Four weeks on from a fiercely-disputed French Grand Prix at Le Mans, where the 1,000th race in MotoGP history attracted the championship's largest-ever crowd (total attendance: just under 280,000), riders return to action this weekend for the season’s sixth clash, the Gran Premio d'Italia Oakley at Italy's famous Autodromo Internazionale del Mugello.
Located in the vicinity of the Tuscan capital Florence, Mugello has played host to international motorcycle racing's top flight since 1976, two years after it became a permanent facility. The passage of time has done nothing to dim its appeal, as its spectacular backdrop and tree-lined layout make it a favourite amongst not only riders but also fans, with a sizeable turnout anticipated over the weekend of June 8-11. The 5.245km lap comprises nine right-hand corners and six left-handers, as well as a long main straight stretching 1.141km. This makes the venue one of MotoGP's biggest high-speed challenges, with Jorge Martin having established a new championship speed record there of 363.6kph there in 2022. By the same token, that weekend’s winner Francesco Bagnaia established a new race-lap record with a time of 1m46.588s, running on Medium MICHELIN Power Slicks front and rear. Competitors will have access to the same tyres again this year, with a choice of three different compounds for the front and Soft and Medium options for the rear.
"Mugello is a highly technical circuit, with a combination of slow turns, sweeping high-speed corners and a long pit straight," says Piero Taramasso, the manager of Michelin's two-wheel motorsport programmes. "It’s a particularly demanding track for tyres which are submitted to considerable constraints and hard braking in places. The asphalt is not that abrasive, but we have nevertheless opted for symmetric front tyres and asymmetric rears, with a harder compound on the right. Rain cannot be ruled out and it might feel warmer than usual, with the race taking place two weeks later than last year. We could even see significant differences in temperature between mornings in the shade of the trees and afternoons under the blazing Tuscan sun."
"That is why we have selected the Soft and Medium compounds for the rear, so as to cater to all potential circumstances with versatile tyres that deliver consistent performance. For the front, we will have the three regular choices, and fully expect riders to try each of them during practice as they work to establish the optimum set-up for the weekend."
Should it rain, the MICHELIN Power Rain tyre will be available in Soft and Medium options for both the front and rear, with the same profiles as their MICHELIN Power Slick counterparts.
Second outing for the FIM MotoE™ World Championship
Following the two races that made up the opening round of the 2023 series at Le Mans, MotoE is similarly Mugello-bound this weekend. The world championship for electric motorbikes will be fought out over 16 races this year across eight double-header meetings, all on MotoGP weekends. Eighteen riders from nine different teams are competing on the new bikes provided by Italian manufacturer Ducati. These bikes are unique in that they run on Michelin tyres containing 52 percent sustainable materials at the rear and 34 percent at the front. For Michelin, the MotoE World Championship serves as an invaluable research and development laboratory, with the brand's 'All-Sustainable' target always at the forefront of considerations.
At Mugello, the MotoGP race weekend will get underway on Friday, June 9, with a pair of practice sessions, from which the ten fastest competitors will book their place in the second part of the next day’s qualifying (Q2). Following free practice on Saturday morning, the top two riders from Q1 will similarly progress to the Q2 pole position shoot-out, at the end of which the starting grid for both of the weekend's races will be set. The Sprint Race will begin at 3:00pm CET on Saturday, June 10, with the main event – the grand prix itself – getting underway just under 24 hours later at 2:00pm on Sunday, June 11. Following two practice sessions and a brace of qualifying sessions on Friday, both MotoE races will take place on Saturday.
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