After the first five races, the MotoGP experienced its first break of the 2023 season. The engines were turned off for three Sundays, but they will come back on this weekend at Mugello. One of the most loved tracks by the riders on the grid, but also our home race, which this year could have an important weight in terms of the championship, given that it will open the hat-trick that will lead to the actual summer break.
We discussed it with Piero Taramasso, head of Michelin, who gave Motorsport.com the point of view of the tires, anticipating what awaits us on the Tuscan ups and downs, but also taking a step back to what happened four weeks ago in the Grand Prix of France.
What kind of choices did you make for the Italian Grand Prix?
“Compared to last year’s allocation, the only change is that, based on the new regulation which provides for only two compounds, we eliminated the hard rear, which hadn’t been used. We therefore confirmed the soft and medium, which they are both asymmetrical with the right side being the harder one, while on the front they are exactly the same three compounds as last year, which curiously are also the same ones that we proposed in the last race at Le Mans”.
Do you already have an idea of what might be the most used compounds?
“Given the characteristics of the track, we expect medium and hard tires to be used above all on the front, because it’s a very demanding track, with lots of hard braking and downhill. low in the morning, although it shouldn’t be like this, given that we are talking about lows around 15 degrees, with the forecasts improving after threatening rain until a few days ago.To give an example, last year the 60 % of the grid had used the medium and everyone else had used the hard. Maybe this year we’ll see even harder, because the bikes are more demanding on the front”.
What about the rear though?
“In 2022, the most popular tire was the medium, as many as 17 riders had used it, I’d say for a question of stability, which is something very useful at Mugello, given that there are many fast corners and many changes of direction. However, I must say that even the five riders who had chosen to race with the soft were satisfied at the end of the race, so I wouldn’t be surprised if someone were to use it again this year”.
How far has the pressure detection system reached?
“From what I know, the system will finally be operational in its final version. Before introducing the penalty issue, I think there will still be two or three test races with the software running at 100%. Probably, it would be a logical thing to do like this again the last three races before the summer break and then starting again from Silverstone also applying the penalties”.
Peter Taramasso
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
After Le Mans there were three weeks without races, but the French GP, which saw the victory of Marco Bezzecchi, was certainly not for the faint of heart…
“It was a great race, which gave a show in front of a splendid crowd. We saw many crashes, but also many overtakings and in the end a podium came out without those who were the favorites of the eve. So I have to say that It was just a good ride.”
From the point of view of the tyres, what kind of indications did you gather at the Bugatti Circuit?
“The soft rear offered a good performance, but above all good consistency. This was seen in Sunday’s long race, because the riders were able to push from start to finish, always setting very good times. We had also brought the medium , which offered a little more stability, but also had less grip. Overall, however, we had good performance from both rear tyres. Most of the riders used the soft on the front as well, then there are some there were four who used the medium and as many who instead went with the hard, so all three solutions were used in the race. This means that our choices were well-centred”.
Were there also some small hiccups to report?
“The only pitfall was Friday, because the temperature was low and there was a cold wind, so the only tire that worked on the front was the soft and the teams didn’t have enough. But it often happens at Le Mans to find similar situations, as well as at Phillip Island: when the air is cold, the front tire tends to cool down and therefore it is difficult for the riders to keep it in the right temperature range”.
During the weekend you explained that Michelin would also be willing to allow the teams themselves to choose the allocation of the front tires to remedy these problems, but that they are the ones who hit the wall from this point of view. Is there a workaround for these cases?
“We had already talked about it with the teams, but they’re not very open to going in that direction. There remains a second option, which I’ll propose to the teams, the riders and Dorna, which is the one that authorizes us to bring an extra soft tire and one less hard tire (therefore 6 soft, 5 medium and 4 hard) on tracks like Le Mans and Phillip Island, which are the ones where this situation occurs most often.We already did it two years ago and I must say it worked. This is a solution that can meet the needs of the riders in the event of very low temperatures.Moreover, it is an option that does not penalize anyone, because I believe that four hard runs on these tracks could be enough, because they would only use them in the afternoon in case it’s very hot, so they would have one for the Sprint and one for the long race on Sunday, plus one to test in FP2 and one for back-up. So I think we’ll do that again for Australia this year.”
At Le Mans there was also the first race of the Ducati era of MotoE: how did it go?
“New bike and new range of tyres, with the rear with 52% sustainable materials. Times were immediately good compared to last year’s benchmarks and the rear tire was also rather constant. On the front, however, there are still several riders looking for the feeling, but I think it will take a couple of races for everyone to fully understand the bike and the setting.The Ducati is more agile and lighter, so I think its strong point is handling anyway. Mugello will be the second round and the tires will be the same as they had available at Le Mans, even if they will have some work to do on set-up because the track has very different characteristics.But it is certainly a circuit that will give us excellent information on this new range of tyres”.
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Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
