MotoGP | Taramasso: “Stability is the key in Portimao”

After an atypical track like that of Qatar, Portimao will host the second round of the 2024 MotoGP. The Portuguese ups and downs instead seem ideal for trying to better understand what the values ​​on the track will be this season, because it is a complete layout and very technical. Without forgetting that 12 months ago we witnessed a double from Pecco Bagnaia, who then took home his second world title. And in this sense it can also offer excellent indications to Michelin on the new compounds introduced this year, to be added to those collected both in the pre-season and in Lusail, as the manager of the French company Piero Taramasso explained to us.

“Portimao will be the first race in Europe and falls practically on the same dates as 2023, so the centering of the compounds is the same, given that they had worked very well. This year, however, we have new compounds for both the front and the rear, which have already proven to be better performing and more consistent both in the winter tests and in the first race in Qatar. Last season we found over 30 degrees of temperature on the asphalt and it seems that this weekend the conditions will be similar, because we're talking about 24-25 degrees of air temperature,” Taramasso told Motorsport.com.

By virtue of this, what kind of solutions will you bring?
“These are three symmetrical tyres. Last year 50% of the riders opted for the medium and the remainder for the hard. At the rear, like 12 months ago, we will have an asymmetric soft and a medium which is instead symmetrical. 2023, most of the riders had chosen the medium, because it is a solution that offers more stability. The soft moves a little more and, given the characteristics of the Portimao track, with many fast corners, it is better to have stability. I think that this year too we will go in the same direction in terms of choices”.

Do you think they will use the medium rear tire for the Sprint too or is there a possibility that someone will go with the soft?
“We'll have to see how the track has changed compared to last year, but I think it's likely that they will also do the Sprint with the medium tyre. When it's warm enough it's a high-performance tyre, it offers good grip and is constant. But it is the stability that makes it truly suitable, offering a better feeling to the rider. On tracks like Portimao or Mugello, with ups and downs, changes of direction, long and fast corners, stability is really important, if not a key. You can probably also use the soft one, but to do so you need to have a truly perfect set-up, because otherwise the extra grip it offers can make the bike even more nervous, make it move a lot, and this makes you waste time on a track like Portimao”.

Let's take a step back: what assessment can you make of the first race of the year in Qatar?
“I think the Qatar GP can be summed up in a few words. First of all, we must remember that Lusail is a very particular track, different from the others, which makes it very difficult to anticipate the evolution of grip and tire wear. That what was clear straight away was that there was less grip compared to the tests (in between there were the tests and the WEC race, ed.). Then on Friday the rain also arrived in the session that took place at race time and this took away the teams' time to look for the correct setting in view of the two races. This led everyone to arrive at the Sprint with little data available and with the bikes not 100% in order in terms of settings.”

In fact, in the Sprint we have seen a decline in tyres…
“The riders all chose the medium rear, which was the one they had also used in 2023 and which was the one that worked best. They attacked from the start and after 4-5 laps there was a drop of around three tenths per lap. Then the tires stabilized quite a bit until the end. Practically everyone felt this drop, but it was precisely because they started with an infernal pace (the Sprint lasted 11 seconds less than that of November 2023 and the distance was of 11 laps, ed.) and logically the tires suffered a bit, precisely because as I said before the bikes didn't even have optimal settings.”

Michelin infographics: Portimao

Photo by: Michelin

However, things went decidedly better on Sunday, with a race pace that was better than everyone's expectations…
“In the long race they all made the same tire choice. The track was in slightly different conditions and the bikes obviously had to use more fuel. Looking at the data from Saturday there was a bit of concern, but then it was a race fast and with constant times. Let's say that there were some who were very good at making changes on the bike based on the data they had collected in the Sprint: I'm thinking for example of Bagnaia and Ducati, who were able to anticipate the conditions of the on Sunday both in terms of setting and driving style. But I must say that Binder and Martin also did very well. They all had to manage a little bit, as always happens in Qatar, but the lap times were really good and the tires were constant: the proof is that Martin did his best and came close to the race record on the penultimate lap. What limited the performance a little in this case was the front tyre, which generated a little more graining compared to the Sprint. But I think it was something linked to the different track conditions and the fact that the bikes had a higher quantity of petrol on board.”

This time everything seems to have gone smoothly on the pressure front because there were no penalties…
“With the new rules and the new basic values ​​there were no problems. I was quite convinced that it would go like this, but everything worked well.”

The MotoE also starts this weekend and it is the first time it will race in Portimao…
“In the month of February we did a test, while the second was cancelled. For this reason the riders will also have tomorrow afternoon available to carry out another test before the race weekend, precisely to make up for the time lost on that occasion. Yes it is a new track for the category and there will also be five or six riders making their debut. Even in MotoE we are offering a new range of compounds, which have a higher percentage of sustainable materials compared to last year. Our objective, in fact, is to increase this percentage from season to season, but without compromising performance.”