From the infernal heat of Jerez to the risk of rain at Le Mans. This is the scenario that the protagonists of the MotoGP seem to be facing this weekend. Not a big news for the French Grand Prix, which in recent years has always been characterized by climatic uncertainties. However, it is a track that Michelin knows very well and which therefore shouldn’t present too many pitfalls from a tire point of view, as explained to us by the manager of the French company, Piero Taramasso, who then also returned to the Grand Prix of Jerez, also giving some interesting ideas linked above all to the pressure detection system.
“We certainly don’t expect the temperatures we had in Jerez. At Le Mans it is always cooler and, indeed, there is also the risk of rain on all three days of the weekend. The forecasts speak of temperatures between 9 and 15 degrees, so let’s say that we won’t have the luck we had last year, when the race was held with a temperature of 38 degrees on the asphalt, decidedly unusual for the French track. confirmed the 2022 solutions, which had performed very well,” Taramasso told Motorsport.com.
So what solutions will you bring?
“The front three, which are all symmetrical, have the same specifications as last year. On the other hand, we confirmed the soft and medium rears, in this case asymmetrical and with a harder right shoulder. In 2022, despite the high temperatures, all had run on the soft and at the end of the race the wear was not high.Moreover, the performance had been very good, because all the track records were set last year.The medium had also performed quite well during practice, because it offered more stability, but it wasn’t as performing. In case of rain, on the other hand, there will be the standard allocation, which the teams and riders know very well, and I believe that the best solution on this track may be the soft.”
In the event of dry weather, can we therefore expect everyone to move towards the soft for both the Sprint and the long race?
“In stable conditions, the soft will certainly be the most popular solution for the rear. As for the front, last year most of the riders used the medium, but there were also three riders who raced with the hard and as many who had done it with the soft. So, also in this case, I think we can predict that the medium will be the most popular. We don’t expect big surprises”.
Piero Taramasso, Michelin
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Is Le Mans a more demanding track for the front or the rear?
“I’d say the rear, because it’s a stop & go circuit, so with a lot of acceleration. But in general, it’s not an aggressive circuit with tyres, moreover, the temperatures aren’t usually too high, and that’s why you usually manage to race with the soft tyre. But we also usually use fairly soft compounds on the front.”
Taking a step back at Jerez, I think we can say that things went quite well from a tire point of view in the Spanish GP…
“It was very hot in Jerez, so the track temperatures were high. In general we had stable conditions and it’s easier to work like this. For the Sprint they all chose the medium on the front and the soft on the rear, a solution which performed well. For Sunday’s race, everyone made a judicious choice and switched from soft to medium at the rear. This tire worked very well and its strong point was its consistency. It is no coincidence that almost everyone set their fastest lap in the last 3-4 laps, in a race in which they were able to push from start to finish.It was no surprise to us that at the front they all moved towards the medium, because it has become a bit ‘ the reference on all tracks: it’s a solution that we take almost everywhere and when there is everyone chooses that one. Let’s say that everything went somewhat according to forecasts and that at the end of the race the wear of the tires was in the The same goes for the temperature and the pressures, despite the high track temperatures.”
The only instability in the weather came between Q1 and Q2, when a few drops of rain fell. How much courage did the riders have to have to take to the track with slicks?
“The track wasn’t very wet, but you could tell from the times that it was slower and that there were some patches of damp. You really need confidence and courage to go out on slicks because, even if the track is almost dry and the rubber offers you grip and confidence, it can’t be easy to push when you see the raindrops on the fairing or on the visor of the helmet. Those who managed to exploit that moment with slick tires were truly skilful”.
After having already done so in Austin, Franco Morbidelli has returned to the fray on the subject of the front tire which, according to him, should be improved to avoid increases in temperature and pressure. Have you had a chance to talk to him about it?
“Lately Franco often talks about the tyres. In Austin in one race he felt them overheated and cold in the other. He also made his comments in Jerez, but I don’t pay much attention to them. It’s his point of view. but it doesn’t seem to me that there are other riders who think like him. Miller, for example, made it clear that he doesn’t see it that way. When his fellow riders contradict him, there’s no need to add anything else.”
Franco Morbidelli, Yamaha Factory Racing
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
At Jerez, the pressure measurement system was still in the “running in” phase, but given the high temperatures, it should have been a good test bed. How did the teams perform? Were they within the pre-set values?
“With the values we have now, everyone behaved well. We really saw an important step on the part of the teams, because now they know how to control temperatures and pressures really well, because it wasn’t easy at Jerez. The conditions were more they are difficult when there is this extreme heat, but now they have found technical solutions to control these factors.There are teams that have created real correspondence tables to set the parameters based on the temperature of the asphalt and the humidity. I must say that they are doing a really good job. Then on Monday, during the test day, a new version of the software was tested, which will still have an evaluation weekend at Le Mans. But it is clear that the system it’s moving in the right direction. It’s complicated to pin down, but it works.”
At this point, do you think the system will become fully operational, with the introduction of penalties, starting from Mugello as planned?
“I think we will only be able to say after Le Mans, even if I think we are close to the final version of the software. Then it will be up to Dorna and the FIM to make the decision to start using it at full capacity. However, I believe that the bulk of the work is now been done and that it’s just a matter of fine-tuning. It’s just a matter of implementing it and then everyone will adapt, but I repeat that the teams have already taken a huge step forward to control pressures and temperatures.”
MotoE also begins this weekend, with the big news of the debut of the Ducati. Have you also changed anything in terms of tyres?
“Everyone’s pretty excited to see how the Ducati will perform in the race. We’ve already done two tests, in Jerez and in Barcelona, but then the race weekend is always different. First impressions are good, because the riders talk about a very manageable bike and faster. As for the tyres, the front is very similar to last year’s. Only the compounds are a bit different, because we’ve added a couple more points of sustainable materials. On the rear instead we made a most important step, about 7-8 points, bringing the sustainable material to over 50% of the composition. In this case, the difficulty is always to increase the percentage of these materials without affecting the performance of the rubber, but for the At the moment it seems that we are managing to hit the target”.
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