MotoGP™ and MotoE™ weekend for Michelin in Catalunya

Following yet another record-breaking race weekend, the Michelin team will be heading straight from Italy to Spain as the MotoGP™ paddock relocates to Montmeló near Barcelona for the Gran Premi Monster Energy de Catalunya, the seventh round of the 2021 season. In addition, the FIM Enel MotoE™ riders and teams will also join them for the third round of their series.

With the Catalunya race taking place during the weekend immediately following the Mugello race, the Michelin Motorsport team will not only face the logistical challenge of getting trucks from Italy to Spain but they will also have to stop in Clermont-Ferrand to collect the tire allocation for the Spanish race.

Featuring a highly abrasive surface with fast and sweeping corners, a 1,047m straight and elevation changes throughout its 4,627m (2.894 miles) length, the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya was built in 1991, reconfigured and resurfaced in 2018, with some changes made in 2020 to improve safety at Turn 10. It’s a track that is a favourite amongst riders and fans, and often serves up exciting racing along with a fantastic atmosphere, which could be the case this year with limited numbers of spectators being allowed in.

The Michelin tyre allocation has been selected to handle the demands of the circuit and the usual warm weather conditions expected at this time of year. As always, the data from previous races and tests proved invaluable when choosing the optimum compounds for the range of MICHELIN Power Slick tyres. Front and rear slicks will be in the usual Soft, Medium and Hard compounds, the Soft front will be symmetric, whilst the front Medium and Hard options and all the rears will be asymmetric, with a harder right-hand-side to manage the eight turns which go in that direction, compared to only six that go left.

Although unlikely, rain showers can still make an appearance at this time of year, so if wet weather does arrive a range of MICHELIN Power Rain tyres will be available in Soft and Medium symmetric fronts, along with Soft and Medium asymmetric rears, again with a harder right shoulder.

For MotoE, Michelin will have the usual allocation of Slick and Rain tyres, with the MICHELIN Power Slick range now manufactured using a higher percentage of sustainable and recycled materials, which is firmly in-line with the Michelin Group’s ‘All Sustainable’ strategy. To highlight and illustrate this advance in sustainability with the tyres, Michelin will have the world premiere of its interactive demonstration module in the MotoE paddock throughout the weekend.

Speaking about the Catalunya race, Piero Taramasso, Michelin Two-Wheel Motorsport Manager, said: “We know the Barcelona-Catalunya circuit very well from our past visits for testing and races, so I am sure that in addition to offering consistency and high levels of grip, our 2021 allocation will produce some fast lap-times and exciting racing in both the MotoGP and MotoE races. However, from a logistical perspective this is a challenging race due to the fact that our team will initially need to drive the 875 kilometres from Mugello to our base in Clermont-Ferrand immediately after the race to load up the trucks with the Catalunya allocation, before continuing their journey 600 kilometres south to Barcelona.”

The track action will get underway on Friday with FP1 and 2, followed two more practice sessions ahead of Qualifying on Saturday afternoon. The lights will go out for the start of the 24-lap race on Sunday at 13:00 local time. For the MotoE riders, their 8-lap race will start at 16:00 local-time.

Michelin, the leading mobility company, is dedicated to enhancing its clients’ mobility, sustainably; designing and distributing the most suitable tires, services and solutions for its clients’ needs; providing digital services, maps and guides to help enrich trips and travels and make them unique experiences; and developing high-technology materials that serve a variety of industries. Headquartered in Clermont-Ferrand, France, Michelin is present in 170 countries, has 123,600 employees and operates 71 tire production facilities which together produced around 170 million tires in 2020. (www.michelin.com)