It has now become a sad tradition: year after year, the MotoGP riders complain about abysmal grip in Barcelona. No other track on the calendar makes it so difficult for the riders to build up traction. This year’s training Friday alone saw seven crashes, some of them highly unusual, in the afternoon session.
No warning: Bagnaia reminds of Barcelona crashes
“We saw today that Brad Binder crashed without leaning at all,” Francesco Bagnaia points out. The KTM rider suddenly lost control of his machine during training when changing direction between turns one and two. “I myself had a huge crash here last year,” Bagnaia recalls his crash in the second corner of the race after being run over by Binder and miraculously escaping more serious injuries.
“There are simply too many crashes here. We’ve already seen a lot of crashes today and it was only day one,” complains Bagnaia. “The grip level on this track has been extremely low for years, but we’ve now really reached a very critical point. I therefore expect the track to be repaved for next year. At the moment it feels like you’re driving flat track. In turns three and four you’re just trying to somehow control the slide – like off-road.”
Barcelona Grip: Comparison with Flat-Track and Moto2
Even those who profit from the slippery asphalt in Barcelona are now critical of the conditions. Aleix Espargaro, who won the sprint and the Grand Prix last year and also started the 2024 race weekend with the best time on Friday: “This is my favorite track in the world, but I think the grip is too bad now. It’s dramatic.” Teammate Maverick Vinales, who was also very strong in 2023 with third place in the sprint and P2 in the main race, agrees. “It feels like you’re sitting on a Moto2 bike,” said the Catalan. “You just don’t get any power to the ground, even though we use 70 or 80 Newton meters less torque here than on other tracks. But the rear wheel still spins all the time.”
The last time the Circuit de Catalunya was resurfaced was a good six years ago. In January 2018, the track was given a fresh surface, but the joy of the new surface did not last long. “One year after the resurfacing, the grip was gone again,” recalls Luca Marini. “We don’t know why that is. Maybe it’s because of the asphalt they used. I have no idea.”