The heavy braking at the end of the straight of the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya has been, repeatedly, one of the points on which the riders have insisted the most when it comes to improving safety, so those responsible for the Catalan track will face, in the next few days, works for the extension of the loophole located in turn 1, clearly improving safety at that point.
Specifically, the works seek to increase the current area by almost 40%, a change that implies other modifications, such as the reconstruction of roads, walls and the installation of security elements.
“The work in the affected area will be carried out at the end of the sports season and over 18 weeks,” the Circuit informs in an official note.
The works will allow “the turn 1 run-off to go from having an area of approximately 5,200 square meters to 7,200, between agglomerate and gravel. The current gravel area of 3,100 square meters will add 5,100 with these improvements. In this way, the pilots Both the automobile and motorcycle disciplines will have more space in the event of an off-track trip, guaranteeing their safety to the maximum,” they explain.
Despite being an old claim of the riders in the MotoGP Safety Commission , the works had not been faced, until now, due to the multiple collateral works that implied doing it.
“The Circuit will first have to deal with other types of work and modifications,” those responsible admit. “In a first phase, trees will be felled in the affected area, complying with current regulations to always ensure the conservation and care of the environment. In this same line, the Circuit undertakes to plant the resulting estimated value obtained of the valuation of the trees eliminated following the Granada 2020 Regulation. The planting will be done both within the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya , in the municipality of Montmeló, and on land in the same town: in the Can Cabanyes area and in the green zone of Can Tabola “, they explain.
In addition to the previous works, demolitions and earthworks, later the construction of new structures such as walls and roads will be carried out, before concluding with the reinstallation of the tire barriers, TEC-PRO barriers and all the elements of state-of-the-art security required.
Circuit de Barcelona, end of straight curve 1
Photo by: Circuit de Catalunya-Barcelona
