GP of Styria – The reasons for the incredible crash of Viñales at the GP of Styria – Used YAMAHA

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The reasons for Viñales’ incredible crash at the Styrian GP

GP of Styria - The reasons for the incredible crash of Viñales at the GP of Styria - Used YAMAHA

The Styrian Grand Prix, the second consecutive MotoGP race contested in Austria, was again marked by twists and turns in the first row of which the spectacular accident of Maverick Viñales, forced to jump from his motorcycle at more than 200 km / h for lack of brakes ! Explanations.

After the frightening clash between Johann Zarco and Franco Morbidelli during the Austrian GP, ​​source of endless controversy and a questionable penalty against the French, the Styrian Grand Prix the following week again experienced a cold crash in the back: that of Maverick Viñales in the 17th lap.

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The image will be remembered: the Spaniard had to eject himself from his motorcycle at around 220 km / h around the first corner, his M1 then continuing its race alone towards the inflatable protections which literally exploded under the violence of impact. The video below reflects the speed and intensity of the shock…

The reason for this incredible scene? The Brembo brakes of the official Yamaha had given up the ghost, victims of inexorable overheating. Viñales had no other choice than to "jump on the march" to avoid ending up in orbit on the edges of the track: this salutary reflex allows him to get away with only a few burns in the back. Phew ! 

"I’ve never had this feeling before: completely losing the brakes to the point of having to jump off the bike!" Exclaimed the n ° 12, as the marshals sprayed his bike in flames. "I understand how it happened: the brake overheated, but it is certainly not a common problem", he analyzed, accusing the Italian brake supplier half-heartedly…

Brembo puts the brakes on the accusations

Except that Brembo immediately reacted by recalling that Viñales – just like Joan Mir – had not followed his recommendations: the Spaniard stuck to a smaller caliper and pad format, while the brake supplier of MotoGP had urged to use the 2020 device of larger format !

 GP of Styria - The reasons for the incredible crash of Viñales at the GP of Styria - Used YAMAHA

"I kept the old calipers and they worked very well: in free practice 4 it was very hot and the brakes were no problem for me. They only betrayed me in the race", says the Yamaha rider. , which justifies its choice to ignore Brembo’s advice by its lack of feelings with the 2020 device…

However, the requirements of the Spielberg circuit in terms of braking undermine the pads due to the particular development of the layout: the Austrian track – the fastest on the calendar with Philipp Island – has only ten turns, mostly to the right, including one break. ! The speeds reached between each curve are therefore very high, i.e. as much energy to be channeled during braking !

Despite their carbon discs, MotoGP brakes can overheat in the face of long and violent braking: "slats" responsible for directing the fresh air towards the calipers are for this reason installed on problematic circuits such as Spielberg, Sepang (Malaysia) or Motegi (Japan). Aprilia is to date the only production motorcycle to offer these appendages circled in red below..

GP of Styria - The reasons for the incredible crash of Viñales at the GP of Styria - Used YAMAHA

The phenomenon becomes more widespread in package, since the cooling of the brakes is thwarted by the hot air expelled by the exhausts of the preceding motorcycles. Viñales, who had as often demoted after a few laps, found himself in this situation before experiencing his first alerts from the 4th loop…

Viñales aware of his brake worries

Worried, n ° 12 even raised his arm to signal his concerns … before plunging his nose back into his bubble in the hope that the situation will improve! "Mack" was therefore perfectly aware of being confronted with a brake problem, long before they let go ten laps later..

 GP of Styria - The reasons for the incredible crash of Viñales at the GP of Styria - Used YAMAHA

Crestfallen, the Spaniard admits afterwards having forced fate hoping to be able to score a few points: "I didn’t want to give up and I continued to ride until the brakes let go: in the end there was no more pads and I ended up without brakes ", he admits before making his mea culpa.

"I should have stopped earlier because I felt it turn after turn, but I didn’t want to. It’s all my fault," said Rossi’s teammate, who was hoping to bounce back from a start to the season erratic: twice second in Jerez, Viñales then scored just eight points in the next three sets…

The official Yamaha rider, among the favorites for the title in the absence of Marc Marquez, is therefore pushed back to 5th place in the provisional, far behind his future teammate Fabio Quartararo: 48 points against 70 for his young rival, however he too struggling since his fantastic double victorious in Andalusia !

Rins pulls Viñales ear

Unsurprisingly, Maverick Viñales has also drawn the wrath of his rivals after his choice to continue the race with faulty brakes: Alex Rins, in particular, did not hide his dissatisfaction with what he considers to be a unacceptable risks.

 GP of Styria - The reasons for the incredible crash of Viñales at the GP of Styria - Used YAMAHA

"If Maverick had known for a few laps that he had run out of brakes, and that’s why he put his hand up, he should have gotten into the box for safety," said the Suzuki rider. "I do not understand why he continued: this is a point that we will address at the next meeting of the security committee".

Valentino Rossi explains for his part that the lack of top speed of the M1 is also at the origin of the setbacks of its box neighbor: the Yamaha driving slower than their rivals, its pilots are forced to brake later to try to catch up !

"The Yamaha suffer even more because we have to force the brakes to take back what we lose in a straight line", develops the Doctor, who for his part adopted the new calipers and large-format pads without asking any questions..

Another engine gone up in smoke for Viñales ?

Another problem for Maverick Viñales: the fire that broke out on his M1 after his crash could damage the 4-cylinder of his Yamaha. Its engine is currently being examined to determine whether or not it can be re-used at the upcoming Grand Prix scheduled for Misano (Italy) on September 13….

 GP of Styria - The reasons for the incredible crash of Viñales at the GP of Styria - Used YAMAHA

Yamaha can’t afford to lose a new engine: Viñales only has four of the five blocks left after a technical issue during Spanish GP practice forced his first engine to be put aside as a precaution . His 4-cylinder was immediately returned to Japan for analysis, while Rossi and Morbidelli then suffered a breakage in the race which also reduced their allowance. !

The Japanese manufacturer has since decided to lower the maximum revs of the M1s to prevent further damage risks, which explains their difficulties in terms of top speed: the Yamaha are already not particularly fast from the factory, so restricted…

So many difficulties that accumulate to the point of even being able to forget the title hopes according to Viñales: "we must put aside the championship: we must really make the bike progress", he assures with fatalism … and a point of bad faith: Yamaha is a priori for nothing about its brake concerns.

Video of the fall of Viñales at the Styrian GP

Provisional MotoGP classification 2020

  1. Fabio QUARTARARO Yamaha FRA (70 points)
  2. Andrea DOVIZIOSO Ducati ITA (67 points)
  3. Jack MILLER Ducati AUS (56 points)
  4. Brad BINDER KTM RSA (49 points)
  5. Maverick VIÑALES Yamaha SPA (48 points)
  6. Takaaki NAKAGAMI Honda JPN (46 points)
  7. Valentino ROSSI Yamaha ITA (45 points)
  8. Joan MIR Suzuki SPA (44 points)
  9. Miguel OLIVEIRA KTM POR (43 points)
  10. Pol ESPARGARO KTM SPA (35 points)
  11. Franco MORBIDELLI Yamaha ITA (32 points)
  12. Johann ZARCO Ducati FRA (30 points)
  13. Alex RINS Suzuki SPA (29 points)
  14. Danilo PETRUCCI Ducati ITA (25 points)
  15. Alex MARQUEZ Honda SPA (15 points)
  16. Aleix ESPARGARO Aprilia SPA (15 points)
  17. Iker LECUONA KTM SPA (13 points)
  18. Francesco BAGNAIA Ducati ITA (9 points)
  19. Bradley SMITH Aprilia GBR (8 points)
  20. Tito RABAT Ducati SPA (7 points)
  21. Cal CRUTCHLOW Honda GBR (7 points)
  22. Michele PIRRO Ducati ITA (4 points)

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