Although they’re careful about just coming out and saying it, most of the riders who have ridden the Misano circuit in the opposite direction prefer it that way. Prior to the change at the end of the 2006 season, the track – now known as the World Circuit Marco Simoncelli – ran counterclockwise with a series of three left-hand corners that started slow and built in speed. Now those corners are right-handers that start fast and decrease in speed.
“It’s not just the direction, but also a lot of the corners they have adapted for the opposite direction,” Valentino Rossi said in today’s pre-Grand Prix of San Marino press conference. “In the past at Misano the best point was from the small left and then you have very good acceleration – left, left, left – and you arrive in the fast corner very fast and it was very good, especially with the big bike with a lot of slide. Now, like Marc [Marquez] said, you arrive the other way and it’s a little bit strange because you arrive very fast and you have to slow down. But I like also that part and the first corner after the back straight [on the changed circuit] is one corner that when you arrive you say, ‘F*&k’ a lot of times. It is very, very fast and I think it is maybe one of the faster of the season.”
Ducati’s Andrea Dovizioso also has fond memories of the circuit when it ran counterclockwise.
“I made the first race here in Misano when the track was in the opposite way and I like more the old track, but they change the layout and the direction for the safety so is really important,” Dovisioso said.
For Marc Marquez, it makes no difference.
“For me to ride in the opposite direction, I don’t feel any different – okay, maybe in the fast corners,” Marquez said. “But on the opposite way it looks nicer because now you arrive on top speed and you slow down every corner. But the rest of the corners, turn number four, is a little bit strange. But the rest is perfect for me.”
The change to the track at the end of the 2006 season featured more than just a change in direction. The track was also lengthened to 2.54 miles with a new chicane, the seating capacity of the grandstands was increased to over 23,000 and the pressroom was renovated to accommodate 320 journalists. In 2008, the circuit also changed the length of the pit lane.
