Rossi, Quartararo nervous over Red Bull Ring safety in wet conditions

Valentino Rossi and Fabio Quartararo have commented on their concerns about the safety of the Red Bull Ring circuit in wet conditions ahead of a weekend that looks set to be typified by summer storms.

Inclement weather conditions aren’t unusual in the Styrian Mountains, with MotoGP coming up against rain on more than one occasion in the four short years it has visited the Austrian venue.

Though the Red Bull Ring is regarded as one of the highest quality venues in the world, it’s geography of steep uphill stretches at the start of the lap, followed by a long wind downhill to the line, means streams collect at critical points on course.

The main point of contention is in the braking zone for Turn 1 and especially the fast left-hand Turn 2 ‘kink’ on the run up to the Turn 3 hairpin. The latter proved problematic enough for F1 when it – and heavy rain - visited earlier in the year, while it has caught a number of riders out in previous years too.

Attributing blame to the venue’s four-wheel focused racing programme to create a slicker surface for the bikes, Rossi is hoping improvements have been made for 2020.

“In the past we had the same problem braking for Turn 1 and Turn 3 and there were a lot of crashes, especially in Moto2,” Rossi said.

“Maybe the problem was that there is not a lot of rubber on the ground and it becomes slippery with the water, but if they have done the track then the situation can be better. We will see if it is safe enough but I hope anyway for a dry race.”

Yamaha counterpart and championship leader Quartararo suffered his own crash on the Petronas SRT Yamaha in Austria 12 months ago, the Frenchman also hoping advice from riders has been actioned.

“Honestly, the first year I ride in the wet here, the corner was on the right and I crashed on the left! That type of condition is not great, but it’s true with the uphill and downhill into turn two the water can get stuck and be quite dangerous for us.

“But we need to check the condition of the track – race direction will check if it is best for us, but there will be a point where the safety will be quite tricky for us.”