Michelin is heading to the Adriatic Coast in Italy for round 13 of the MotoGP™ World Championship as it travels to Misano for the Gran Premio TIM di San Marino e della Riviera di Rimini.
The Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli is a technical and demanding track with a medium severity layout that features high-speed corners, a fast long sweeping curve and a number of slower turns which make overtaking very difficult. The 4,226m track is not one where ultimate top-speed is a big requirement, but a smooth and consistent riding style and a good bike set-up will be important. With all these variables Michelin has a range of tyres designed to cover all aspects and give the riders the best option for Sunday’s race. A new version of the front MICHELIN Power Slick will be used at Misano, it is a small evolution of the current tyre and has been developed from the tests previously held at the Italian circuit, it features a new casing designed to give the riders more stability under braking and when cornering. This new design will be available in soft (white band) and medium (no band) compounds, along with a hard (yellow band) which will feature the same casing as has been used previously this season. The rear selection for Misano will be a medium compound (no band) and a hard version (yellow band), both with an asymmetric design featuring a harder right-hand shoulder to cope with the track’s 10 right turns, whilst the left side will be of a softer compound to heat-up quickly through the six left-handers.
Located near Rimini on the Adriatic Riviera, the Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli is close to beautiful coastline and the weather is usually very favourable there at this time of year, but it has also been known to rain in this part of the country in early September, so Michelin will have a full range of MICHELIN Power Rain and Power Inters to cope with any changing conditions. For use in wet conditions the Power Rain tyres will be available in soft (blue band) and medium (no band) for both the front and rear, with the Power Inters (silver band), also for the front and rear, being offered for use in damp, but drying conditions.
Michelin will start its preparations for Sunday’s 28-lap race with two free practice sessions on Friday, when all riders will be aiming to set fast times in readiness for Saturday afternoon’s qualifying sessions. Round 13 of the 2016 MotoGP World Championship will get underway at 14.00hrs local time (14.00hrs CEST, 13.00hrs BST, 12.00hrs GMT/UST) on Sunday 11thSeptember.
Piero Taramasso – Manager of the Two-Wheel Motorsport Group:
“Misano is a fairly technical circuit and has a combination of fast sections, slow corners and chicanes, so we will need to have tyres that work well over the entire layout. We have recently had some riders test there, so we have some up-to-date information that we were able to use as we prepared the tyres for the weekend. We will have a new solution with the front casing, it has been developed from this test at Misano and will be used alongside the standard casing we have been using. With the majority of corners right-handers it is important to have the asymmetric rears as there are two very quick right turns, as well Curvone which is a long sweeping curve taken at high-speeds. Some of the lefts are very slow corners so we have a softer left side to the tyre to make sure it will get heat into it quickly. Misano is a great place for spectators as it’s right on the Adriatic Coast, with its lovely beaches, great scenery and superb restaurants, plus the local fans always make it an event to remember, so we’ll be making sure we do everything we can to give them something special.”