MICHELIN HEADS TO ANOTHER NEW CIRCUIT AS AUSTIN WELCOMES MOTOGP™
Michelin has made the journey across the Equator from South to North America as it prepares for its debut at the Circuit of The Americas (COTA) in Austin, Texas for the third round of the MotoGP™ World Championship.
Following a demanding weekend in Argentina the French tyre firm are fully focused on the next event as it travels to another track that it hasn’t raced at before. Michelin conducted a test at the 5.513km circuit last year, but this was unfortunately hampered by rain, so very little dry set-up data is available to the Michelin engineers. With this important factor to manage, Michelin will take three front tyre specifications to Austin designed to give the riders a greater option of which tyre to use at the medium-abrasive track and these will be the soft, medium and hard MICHELIN Power slicks – distinguished by the white, no colour and yellow bands on the tyre-walls respectively. The fronts will be matched with the rear MICHELIN Power Slicks available in soft (white band) and medium (no coloured band) compounds. The rear tyres will feature an asymmetrical design with a harder right-hand-side to cope with the demands of the technical circuit. Michelin Power Rain – which showed a very good performance during the last race’s warm-up – and Power Inters will also be available if the weather demands it, but with a forecast for warm, sunny conditions all weekend the use of these tyres looks unlikely.
The Texan circuit was completed and opened in 2012 and features a 1,200m long straight – the longest on the calendar – alongside 20-corners of every possible type and configuration. From slow turns, through fast curves and into heavy-braking areas, the track is a true test of riders and tyres alike. MotoGP has raced at the circuit for the past three-years with Marc Marquez – who recorded his first Michelin win in the last race – taking victory in all three races, so the rest of the field will certainly be determined to stop that run.
The action gets underway on Friday 8th April with the first two Free Practice sessions. Qualifying for the 21-lap race will be staged on Saturday, with the field lining up for the latest instalment of the MotoGP season at 14.00hrs (20.00hrs CEST, 19,00hrs BST, 19.00UTC) on Sunday 10th April.
Nicolas Goubert – Deputy Director, Technical Director and Supervisor of the MotoGP Programme:
“The COTA circuit is another first for us as Michelin hasn’t raced there before. We had a test at the track last year, but that was compromised by rain, so we were unable to get much data. It is a very demanding circuit with probably every type of corner imaginable on one track. With so many changes in direction, slow and fast turns and hard barking zones, the tyres will be put under a lot of stress, but the usage on both sides will be about the same, so we are taking tyres that are the best solutions to work with all those different characteristics of the track. We are under no illusions this is a very demanding race, but we are up to the challenge and looking forward to the race.”
Piero Taramasso – Manager of the Two-Wheel Motorsport Group:
“This is the third fly-away in succession, so the logistics have been one of the biggest tasks at the start of the new season. After Argentina, we are heading straight to America, so we have tyres coming from different directions – both from South America and France – to arrive in time for Friday’s first practice. This is always an anxious moment as we are not in control of the delivery process, unlike with our own transportation in Europe, but I am sure everything will be perfect and we’ll be ready on time. We know the challenges that are ahead and we have the tyres to do the job, the whole crew are really motivated and we’re all excited to go to America, as we’ve heard so much about the welcome the whole MotoGP paddock gets in Austin, we’re sure ready for some of that Texan hospitality.”