The Red Bull Ring has revealed the new-chicane that will be utilised in all future MotoGP races off the back of several near misses at Turn 3 in recent years.
The Austrian venue shared satellite images of the chicane- installed in the middle of the ultra-fast, curved Turn 2 that leads up to the slow Turn 3 right hander – on Wednesday morning ahead of the Austrian Grand Prix in August.
The new section of track is made up of a slow extended chicane that features a curved entry to the new Turn 2 right-hander before a short run into the left-handed Turn 3, with the subsequent run up to the unchanged now Turn 4 now significantly slower than in past outings at the circuit.
The chicane runs parallel with the conventional curved section, meaning all car-based events will continue to use the old layout with only the bike-based racing using the chicane version.
Renowned Formula 1 circuit designer Hermann Tilke was the man who penned the Red Bull Ring’s new section of track, the German having gone through 15 different designs throughout the planning process as a result of the challenging “topography of the terrain.”
“Reduced speed was needed in MotoGP in this section of the track,” said Tilke.
“This was achieved through the compact right-left combination which refrains from impacting the rest of the track.
“The planning was a real challenge due to the topography of the terrain, above all.”
The Red Bull Ring began work on the new chicane in November last year in order to be ready for the 2022 edition of the Austrian contest, the decision to add the section coming after a fearsome crash between Franco Morbidelli and Johann Zarco in the 2020 Austrian GP.
The now-riderless machines flew across the infield section on the inside of Turn 3 before subsequently crossing the track after the duo collided on entry to the bend, the lack of the wall meaning the cartwheeling bikes narrowly missed Yamaha pair Maverick Vinales and Valentino Rossi as they navigated the corner, the race being red-flagged as a result.
A wall was erected on the inside of the corner for the following weekend’s Styrian GP at the same venue, though a more permanent change was planned in the months afterwards to try and prevent any future problems at the bend.
The decision was then taken to try and slow the entry for bikes while also preserving the conventional run into the corner for car racing, resulting in the new chicane being built.
