The sixth round of the MotoGP championship, the Gran Premio d’Italia Oakley, has just ended at the Autodromo Internazionale del Mugello (Italy). The weather was changeable, with temperature variations and intermittent sun, but the rain spared the premier class, although generously watering the circuit for the second MotoE race.
The 5.245km Mugello circuit has nine right and six left turns, but also a long straight of 1.141km which is entered from a fast corner. Mugello is therefore the circuit where motorcycles hit the fastest top speeds during the season, and the record of Jorge Martin (Prima Pramac Racing), who had reached a speed of 363.6 km/h in 2022, has been broken. Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) was measured by the track officials at 366.1 km/h during the sprint race on Saturday afternoon.
Earlier, in the second phase of qualifying, Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) set a new benchmark all-time lap record for this circuit, with a lap of 1min44s855. This is the first time in the history of MotoGP that a rider has dropped below the 1min45 mark at Mugello.
“The Mugello circuit has kept its promises in terms of thrills,” said Piero Taramasso, manager of two-wheel competition at Michelin. "The consistently fast pace and the top speeds reached show that the tyres we selected were the right ones to give optimum performance. Given the track temperatures, more than 40°C on Saturday, most riders chose the Hard compound for the front during both races because it provided the best stability at all speeds. For the rear, on the other hand, it was the Soft rubber that was the most attractive during the Sprint race, and the Medium for the Grand Prix, particularly given the number of laps to be covered in the latter. The hotter it is, the more the grip deteriorates, but we had the correct tyres to respond to the demanding conditions and optimize grip during hard acceleration."
On Saturday afternoon, Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati/Lenovo Team) won the Sprint race, ahead of Marco Bezzecchi (Ducati/Mooney VR46 Racing Team) and Jorge Martin (Ducati/Prima Pramac Racing).
The Grand Prix, contested on Sunday at 2 p.m., saw another victory for Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati / Lenovo Team), ahead of the two Ducati / Prima Pramac Racing teammates, Jorge Martin and Johann Zarco.
FIM MotoE™ World Championship: a second high-flying round
After the season's first two races which took place on the Le Mans circuit, in May, it was the turn of Mugello to welcome MotoE. This year, 18 electric motorcycles developed by Ducati and equipped with specific Michelin tyres will compete in a calendar comprising 16 races taking place over eight MotoGP weekends. For Michelin, the FIM MotoE World Championship is a real research and development laboratory. As such, the motorcycles participating in this series use tyres incorporating 52% sustainable materials at the rear, and 34% at the front. Michelin wants to contribute to making motorsport more sustainable, and intends to innovate through championships incorporating best practices and using materials that support the preservation of the environment.
This is a desire that does not go against performance, in fact it is quite the contrary. During the first tests on the Mugello circuit, the riders and their new electric Ducati motorcycles improved the reference lap times of 2022 by an average of three seconds, and by more than two seconds during the race.
“The progress made is tremendous and was palpable from the first laps,” said Piero Taramasso. "The new Ducati, developed with our dedicated tyre range, also proved their performance in the rain during the second race, but due to the wet conditions on the track we did not see fast lap times. However, thanks to the technology of our MICHELIN Power Rain range for MotoE, the riders were still able to corner at speed and have confidence in their machines. Regardless of the category, we can say that this weekend the Michelin tyres allowed the riders to battle from the first to the last lap of the race with the same intensity, with confidence and safety, whatever the track conditions."
The first of two MotoE races was won by Andrea Mantovani (RNF MotoE Team), ahead of Matteo Ferrari (Felo Gresini MotoE) and Matthia Casadei (HP Pons Los40).
Later in the day, the second round allowed Éric Granado (LCR E-Team) to climb to the top step of the podium, ahead of Kevin Manfredi (Ongetta SIC58 Squadracorse) and Matteo Ferrari (Felo Gresini MotoE).
The next MotoGP race will take place next weekend, from 16 to 18 June, at the Liqui Moly Motorrad Grand Prix Deutschland. Here, the MotoGP and FIM MotoE World Championship teams will tackle the very special Sachsenring circuit, not far from the cities of Dresden and Leipzig.
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