MotoGP, Suppo: Michelin criticism unfair

The Brno race raised many doubts. It's difficult to digest the images of tyres gradually losing pieces of their tread as the track dried out and, fortunately, there were no serious consequences for the riders.

Michelin has come in for a lot of criticism, but Honda team principal Livio Suppo stands up for the tyre manufacturer: “I've read the criticism and don't find it fair”.

As far as the Italian manager is concerned, the French manufacturer is not to blame.

“There was a tyre with which to complete the race safety but, as bad luck would have it, it rained heavily in warm-up and so no-one tested it - he explains - Then the race started, with the thinking that the track would dry out, on a tyre that wasn't suitable for full race distance. I don't think it's right to blame Michelin, they didn't get the tyre wrong".

According to Suppo, a combination of factors led to the tyre debacle. There was a hard tyre capable of completing race distance (and Crutchlow proved this) but very few riders chose to take this leap into the dark, presuming that they'd put in slicks after a few laps.

“We were all certain it would be a flag-to-flag race, it's not easy to force a rider to start with a tyre he hasn't tested - he continues - Reflecting on it now, perhaps it would have been better to give them 20 minutes to test the hard tyres, but that's not easy before the race ”.

One question remains however - why didn't Race Direciton stop those riders who were racing with literally destroyed tyres?

“I understand that it's very difficult for Race Direction to make the decision to stop a rider who is still lapping relatively fast, despite the fact he's clearly losing pieces of his tyre - Suppo comments - It's easy to talk with hindsight, perhaps it should be discussed in the cold light of day to clarify how situations like this should be handled. It was an unusual situation that I don't remember seeing before, so it would be useful to discuss it in case it ever arises again. If we wanted to stay completely on the side of safety, we needed to stop everyone and then let them restart”.