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MotoGP safety will never be 100%, Yamaha's Rossi concedes

Valentino Rossi accepts that every MotoGP circuit will never be completely safe, owing to the constraints that exist at various venues and the scope for freak incidents

Prior to Luis Salom's fatal Turn 12 accident at Circuit de Catalunya, the corner was not thought to pose enough of a risk to either be overhauled within the limited space available, or avoided altogether.

How MotoGP handled a tragic weekend

Nico Antonelli's Moto3 accident at the same turn in 2014 led to the installation of air fences, which were not enough in the case of Salom's unique fall.

Following the 2014 grand prix at Barcelona, MotoGP riders briefly sampled the Formula 1 layout but elected to stick with the existing motorcycle grand prix configuration.

The F1 layout was then adopted for the balance of last weekend's race after Salom's accident.

Rossi noted that he knew Turn 12 was "dangerous" but that it was not alone on the schedule in presenting a serious risk.

"If I thought a little bit I could give to you a minimum of 10 corners," he said.

"Motegi, Turn 4, for example. It's something where every year we go and we say 'we need more run-off'.

"You check the situation. You cannot extend the run-off area, this is the reality.

"During the season you have a lot of points where if something happened with the bike you don't have enough space.

"I remember in Jerez some years ago, Roberto Locatelli had the accident at the exit of Turn 10.

"The steering was stuck to the left and he went into the wall on the left in a place that is straight.

"In a place where it's straight, it's impossible to have 100 metres of run-off area.

"We'd have to race in the desert. Maybe Qatar is the only place where that's OK, [but Marc] Marquez tried a start this year and he locked the front and he went to the left.

"It's very difficult to have 100% safety. Unfortunately it's something that you cannot fix."

ROSSI 'WILL TRY' TO ATTEND SAFETY COMMISSION

Rossi and Yamaha team-mate Jorge Lorenzo were among the 11 riders who did not attend the standing safety commission meeting last Friday afternoon after Salom's accident.

The level of attendance, and Rossi commenting on the changes, raised the ire of Tech3 Yamaha's Bradley Smith, who noted that Rossi had not attended any of the regular meetings since his row with Marquez erupted late last year.

When asked if he would attend the next meeting at Assen, Rossi replied: "I don't know, maybe.

"I hope, I'm always quite busy on Friday but I will try."

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