Long live the chicane. Following complaints by riders, officials have decided to revert to last year’s emergency chicane – the F1 layout – for Saturday and Sunday at the Catalunyan GP.
This was in response to calls by Rossi and other riders, eventually carried by the majority, after an earlier and tighter chicane had seen a number of crashes, with bikes remaining in the centre of the track.
According to a statement issued by Dorna, “The decision is based on feedback from riders following Day 1 of track action, and was taken by the Safety Commission on Friday evening.
“The changes made to the layout ahead of the 2017 event were deemed insufficient due to the change in the asphalt of the chicane, which was the cause for concern for the majority of the riders.
“The race weekend will therefore continue on Saturday using the layout raced in 2016.
Dovizioso, Catalunya MotoGP 2017
“Loris Capirossi: ‘In the Safety Commission the riders complained a little about the new layout, they said the work wasn’t done in the right way and there were a lot of bumps – that’s why the riders decided to go back to the layout from last year. That’s why we’re here, to make sure the track used tomorrow is the safest we can. We saw during practice today a lot of crashes too where the bike remained on the track and at the exit of the corner, and that’s very dangerous. We have experience from last year of the old chicane and we didn’t have any crashes like we did today, that’s why the riders requested it. In terms of crashes, the old one is better.’”
By Michael Scott
New Turn 13, Catalunya MotoGP 2017
Valentino Rossi was leading calls for a mid-weekend circuit change, after crashes and problems at the new ultra-tight chicane installed “for safety reasons” at the Montmelo circuit.
The changes to the formerly fast and rhythmical circuit were at first accepted, rather grudgingly in some quarters, on the grounds of “safety first”.
But after the first day of practice, with several crashes at the new section, Rossi wanted to revert to the faster F1 chicane brought into play on the Saturday year.
Those changes came in response to last year’s Friday fatality, when Luis Salom careened into his bike after it bounced back from a too-close barrier. The layout was changed midway through the weekend, adopting F1’s tighter Turn 10 at the end of the back straight, and the F1 chicane before the final corner. This slowed the entry to and exit from the section where Salom had fallen.
But the F1 chicane barriers were thought threateningly close, and this year another change saw a new, tighter chicane built some 50 metres earlier.
Some riders – including the factory Honda, Ducati and Aprilia teams – had tested here after Le Mans, and they found the very tight turns at the end of the lap much at odds with the fast and flowing earlier part. This poses a challenge for engineers to find compatible suspension settings. The previous layout, said Marquez, “was more natural. Now it is like two different tracks.”
But it is the same for everyone, and Rossi’s pre-race opinion was that the changes wouldn’t make very much difference. “For me, the worst thing is the change of asphalt on the chicane,” where new tarmac was laid for the new layout.
On the first day of practice, both Alvaro Bautista and Loris Baz fell at the new chicane, as did others in the smaller classes – and Baz’s bike ended up in the middle of the track, with following riders having to take urgent avoiding action.
This led Rossi and others to change their tune, with widespread complaints.
He told press that last week at Mugello Dorna had told the riders that if they were not happy after Friday, they could go back to last year’s emergency layout.
“A chicane like this is not at the level of MotoGP, because it is not track – just a piece of asphalt put between two tracks,” he said.
The F1 layout was a backward step anyway, but at least there was one type of asphalt, and properly banked corners, he said.
Free practice leader Marquez was unsurprisingly not in agreement with the flood of complaints. Only one corner had changed, he said, and “when you get a good rhythm is can be fun. Ultimately it’s the same track, and still enjoyable.
Pedrosa added: “We know there’s a risk of a crashed bike ending up in the middle of the track, but we’ve already spoken about it in the last Safety Commission meeting in Mugello, so we’ll see. It’s a very slow chicane, so this should make things less dangerous.”
Rossi at new turn 13, Catalunya MotoGP 2017