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MotoGP, Rain and cold: Michelin preparing for the Le Mans challenge

Weather conditions will be unpredictable for the French GP. MotoE also on the track with “green” tires made with orange and lemon peels.

MotoGP: Rain and cold: Michelin preparing for the Le Mans challenge

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Not only do manufacturers and riders have their own home GPs, but so does Michelin: Le Mans, where they’ll be racing this weekend. The Bugatti circuit has always represented a challenge for tires, not only due to its configuration (which puts a strain on the front tires in sharp braking and the rear tires in low speed accelerations), but also due to this week’s unpredictable weather conditions.

The forecast is uncertain this year too, and rain during the race weekend is not excluded so, to cope with this possibility, the Clermont-Ferrand technicians will have three classic compounds (soft, medium, and hard) available for the riders: the front hard one and all rear ones will be asymmetrical (with a harder right side) and the remaining will be symmetrical. In the event of a wet track, the rain tires will be available in soft and medium compounds for both the front (symmetrical) and the rear (asymmetrical).

We’re all very much looking forward to our home race and the different challenges it will offer us and the riders. So far this season, we’ve been on circuits with warm and dry conditions but, at Le Mans, the weather could be variable at this time of year, and this could give the riders the opportunity to take advantage of the high grip levels provided by our 2021 rain tires,”   Michelin manager Piero Taramasso  explained.

After the first race in Jerez, the MotoE will also be on the track. The Energicas will be using medium tires on the front and soft on the rear, with only soft compounds for electric bikes in case of rain.

It’ll also be good for the MotoE riders to have their second race weekend of the season, after the first at Jerez, and to give them another opportunity to showcase our more environmentally -friendly range of tires that we’ve developed specifically for the Energica electric vehicles using a wide range of sustainable materials, from car scraps and truck tires to orange and lemon peels,”  Taramasso added.

 

Translated by Leila Myftija

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