KTM has achieved the feat of appearing as the first manufacturer involved in MotoGP to have returned to the track. It was for two days of testing, last week on its national Red Bull Ring, with its two drivers Pol Espargaró and Dani Pedrosa. A sign of hope for a 2020 season yet to be confirmed, but also an edifying experience about the world after, born with the horrors of the Coronavirus. Because going to the circuit to do your job was not a formality. Just ask Dani Pedrosa…
The anecdote is reported by the site Speedweek. com by Gunther Wiesinger. A story that ended well, but which reminds us of the new rules that the still ongoing pandemic now imposes. To ponder… So, The 33-year-old test pilot Dani Pedrosa, who lives in French-speaking Switzerland, almost got caught up in the health regulations now in place.
The Spaniard first considered traveling overland to Spielberg for a ten-hour drive. But then he found a flight that took him to Vienna. “ We shook again for a few hours on Tuesday evening because Dani arrived at Vienna airport with a negative Covid 19 test that was not even a day old. But he didn't have the lab values associated with him, only the negative result », reports the KTM race director Pete Beirer. " As he could not show the laboratory values to the authorities, he was immediately placed in a quarantine hotel at Vienna airport ».
“A sign that traveling won’t be easy”
However, those responsible for KTM immediately contacted the laboratory in Switzerland on Tuesday evening. All documents from Switzerland were sent by email. Quarantine guards from the Lower Austrian police then visited Dani Pedrosa in his hotel room and released him around 21 p.m. The next day, shortly after 8 a.m., the three-time world champion was on time for the start of MotoGP testing in the paddock of the Red Bull Ring.
« Austria continues to take the protection mission very seriously ", said Pit Beirer. " But we were happy that the authorities tried to find a solution. They could have sent Dani back to Switzerland on the next plane. However, this event is a sign that traveling will not be easy in the coming weeks if the MotoGP team has to travel across Europe with around 1 people from almost 500 nations. Nevertheless, this test was the first step towards a return to normal » finishes the KTM man.
