand Prix Dorna debuted the 'Back Cam', a video camera mounted on the hump of the rider’s race suit. It is not the first example of camera systems mounted on the rider’s second ‘skin', the first was the one placed on the shoulder. We wondered if this camera could reduce the safety of the technical gear and to get an answer we asked Dainese, which produces the suit on which it is fitted.

“Dorna has been asking us to put this camera on the hump for over a year. We asked our riders, many were not interested, but Bezzecchi wanted to try instead. We worked virtually all last season to get it to integrate into the hump and to do everything needed to make it safe - explained Marco Pastore, Dainese Racing Director - We carried out impact tests on the back protector with the camera mounted and it passed without any problem. We also checked that the electronics of the camera did not interfere with those of the airbag and in last year's tests in Valencia we confirmed that there was no problem."

The first prototype of this filming system weighed 800 grams, an increase in weight that was far too great for a rider to accept, but the current version has slimmed down to 300 grams.

“Our job was to find the space to integrate the filming system, without it bothering the rider and in a way that was safe, we had to slightly sacrifice the capacity of the camelback to achieve this - continued Pastore - The first prerogative of Dainese is safety, it is no coincidence that we took time before deciding on this innovation and it is no coincidence that our suits do not have a camera on the shoulder, a point where protection is minimal. Among the various points in which to apply a video camera on the suit, the hump is the safest."

However, Dorna is already thinking of other unusual positions to have even more spectacular video images.