‘You get scared at Balaton; changes should be made for safety’

Enea Bastianini has urged MotoGP to make modifications to the new Balaton Park Circuit to prevent a potential tragedy, after suffering one of the most frightening crashes of his MotoGP career at the Hungarian venue.

The Tech 3 rider was fortunate to escape unscathed in an opening lap shunt at the returning Hungarian Grand Prix last month.

Entering the first chicane, Bastianini lost the front of his KTM and slid across the asphalt, before stopping on track directly in front of the chasing pack as they negotiated Turn 2. 

Despite the situation getting dangerous, all riders managed to avoid him and his stricken bike, averting what could have been a major disaster.

“The chicane is very small, and it’s easy for something like what happened to me to occur,” he said. 

“This time we were lucky — and I was especially lucky. But it would be good to make some changes in certain sections of the track to improve safety.”

The Balaton Park Circuit has drawn widespread criticism for its narrow layout, limited overtaking opportunities and safety issues. 

Bastianini first got to experience some of the quirks of the track on the Saturday of race week, as he got involved in two separate incidents on the opening lap.

At the start of the sprint, Yamaha’s Fabio Quartararo misjudged his braking into Turn 1 and clipped Bastianini from behind, having narrowly avoided the bikes ofMarco Bezzecchi and Fabio Di Giannantonio. 

The contact with the Yamaha damaged the rear height device on Bastianini’s KTM, causing him to crash a few corners later after colliding with Johann Zarco’s Honda.

“I already said before the race that I think the track is fantastic, and the feeling on the bike is very good. But in the race, you get scared,” he admitted.

Bastianini’s KTM stablemate Pedro Acosta also got to witness the dangers of Balaton Park first-hand. 

The Spaniard crashed during qualifying on Saturday, with his RC16 hurtling into the barriers at high speed before rebounding into the air and striking a trackside camera. 

Fortunately, the cameraman escaped without injury, while Acosta also walked away from the incident.