Taramasso: “Michelin talks to Dorna to stay in MotoGP until 2028”

After the exciting duel between Pecco Bagnaia and Marc Marquez in Jerez de la Frontera, MotoGP is ready to return to the track at Le Mans. Not on the legendary 24 Hours circuit, but on the shorter version, that Bugatti Circuit which is now a classic event in the MotoGP. A track that teams and riders know very well. A statement that also applies to Michelin, with the addition that for the sole tire supplier it is also the home race, so it has even more value.

In general, this is a rather important week for the premier class, because the new regulations that will come into force in 2027 have been made official, which include the reduction of the displacement to 850cc, that of aerodynamics and the ban on lowerers as key points. In theory, this regulatory cycle will begin when the French company’s contract has ended, but manager Piero Taramasso revealed to us that in reality discussions are already underway to extend the relationship with MotoGP for at least another two years.

“Our contract expires in 2026, but we are talking with Dorna to extend it to 2027 and 2028. For this reason we also participated in working groups and meetings regarding the new regulation which will come into force in 2027”, he said Taramasso at Motorsport.com.

Regarding his thoughts on the new regulation, he continued: “I believe that they are changes that go in the right direction, with a reduction in performance and a more sustainable direction. Furthermore, I believe that they could help to level out performance, encouraging the entry of some new manufacturer. From a tire point of view, we will probably have to review at least the compounds, going for slightly softer solutions, because the bikes will be much less aggressive on the tires compared to today.”

Speaking of current events, this weekend is the fifth round of the season, the French Grand Prix at Le Mans. What can you tell us about it?
“For us it is always a special Grand Prix, because it is our home Grand Prix. We are in France, not too far from Clermont-Ferrand. Furthermore, Michelin is the title sponsor of the event, so there is additional pressure that pushes us to do well, also because we know that the public always welcomes a large crowd to cheer. We must not forget that there will also be the second round of the MotoE season. As regards the characteristics of the track, it is not a too demanding circuit view of the tires and also offers quite good grip, so wear is usually quite low. Not surprisingly, it is the track on which we use the softest compounds in the entire MotoGP calendar.”

What choices did you make for the French Grand Prix weekend?
“We will bring solutions that have the same centering at the compound level as last year, both for the front and the rear, obviously adapted to the new type of compounds for 2024. Tires that were designed to be more consistent, but that since the winter tests we have understood that they are able to offer even more grip, especially on the lean angle. And in fact we have been able to notice that not only are the times lower, but the cornering speeds have also increased”.

Going into more specifics, what are the solutions for the front?
“We bring three symmetrical tyres, remembering that in 2023 the most used was the soft, even if the track temperature was 35 degrees. In fact, one of the peculiarities of Le Mans is that, even if the asphalt is hot, the air it’s always quite cool and tends to cool the front tire and that’s why riders usually go for a soft solution.”

At the rear instead?
“The two rear tires are asymmetrical, with the right shoulder being stiffer and last year they all used the soft both in the Sprint and in the long race. Looking at the weather forecast, it seems that we will find the sun and rather similar temperatures, so I think that everyone could opt for the soft again even on the weekend”.

Michelin tires for MotoGP

Photo by: Michelin

Let’s take a step back to Jerez, where there was the spectacular victory of Pecco Bagnaia at the end of an exciting duel with Marc Marquez…
“After Austin, we also experienced another good MotoGP weekend in Jerez. The riders put on a great show and the tires worked well. Especially the medium front, which was used by everyone in both the Sprint and the long race. At the rear, however, there were different choices, with the soft used in the short race and the medium in the actual GP. In the Sprint the conditions were not perfect, because there were some damp patches on the track which created some problems for the drivers. The pace was slower and there were many crashes due to the wet conditions. In any case, we witnessed a good Sprint, even if the highlight was Sunday’s race, with all the Ducatis in front. start and then a great battle at the end between Bagnaia and Marquez.”

From a performance point of view you are continuing to get some very interesting indications…
“We broke all three records in Jerez, but the one we care about most is the fastest lap in the race, because Bagnaia achieved it on the 23rd of the 25 scheduled laps. Then the race distance was also reduced by two seconds compared to the previous record of 2022. The absolute lap record, however, was always set by Pecco in the afternoon session on Friday, because then on Saturday morning the qualifying sessions were held on a wet track and the times could not be improved much good throughout the weekend, but the tires proved once again to be very consistent. I think all this also favored the spectacle: if all the races were like this, I would put my signature on it.”

After the Sprint we saw the first penalties related to tire pressure. The drivers said that it was a situation that arose due to the conditions of the track, which was still damp in some sections. Is this a reading you agree with?
“It’s true that there were the first penalties and that they weren’t due so much to errors of evaluation on the part of the teams but rather to conditions that weren’t perfect. In fact, the pace was almost a second slower than what it was to be expected. Going slower and with damp patches it was more difficult to put temperature in the tire. Consequently, the pressures also did not increase. Then we must add that of the five penalized riders, three had also crashed: Alex Rins, Jack Miller and Fabio Di Giannantonio, on the other hand, were perhaps a little too hard for the conditions and pace of the pre-established values. And among these there is also Marc Marquez, who like the three already mentioned had fallen, but managed to respect the rule despite having restarted”.

In this sense, Miguel Oliveira has proposed that in the future mixed conditions like those of Jerez could be considered like a “wet race”, in which the pressure rule is not applied. Do you think this is a good idea?
“He’s not wrong, because it’s true that in the case of a wet race the pressure protocol isn’t applied. In the case of Jerez the race was declared dry, so everything remained as usual, but it’s still something that we will take into account and which we will discuss in the future.”

At Jerez, between the Grand Prix and the test, you also brought some new solutions. How did they behave?
“We brought two new products to Jerez. One was a new hard front tyre, the Hard+, which was part of the weekend’s allocation, but it wasn’t used because there wasn’t enough heat to be able to exploit it. In Monday’s tests however we asked them to try a new front compound that should take the place of the average they had used in the race. They tried it several times and they told us that compared to the reference it tends to generate more movement on the lean angle, so we will make one. ‘another version to try later in the season.”