Wall extended, but Turns 2-3 'still not safe enough'

MotoGP's immediate reaction to Sunday's shocking accident between Franco Morbidelli and Johann Zarco has been to extend the tyre barrier and airfence on entry to Turn 3 (pictured) for this weekend's second Red Bull Ring event.

Turn 3 is where – after tangling at the 300km/h Turn 2 kink - Morbidelli's cartwheeling bike came terrifying close to wiping out Valentino Rossi and Maverick Vinales while Zarco's broken machine was also launched over the track, after hitting the existing tyre wall, again narrowly missing Vinales.

Cal Crutchlow said the changes are an improvement, but "I still don't think the corner's safe.

"It's safer than we had last week, in the extent of that there wasn't a barrier there, and they've extended it as much as they can in the safest way possible for this Grand Prix.

"But I still believe that the corner needs to be changed. But they are not going to do that in a week, are they?"

At present riders must hit the brakes on the exit of Turn 2, while still leaning, in order to stop in time for the tight 50km/h Turn 3.

Danilo Petrucci explained that it's a problem unique to MotoGP.

"The only category, cars or bikes, that brakes in the middle of Turn 2 is MotoGP, because we arrive faster than any other vehicle in the world and we have to brake a lot of metres before [Turn 3], while we are still turning," said the Ducati rider.

"I think we need to slow the speed down earlier and do something different," said Crutchlow. "But one of the key things here is we cannot make the exit [of Turn 3] any faster. Because it's quite a steep downhill and Turn 4 is where we all have braking problems.

"We're absolutely on the limit of stopping, with brake temperatures, with the tyres, the bikes, and the riders, we're on the limit. So we don't want to push the limit any more [at Turn 4], just because they've altered Turn 3.

"It's a very difficult one, and I'm sure it will be discussed. I think Loris [Capirossi] and the guys understand, but it's not as easy as just saying, 'OK, let's do this'. I think they have to look at the consequence to Turn 4 as well, and obviously they're not the only ones to make the decision."

Aleix Espargaro branded the current Turn 2 left-hander "not safe enough for MotoGP" but, like Crutchlow, admitted there is no obvious solution.

"It’s not going to be easy to change the layout. I was cycling with Maverick earlier today and we were saying, 'why not make Turn 2 more of a corner, so you can brake more and reduce the top speed on the straight?' I don’t know if there is enough room on the left side to make it a possibility," he said.

"The other idea to make it a full straight [from Turn 1 to Turn 3] but it’s very, very dangerous."

While the Morbidelli-Zarco incident took place in dry conditions, MotoGP riders have long warned about the dangers posed by that section of the track in the case of a wet race, where mistakes are easier and fallen bikes and riders would slide much further.

"What I feel - and I think everybody in MotoGP is the same - they are scared to race here in the wet," said Espargaro.

"Turn 3 is so critical. I cannot imagine to go there in a group on the first lap in the rain," added rookie Alex Marquez. "We hope we will have a sunny Sunday and try to enjoy the race as much as possible."

Meanwhile, Pol Espargaro of the 'local' Red Bull KTM team emphasised that the accident was triggered by a "human mistake".

"It is not the best track with the best run-off areas but actually I must tell you that we are talking about the safety of the track because of a human mistake. In the end it is not because of the track that there was a big problem," he said.

"What happened during the race should not happen. This cannot happen in MotoGP because we are so fast so we must start from this point.

"If it happened in any other circuit - like Le Mans, that’s a place where you arrive super-fast to the first corner and if there was a similar thing happened then it would also be super-dangerous.

"It is not a matter of the track it is a matter of the movement."

Wet weather is again a threat for this weekend.