Michael Scott | August 12, 2016
Speed and danger were a talking point as MotoGP racing resumed at the former A1 Ring in the Alpine foothills in Spielberg, Austria – which slotted straight in as the fastest on the calendar.
It achieved this by Friday afternoon, as conditions warmed up, while the proximity of the barriers and a dearth of gravel traps made it feel even faster.
After a relatively slow morning, Dovizioso’s Ducati set fastest lap of FP2 at an average of 185.9km/h (115.5mph), comfortably outranking Phillip Island’s best-ever lap (Lorenzo) at 181.9km/h (113mph). The average came on three medium-length straights, and in spite of at least three slow corners.
Assen winner Jack Miller confirmed that riders are well aware of the speed, as well as having the throttle wide open more than anywhere else. “I had a sore jaw here after the tests, from gritting my teeth the whole way round. Normally I do that when I’m going wide open, at more than 300km/h.”
Tailored to F1, the Austrian track favors smaller paved run-offs; while somewhat sinuous straights offer opportunities for unusual accidents, as Cal Crutchlow explained. “Some places you are wide open and wheelieing, with the rear wheel doing 300km/h and the front doing 40. When it touches down it’s easy for it lock up.”
Something similar happened to Stefan Bradl’s Aprilia, and while he was lucky not to hit anything, he was astonished by how far the bike slid, revealing just how fast he had been travelling. A little later in the same session, Dani Pedrosa crashed, the front locking on corner entry. He also slid to a safe stop, but the speed meant his bike vaulted the air-fence and landed atop the tire wall beyond, bringing out the red flag as it was recovered.
“The track is difficult and dangerous,” said Crutchlow, the most outspoken. “There are only ten corners, and ten places that could be changed.”
The speed of the Ducatis – gaining two tenths on each of three straights had given them what the Briton called “a free lap time”, meaning he and other Honda riders (plus Yamaha and Suzuki) had to take big risks in the corners, exposing them to real dangers.
One particularly worrying corner was modified on the eve of the GP, with the aim of reducing speed. It was the last corner – Turn Ten – and it was achieved by the simple expedient of a pot or two of paint.
The exit of the corner was reduced from 13 meters to 10 by painting a new outside kerb. This meant not only an extra three meters from the barrier, but also a slower corner and exit speed.
While there was no physical barrier, there were strict penalties for anyone straying beyond that red-and-white demarcation. In practice and qualifying, the lap time would be cancelled; while obvious transgressions in the race, particularly if yielding any advantage, would require riders at least to drop a place.
With the barrier and grandstands hard by the track, riders agreed it was at least an improvement; but there remained other danger spots.
Rossi particularly put his finger on Turn Eight, a right kink after a pair of lefts. “For me that is the worst point, because you are very fast and the barrier is very close,” he said.
The Red Bull Ring is the opposite of the Sachsenring, with a predominance of right-hand corners – all but two of the ten turns. This obviously requires dual-compound tires, at least on the rear, but tests before the summer break revealed a different problem – the speeds were destructive, and the French company made yet another new tire.
Some riders liked it, others not so much. For Assen winner Jack Miller it was something done for the Ducatis. “I liked the tire at the test, and though it did some flaking it was only after 23 laps. The Ducatis were doing it after seven laps or so.”
One difficulty, highlighted by Rossi, was the change in conditions – “in the morning it was 30 degrees colder than the test”. All the same, he preferred the new tire. “With the tires at the test, we had a lot of degradation