Hungary MotoGP start warning given over "zero grip" Turn 1 asphalt

Ducati’s Pecco Bagnaia has warned the resurfaced Turn 1 at Balaton Park offers “zero grip” and “could be a problem” at the start of the MotoGP Hungarian Grand Prix.

The Balaton Park circuit was resurfaced in areas following the recent World Superbike round at the Hungarian venue, which makes its second appearance on the MotoGP calendar.

But double MotoGP champion Pecco Bagnaia has warned that the new asphalt at Turn 1 offers no grip, which could become a problem during race starts this weekend.

“Turn 1 is, I don’t know what happened with the asphalt, but there is zero grip,” he said on Friday at Balaton Park.

“And riding, lapping… It’s a problem, but not that much.

“But when you have to start, and you need to stop, that asphalt could be a problem. But let’s hope that nothing happens.”

“I struggled a lot”

For a second year in a row, Bagnaia faces another Q1 qualifying appearance in Hungary after finishing 14th in Practice on Friday.

He was on a quick lap that was partially ruined by a rear-end slide at Turn 16, which he says was symptomatic of ongoing struggles with grip in left corners he’s been having this weekend.

However, he doesn’t believe that lap, which put him seventh briefly, would have been better without his mistake.

“The thing was that the positions were similar, if I wasn’t losing the rear in the second-last corner, because I finished more or less seventh,” he said.

“But this afternoon I struggled a lot. I was not expecting this situation because last year I remembered the grip was extremely high, so I said, ‘Ok, my problem this year has been rear grip, so I won’t have too many issues’.

“Luckily, I feel much better with the front of the bike, so it’s helping me close the lines more.

“But every time I try to put some more corner speed, I lose the rear, without gas.

“It’s tough because it’s a moment where you can’t control the situation.

“We are working on it; we need to work on it.

“We saw from the data that Marc [Marquez] is more or less in the same situation, and in a totally opposite situation is DiGia [Fabio Di Giannantonio], who is having a lot of grip.

“So, we just try to understand why and maybe copy him.

“My problems right now are more in the left corners. Every left corner I lose the rear.

“It’s difficult to understand why. On the right side I can stop the bike well, I can enter well in the corners, but left side, every time I try to force… it’s true that all the lefts, you need to force the bike more; every time I enter, I lose the rear, without gas.”