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| Race 7 of 18 races in the 2016 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Date | 5 June 2016 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Official name | Gran Premi Monster Energy de Catalunya[1][2][3] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Location | Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The 2016 Catalan motorcycle Grand Prix was the seventh round of the 2016 MotoGP season. It was held at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya in Montmeló on 5 June 2016.
The weekend was overshadowed by the death of Moto2 rider Luis Salom, as he was killed in a crash at Europcar (motorcycle Turn 12) during Free Practice 2 on Friday, approximately 25 minutes before the end of the session.[4] For the remainder of the weekend, the track layout was altered to use the configuration used by Formula One since 2007, in order to reduce speeds in the part of the circuit where Salom's accident occurred. The altered layout included the replacement of the long sweeping corner at La Caixa with a slower hairpin and the insertion of a chicane between Europcar (the penultimate turn) and New Holland (final turn).[5]
Further adjustments were made to the circuit by safety officials following an evaluation conducted with a group of riders on Friday evening. The changes included narrowing the chicane by two metres on the outside, creating a gravel trap in the run-off area of the chicane and making the chicane a permanent yellow flag zone during the event. Following the 2016 season, the FIM, FIA and the circuit agreed to move the chicane up by a few metres for motorcycles. This modification, which was constructed for the 2017 winter testing season, added additional run-off areas for motorcycles and ease the entrance to pit lane. However, after the first practice of the 2017 race, the chicane was deemed dangerous and was reverted to the car chicane because of concerns over the surface change between the intended motorcycle and the car chicanes. Following the removal of seating in the area and additional runoff, the chicane will be eliminated in 2018.[6]
This event also saw the end of the controversial rivalry between Valentino Rossi and Marc Márquez since it began at the 2015 Malaysian Grand Prix, when Rossi shook hands with Márquez at the parc fermé post-race. Rossi later said that the handshake was the right thing to do following Salom's death.[7]
- ^ "2016 Catalan MotoGP". Motorsportmagazine.com. 13 June 2017.
- ^ Mitchell, Malcolm. "2016 MotoGP Class (FIM Grand Prix World Championship) Programmes - The Motor Racing Programme Covers Project". Progcovers.com. Retrieved 6 November 2018.
- ^ Mitchell, Malcolm. "Catalunya - The Motor Racing Programme Covers Project". Progcovers.com.
- ^ "Statement – Luis Salom". Motogp.com. Dorna Sports SL. 3 June 2016. Archived from the original on 3 June 2016.
- ^ "Catalulnya MotoGP to use F1 layout following Salom tragedy". Crash.net. 3 June 2016. Retrieved 4 June 2016.
- ^ "FIA and FIM agree to Barcelona circuit layout changes". Motorsport.com. 14 December 2016. Retrieved 16 December 2016.
- ^ "Rossi: Marquez handshake "right thing to do" after Salom's death". Motorsport.com. Motorsport.com. 5 June 2016. Retrieved 16 July 2016.
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