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Talk about the Sachsenring and you think of turn 11, every rider’s nightmare when it comes time to race in Germany. It is a very fast, downhill right-hander that comes after 6 left-handers. The tyre is cold on that side and it is very easy to fall. The riders have been well aware of this for years, but finding a solution is not easy.
In the past attempts had been made to change the design and Loris Capirossi, safety consultant, had done some tests using mobile kerbs. “It was not a solution – he explains – We tried to tighten the turn and that made it slower, but at the same time you had to take it with the bike leaned over more and it did not change much.”
Yesterday the riders spoke up in the Safety Commission, trying to find a way to solve the problem.
There is an idea, although making it happen is not easy. It would be a change to the slope of the asphalt at that spot. Now it is a counter-slope and it would need to become a parabolic.
“It is a good idea. It would make it easy to go into the turn and we are assessing the feasibility, but it is a big job” says Loris. However, if the Sachsenring were to renew the contract with Dorna, perhaps the project could be made feasible.
Logically, not all the problems would be solved this way, because we need to remember that, in any case, the circuit has 10 left-handers and 3 right-handers and it is a critical issue that will never go away. Especially with the cold, a possibility which is far from remote in this area of Germany.
“Yesterday the temperature was low and many riders fell. This morning the temperatures rose and no one has been in the gravel” Capirossi points out.
Unfortunately, moving the Sachsenring to a more favourable latitude is not possible.
