Miguel Oliveira and the entire MotoGP grid will race for the first time at the brand new Dankaur circuit in India. After much speculation about the circuit’s safety and whether it should even be on the calendar, it was confirmed by Dorna and FIM – which certified the circuit with all the requirements to hold the race – that we would have the first GP of India.
Therefore, when asked about his opinion on the circuit and if it reminded him of any other, Oliveira said he found it interesting and felt that from what he could assess by riding on the track, everything seemed safe:
– Interesting layout. It has a long straight, but the rest seems very fun to do. It looks safe for us from the outside. It’s promising, let’s see tomorrow. (…) They tried to put a little bit of everything, from every circuit. These type of curves they have, like a stadium, seem very interesting, I don’t know if it’s turn 8 or 9. This right, looks very good. But looking at the design, doesn’t it remind you of a specific type of track, it’s a mix of everything.
Regarding learning the layout and the speeds that MotoGP can reach on the huge straight of the Dankaur circuit, #88 stated that it is essential to achieve good flow and understand the braking points, especially on such a long straight followed by a very slow corner:
– I have no idea (of the maximum speed). It’s a very slow corner at the entry of the straight. There’s a slight uphill before reaching the braking point, so I can’t say. I don’t expect anything crazy. Even in Austin, we don’t reach extraordinary speeds and it’s one of the longest straights (on the calendar). This one is longer, but I really don’t know what speeds we can reach, because we will have to brake for a very slow corner, so I don’t know how it will work. (…) In my opinion, it’s about understanding the flow of the circuit first and some braking points. Because after a straight, you have to be aware of where to brake more or less. Because we already knew more or less coming to the circuit if it would be a track more to the left or to the right, so we already knew more or less what to expect.
