It's a disappointed and a little annoyed Andrea Dovizioso who takes stock of his Czech Republic Grand Prix on speedweek. Far from the gentle official press release, the one who will stay at Ducati alongside Lorenzo next season is grumbling against Michelin tires. While excusing them since it is their first season.
Being a unique manufacturer is definitely not easy. Michelin experienced this for a first season during which it fought to avoid hazing. In Argentina there were its fragile rear tires, there were criticisms of its front tire and all that was missing was a blacklisting of its range intended for the rain. Since last weekend in Brno, that’s been done.
Certainly, the vast majority of the field showed restraint in the face of the impressive images of the treads packing up in preparation for the finish. Iannone, for once, was the television star of the disintegration of his front tire. But the first to suffer from this illness was his teammate Andrea Dovizioso. Who opened up a little more about the problem encountered: “ During the warm-up, the track was wet and the rear tire showed a strong tendency to wear. I set up my bike to preserve my rear tire so that they last 22 laps in the case of a race without changing bikes. So I worked to load the front tire ».
At the start of the race, the strategy seemed to pay off. Then things turned against the Ducati official: “ I was the first to have a problem with the front tire. So okay, we had to go up the hard way and few riders did it. They bet and they won, but considering the experiences at Assen and Sachsenring where grip was low, it seemed impossible. Now we need more options in the rain because seeing tires go to shreds is dangerous. There have been too many pilots to whom this has happened. Michelin does not have full control so it would be necessary to bring a larger quantity of tires ».
« The two possibilities offered were too far apart. There was the extra soft of the Sachsenring and the hard one from the start of the season. This is why the majority made the first choice which worked very well during the warm-up where there was a lot of water. During the race, there was not enough water for this option, there was too much for the intermediates and still too much to take slicks. Michelin works a lot, including on rain tires, and tries to satisfy us all. With the experience gained, things will be better next year ».
The fact remains that while many drivers experienced problems, others were happy to find Michelin tires able to take them to the front. Likewise, the incidents were spread out throughout the race, also highlighting riding styles, settings and types of machine.
