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Dorna boss suggests Silverstone resurfaces again to keep race

Dorna boss Carmelo Ezpeleta has suggested Silverstone must be prepared to resurface its track again to safeguard its MotoGP agreement.

The cancellation of last weekend's race was blamed on the track's new surface by MotoGP race direction, as it failed to drain properly during persistent rain.

Silverstone has launched an investigation into what went wrong, but managing director Stuart Pringle says criticism of the asphalt, which was laid in February, is only "conjecture" at this stage.

He also claimed that the riders chose to abandon the meeting while there was still a chance it could take place.

But speaking to Spanish newspaper AS, Ezpeleta hinted that Silverstone's MotoGP contract, which runs through to the end of 2020, might depend on another new surface being laid.

When asked if events last Sunday had jeopardised Dorna's agreement with Silverstone, Ezpeleta replied: "If they redo their asphalt and it is homologated, not at all.

"The economic losses are of little importance. It's up to Silverstone, I guess they are going to have to offer refunds or give [spectators] free tickets for next year.

"But I prefer to cancel a GP and not have to regret an accident, rather than the opposite.

"The will of the riders prevailed, but they did not have to convince us of anything, because we thought exactly the same.

"It was the right decision, because the weather didn't improve until 7pm and there is no question of starting a race so late."

Regarding the possibility of delaying the race to Monday, Ezpeleta added: "We thought about it, because it was a public holiday in England, but the majority of teams preferred not to do it.

"I don't quite understand why, but I respect what they say."

Ezpeleta also suggested that Dorna may start a new commission for thoroughly checking tracks after future resurfacing.

This follows FIM safety officer Franco Uncini declaring the new asphalt fit for purpose when he visited Silverstone in March, only to conclude it had "degraded" in following months.

"We'll have to think if we name someone for when a track is resurfaced," said Ezpeleta.

"This can't simply be decided on a dry day by Franco Uncini or anyone. It has to be an asphalt expert to see how it was done.

"We have to consider if it's worth having one or two people [approved] by FIM and that that person confirms that the asphalt is good in any condition.

"The fact is that the rain [on Sunday] was not huge, we raced in places where it rained a lot more, like in Japan last year."

Zdroj: autosport.com