Most riders in the premier class avoid openly criticizing the French brand. They say that after each complaint, sooner or later, they will receive a more or less severe warning depending on the harshness of their words.
This Sunday in Qatar, Jorge Martin did not bite his tongue when he explained the reasons that led him to cross the finish line in tenth place, without any possibility of catching Pecco Bagnaia, his direct rival in the fight for the championship crown. MotoGP. After this last round, the Italian has a 21 point advantage over the Spaniard and could win the title as early as next Saturday in Valencia, provided that he wins the Sprint and that the Pramac rider does not finish in the top three.
“Today I was a second and a half slower due to a tire that didn’t work. It was a shame. I think the level of the tires needs to be improved a lot. It’s not possible that the MotoGP World Championship is decided by a tire that doesn’t work. it doesn’t work,” said Martin, who later added that he felt “robbed” of the chance to win the World Championship.
Aleix Espargaro, another of those who usually doesn’t mince words, was of the same opinion. “I don’t want to speak badly of anyone, but the quality of the tires is not up to the championship level,” said the Aprilia rider. In fact, even Bagnaia himself, who finished second in Lusail, went so far as to say that he understood Martin’s anger, given that he had experienced a very similar situation the day before, in the short race, in which he had finished fifth .
“The problem I had yesterday (Saturday) wasn’t with the bike, so we didn’t change anything for the race. It was very strange. What happened to me in the Sprint happened today (Sunday) to Jorge”, agreed the driver from Turin, who in just one day went from difficulty because “nothing was working” on his Desmosedici to dominating most of the long race, with the only opposition coming from a great Fabio Di Giannantonio in the final.
At the end of the Grand Prix, Piero Taramasso, Michelin’s manager for the championship, was keen to underline that Enea Bastianini was able to set the new record for the fastest lap in Lusail on the last lap: “This demonstrates the consistency of the performances of Michelin tyres”. Regarding Martin’s complaints, the Italian preferred not to comment until he has the data from the tests that will be carried out.
Piero Taramasso, Michelin
“We are analyzing the information. What we can say at the moment is that his tire arrived directly here, after production. It had neither been pre-heated nor used before the race,” said Taramasso, who in the latter concept was referring to a resource used by Michelin, when the agenda concentrates several events in consecutive weekends.
This practice is based on the reuse of units previously delivered to the teams, which were inserted into the tyrewarmers but which were not mounted on the bikes, and which were returned to the manufacturer on Sunday evening.
Marc Marquez, who has been in this industry for a long time, has managed to say the same things as Martin, Espargaro and Bagnaia, but being more subtle, less direct than them. “I think that, precisely, what happens is that the tires go too well. And when one comes out that goes a little worse, it’s very noticeable. That’s the problem. If they were all a little worse, we wouldn’t notice it “said the Honda rider, referring to the multitude of records that have been broken since Michelin became the championship’s sole supplier in 2016, replacing Bridgestone.
The latter debuted in MotoGP in 2002 and in 2009 became sole supplier after the Clermont-Ferrand company decided to abandon the competition, only to return seven years later. Since then, the Bibendum company has set records on every circuit on the current calendar, except Argentina, where the one set by Marquez in 2014 with Japanese tires still stands.
Although the records are more than commendable, episodes like this one in Losail risk seriously damaging the credibility, not only of Michelin, but also of the championship. Especially if we consider that the two contenders for the title make the same reading. It is unfortunate that Bagnaia received a tire on Saturday that did not perform as expected and that the same thing happened to Martin the following day.
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“Any other parts of the bike that come from an outside supplier, such as the suspension, can be dismantled to see what happens. The only thing we know about the tires is that they are black, hard and round, and that they have a sticker with a code that you have to believe in,” an engineer from one of the premier class teams told Motorsport.com.
This authoritative voice points out that drivers are more likely than their previous supplier to receive one of these tires that could be described as defective. “Michelin’s response when a team complains is that there may be a slight variation in the conditions that exist when the compound is produced. And that, despite taking safety measures – the first ten examples are scrapped – the performance of one and the other things may vary slightly,” the source said.
The performance on the track penalized him, and Martin was not happy to see himself the victim of one of those tires that don’t “turn”. “Not even they (Michelin) understand why it happens, but it happens. I’m not saying it was done on purpose, and I hope it wasn’t done on purpose. I wish this didn’t happen to anyone,” the Spaniard said.
At this point, it seems clear that the best strategy Michelin can adopt to avoid being seen as a judge of this World Championship is an exercise in transparency, which should be visible before the curtain falls this week. Basically to avoid any suspicion regarding the compound assignment process, which takes place every Thursday, completely randomly and with the presence of a representative for each manufacturer.
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