If the big celebration of the French Grand Prix will take place next week, the Catalan Grand Prix, the second most visited by French enthusiasts, will take place three weeks later at Barcelona-Catalunya, on June 11.
As we have seen, the new chicanery adopted after the death of the late Luis Salom is now over (see here), but the work did not stop there, as the controversial Astroturf (synthetic grass) was completely removed to make way for cemented surfaces.
As F1 is not subject to the same video controls as MotoGP, we have even added borders to these new green painted surfaces, which will be removed for the three motorcycling Grands Prix.
Le gazon synthétique a été inventé aux USA à la fin des années 70 pour garnir des terrains universitaires (le 1er a été installé à Houston par la société Astroturf, d’où l’abus de langage usuel). Il y a 2 familles de gazons synthétiques; celui pour le sport et celui pour le “landscape” (gazon d’ornement ou décoratif). Dans la famille du sport, il y a les gazons pour le foot, le rugby, le tennis, le hockey, le criquet, le foot américain, les greens de golf, etc. There is currently no turf manufactured specifically for automobile or motorcycle circuits. Celui utilisé sur les circuits est soit un pour les greens de golf soit un “landscape”. C’est à dire qu’ils ont une fibre très courte (environ 10mm) et une densité de touffe très importantes (environ 70 000/m²).
As for the grip of synthetic turf, we are very far from that of the track. The grip of synthetic turf in (dry) conditions used on circuits is equivalent to that of a circuit in the wet. Wet grass sticks about as well as wet parking lot paint. No need to draw a picture…
It was gradually installed on circuits outside the track, and/or curbs, to penalize the driver who gets a little too comfortable with the layout...
The main problem occurs when it is wet because it dries very slowly and is extremely slippery, but it can also prove fatal in the dry under a combination of bad circumstances, like with Shoya Tomizawa...
In 2013, Dorna worked with an Aragonese company, precisely at the Alcaniz circuit, to put a rubber base between the asphalt and the grass, but the project was ultimately rejected because the result was not exceptional and the very high cost.
It is gradually being replaced by bitumen (painted green) as at Misano (turf removed following the Tomizawa accident), Silverstone or Barcelona, with penalties for those who put their wheels on it after the curbs.
