[kropotkin thinks...] - Austin MotoGP Friday Round Up: Martin Reigns, Marquez Learns,

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Austin MotoGP Friday Round Up: Martin Reigns, Marquez Learns, Acosta Does Tacties, Jarvis Retires The good news for the MotoGP riders at the Circuit Of The Americas is that large parts of the track have been resurfaced. The bad news is that, as usual, the bumps in the parts of the track that haven't been resurfaced have gotten a bit worse.

That was particularly apparent going up the hill and into Turn 1. That is always a difficult part of the circuit; the combination of steep climb and hard braking - scrubbing off 250 km/h in just over 200 meters - means the front fork is buried. An engineer told me that this is the place on the calendar where the front is loaded the most. With all of the suspension travel used up, even unto the bump stops, only the front tire is left to absorb the bumps. And there are big bumps, as witnessed by the black marks going up the hill.

The new asphalt is much smoother, fortunately. Though it doesn't have as much grip as you might expect. In part, because it is a little green and dirty, but in part just because it is still so fresh. Asphalt needs to mature to reach maximum grip, and the new surface at COTA is not there yet.

"The new asphalt is not really good, it’s really slippery, so I struggled to turn in 16, 17 18," Jorge Martin said of the new surface. More grip arrived as more rubber got laid down. "It improved quite a lot from the morning. So I think it will improve," the Pramac Ducati rider told reporters.

Iron fist


David EmmettSat, 13/Apr/2024 - 01:59

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