The Red Bull Ring has completed its chicane for MotoGP

Numerous incidents have occurred over the last two years at turns no. 1, 2 and 3 of the Red Bull Ring, the most infamous being that of the collision between Johann Zarco and Franco Morbidelli during the 2020 Austrian GP which could well have ended in tragedy.

Following this incident, which caused the race to be interrupted with a red flag, those responsible for the Spielberg track installed an airfence ahead of the Austrian GP which was held the following week.

But for the pilots, this response was clearly not enough. This is why it was decided to add a chicane at turn 2 to reduce the speed of the MotoGP under the supervision of Hermann Tilke who developed numerous circuits including the A1-Ring (former name of the Red Bull Ring). To see this, since its return to the MotoGP calendar in 2016, the average speed on a qualifying lap has always been greater than 185 km/h (more than 188 km/h for Jorge Martin at the Austrian GP last year).

Work began last November in close collaboration with the FIA, FIM and Dorna and has only just finished. “In MotoGP, you had to reduce the speed in this section of the track,” explains Tilke. We achieved this thanks to this compact right-left combination which allows us not to impact the rest of the track. Planning was a real challenge, especially due to the topography of the land. »

The Red Bull Ring will therefore offer two routes: the first with a chicane used by motorcycles and the second without this chicane for cars and in particular the F1. The 2022 MotoGP Austrian GP will be held at the end of August.