Post 'Grand Prix of the Americas' this year, it goes without saying that riders and teams were less than impressed with the surface quality of the COTA track in Texas.
It was unanimously agreed that the uneven surface made it the most physically taxing circuit of the calendar, with some riders openly announcing they would be unwilling to race there in 2022 - unless conditions improve.
Now, the COTA management team is addressing the bumps formed as a result of the subsidence of the underlying foundations - soft clay and soil that will move and shift depending on the weather, having a hugely detrimental impact on the track above.
Marc Marquez has the most wins at COTA, with 7.
Two years ago the track surface was shaved in an attempt to address some of the more aggressive imperfections, but in February the track staff will perform further actions to address the issue.
It won’t be a complete resurfacing, however, with works for now focusing on the worst parts of the track - namely turn 2 and turn 10.
FIM Grand Prix Safety Director Franco Uncini, as quoted by Bike Sport News, said:
“We wish to request for a complete resurface, but they cannot and they will do only the most important section where we discovered this kind of bumps - from entry of turn two to the exit of turn 10 - that will be compulsory.
“They will do only the end of February due to the activity already planned on track. After that moment I will visit the circuit, and most probably will ride the bike on the track because I want to feel the situation on the bike.
COTA is a bit bumpy - “The riders complained a lot about the situation on the asphalt of Austin”
“We agree to make this section with the riders, that is the real minimum we want to solve. We would like to have only one asphalt complete, but they cannot. They say that no time, probably no money I don’t know, but anyway they cannot do a complete resurface.
“The minimum is from turn two to turn 10 and not only the last layer of the asphalt, but to go under to solve the problem with the bumps,”
The 4th round of the MotoGP will take place on April the 10th, and with work scheduled to start in February, that’s around 3 months for work to complete.
There’s still every chance that the work will not be complete in time, or not to a high enough standard for riders to happily return - at which point postponement or cancellation becomes a possibility.
Fingers crossed it’s all sorted, COTA provides some enthralling racing - whether or not that’s because of the track conditions, I’ll leave for you to decide!
Now read: Is Rossi entitled to his 2001-winning Honda NSR500?
Source: Bike Sport News, RideApart
