It was fair to expect the odd hiccup as the heavily modified Autodromo Internacional de Goiania – Ayrton Senna made its first appearance on the MotoGP calendar since 1989.
The occasional delay is one thing. But a series of incidents that cast doubt on whether the race could even happen is quite another. Saturday’s Sprint was delayed by 80 minutes after a sinkhole appeared on the inside of the start-finish straight. And Sunday’s race was quickly shortened from 31 laps to 23 just four minutes before the MotoGP start.
“Track degradation” was the paltry explanation offered by MotoGP. In fact, riders soon found the surface coming apart at turns 11 and 12, with stones “shooting out all over the place,” according to Brad Binder. “I thought someone had driven a truck over it,” he said. Alex Marquez, sporting bruises on his arms from stones being kicked up, called the conditions “quite unacceptable.”
Brother Marc nearly crashed at that place two laps from the end and was forced to concede third place. “If you touched that point [on] the racing line, it was super slippery,” he said. “And on that lap, I touched [it] a little bit [and] lost the front.”
Michelin wanted to distance itself from the race being shortened, with boss Piero Taramasso insisting its tires could have done all 31 laps. Its social-media account even posted photos of the tarmac coming apart at turn 11 with the caption, “When the track gives up before the tires do.”
Perhaps more concerning was the rushed nature with which the shortened race was announced. Team bosses Davide Tardozzi (Lenovo Ducati) and Pablo Nieto (VR46 Ducati) could be seen remonstrating with MotoGP Chief Sporting Officer Carlos Ezpeleta. Couldn’t the start have been delayed by 10 minutes so everyone could adjust accordingly?
Enea Bastianini was confused because he felt his team was told at the back of the grid later than those at the front. “It’s been sh*t,” he said. “A big mistake. The message to my team arrived at the last minute, and the time to change the tire for us was nothing. The team said to me, ‘We don’t have time,’ but the others in front changed… We always talk, but nothing [will] change.”
Organizers will point to the full grandstands, an enthusiastic atmosphere, and a sold-out ticket allocation (60,873 fans showed up on Sunday). One of the biggest markets for manufacturers, Brazil, is most certainly deserving of a place on the current calendar.
But put simply, the track was nowhere near ready.CN
Click here to read the Race Shortening Leads to Chaos in the Cycle News Digital Edition Magazine.
