MotoGP Austria: Safety Commission, speed limits in the pit lane revised

MotoGP Austria Safety Commission – Yesterday afternoon, at the end of the work on the track, the Safety Commission met to talk about the safety of the Flag-To-Flag. What happened in Brno cannot and must not be repeated, because in addition to Andrea Iannone's crash, caused by Aleix Espargarò's departure without authorization from the garage, Loris Baz was also responsible for a crash, which involved a mechanic fortunately without consequences.

As a first step, starting from the first session this morning, it was decided to reduce the speed in the pit lane, bringing it from 60km/h to 40. This is just the tip of the iceberg of a series of changes still under consideration, which will see change procedures during Flag-to-Flag. Already at the press conference Pedrosa had given the advice to widen the space between one garage and another to avoid having the trajectories cross, but there's more.

Apparently a mechanic will be used with a lollipop, the same one used in Formula1, which, unlike what happens with 4 wheels, will stop the driver entering the garage. These are only hypotheses for now, but they will be studied, improved and applied in the near future.

However, another problem came to light in the Safety Commission. The Spielberg track is used for many motorsport competitions, especially 4-wheeled ones. The cars, during the most demanding braking sections, leave a lot of rubber on the asphalt, a track which becomes very slippery in the rain. In fact, the second Moto2 free practice session in the rain was a festival of crashes with 10 riders involved.

So in the Safety Commission, some drivers said they were ready not to race if the race was held in wet conditions, considering it too dangerous. Among these, at least according to paddock rumors, there would be: Aleix Espargarò, Jonas Folger and Danilo Petrucci. With the latter two calling the Red Bull Ring the most dangerous track of the year.

Loris Capirossi, DORNA's safety manager, tried to reassure the pilots, saying that after the meeting, on the night between Friday and Saturday, with the aid of very high pressure water jets, the most critical points they were cleaned. Work is planned for next year to prevent this from happening again.

Furthermore, if rain conditions occur tomorrow, the riders will have the opportunity to test before the race.

Photos: Alex Farinelli