Everything is ready for the MotoGP grand finale. For the fifth time since the advent of four-stroke bikes, the World Championship will be decided at the last race. Pecco Bagnaia and Fabio Quartararo arrive at the Valencia appointment separated by 23 points, with the Ducati rider starting from a position of great advantage, albeit with the awareness of not being able to afford mistakes, because this year the premier class has shown to be able to shift the balance very quickly.
An extra responsibility also for Michelin, on a track that has historically been rather treacherous for tires, given its asymmetrical nature, and which requires the use of specific tires especially on the front. However, the manager Piero Taramasso is convinced that the French company can perform its task in the best possible way, as he has already done in the first 19 releases of the season.
“It went well in Sepang too, now we just have to hold on to Valencia to confirm once again that our tires are performing and consistent. As the drivers’ championship is still at stake, we are particularly keen to do well. But we have already seen that the tires are still at stake. weather forecasts are good for the whole weekend and also for testing, and that can certainly be a great help, “Taramasso told Motorsport.com.
The Ricardo Tormo Circuit historically hosts the last race of the year, but it also has a very particular configuration, which requires specific choices also in terms of tires …
“Valencia is one of the few circuits together with Sachsenring and Phillip Island on which we offer three asymmetrical tires at the front as well as three asymmetrical at the rear. Compared to 2021 we have confirmed the same identical solutions at the rear, while we have hardened the allocation for what concerns the front tires, to meet the feedback from the riders and the bikes that are now more demanding on the front “.
How did you then modify the solutions for the front?
“We have eliminated the soft that was there last year. The 2021 average will then be used as the soft and the hard 2021 will become the average. We then added a slightly stiffer compound for the hard, which should meet the evolution of the bikes and I think it will be a good solution for the race if the weather forecasts are confirmed. “
As mentioned, Valencia is a track that looks easy but is actually treacherous. What are the most critical points?
“The curves to which we must pay more attention in Valencia are always curve 4, which is the first to the right after a sequence of left curves. Then there is the fast curve, the 13, in which you are so much in support of the left side and you can also generate a bit of spinning. The asymmetrical solutions are designed to try to make these situations more manageable for the drivers, who in any case must always pay attention to these two corners, especially in the first laps. “
Next Tuesday, again in Valencia, will be the first day of testing ahead of the 2023 season: will there be any news from Michelin as well?
“I think not, we prefer to let the teams work with the new bikes, also because then there are several riders who change teams and already have to adapt to many different things. Furthermore, there is only one day available and Valencia, precisely for the its asymmetrical nature requires these special tires. Therefore, it is not the ideal track to try out new solutions. We are concentrating the development work on the compounds and on the front constructions, but Valencia is definitely not the right circuit to evaluate them. beginning of next year, in Sepang and Portimao, there will certainly be some news “.
Jorge Martin, Pramac Racing
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
You are returning from the Malaysian Grand Prix, which has certainly given excellent feedback to Michelin …
“That of Sepang was a good race. There was a great start for Bagnaia and Quartararo, who were playing for the World Championship. Before falling, Martin managed to set a new race record, after he had done on Saturday. the absolute track record in 1’57 “7: a time that no one would have expected. Then in the end the race distance record was also beaten, so from the point of view of the tires there is not much to say. They performed well, but it must be said that Sepang is a track that we know very well, because we also do winter tests, so we went with a focused allocation. “
This has apparently made choices easier for everyone too …
“The choice was unanimous: almost immediately it was clear that we should have run with the medium at the front and with the soft at the rear. All the teams worked well to try to make the soft last for the entire distance race and in fact the riders were happy at the end and there was no protest or complaint “.
Sepang was a favorable weekend also in terms of weather, because there was only one session in the wet and the forecasts were very different …
“Rain was expected every day, so we were very lucky in that sense, even though we know that our rain tires work very well in the wet and that in Sepang a pair of medium tires would have been the best solution, given the temperatures and the aggressiveness of the asphalt, but also the rapid times in which it is able to dry “.
In FP2, the one held in the wet, the only difficult moment to manage was the transition from rain tires to slicks …
“The critical moment is always when it is too dry for the rain, but it is still too wet to mount the slicks. In these conditions the rains overheat and lose grip, while with the slicks there is the opposite difficulty of putting them in temperature. Anyway it’s just that moment of cross-point in which you have to have a modicum of patience “.
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