For the MotoGP paddock, it’s time for a well-deserved rest. The German Grand Prix closed the first part of the season with Pecco Bagnaia’s fourth consecutive victory, taking advantage of Jorge Martin’s fall at the end to also take the championship lead away from the rider from Madrid. All this in a weekend in which the changeable weather conditions, especially in terms of temperatures, made things more difficult for the teams on a track that already has a very particular layout like the Sachsenring, which has only three right-hand turns. Before going on holiday, we asked Michelin’s manager, Piero Taramasso, to analyse what happened on the German ups and downs.
“The Sachsenring, together with Phillip Island, is one of the worst circuits for tyres. You always have to be on your guard, because something can happen with both the front and the rear. In fact, on Sunday I was happy when everything ended without any problems, because in addition to being a very demanding track, we also had to deal with very particular weather conditions: Friday was cold and windy, Saturday very hot and then on Sunday the temperature dropped again,” Taramasso told Motorsport.com.
“It was therefore not easy for the teams to find good references. Despite this, the performances were good, not only because we broke all the records, but because in the end the allocation was confirmed to be well-centered and this is confirmed by the fact that the three front compounds and the two rear compounds were used equally over the course of the weekend”, he added.
Despite all these variables, the choices were practically univocal both in the Sprint and in the long race…
“It was clear that in the Sprint everyone would go with the hard on the front and the soft on the rear. Unfortunately the front was put in a bit of difficulty because the soft on the back, having a lot of grip, ended up pushing it quite a bit. Then we know that in the Sprint the riders don’t start to manage, but attack from start to finish, moreover with settings that are not yet optimised. In Sunday’s race, with the medium tyre on the rear, which pushed less, the same hard front worked much better, precisely because it allowed for better balance of the bike. Furthermore, the fact that on Sunday there was a lower temperature than on Saturday may have also helped. But what we have seen in all the races so far is that what helps the teams a lot is the data that is collected during the Sprint, which is invaluable for setting up for the Grand Prix. Generally, on Sunday everything is always easier than on Saturday.”
This season, however, we see significant performance jumps both forward and backward between the Sprint and the long race. What do you think is the key to this situation?
“As I was saying before, the data from Saturday is very useful, then there are teams that know how to interpret them more quickly to make the right changes and their riders gain a lot on Sunday. But then there are also those who interpret them less well or less quickly. But there are also those who don’t interpret them at all: I’ve already spoken to some who told me they wouldn’t have touched anything in the setting because they had performed well in the Sprint. This is a big mistake for me, because you risk losing something in a longer race and if the others make even a step, they screw you and on Sunday they are ahead of you. I think this is the aspect that leads to seeing values that change between the race on Saturday and the one on Sunday. Today everything is played out in the space of two or three tenths, so it is essential to try to improve and interpret the data from Saturday as best as possible. Those who know how to do it, always manage to make a big step”.
The Michelin factory
Photo by: Michelin
On Friday we saw a lot of crashes especially on the right turns. Some of those who remained standing, for example Bagnaia, pointed out that with those weather conditions it was quite obvious that they had to do two launch laps before pushing to avoid crashing: do you agree with this reading?
“Yes, I agree. Given the air and track temperatures, it wasn’t possible to attack straight away, it took two laps to prepare the tyre. But this is a typical characteristic of the Sachsenring, so the riders know that they have to pay a lot of attention to the temperature on the right side of the tyre, given that there are only three corners on that side. We bring asymmetric front tyres made specifically for this track for this very reason, but in those conditions it’s not possible to attack at Turn 11 right from the first lap: in the first two laps, the difference in temperature between the left and right side of the tyre can easily be 25-30 degrees, which is really a lot.”
When Bagnaia had broken away from the two Prima Pramac Racing riders in the middle of the race, it was assumed that the pressure in his front tire had risen. After the race, he instead spoke of a drop in temperature on the right side of the rear. Is it possible that something like this actually happened?
“I also heard him say this. Let’s say it depends on how you ride and how you stress the tyre. It could be, but Pecco certainly saw that the first two were setting an exaggerated pace in the race, so he thought that with that pace it would be impossible to get to the end with good performances. For this reason he slowed down to get to a pace that he thought was more ‘correct’: at this stage it could also be that he lost a bit of temperature on the right side. But the equation also has to take into account the pressures: if you’re a bit at the limit, it can happen, but if you’re with a higher value, you can avoid this type of situation”.
Di Giannantonio’s retirement in Sunday’s race was said to be due to a puncture, can you confirm this?
“We are looking into it, but for the moment we have not found the puncture. At first it seemed that there had been an air leak from the valve. But we kept the tire mounted on the rim and will do other tests, because by reinflating it it no longer lost air. So we want to understand why there was this ‘dynamic’ loss, when the bike is moving, which did not occur in static conditions. In any case it should be something more related to the rim or the valve”.
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