Dovizioso says Austin bumps remain “very, very bad”

Many complained last season about the large amount of bumps in certain parts of the Grand Prix of the Americas venue, which hosts the third round of the championship this weekend. 

Ahead of this year’s race, event organisers attempted to mitigate the flaws in the track surface with the use of diamond-grinder trucks, with a focus on the first two sectors – from Turn 1 to Turn 12.

Formula 1 cars have been blamed for creating the ripples in the asphalt, and the bumps are exaggerated for those riding 200mph-plus MotoGP bikes.

Speaking after FP1 at COTA, Ducati’s Andrea Dovizioso said: “For me it is the same and it is very, very, very bad because we are on a wonderful track and like this all the positive things of the track go away, it is very bad.

“The track was too dirty, I don't understand why we have to speak in the safety commission about that, because normally they are doing a great job about that, but the worst thing is the bumps – the bumps are very bad.”

Honda’s reigning champion Marc Marquez echoed his 2017 title rival’s thoughts.

“Of course we expected less bumps, but it's very similar like last year,” said Marquez, who topped the opening session of the weekend by four tenths from Valentino Rossi.

“More or less same bumps in the same places, in some places more, in some places less. But, anyway, the bumps are there for everybody.”