MotoGP Austria: Riders react to Red Bull Ring revisions

2022 brings an updated Red Bull Ring layout for the Austrian Grand Prix after the completion of a new chicane at turn two.

While MotoGP is yet to experience the revision at high speed, riders have been voicing their opinions of the new addition in terms of safety and its potential impact for Sunday’s 28-lap race.

“I’ve not seen it for real but for sure I think for our bike it’s not going to be a bad thing to cut some speed of the other bikes,” Monster Energy Yamaha’s Fabio Quartararo said. “But if you don’t lose the front going into it on the right it will be much better for the safety, and then for the performance of our bike I think it will be better.”

“Yesterday, I did some laps with the bicycle, and today as well,” Aprilia’s Aleix Espargaro commented. “It looks good, they did a good job there.

“In terms of the left wall, it looks a little bit closer. I can’t really wait until tomorrow to try it with the bike and see how it works.

“I think, in terms of pure safety, it’s much better than the previous corner, and in terms of speed performance for us, I think it’s also interesting,” he continued. “The bike is quite good, quite agile on the chicane, so I think it’s going to be positive.”

“We had a look early in the morning and it seems good,” RS-GP teammate Maverick Viñales added. “Safety speaking, for me it’s better and it’s interesting to see who’s more suitable and it’s nice, I particularly like chicanes so let’s see more on the bike and see how it feels.”

Ducati Lenovo’s Pecco Bagnaia had his own reservations about the safety of the alterations, especially in inclement weather but was eager to try it out with the Desmosedici.

“For me it’s ok because we have one more braking and one more acceleration so this is still ok