MotoGP is visiting COTA for the first time since 2019, after the race was canceled last year due to the global pandemic and the track has been repaved in places since then.
The notoriously bumpy Texas racetrack, however, has developed significantly more vicious waves in the asphalt – many drivers have great moments over the bumps during practice on Friday, especially in turns 2, 3 and 10.
Quartararo – who was third overall behind Jack Miller and Marc Marquez after Friday – criticized the condition of the track and branded it as “not a MotoGP track”.
“It’s more or less a track where I train on a motocross bike, but much faster and on a MotoGP bike,” he said. “Well, it’s really bad. I can’t imagine, we said three years ago that they had to come back and it’s worse.
“It’s only acceptable to race, I don’t know what to say. But it’s a joke.
“For me it’s not a MotoGP track. To race here – it’s fine for one lap – but for 20 laps we’ll see that there will be some bad moments.
“At turn 10 you can see a lot of motorcycles wobbling. The thing is that the bumps are in the worst possible places because if you have bumps in turns 1, 11, 12 it’s okay because there are slow turns.
“But Turn 1, Turn 2, 3, 10 are the worst corners that you can have bumps on, and there are bumps there. So let’s see.
“I don’t usually go to the safety commission, but if there is something serious, I go and today something serious, which for safety reasons … the track is unsafe. It is clear to say that it is not great and that we have to bring everything back to the surface. “
Quartararo also raised concerns about how the surface will affect the first few laps of Sunday’s race when everyone is crammed together.
“It’s dangerous for me, it’s really dangerous,” he added. “In the race, the first two laps will be a mess, I think. So let’s see.
“Turns 2, 3 and 10 are really dangerous sections of the route even without bumps. But with bumps it is one step more. “
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Honda’s Marc Marquez – who has won COTA every year since 2013, except in 2019 – echoed Quartararo’s thoughts and added: “The bumps are at their limit. The condition of the track surface is at the limit.
“The problem is, it’s not like real bumps. The surface moves, and then it’s so difficult. “
Joan Mir, Team Suzuki MotoGP
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Reigning World Champion Joan Mir believes that MotoGP will not be able to drive safely there if the track is not properly repaved for next year.
“I think I speak for all drivers when I say if we come back here next year and they don’t come back, there is no chance to race,” he said. “So there are some solutions in this case, but that sure means money.
“It’s expensive and I don’t know if they’ll find a solution in this case. But here it looks like they have to come back up every three years and that’s something that means money. I understand it is really difficult, but we have to find some solutions because it is unsafe. “
MotoGP removed Brno from the 2021 calendar after the track was unable to pay for the much-needed renovation last season after safety concerns at the Czech Grand Prix last season.
Aprilia’s Aleix Espargaro went one step further than Mir and said that he does not think it is possible to run the track in its current condition at COTA this weekend.
“We’ve been complaining about this track for many years and they haven’t reappeared, the bumps are very, very dangerous,” he said. “The bikes were much worse in 2015 than they are now, it’s been six years and Marquez’s time is two seconds slower after all that time.” [than his lap record from 2015, a 2m01.135s].
“The track is very dangerous and it is too dangerous for me to drive here on Sunday.”