MotoGP stars hit out over new track surface at Misano

After the field experienced grip issues at Misano last year, the circuit had new asphalt laid ahead of the 2020 event, which was first trialled by a handful of race and test riders at the end of June.

Several riders complained then of some vicious bumps through the fast Curvone right-hander of Turn 11 and following two corners, with more highlighting issues on Friday.

Pramac’s Jack Miller said that section of track was “really bad” and says whoever laid the new surface has “made it worse in terms of bumps”.

“It’s bumpy, it’s bad, especially in the fastest sector it’s really quite bad,” said Miller. “But the biggest bonus is at least there is some grip out there. We didn’t have grip last year. But the fact that it’s this bumpy, and I don’t think it’s even a year old, I don’t know what the fuck they did, but they made it worse in terms of bumps.

“But at least it’s got some grip. It is bad, that back section the bike is just shaking and bouncing.”

LCR’s Cal Crutchlow said the bumps were “harsh”, adding: “[They are] bad, really, really bad. The grip is a lot better, but the bumps are really harsh and especially out of Turn 3 and down the back straight.

“But down the back straight, you’re doing 200mph, the thing’s shaking like mad. It’s not great in some areas.”

His LCR team-mate Takaaki Nakagami admitted with the Honda the bumps are so bad he can’t even do 10 laps in a row and is finding it hard to hold onto the bike.

“The bumps are incredible, and we struggle a lot because when you hit the bumps our bike is always shaking a lot and it’s really difficult to hold onto the bike,” said Nakagami. “I’m not concentrating on the braking on the next corner [as a result]. We took a lot of time to find the solution because now we don’t really have a good balance of the bike.

“The problem is too big for us, so we need to find a solution as soon as possible, because like this I cannot finish the race. Even 10 laps, I get arm pump and I cannot hold onto the bike. So, we need a solution as soon as possible.”