Michelin ‘strongly recommends’ not racing soft tyre
The 60-degree track temperature and new, abrasive asphalt ‘generates lots of stress in both front and rear tyres because of constant braking and acceleration…
‘Michelin strongly recommends the riders to select Medium or Hard compound rear tyres for [Sunday's] Grand Prix.’
“The choice for the Sprint was the logical one, soft in the rear and in the front some soft, medium and hard,” explained Michelin’s MotoGP boss Piero Taramasso.
“We managed to finish the race, the soft [rear] performed well, but at the end all the riders faced some blisters, some drop in the last 2-3 laps. This is because the soft compound is not really designed for these kinds of conditions.
“But it did it and for tomorrow we really suggest to switch to the medium rear. It’s the natural move. Many teams and rider already told us they will race with the medium rear because it’s more consistent.
“For the front, also they need to switch to a more rigid compound. Today we saw a lot of soft fronts but for 27 laps the medium or hard will be the best solution.
“The difference between the medium and hard [front] is that there is a harder carcass on the hard, but the compound is harder on the medium, so it’s a different feeling.
“Some riders prefer the soft carcass and harder compound [medium], like Augusto Fernandez, others prefer the stiffer carcass and softer compound [hard], like Pecco, Pol Espargaro, Jorge Martin.”
One of the most notable drops of pace late in the race was by Maverick Vinales, who led the opening 8 laps before fading to fourth.
Vinales stated he would be changing to the medium or hard for Sunday, even before Michelin’s recommendation not to run the soft.
“[The tyre dropped with] 6 to go. It was very early. I never had it during the whole weekend. Honestly, it is pretty curious because we never had this degradation on the rear tyre,” said the Aprilia rider. “We had a lot of blisters on the rear tyre.
“The thing is that I did not use more energy than in the practices. I was controlling the race. I could go in the ‘30s, but I was controlling a lot and then suddenly it was gone. I could not do better. Tomorrow I will try the Medium for the longer distance because the Soft just didn’t work.”
RNF’s Miguel Oliveira confirmed that surface temperature, not tyre wear, is the limiting factor this weekend.
“The tyre wear is very low and we have no problems about the wear. It's just really the surface temperature,” said Oliveira, tenth in the Sprint. “The track is very abrasive, it has a lot of grip and it's really, really hot. So of course when you spin the rubber up to 120-140 degrees it's not ideal. You do this over and over again…”
Just ahead of Oliveira at the finish was KTM’s Jack Miller, who said he hadn’t been troubled by tyre fade.
“Our tyre was working well. I felt I was able to keep the pace [but] I know some guys had some big issues with blisters on the rear,” said Miller. “Whether they pull the Soft or not, we’ll see. Whether we want to use the S or not…
“I used the Medium this morning. Me and Martin were the only guys to use the medium. It wasn’t bad. It takes a couple of laps to get going but it really goes quite well once it’s going.”
But after finishing a MotoGP best of sixth in the Sprint, a surprised Fabio di Giannantonio responded to the news that the Soft was effectively ruled out for Sunday:
“I didn’t know. F**k! OK. For sure, I’ll use the Medium and see what happens. I thought the front was the main problem, the rear was OK. Now we have to make a good job with the Medium rear.”
New MotoGP title leader and Sprint winner Jorge Martin will take a seven point lead over reigning champion Francesco Bagnaia into this afternoon’s race.
