MotoGP Preview: How will the new bullying at the Red Bull Ring affect the quality of racing?

The World Road Motorcycle Championship returns to the picturesque surroundings of the foothills of the Low Tatras in Styria, Austria. The Red Bull Ring will welcome the fastest two-wheelers for the ninth time in the modern era and the eleventh time overall. However, there have been changes to the track for this edition with the addition of a chicane at the site of a horrific accident two years back.

Red “Flag” Ring

The Red Bull Ring has seen its fair share of unpleasant moments over the past two years. In the 2020 Austrian Grand Prix in the Moto2 category, Enea Bastianini’s bike kicked out on the exit of turn one. The machine was subsequently left in the middle of the track on the horizon.

Several riders successfully avoided the bike, but Hafizh Syahrin was not so lucky. The race was red-flagged following this collision.

Anyone who thought this was just an exception was sorely mistaken. The huge crash between Johann Zarco and Franco Morbidelli in the MotoGP race just hours later heralded major changes to the circuit’s safety equipment.

A fence and tyre barrier was erected at the site of the near double tragedy (Morbidelli’s bike almost hit factory Yamaha riders Maverick Viñales and Valentino Rossi) to prevent similar incidents.

However, this solution proved to be rather impractical and, on the contrary, even more dangerous. If a similar accident were to happen again – motorcycles (and potentially riders) could crash into such a barrier at around 300 km/h.

On top of that, red flags were also flying in both Styrian Grand Prix in the 2020 and 2021 seasons. First, Viñales’ brakes failed, forcing him to involuntarily jump off the machine at 200 km/h. And the following year, the motorcycles of Dani Pedrosa and Lorenzo Savadori collided when Pedrosa’s bike was engulfed in flames just as he exited turn three.

One extra braking zone = more overtaking?

For this year’s event, the Red Bull Ring has probably come up with the most sensible solution. There’s now a short straight after the exit of turn one. Instead of continuing up the hill in a straight line, the riders brake into the left-hand corner. This is immediately followed by a change of direction and the MotoGP riders enter the tight third corner at a much lower speed than before.

But who benefits most from this change? It’s safe to say that all riders outside of the Ducati machines will benefit from the new chicane. The Italian marque has won here every time since the 2016 season, apart from the 2020 Giro d’Italia and the 2021 Austrian VC.

Ducati has enjoyed the Red Bull Ring immensely, but with the addition of an extra braking point, the remaining brands, led by Yamaha, can be expected to threaten. Ducati in fact have one less straight where they can make up time with their incredible top speeds at the end of the straights compared to the others.

However, will we see better racing thanks to the new section of the circuit? There is certainly room for that. Particularly after the start, many will be vehemently trying to earn positions if they don’t get it right in turn one. And we can be sure that at least the riders in the Moto3 and Moto2 categories will leave nothing to chance and use the chicane to overtake each other even more.

Source: MotoGP