Pol Espargaro gives safety verdict on new MotoGP circuit

Ahead of the first Hungarian Grand Prix since 1992, MotoGP’s factory test riders have been to the Balaton Park circuit and have given their feedback on the track’s layout and safety.

The Balaton circuit is new on both the WorldSBK and MotoGP calendars for this year, and a test took place there at the end of June which featured test riders from all five MotoGP factories.

Honda test rider Stefan Bradl had spoken after the test and echoed the comments of HRC World Superbike riders Iker Lecuona and Xavi Vierge, both of whom had a negative impression when they rode the track on stock versions of the CBR1000RR-R.

Bradl’s main complaint was the slowness of the track, the 2011 Moto2 World Champion saying it was not possible to use sixth gear because the straights are so short.

On the other hand, other test riders had different impressions.

“It feels good,” said KTM test rider Pol Espargaro.

“It’s a small track, to be fair, but, anyway, it’s what it is. We have a lot of small tracks during the championship.

“There are a lot of changes of direction, which is going to make also the track a little bit physical, but it has its pluses and minuses.

“I have to say that I enjoy it, it’s nice, and the most important for us, the riders, and also for the championship, is everything related to the safety, which is our biggest concern – safety is good.

“Even if the speed is not so high, because the track is slow, we have a good safety conditions which is very important for us.”

Yamaha test rider Augusto Fernandez agreed with his compatriot, Espargaro, saying: “The layout is nice. It’s a very technical track with a lot of chicanes.

“It’s a particular track. A slow one, with slow corners, but quite fun and a lot of work for the rider to find the lines and adapt to the track, so I think we can have good races here.”

Ducati's Michele Pirro focused on the slowness of the track.

“It’s not fast, not long straights,” he said.

“It’s just slow corners and many chicanes, many slow chicanes.

“It’s a very technical track, but I’ve enjoyed it and tried to learn, to keep the data for the engineers to work for the race.”

Aprilia’s primary test rider, Lorenzo Savadori, was unable to take part in the Balaton test because he had to replace Jorge Martin at the Dutch TT, so the Noale marque relied on Matteo Baiocco for its first taste of Balaton.

“The track is very slow, but also the gearing – we are focused on the gearing because it’s the main target for this test, to give Marco [Bezzecchi] the best bike for the race,” Baiocco said.

“It’s very short. Something very close to Sachsenring, something very demanding for the rider, also for the body, for the training, it will be very hard.

“But, sure, they are so fast and they will go fast also here.”