The Thai Grand Prix had to deal with the constant threat of rain . Although the forecasts warned that tropical rains would make an appearance throughout Saturday, they did not do so until the Moto2 race, which had to be stopped and, later, terminated without having completed two thirds of the laps .
The MotoGP riders were astonished from their garages at the heavy downpour and, especially, at the large amount of water accumulated on the Buriram track. The queen test of the event was delayed almost an hour , waiting for the rain to stop. So it was; however, the asphalt was still completely soaked.
One would think that this is what rain tires are for. However, the problem that the pilots faced was not one of grip, but one of visibility. The MotoGP bikes raise a large amount of water as they pass, as if it were a spray , so when many units pass together, a fog bank is raised that prevents seeing much beyond several meters.
That situation, however, was limited to the first ten turns . As the laps passed, visibility improved, both due to the disintegration of the peloton and the creation of a dry lane. But that didn’t stop the MotoGP riders from complaining about the conditions once they crossed the finish line.
“There was a lot of stress,” narrated Aleix Espargaró. “The track was very good, but between turn 3 and 4 you couldn’t see anything. It was very dangerous.” The third-placed rider noticed the problem on the grid formation lap, where he tried to convince the rest of the drivers that it was not possible to race like this .
“What I wanted before the race was for them to clean the water in that area. I got pissed off at the other drivers, for not putting pressure on it,” he revealed. “It’s not wanting or not wanting to run, it’s trying to help the Safety Commission. Nothing was seen on the track, I warned the stewards, but thank God nothing happened,” he added.
Cal Crutchlow, who has taken the place of Andrea Dovizioso at RNF Yamaha from Misano, was also among the most critical of the decision to race. “I wasn’t too happy at the start because, fuck, it was very, very dangerous,” he said bluntly.
“Honestly, [Maverick] Viñales, [Fabio] Di Giannantonio and I had to cut gas on the straight [because of all the spray that was rising], but those who came from behind pushed us, because you couldn’t see anything. The rain lightly it was also like going with a fucking torch, because you couldn’t see anything”, denounced the Briton, always without mincing words.
“Everyone will say ‘ah, you’re complaining, you should run, blah blah blah’. You try, but at those speeds you don’t see anything on the screen. For me, we ran over the limit. But who am I to speak; I’m already retired, so they’re not going to listen to me,” he added. “The spray that was in Thailand was incredible.”
Maverick Viñales spoke in a similar line to Crutchlow, and wanted to highlight the low visibility in the middle of the group . “If you go out in front nothing happens, but behind there is no visibility. In fact, in the first few laps I must have covered half a kilometer without seeing anything. I didn’t see anything. Like driving with your eyes covered, full throttle in sixth.”
“There is a lot of risk,” warned the Aprilia rider. “If a driver cuts, I take him. We have to look at him, because it’s crazy, especially starting behind. In three laps I lost 14 seconds, which is what I finished the race at.”
Brad Binder, who started in front, had a contact with Aleix that caused him to lose positions, and he could experience the risk of running outside the Top 5 . “After leaving the track, I came back in the middle of the group and you couldn’t see anything. On the straights it was like being blind with all the spray raised by the bikes, because you couldn’t see anything. I didn’t even know where the braking points were “.
“The first few laps were very, very dangerous. It was scary,” said Franco Morbidelli, who posted one of his best results of the year in Buriram. “After ten laps it was much better, you could already see something in the first two sectors.”
“In the straights of the first ten or twelve laps I couldn’t get on the bike,” said Alex Rins, who also started from the middle of the grid, “because you couldn’t see anything.” “For me at the start we were a little over the limit.”
Marc Márquez was one of the few who were in favor of having started despite the rain, although the truth is that he never fell into the middle of the peloton: “The conditions were right for racing,” he said. “It was much more dangerous in Moto2, where the red flag should have come out much sooner,” Marc complained.
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