“It’s better for them”: The MotoGP divide highlighted by Misano Sprint

Luca Marini has highlighted a divide between manufacturers exposed by the Sprint at the Misano MotoGP.

Marini, like the majority of riders, chose the soft-compound rear tyre for the half-distance, 13-lap MotoGP Sprint at Misano.

At the front, though, there were several riders who chose the medium-compound rear tyre.

Among those with the medium were race winner Marc Marquez, who said afterwards that his decision was impacted by a number of crashes for Ducati riders in qualifying when the grip from the soft-compound rear was over-loading the front tyre.

This was less of a concern for other manufacturers, such as Honda, whose RC213V generates less grip than the Ducati Desmosedici, meaning its front tyre is less stressed by the extra grip of a softer compound tyre at the rear.

Instead, the opposite is true, Luca Marini explained after the Sprint, because the Honda’s lack of rear grip makes the soft-compound rear tyre a necessity, even if it costs stability on corner exit and at high-speed.

“This surprised me,” said the Honda HRC Castrol rider after the Sprint. “For us, Honda, the soft [compound rear tyre] was the only choice because we want as much grip as possible. So, it was never an option for me to take into consideration the medium. 

“But at the end, if they [other manufacturers] have more grip than us and they use the medium, it's better for them.

“You can gain a little bit of stability in exit of the corners, and especially in the fast part, I think, in sector three, you can have a little bit more performance from the whole bike.”

But Marini says that the soft will not be an option for the grip-deprived Honda riders in Sunday’s full-distance race.

“Like every year here, we go soft in the Sprint and medium in the race,” he said.

“At the end, when the soft becomes used, you start to have a lot of movement in exit of the corners, so you lose a little bit of acceleration. 

“So, better to focus on the medium that the rider can push till the end of the race at 100 per cent.”