Rossi fought to have 'car park' corner removed

Valentino Rossi questioned why MotoGP is still using the F1 version of Turn 10 at Barcelona - scene of Sunday's four-way accident between Jorge Lorenzo, Andrea Dovizioso, Maverick Vinales and Rossi.

The tighter F1 corner at the end of the back straight was brought in alongside use of the F1 chicane (Turn 12), after Luis Salom's fatal accident in 2016.

But while the F1 chicane was subsequently dumped in favour of a return to the original penultimate corner, following modifications to increase the run-off, the slower Turn 10 remains in place.

"I don't know what happened, because Barcelona say we want to go back to the normal layout for motorcycles in the last two corners [without the chicane] and they made a lot of work for the run-off area. But why do we still have this [Turn 10] corner?" Rossi said on Sunday.

"I tried to fight to have the 'Circuit of Catalunya' corner, the long left that is very good. But for some reason we use this corner and it's like a supermarket car park!

"So for me it's not a race track corner. And in a corner like this, it's easier for that kind of incident [on Sunday] to happen," Rossi added, echoing comments made by Lorenzo, who triggered Sunday's pile-up when he missed his braking point.

Although not a factor in Salom's accident, the F1 version of Turn 10 was adopted by MotoGP due to concerns over the lack of run-off at the end of the back straight.

While it would be difficult to extend that run-off area, since it backs onto the final corners, some have suggested a new Turn 10 for motorcycles - similar to the old, flowing design - should be created as an alternative to the slow 'F1' version.