Copyright 2003, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

The revised Casio Triangle, or the chicane, at Suzuka Circuit will not pass FIM homologation and must be changed, say FIM officials.

“I will not accept this chicane anymore,” said FIM’s Claude Danis. “For next year, they have to change the chicane.”

When it comes to FIM track inspections and approval, Danis is the man. In addition to holding the title of FIM Circuit Inspector, Danis is also the President of the FIM Road Racing Commission and sits on the newly-formed FIM Grand Prix Safety Commission and the FIM Grand Prix and Superbike Commissions.

“They report to me that they got some accident with domestic racing. Of course, I cannot say it was not true because I was not there,” Danis told Roadracingworld.com Sunday morning after making his final inspection prior to the start of the Suzuka 8-Hours race. “They push very hard to change the double chicane we got for the Grand Prix. I accepted that situation providing we have some sort of Type-A protection, some sort of Airfence in the last turn and also nearby the chicane. But I am not satisfied at all with this chicane, and I think everybody is not satisfied with this chicane.”

The problem Danis has is not so much the chicane itself, but the resulting speed through the final, sweeping right-hander onto the front straightaway and the lack of run-off room there.

“For me with the room that is there, the best solution is to have the double chicane,” said Danis. “It make it safer because we have a safety issue with the last turn. And by making a double chicane like that the speed is less, and the riders, because they are going on the left-hand side of the last chicane, they are more straight going through this last corner. They are not that close to the wall or the guardrail than they are with the existing chicane.”

Why will the Suzuka 8-Hours go on if he doesn’t approve of the chicane? Danis said, “Sometimes it’s quite difficult to find good solution here at Suzuka in Japan, but next year I will not accept this.”