Following a meeting of the Safety Commission and complaints from a number of riders, MotoGP will return to using the Formula 1 chicane at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.
MotoGP switched to the layout of the Barcelona circuit used by Formula 1 since 2007 last year, after Moto2 rider Luis Salom was killed in a crash at the previous layout of Turn 12.
A temporary solution at the time, the Formula 1 chicane was deemed to not offer as much distance between the tarmac run-off on the exit of Turn 14 and the barrier, and a new chicane for the bikes was installed for this year.
Half of the MotoGP field tried the new chicane at a recent test just after the French Grand Prix, and the new section of track was met with almost universal dislike amongst the riders present.
Several riders, including Yamaha’s Valentino Rossi and Ducati’s Andrea Dovizioso, expressed concerns over the new chicane during the safety meeting at Mugello, but it was agreed it should be tried first before a decision was taken.
One of the main issues with the new chicane was the possibility for a rider or a bike to remain on or near the circuit in the event of a crash, a problem both Maverick Vinales and Jorge Lorenzo cited when asked about the piece a tarmac,
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“If you lose the front in the first corner on the left, and you crash, you stay near the track and the other ones can go over you. This worries me a little bit,” said Lorenzo.
“The rider is in the middle (of the chicane), the bike is in the middle, the marshals are in the middle,” Vinales stated.
“If you crash in the second corner, you stay in the middle. If you crash in the first corner of the chicane, you go in the middle. It’s very strange.”
Lorenzo also felt the chances of a collision between two riders if one made a mistake on the way into the corner was now higher, something Aprilia’s Sam Lowes said could be an issue in the opening laps of a race in the Moto2 and Moto3 class.
“It’s not a MotoGP chicane,” the Briton said following the test at the track last month.
“For me it’s not the way. MotoGP, (it’s) probably okay. Moto2 and Moto3, I promise you, and I don’t want to say it, but the first laps there people are going to be crashing – a lot.”
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