Should have been done a long time ago. Even adding and removing gravel traps where they currently have the blue concrete should be within the realms of possibility for an F1 gp if they want both F1 and MotoGP (consider that places like Baku literally pave their historical cobblestone and then un-pave it after the gp)
Hell I didn’t know that! Wowee. Thanks.
So there was no problem with gravel traps in the beginning? Then why’d they got removed in the first place?
MotoGP prefers tarmac runoff to gravel traps and so the RBR added runoff on those corners. Hopefully we can undo that and go back to the gravel runoffs or even just a strip of grass to make track limits a bit more sane.
I think for MotoGP it depends. The big concern that a rider gets hit by his bike at the barrier is mitigated by gravel traps. On the other hand when you lowside it’s probably nicer to not get thrown into a tumble.
It’s odd that they were removed seemingly for MotoGP, but that they have no issue with them returning. If they didn’t care either way, I wonder why they were removed in the first place.
Gravel traps can catch parts of a bike or rider and cause them to roll/tumble, which is almost guaranteed to cause more serious injuries than sliding across tarmac. Just as a recent example, Pol Espargaro suffered serious injuries at Portimão earlier this year after sliding into a gravel trap and getting hit by his own bike.
I know; which is why I think this whole situation is odd. That they were there initially and removed makes sense, cause Moto GP. That they will be brought back and Moto GP has no issues with it does not, especially in such a short time frame from when this became an issue and now that it is functionally resolved.
Good post! Thanks.
![[@tgruener] Aston Martin made sure their drivers wouldn't get any penalties before protesting. Also confirmation gravel traps will be fitted outside T9 and T10 at Red Bull Ring with avail from MotoGP.](https://lemmy.world/pictrs/image/acfb04dd-7048-4d7a-b9a6-b08e7e73931c.png){kind=link}