English
Italiano
Two weeks after the Japanese Grand Prix, the MotoGP riders are returning to the track. To do so, they're facing a long trip to Philip Island: an island of 7,000 people connected by a bridge to the Australian mainland. Located on the edge of a cliff overlooking the Indian Ocean, the 4,445-kilometer circuit, with seven left-hand and five right-hand corners, was built in 1956 and has hosted the MotoGP since 1989, with a break from 1991 to 1996.
For this 2024 edition, the track has been resurfaced, so it's an all new asphalt that Michelin and the teams will experience for the first time. This point is particularly important because, even if the circuit is well known, the thermal behavior, its wear characteristics, and grip levels are a big question mark, for now.
"We're eager to discover the nature of the new asphalt at Phillip Island," Piero Taramasso, Michelin's Two-Wheel Motorsports Manager, said. " Since we haven't had the opportunity to test in advance, we'll bring a wider range of tires. For the front, we'll have the same compounds - soft, medium, and hard - like in 2023. For the rear, we'll offer our partners three options instead of the usual two. We'll have the soft compound, with the usual internal structure, but also two tires with medium and hard compounds, which benefit from a reinforced casing that we already saw in late September in Mandalika, Indonesia. We made this decision based on the circuit configuration and the constraints imposed on the tires. The challenge this weekend will be to provide our partners with front tires that offer a good feeling and that control the thermal effects well, due to the fact that they can cool easily on this track. There's no hard braking, the air temperature is often low, and the wind here is particularly cool. For the rear, on the other hand, even if thermal control would be one of the keys to success, it should be noted that the tires will be constantly heating up, due to the long fast corners and frequent acceleration that the circuit requires. However, a good understanding of the constraints generated by the new asphalt during the first test sessions will be very important."
For the Australian Grand Prix, riders will then be able to choose between soft, medium, and hard compounds for the front and rear tires. Exceptionally, as is also the case at the Sachsenring in Germany and Valencia in Spain, the front and rear tires are asymmetrical, reinforced on the left side.
The proximity to the Indian Ocean, the time of year, and the experience of past years, means that Michelin also provides a rain range, which has often been used here in the past. Accordingly, the wet tire will be offered in soft and medium compounds, symmetrical for the front and asymmetrical for the rear, again with the reinforced left side.
