A big weekend of two-wheel competition has just ended on the Barcelona-Catalunya circuit. The shift in the date (from June to September) did not have a big impact on temperatures, even if the clear sunshine of 2022 this time gave way to more overcast conditions and sometimes threatening weather. These conditions led Michelin’s partners to adopt refined tyre strategies, with the assistance of the French manufacturer’s team of Technical Advisors.
On the Barcelona-Catalunya circuit, Michelin partners had Soft, Medium and Hard rubber compounds at their disposal for the front, and Soft and Medium for the rear. With six left turns and eight right turns, but also a straight of 1,047m with a width of 12m, the MotoGP riders had 4.627 km on each lap to push themselves to the limit and extract every last bit of performance from their tyres and machines.
"The challenge of the weekend was undeniably the very poor grip of the track," said Piero Taramasso, manager of Michelin two-wheel competition. "We had to give our partners as much peace of mind as possible, even though the track had very smooth areas which could lead to slip at the rear, or locking of the front. From Friday, we understood that the Soft compound for the front would be the tyre to be reserved for time attack, in other words for a fairly short period of combat with the stopwatch in order to establish a reference time. But for the Sprint race, like the Grand Prix, we then guided the riders towards the combination of Medium front and Soft rear on Saturday, and to switch to the Medium rear on Sunday – taking into account the number of laps to be completed. The combination of the right choice of tyres, optimum pressures and a pace to maintain the temperature in the tyres allowed everyone to find the best set-up. The evolution of the motorcycles combined with our tyres even made it possible to beat the all-time circuit lap record, although it was a stiff challenge."
The Sprint race on Saturday afternoon saw a few drops of rain fall during the formation lap but the proceedings ultimately took place in dry conditions. The 12-lap race was won by Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing), ahead of Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) and Maverick Viñales (Aprilia Racing).
On Sunday afternoon it was again Aleix Espargaro who crossed the finish line of the Grand Prix in first place, ahead of Maverick Viñales, with the third step of the podium occupied by Jorge Martin (Prima Pramac Racing).
The seventh and penultimate round of the FIM ENEL MotoE™ World Championship kept its promises
As the end of the season looms, the new electric motorcycles supplied by Ducati competed for the first time on the Barcelona-Catalunya circuit. Exceptionally, they received a front tyre with a slightly harder compound in order to respond to the particular demands of the track. "Everything worked perfectly well, and with two races to go before the end of the season, the suspense remains as to who will be crowned world champion," explained Piero Taramasso. "We can already say that we have witnessed a great season of this innovative championship that was born in 2019, and of which we are the exclusive tyre supplier. The performance and consistency of the riders fully reflect the quality of the tyres we have developed for this series. They contain a high level of sustainable materials in their manufacturing recipe, which allows us to demonstrate that environmental protection and motorsports, in addition to zero emissions, can come together without any compromise on performance, safety, longevity or durability."
The electric motorcycles in the FIM Enel MotoE World Championship are all equipped with Michelin tyres containing 52% sustainable materials at the rear, and 34% at the front. Michelin considers biosourced or recycled elements that are neutral for the environment to be 'sustainable' materials. Like all the championships in which it is involved, Michelin uses MotoE as a test laboratory for its future technologies. The objective is to be able to integrate them partially or entirely into the next generations of competition or mass-produced tyres, so that Michelin can develop increasingly durable tyres for everyone.
At the Barcelona-Catalunya circuit, the first of the two races was won by Andrea Mantovani (RNF MotoE Team), ahead of Mattia Casadei (HP Pons Los40) and Hector Garzo (Dynavolt Intact GP MotoE). A few hours later, the second round of the day saw victory for Mattia Casadei ahead of Andrea Mantovani, with the third step on the podium being occupied by Nicolas Spinelli (HP Pons Los40).
The next MotoGP round (13th out of 20), which will also be the last for the MotoE championship, will take place from 8 to 10 September at the Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli, in the province of Rimini (Italy).
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