The Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya has been expected to be faster this weekend due to lower temperatures at the Solidarity GP’s November date compared to the early-summer date often taken for the Catalan Grand Prix.
However, grip this weekend has so far been found to be worse than at May’s Catalan GP, and Jorge Martin has said that the track is now in need of a resurface — not for safety, but for the “show”.
“I think they are not even thinking about or planning a resurface, but it’s the worst track on the calendar,” Martin said.
“It’s not that it’s unsafe, because we are professional riders so we manage it and we are slower, but I think that we are missing a lot of show or competitiveness because of the lack of grip. There’s no way you can overtake, no way you can use the rear tyre, so it’s really difficult to ride and I think for the good of the show and the sport I think it’s good to resurface.
In comparison to the Circuit Ricardo Tormo — which usually hosts the final round but was unable to this year because of recent flooding in Valencia — Martin believes that Barcelona is a more “risky” track to ride at this time of year.
“I think in Valencia the grip is much better, so I think it’s less risky than here,” he said.
“But I think also Michelin did a great job bringing much more tyres, and for the time attack it’s really useful. But it’s strange, also because it’s a new condition.”
Despite the low grip, Martin was able to manage decent speed and pace, finishing the day fourth overall despite losing his second time attack run when he saved a front slide at turn five.
“It was a strange day,” Martin summarised. “I think we had the same time as always to try many more tyres. So, for me it was a bit hectic, a lot of information in a shorter time.
“So, the schedule was a bit busy, but I want to take the positives. For sure, there are some positives and some negatives, but I think on paper I’m quite strong: the pace is good, and the speed is there; I just missed the second stint in the time attack.
“But then my feeling is a bit worse, I feel strange, I feel like I struggle to get the grip from the rear tyre a lot, and also the confidence in the front on the left corners is not the best, so we are working on that.
“I think I know where to go for tomorrow. I knew what was the way, and tomorrow I will follow my instinct.”
There were a couple of near misses for Martin in the afternoon, most notably
“We are always close to the limit. When you are in a time attack, you are much closer to the limit. I think I did a good job trying to understand different the tyres — I tried all the fronts, well not the hard [compound] but nobody [did], also I was the only one trying the hard [compound] rear. So, I think I have good information, maybe I was not the fastest always, but I was always in the top-four, top-five, so this is my target: to be in the fight for the podium. A podium is a good target that I can put to myself to be focused and on that ‘flow’, let’s say, so I will go for that.”
Whenever MotoGP arrives in Barcelona, turn five is a popular area to watch for the anticipation of Martin dragging his left shoulder on the kerb.
It’s a spectacular visual, and Martin says it is no more than that.
“When I touch the shoulder, it’s a bit of show, to be honest,” he said.
“When I ride perfect and trying to be concentrated I am super-close to the shoulder, but when I touch the shoulder it’s a bit of playing around so it’s not a big mess.”
Martin’s standout moment at turn five on Friday was was a save he made on his final time attack in Practice.
The Pramac Ducati rider explained that this was down to the complexity of the Barcelona track, how that affects the bike’s electronic setup, and the amount of time taken to get from turn 10 on one lap to turn five on the next.
“Normally we do one map for each track; here we have to make one map for each corner, it’s crazy,” Martin said.
“The engine brake, power, wheelie is completely different everywhere, so it’s really difficult to work and we struggle a lot with the rear slide in braking. Sometimes it’s coming back and pushing, it depends on the corner.
“So, turn five is quite tricky because you have a colder tyre, so for sure I was coming in hot, I tried to brake a bit later, and the rear tyre came back and pushed me a bit, so that’s why I lost the front.”
