It’s race week again, but this time the MotoGP riders will face a completely new track: Balaton Park is finally ready to welcome the championship.
There are only a few hours left before the green light: tomorrow’s free practice sessions will be the first real contact with the new Hungarian circuit. But how do you prepare for such an uncertain weekend? Here are the strategies of Bezzecchi, Aldeguer, and Mir.
The Italian rider from the Aprilia team has decided to take advantage of his friendship with riders from a rival garage to get some early insight into the track: “First of all, it’s always nice to tackle a new track. It’s always exciting to discover new places, especially with a MotoGP bike,” he said. “So I’m really curious to see how it goes. I watched some videos, I talked to Pecco and Franky [Morbidelli], who rode here… it looks like a nice circuit, maybe a bit small, but fun with lots of heavy braking.”
In contrast, Fermín Aldeguer is one of the privileged riders who had the chance to do a test session at Balaton: “I came here with all the Ducati riders, with the Panigale. At first, the impressions were a bit strange because it’s a brand-new track that we had never seen before, but once you start riding it becomes familiar, and you adapt quickly. We’re MotoGP riders, and we constantly need to adapt our style to the situation.”
For the young talent from Murcia, this could be a great opportunity to aim for his first top-class win, after the podium in Austria.
Compared to the previous two riders, Joan Mir expressed more concern about the new circuit, but also confidence that Hungary could shuffle the deck. The 2020 world champion said: “As a rider, I think I need to give 100%, but it’s not just me who needs to adapt quickly to the track—the bike also needs to adapt. If you start playing too much with the setup and everything else, it becomes very complicated.
The track seemed quite small, narrow—one of the most unique circuits on the calendar. I think having a slightly different layout is always nice; you can see different riding styles, and maybe someone could be faster here. There are a lot of braking zones, so lots of overtaking opportunities.”
Photo: Marco Bezzecchi, Fermin Aldeguer
