Drivers have been complaining about the bumpy surface of the Circuit of the Americas (COTA) in Austin for years. Built on soft ground, the planing work carried out so far has not yielded satisfactory results. This time, we are promised, it will be for good…
Already, in 2019, Pierro Taramasso, Michelin Motorsport Two-Wheel Manager, entrusted to us : “There, in Austin, it’s not resurfacing, it’s planing. Planing, removing bumps, they often do it on the tracks which host NASCAR, to give more support in the bankings and to better evacuate water. This is what they did at COTA. Already, last year, they had made a few patches, and since they thought it was going in the right direction, they did more this year.”
In 2020, MotoGP did not go to the USA and, two years later, found an even more degraded circuit there, which sparked a lot of criticism from many riders, some even going as far as to declare that he did not want to return until the asphalt was redone.
On the official website MotoGP.com, Franco Uncini has confirmed that the surface of the Circuit of the Americas will undergo some work. The Grand Prix safety director assured that the request was to repair the entire track, but as this was not possible, an agreement had to be found to achieve the minimum acceptable quality.
Franco Uncini: « Honestly, drivers complained a lot about the Austin asphalt situation. I already discovered it between the two races in Austria, where I visited Austin there and noticed that it was very bumpy, but not as much as when we discovered it for the race. Unfortunately, the ground is too soft and the situation has shown that these holes continue to develop, although this can vary more or less depending on the period. It was a terrible situation during the Grand Prix and we asked for a complete resurfacing of the track, but they couldn't. They will only work on the most important section, where we discovered these types of irregularities, which go from the exit of turn 2 to the exit of turn 10. This will be mandatory. They will not do so until the end of February, given the activities already planned on the track. Then I will visit the circuit and, most likely, I will ride a motorcycle on the track, because I want to feel the situation on the motorcycle. We agree with the pilots that this part of the track is really the minimum that we want to upgrade. Like I said, we would have liked to have just one full asphalt, but they said they couldn't, they didn't have the time, and probably didn't have the money, I don't don't know. In any case, they cannot do the complete resurfacing, but the minimum is from turn 2 to turn 10, and not just the last layer of the asphalt, but going deeper to solve the problem of bumps, because that -this is not located on the surface of the asphalt, but begins below. »
For the moment, COTA has not yet given any information, still grappling with controversy since the Rolling Stones concert…
