The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic forced MotoGP organizers to cancel all non-European rounds throughout the 2020 season. After 14 months without hosting a Grand Prix event, Circuit of the Americas (CotA) in Austin, Texas, welcomed the MotoGP paddock on October 1-3, 2021. However, premier class riders were less than impressed with the condition of the circuit’s asphalt.
While the bumpy pavement didn’t factor into the end result, with Marc Marquez outrunning the field by nearly five seconds, the irregular tarmac did lead to various crashes throughout the race weekend. As a result, MotoGP organizing body Dorna mandated that CotA organizers repave sections between turns 2 and 10 and turn 12 and 16 or the series would not return in 2022. The track owners quickly responded to that ultimatum, starting the four-week resurfacing project in January, 2022.
