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MotoGP, Michelin: in Argentina we will be ready for anything

Termas de Rio Hondo was the worst GP for the French tyre manufacturer in 2016: "now we have experience and evolved tyres"

MotoGP: Michelin: in Argentina we will be ready for anything

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Termas de Rio Hondo is a circuit that should not be underestimated in terms of tyres and Michelin knows this better than anyone. Last year, the Argentinian GP was the worst for the French manufacturer and the split race with the bike (and tyre) change did not help.

The time spent that weekend, however, was not in vain and the engineers from Clermont-Ferrand made preparations, gleaning from the experience. As required by the rules, the riders will have three different options available to them both on the front and on the rear: soft, medium and hard.

As for the rear tyres, the soft and medium compound solutions will by asymmetrical with a harder right-hand shoulder, whereas the hard compound solution will be a symmetrical version.

Naturally, rain tyres will also be available - and the weather forecast is not too optimistic - in soft and medium compound.

This is one race that everyone at Michelin is very focused on - admits Piero Taramasso, manager of the Two-wheel Motorsport Group  - We learnt many things from the event in Argentina last year and it altered the course of our plans. The target now is to improve at the tracks where we struggled last season and Termas is one of those, so we will be looking to make big steps there.

A difficult circuit to tackle, where extremely high temperatures or rain may be found.

The track is not used very often and we expect it to be quite dirty when we first arrive, so the first session will be more of a cleaning exercise, but after that we expect improvements throughout the weekend – conditions permitting - he explains - The asphalt is very abrasive with some very fast and long corners, plus very hard braking zones, all of which is  expected to result in one of the highest average speeds of the year, these characteristics put big demands on both the front and rear and the weather can also be very unpredictable in that area at this time of the year. This is a race with many variables, but with the knowledge we have gathered, and the evolutions we have made over the last 12 months, we are ready for any eventualities, and the determination from the whole team to do well is as strong as it has ever been.”

Translated by Jonathan Blosser
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