Ahead of track action for the Gran Premio Motul de la Republica Argentina, it was time to talk – with Championship leader Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team) joined in the pre-event Press Conference by reigning Champion Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team), Valentino Rossi (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP), Johann Zarco (Monster Yamaha Tech 3), Danilo Petrucci (Alma Pramac Racing) and Cal Crutchlow (LCR Honda Castrol) for a few words before the lights go out. Source link
Tag: tyres
Michelin heads to South America for an Argentinean challenge
The South American circuit is a challenge to riders, teams, bikes and especially tyres, as the high temperatures and the abrasiveness of the asphalt makes this one of the most demanding tracks of the year. This will be further heightened this season because parts of the 4,806m circuit have been resurfaced, meaning Michelin and the teams have no data to process as to the type of surface and the difference it will make to one of the toughest laps on the calendar. Due to this change the MICHELIN Power Slick allocation will be slightly different from the normal three front and three rear tyres, as a fourth choice will be added to the selection. This will make the following selections available; soft, two medium
The duel continues: Marquez & Dovi split by 0.092s
“We started the weekend well, and today the weather was not so bad,” says Marquez. “It was really windy and a bit cold but the good thing is we tried a lot of tyres, so we have a lot of information and we worked a lot for the race. The laptime was coming quite easily too, although of course you push, so I’m happy with the feeling and we’ll see tomorrow if we can keep this level and try to improve a bit more.” Source link
Lorenzo: “I‘m not expecting issues with tyre temperature"
Jorge Lorenzo (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) had a tough weekend in Phillip Island that saw him take home P6 in cooler temperatures. Struggling to warm up the tyres has been an issue for some in 2016, but the heat of Sepang International Circuit is sure to go a long way to counteract the issue for those affected – as well as creating the daunting physical challenge of the 40 minute race in extreme conditions. With new asphalt in Malaysia, it’s back to square one for all the grid despite the pre-season test at the venue, and Lorenzo has his sights on the podium. Source link
Pedrosa – the 8th wonder of the world
I don’t think there is any doubt that some early but inevitable teething issues in the new Michelin era impacted more on Pedrosa than his rivals. Loris Baz’s spectacular top gear crash over the finish line in the first test of the year in Sepang, which was eventually diagnosed as a puncture, had people fretting. And when Redding’s rear tyre fell apart in practice in Argentina in FP4 that led to an enforced pit stop in the race on safety grounds, Michelin was forced to make harder tyres to build some safety margin into its selection. The harder the tyres got, the harder it became for Pedrosa to be fast. Source link
Viñales ends test day fifth fastest
Reviewing Sunday’s race he also commented, “Probably we took the wrong choice with the tyres. We started with the soft thinking that the track would have gone to dry much quicker to get a flag-to-flag, but finally this didn’t happen so the performance dropped a lot. Anyway, I’m happy because if you see the classification of those who had soft tyres, we are third, and furthermore we could make very good steps forward.” Source link
Binder: “We’re saving our tyres for tomorrow”
Long runs the focus for Brad Binder as he and his crew hoard tyres, focusing on race pace.