After a six-week break, and with 11 races still to go, the MotoGP riders have returned to the track with a vengeance. With a length of 5.9 km, the Silverstone circuit has hosted motorcycle Grands Prix since 1977, and it is the longest in the championship. It has eight left and ten right-hand turns, but also a straight of 770m which allows the riders to get close to 340 km/h. This configuration, with some very open corners, also makes this track one of the fastest of the season.
On Friday morning, under a threatening sky and persistent cold (16°C air and 21°C track temperatures), all the riders chose Soft MICHELIN Power Slick tyres at the front, and Medium for the rear for the first Free Practice session. In the afternoon, the second session, which allows the first ten riders to directly access Q2, took place with higher temperatures of 20°C air and 25°C on the track. A relative 'warming' which allowed the riders to switch to the Soft option at the rear in order to refine their set-up, and also to set faster lap times.
The Saturday morning qualifying sessions took place in the rain, and the MICHELIN Power Rain tyres ably fulfilled their role – in Soft compound due to the still low temperatures. In the afternoon it was the Medium compound Power Rain tyre which was the unanimous choice for the Tissot Sprint race. The rain had stopped by this point, but the track was still soaked, with some areas of standing water. It should be noted that despite these difficult conditions, no falls were recorded.
The next day, the start of the Grand Prix was dry, but still with a low track temperature of just over 20°C and 17°C in the air. The vast majority of riders chose the Soft compound for the front, and Medium for the rear. A race-long battle ensued, and this saw no let-up until the chequered flag. The tyres were once again a vector of performance and spectacle, with the MICHELIN Power Slicks ignoring the low temperature of the track and even the drops of rain that fell during the later laps.
"The sky showed a range of colours and delivered precipitation which led our partners to use all or almost all of the options in our allocation", states Piero Taramasso, Michelin two-wheel competition manager. "Only the Hard compound tyres remained in our workshops, because the very low temperatures led our partners to put them aside. On Saturday, we were once again able to prove that our MICHELIN Power Rain tyre range is perfectly suited to rain of any intensity. They worked wonderfully well in the heavy showers of MotoE, as well as on the soggy ground for the Sprint race in MotoGP. With such low temperatures it was necessary to maintain a high pace on the track to keep the tyres up to temperature, and given the high level of abrasiveness of the track it was also necessary to have tyres capable of offering a spectrum of performance and a very wide operating window. The riders at the forefront throughout the weekend said they were overwhelmed by the performance of our tyres in these particular conditions, which is a great reward for us."
On Saturday afternoon, the Tissot Sprint race was won by Álex Márquez (Gresini Racing MotoGP), ahead of Marco Bezzecchi (Mooney VR46 Racing Team) and Maverick Viñales (Aprilia Racing).
The following day, the Grand Prix saw victory for Aleix Espargaró (Aprilia Racing), ahead of Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) and Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory Team). A podium made up of three different manufacturers, which highlights the fact that Michelin has met everyone’s needs with particularly high-performance ranges of tyres.
FIM MotoE™ World Championship
For the first time, the Silverstone circuit hosted the Ducati electric motorcycles of the FIM MotoE World Championship, all equipped with Michelin tyres. These demonstrated strong performance on this fast track, with times slightly lower than those of the Moto3 bikes, particularly in the dry conditions during Friday. The following day, the two races took place in wet conditions – the first at lunchtime and the second later in the afternoon. The ninth and tenth rounds (out of 16) made it possible to establish time references in different conditions, and the Michelin tyres, specially developed for the series, allowed the riders to attack with confidence.
It is important to note that Michelin's MotoE tyres are already looking to the future, and incorporate specific rubber mixes. These tyres contain 52% sustainable materials in the rear, and 34% in the front. Michelin uses MotoE, like all the championships in which it is involved, as a test laboratory for its future technologies.
Later, whether for competition tyres or commercial products, all motorcyclists will be able to take advantage of these processes developed in part with the help of MotoE, and benefit from increasingly durable tyres.
At Silverstone, the first of two races was won by Randy Krummenacher (Dynavolt Intact GP MotoE). Second place went to Kevin Manfredi (Ongetta SIC58 Squadracorse), the third step of the podium being occupied by Eric Granado (LCR E-Team).
The second race saw victory for Mattia Casadei (HP Pons Los40), ahead of Eric Granado (LCR E-Team) and Nicolas Spinelli (HP Pons Los40).
The next rounds of MotoGP and MotoE will take place from 18 to 20 August at the Red Bull Ring circuit in Spielberg, Austria.
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