Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/891001
IN THE WIND P42 MICHELIN IN FOR ANOTHER FIVE YEARS M ichelin, title sponsors of the Australian GP, will be the MotoGP class' control tires until 2023, extending their current three-year contract by a further five years. The agreement was an- nounced at Phillip Island on race eve by Dorna CEO Carmelo Ezpeleta and Michelin motorsport director Pascal Couagnon, at a press confer- ence, which was interrupted by the thunderous noise of an Australian Air Force jet fighter display. It was a warts-and-all occa- sion, with Ezpeleta saying that aside from the prospect of sta- bility, the most important thing he was demanding was, "equal quality of tires with the same specification." He had praise for Michelin as well, for the posi- tive way they had responded to problems, in contrast to other tire suppliers. Michelin's technical direc- tor Nicolas Goubert confirmed that some teams and riders had pointed out unexpected varia- tions of tire performance. "We have had some complaints. Sometimes they are not true, but sometimes they are true. We still have some work to do." Improving quality control was a major target, he continued. "There are many components and processes in a tire, and we are working very hard at putting them all under control," he said. Michelin returned to MotoGP last season in place of former control tire suppliers Bridges- tone, and discovered there was a lot of catching up to do. "The bikes had evolved, and there was a lot more stress on the front tire." This had been the most dif- ficult area of development. "We made progress in 2016, but not enough." But since the latest generation of front tires had arrived at Mugello this year, the position was much improved. "We have had requests from riders to keep these same [front] tires for 2018," said Goubert. Pascal spoke of the value of racing, both commercial and technical. The reason they had required a change from the previous 16.5-inch wheel size to 17-inch was to forge a direct link with production tires for street bikes. For the same reason, Michelin would not consider including qualifying tires in the three front and rear options at each race. "Technically," said Goubert, a range of compounds developed in racing would be used in a range of production slick tires to be launched in the near future, while they had also made prog- ress in developing manufactur- ing processes that would have future relevance. Michael Scott Michelin staying in MotoGP is good news for championship stability.