Dorna CEO Carmelo Ezpeleta says MotoGP's future at Silverstone is not in doubt so long as it undergoes another track resurface, after the current tarmac forced the cancellation of the British GP.
Last Sunday's race programme at Silverstone was cancelled due to safety concerns of racing on the newly resurfaced track in wet conditions, following a mass crash at Stowe in FP4 during a sudden downpour.
Silverstone has confirmed an independent investigation into why the new surface could not drain properly is underway, but was reticent to blame contractor Aggregate Industries.
Dorna's deal with Silverstone runs through to the end of 2020, with Ezpeleta telling Spain's AS the track will have to be resurfaced again if the Northamptonshire circuit wants to see out its current deal.
“If they redo their asphalt and it is homologated, not at all,” Ezpeleta said when asked if Silverstone's MotoGP future was in doubt.
“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.”
In the same interview, Ezpeleta confirmed Dorna was open to postponing the British GP to the Monday, and could not “understand” why the majority of the teams knocked back this idea.
He also revealed he is open to the idea of Dorna setting up a resurfacing commission, after FIM safety officer Franco Uncini was satisfied with Silverstone's new tarmac, only to admit last weekend it had “degraded” since Cal Crutchlow tested the circuit on an RCV Honda road bike in May.
Despite his circuit being the cause of the first outright race cancellation since 1980, Silverstone MD Stuart Pringle says he remains “deadly serious” about Silverstone's commitment to hosting MotoGP.
“We're committed to running MotoGP here, I haven't worked this hard to get this far just to toss the towel in now.
“So we need to understand what's gone on and what the implications of the requirements of that are.
“Do you know what? I'm really confident about the future of MotoGP at Silverstone, because we're deadly serious about our commitment to the championship.
“I'm really pleased to say that even after six hours of my career – which I would put up their amongst my most challenging – we have a great relationship with Dorna, and we have a good respect with the FIM.”
