MotoGP riders criticise track conditions in Aragon

The new asphalt in Aragon was already causing problems for many MotoGP riders on Friday. The track was still “green” and offered little grip, but it got a little better with each session and the resulting increase in rubber abrasion on the surface. However, the rain during the night put paid to this.

The condition of the track deteriorated so much that some drivers described it as “unacceptable” and “dangerous” after the sprint race.

The situation on the start-finish straight in particular has been criticized. While there was not as much dirt on the right-hand side due to the previous training sessions, the left-hand side was still quite dirty. This proved to be a disadvantage for a number of drivers who had their starting position on this side.

This was most evident in Francesco Bagnaia. Starting from third place, the Ducati rider immediately began to skid and lost valuable positions. What was particularly annoying was that he had already had this fear on Friday and expressed it.

“In the safety committee yesterday, my biggest wish was that they would clean the grid,” Bagnaia revealed. “Maybe they did. But then it rained again. When I got to the grid, I realized how dirty it was. I tried to prevent what happened later.”

“I released the clutch a little slower, but that didn’t change anything. I was lucky that Alex (Marquez) was able to avoid it. Because that would have been really dangerous.”

Alex Marquez finished fifth in the race and overtook Bagnaia at the start. “The left side was really dirty. I had that in the back of my mind, but you can’t let it drive you crazy. For my part, I got away well and was able to react when he was next to me,” said the Spaniard.

Aleix Espargaro: No understanding from the race management

Aleix Espargaro had an even worse start than Bagnaia. He was unable to move from eleventh place, fell back and collided with Fabio Di Giannantonio in turn 1, driving into the rear of the driver. Diggia was able to continue, but Espargaro crashed.

“It was a scary moment. It’s strange to see such a mistake from such an experienced driver,” said Di Giannantonio. But the difficult track conditions also proved to be Espargaro’s downfall in this situation.

“When we arrived at the starting grid, Maverick (Vinales) and I signalled to Dorna that it was completely dirty on our left side. It was clear that the start would be a slippery affair and that’s exactly what happened,” the Aprilia rider explained the problem at the start.

“I lost a lot of positions and then the front wheel locked at the first braking point. I hit the ground pretty hard.” The track was in worse condition than on Friday, Espargaro continued. He had clearly articulated this before the race, but nobody wanted to listen to him.

“I went to the starting grid and told the race control that it was too dangerous at the start when the left side of the track was so dirty, and they just said to me: ‘We know that.'” After qualifying, I raised the problem with “an important person at Dorna” – without success.

“It is what it is. I certainly didn’t see the track being cleaned. And if you look at the lap times, Marc (Marquez), who was in a world of his own here, was doing 1:48s. In 2022 we were doing 1:46s.

Marquez: Impossible to start well from there

Marc Marquez, who started the race from pole position and was therefore on the less dirty side, had no problems at the start, but confirmed: “Starting on the dirty side was a problem, especially in the sprint today.”

“I think it won’t be a problem tomorrow in the long race. But today, until the sprint, nobody started on the left side, neither Moto3, nor Moto2, nor Rookies Cup. OK, they cleaned the track, but after the storm at night it was impossible (to start well from there).”

Alex Rins goes one step further in his judgment: “This is unacceptable,” criticizes the Yamaha rider and explains: “I had extreme spinning on the rear wheel.”

“I’m on the inside and it was very dirty. Pecco, Aleix, Morbidelli, me – we were all on the dirty side. We will discuss this with Loris (Capirossi, safety officer). They said they would clean the track, but I don’t know if they had enough time to do it this morning.

Franco Morbidelli also complained: “It was definitely dangerous, especially when something like what happened to me this morning at the start of practice happens to you. It was similar with Pecco. That is not normal, not ideal and definitely not.”

During the practice start after the second free practice session in the morning, Morbidelli’s rear end broke off. However, the Pramac driver was able to avoid a crash. In the sprint, he did not crash at the start, but he did crash on lap two. Alongside him and Espargaro, Johann Zarco also did not see the finish flag.

Marini: Track conditions were “at the limit”

Luca Marini believes that the risk of crashing in the race is high due to the condition of the track. “The conditions were very difficult,” says the Honda driver. “You couldn’t really push. The first two laps were particularly dangerous because as soon as you left the racing line, it was a disaster.”

“You lost a lot of time and the risk of crashing was high. We were lucky that nothing worse happened,” he emphasises, drawing a comparison to the desert race in Qatar: “On the first lap, everything was covered in dust. The helmet was covered in it,” worse than in Qatar. The conditions were very difficult.

“Even leaving the racing line to overtake was very dangerous and involved a high risk of crashing. It was at the limit,” Marini explains.

He also revealed that the safety committee had already discussed this a lot on Friday. “I think they cleaned the track a little bit after that. But yesterday it rained and this morning it was wet, so I don’t think they cleaned it again,” said Marini.

The Spaniard demands that improvements must be made for race Sunday. And indeed, on Saturday, sweepers were seen on the start-finish straight. We can only hope that it won’t happen again overnight in Aragon.