The engines have been off for three weeks now, but the period that separated the Italian Grand Prix from the return to the track was rather hot for MotoGP. Above all, the rider market was the one to hold the spotlight, with five top riders who changed their shirts in view of the next season: Ducati promoted Marc Marquez to its official team, creating a “dream team” with the Spaniard and Pecco Bagnaia .
But the others did not sit back and watch, because Aprilia created a great pair of aces, “stealing” Jorge Martin and Marco Bezzecchi from the Borgo Panigale factory. And KTM also took advantage of the opportunities created by the market to bring home, but under the banner of the Tech3 team, two talents like Enea Bastianini and Maverick Vinales, in a team that will return under the banner of the Mattighofen brand and no longer GasGas.
Finally, however, the time has come to start the engines again to revive the duel between the leader Martin and the reigning champion Bagnaia, separated from each other by 18 points, in which an interested spectator like Marquez also hopes to participate. We start again from one of the great classics of the calendar, the “Cathedral” of Assen, a track that has undergone numerous changes over the years but has always been part of the World Championship, which this weekend hosts the eighth round of the calendar, the Dutch GP . An event that we had presented by the head of Michelin, Piero Taramasso.
“As per tradition, Assen has confirmed its late June slot and it is a period of the year in which in that area there is the risk of rain and also of finding somewhat low temperatures. Despite this, there is always a beautiful environment, with lots of fans in the stands,” Taramasso told Motorsport.com.
Michelin, paddock
Foto di: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
As for the tyres, what characteristics does the Dutch track have?
“Assen is not a circuit with very abrasive asphalt, so the tires don’t suffer too much. The track design is fast, especially in the second part, where there is a sequence of fast corners that arrive one after the other. Furthermore, There are no braking sections that are too violent. For this reason and for the numerous accelerations, the tire that is put under a little more stress is the rear, but it is certainly a less treacherous track than the last ones we faced, Barcelona and Mugello”.
With this in mind, what kind of choices have you made for this weekend’s Dutch Grand Prix?
“On the front we use the same compounds as last year as regards the soft and medium. The hard, however, will be half a step stiffer, given the performance of the bikes, which are increasingly aggressive on the front. On the rear, however, we have confirmed the two solutions from last year, which are asymmetrical, with the right shoulder being more rigid”.
Can we venture any predictions on the choices we will see over the weekend?
“In 2023 they all raced with the hard tire on the front, while at the rear the grid was divided between the medium and the soft. For this reason we chose to bring a slightly stiffer solution for the front, knowing that there could be an increase in performance based on what was seen in the first Sprint races, however, it is conceivable that everyone could move towards the soft rear.”
As mentioned, rain is always a more than probable risk in Assen. Is the wet particularly treacherous on this track?
“The asphalt is quite slippery and is not one of those that offer too much grip, precisely because it is a surface that is not aggressive, it does not have significant teeth. But usually we have not had problems with our standard allocation.”
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