Sachsenring to alter turn 11 for 2014

[SwarleyRuiz]

The venue of the eni Motorrad Grand Prix Deutschland, the Sachsenring, will be altered for this year's ninth round of the MotoGP™ World Championship.




http://photos.motogp.com/2014/03/06/sachsenring_turn11_image004_slideshow_169.jpg

Turn 11, the first right hand corner after several left hand turns has been a tricky section of track for riders in the past - so a new corner layout will be introduced to improve safety.

For the 2014 eni Motorrad Grand Prix Deutschland Turn 11 will be altered by mobile curbs made of steel, relocating the racing line and reducing corner speed.

MotoGP™ Safety Officer Loris Capirossi and FIM Safety Officer Franco Uncini visited the circuit and approved the updates to the layout this week.

Three-time World Champion Capirossi rode the new racing line on a BMW S 1000 RR to test the solution. The new curbs will be made of steel and will be a mobile alteration due to other events which take place at the same venue during the season.

The 2014 Grand Prix at the Sachsenring will take place from 11th to 13th July 2014.


http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2014/Sachsenring+to+alter+turn+11+for+2014

[SwarleyRuiz]

If you had a problem with a 'waterfall' you'd probably call a pond specialist.

Unfortunately there is no such obvious solution to fixing the number of accidents at Turn 11, nicknamed the 'Waterfall', at the Sachsenring circuit, venue for this weekend's German MotoGP.

The fast right-hander is preceded by a series of left hand turns, which allow the right side of the tyre to cool down and lose grip just when it is needed most.

The corner is also off camber and at the crest of a steep downhill plunge, hence the Waterfall name.

It catches riders out every year, with Andrea Dovizioso (pictured), Andrea Iannone, Cal Crutchlow, Hector Barbera and Michael Laverty among the 2013 victims so far. Crutchlow and Barbera are carrying injuries as a result.

"For me a dual compound front tyre is a very easy way to fix the problem. Logical," said Valentino Rossi. "I raced with the Michelin dual compound front, but it was a different type of dual compound - harder in the centre and softer on the edges. Not one compound on the left and another on the right.

"I heard when Bridgestone made a dual compound front tyre the riders didn't like, but I have never tried it. So it is a question mark. Maybe we need to try again."

A more radical solution would be to change the corner itself.

"I like fast corners so I don't want it changed in that way, but we've seen so many riders crash there over the years," said Crutchlow. "Because of the camber going away you all the time, you can't really save the front. If I had the option I'd change it, but that's not to say there is anything bad or wrong with it - just the number of people that have crashed through the years. Make a different style of corner, but I'm not a track designer."

Rossi was also open to a redesign, but only as a last resort.

"For me to change the layout of the track is more difficult than to make a front tyre. But it is an option," he said "Whatever change you make to the corner would be worse in terms of the riding, because that corner is fantastic. But we must put safety first, so it is an option - or keep the same layout but remove some of the off-camber. I don't know."

Pole sitter Marc Marquez would hate to see it changed.

"The corner is so nice," he smiled. "The problem is that there are so many left hander corners before it. It is fast with 50 percent gas and not full banking so when the front slides it is hard to save. I crashed there in Moto2. It is a little bit dangerous but there is a lot of run off."

The corner has also caught out numerous riders in the Moto3 and Moto2 classes, which run Dunlop tyres.



http://www.crash.net/motogp/news/193492/1/rossi-crutchlow-marquez-discuss-turn-11.html