Preview Qatar – The desert calls us: discovering Doha

It is a first on the calendar, the Losail International Circuit in Doha, and it becomes part of the two-wheel circus from this season. With this stage, the world championship lands on Arab soil and does so in Qatar, which for the occasion has reclaimed a 5400 meter track from the desert.

The track design is quite irregular with a prevalence of right-hand bends (9) compared to left-hand ones (5). The concept of the track is essentially divided into three parts: a long straight, a fairly challenging guided part and a final part with curves spaced by short straights.

Having never been used before for any sporting event, we do not have precise references for the setup of the bike, but we can hypothesize one by examining the conformation of the system. The climatic conditions, almost always characterized by a torrid desert-type climate, lead us to assume that performance will be penalized. Sand should not be a problem, as it is for Welkom in South Africa. The organizers, in fact, have prepared a solution with a particular glue that will be sprayed on the ground to prevent the grains from disturbing the pilots' driving.

As regards the chassis, the first objective will be to make the bike rideable during fast and medium-fast changes of direction, and this can be achieved by hardening the rear shock absorber, so as to avoid the bike lowering during acceleration.

The problem with this type of solution, however, is that, once agility is found, the bike becomes nervous and it becomes difficult for the rider to maintain a good rhythm. Using a hard rear spring also has another effect: it makes the tire work harder, putting its race life at risk. For this reason, we usually try to mediate by softening the spring and hardening the preload of the rear shock absorber, in order to "support" it during acceleration.

We then necessarily work on the hydraulic braking, in order to maintain a good compromise on the operating speeds of the rear suspension to obtain a decent balance from the point of view of traction and stability.

Another peculiarity will be that of the abrasiveness of the asphalt in Doha. If in other circuits we have the problem of a road surface in poor condition, here we will find a new strip of asphalt which, together with the expected high temperatures (in an initial test carried out the thermometer was close to 50 degrees centigrade), will cause difficulties the life of the tyres.

Racing Aprilia