Silverstone may be resurfaced again following MotoGP’s request

After fresh asphalt was laid at the beginning of 2018, the owners of the Silverstone Grand Prix track may be forced to resurface the circuit again to safeguard the future of its MotoGP agreement.

Almost a month ago, the Silverstone MotoGP race ended in a debacle after heavy rainfall prompted the organisers to cancel the race. The problem was partly the visibility of drivers because of the intense and consistent rainfall, but the real issue was caused by the puddles of water which developed on the track surface across fast-speed corners.

The legendary circuit, which hosted the inaugural event of the Formula One Championship back in 1950, got resurfaced earlier this year. The new asphalt laid in February was criticized by Lewis Hamilton in July when F1 visited Great Britain. Interestingly, the new surface caused issues long before the 2018 F1 cars hit the track during the GP weekend. The sport’s sole tyre manufacturer Pirelli had to bring a special, thinner tyre to Silverstone just as it did in Barcelona and Paul Ricard.

"I mean, it's the bumpiest track I've ever experienced, it's bumpier than the Nordschleiffe, which is 100 years old. It's rattling your freakin' eyeballs from your brain -- you can't see where you're going,” said the four-time world champion.

Both the track and Dorna which governs the MotoGP Championship launched an investigation into the matter. The early results showed that the track failed to drain properly on a day marked by persistent rainfall.

Dorna boss Carlmelo Ezpeleta suggested that Silverstone has to address the problem by resurfacing it again if it wants to keep its MotoGP agreement alive.

“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.