Factories set for first Michelin test

MotoGP manufacturers Honda, Yamaha and Ducati will complete their first test with Michelin control tyres within the next month.

Michelin is taking over the exclusive MotoGP tyre supply from Bridgestone in 2016 and is also changing wheel size from 16.5 to 17 inch.

"During the next month we will start testing," said Yamaha MotoGP Group Leader Kouichi Tsuji. "The wheel size will change from 16.5 to 17 inch. We are starting to make these wheels and then we can test."

HRC Vice President Shuhei Nakamoto and Ducati Corse General Manager Luigi Dall'Igna gave more precise details.

"The first Michelin tyre test we have planned is for the end of this month in Japan, with test rider," said Nakamoto. "Second test we have not decided where."

"We will test the Michelin tyres at the beginning of September here in Brno," said Dall'Igna.

Dall'Igna added: "The bike set-up has to be good for the tyres you are using, so for sure Michelin probably needs something different in terms of balance and weight distribution. It is a completely different tyre. 17-inch instead of 16.5. We will need to develop the bike for Michelin."

2016 will also see the introduction of a mandatory control ECU system, using software jointly developed by all the manufacturers.

"We have a big meeting I think this afternoon with the MSMA [manufacturers' association] just to find a conclusion regarding the software and after that maybe we can plan [a test]" said Dall'Igna.