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About ten days after the Round in Jerez de la Frontera, MotoGP arrives at the Bugatti circuit in Le Mans for the fifth round of the season. This is a particularly important stop for Michelin, which approaches the home weekend keeping its eyes partly on the future.
Just earlier this week, the new technical regulations that will come into effect a in 2027 were made official, revolutionizing the premier class of MotoGP through innovations such as reduced aerodynamics, the abolition of lowerers and a decrease in displacement from 1,000cc to 850cc. Changes that look set to affect the tire manufacturer's work as well, as Michelin's head of two-wheel racing, Piero Taramasso, admitted to colleagues at Motorsport.com.
"Our contract expires in 2026, but we are talking with Dorna to extend it to 2027 and 2028 as well. That's why we also participated in working groups and meetings regarding the new regulations that will come into effect in 2027 ," explained Taramasso, who on the subject of the new technical regulations added, "I think they are changes that go in the right direction, with a reduction in performance and a more sustainable direction. In addition, I think they could help to level out performance, encouraging the entry of some new manufacturers. From the tire point of view, we will probably have to revise at least the compounds, going to some slightly softer solutions, because the bikes will be much less aggressive on tires than they are today."
After the first penalties related to tire pressure, imposed at the end of the Sprint Race in Jerez, the Michelin manager said that for the future the proposal made by Miguel Oliveira not to apply the pressure regulations in case of mixed conditions could be considered. Along the lines of what already happens in wet races.
"He is not wrong, because it is true that in the case of a wet race the pressures protocol is not applied," he noted, " In the case of Jerez the race was declared dry, so everything remained as usual, but it is still something that we will take into account and discuss for the future.
In fact, according to Taramasso and the riders, the penalties handed out in Andalusia, such as the one that cost Fabio Quartararo his third step on the podium, can be attributed precisely to the less-than-perfect conditions of the track named after Angel Nieto after the rain that fell on Saturday.
"The pace was almost a second slower than what could be expected and going slower and with the wet patches it was more difficult to put temperature in the tire. As a result, the pressures also did not rise," explained the Italian. " Then we have to add that of the five riders penalized, three had also crashed: Alex Rins, Jack Miller and Fabio Di Giannantonio. Fabio Quartararo and Raul Fernandez, on the other hand, had perhaps been a bit too much on the limit for what the conditions and pace were. The fact remains that most of the riders managed to stay within the set values."
Looking at the last round as a whole, however, the French company can only be pleased with the performance achieved in Spain.
"We broke all three records in Jerez, but the one we care most about is the one for the fastest lap in the race, because Bagnaia achieved it on the 23rd of the 25 laps set ," said the Michelin manager, " Then the race distance was also reduced by two seconds compared to the previous record of 2022. The overall lap record, on the other hand, was always set by Pecco in Friday's afternoon session. The times were very good all weekend, but the tires once again proved to be very consistent. I think all this has also favored the show: if all races were like this, I would put my signature on it."
Automatic Translation by DeepL
