Dunlop and its products have barely left through the back door of the MotoGP (except to be the subject of a article in the regional press), Pirelli is already arriving with much superior performances even though the 2024 season has not yet started!
On the side of the transalpine manufacturer, we have not yet triumphed, and we even want to be cautious knowing very well that setbacks are always possible during a first season at this level. But the objectives set by Giorgio Barbier, the person responsible for the motorcycle competition, are clearly high and do not stop at new Valencia circuit records set during November 27 test by Alonso Lopez (Beta Tools SpeedUp – BOSCOSCURO) in Moto2 and Daniel Holgado (Red Bull KTM Tech3) in Moto3.
Given the extremely cool conditions in which this first official test took place, we can therefore expect a shower of records in 2024, which could probably only make the Milanese manufacturer think about a possible arrival in the MotoGP category. in 2027…
We are therefore witnessing for the moment a fanfare start for the Italian industrialist established in 1872. The only small reservation, certainly very anecdotal, is that it will be necessary to urgently raise the quality of the trucks transporting the tires, otherwise they will mismatch in the paddock. MotoGP :)
Moto2: 125/70 R17 front and 200/65 R17 rear,
Moto3: 100/70 R17 front and 120/70 R17 rear.
Approach, economic interest, technical interest and choices, difficulties, etc., George Barbier came to answer all the journalists' questions at the end of the day of testing in Valencia...
As usual, we report his words here without the slightest formatting.
Are you satisfied with what is the second Moto2 and Moto3 test for Pirelli?
“Well, you're right: happy for the second proof of what you've already seen in Montmelo. We chose Montmelo, because we had the choice between Misano, Silverstone and Montmelo, and we chose Montmelo knowing that it is a fairly difficult circuit in terms of grip for tire manufacturers and that the layout is very interesting. We therefore wanted to have the first possible feedback from the drivers to understand what needs to be done for the next season, because time is running out: in a week, two weeks, we have to ship the tires to Qatar. So we have to decide what to do. »
You use the same tires as in Superbike. The 120 at the front and the 200 at the back, in 65. The biggest. You could also use the Supersport tires, so why did you choose the bigger ones?
“Well, from our point of view, the approach has been clear from the start: prototypes are not in our business. So we need to understand what to do for both categories. Of course, Moto3 is something completely new for us. We prepared the dimensions several years ago, because I had decided to try to enter this market, but the market reacted very badly because everyone was thinking about doing a wildcard and therefore needed Dunlop . We did the British championship, we did the Japanese championship, we won the British championship, we came second because of a bike failure in Japan, and then we were more concerned about what was happening with the Moto3. But Moto3 is a market, because there are a lot of championships for young people, and that is the consequence of what happened with MiniGP. So we started with the young children, and now with the talent cups, to reach Moto3. It's something interesting, and it's interesting because of Asia, because of America, markets that are also very important for us. What about Moto 2? Finally, for Moto2, you have this championship and then the Spanish championship only. We therefore could not manufacture tires specifically for this championship. The choice between Supersport and Superbike sizes comes from the front rim, because in this championship they use 3.75, which is nonsense from our point of view, since we have already finalized all our fronts on 3.5, Superbike and Supersport. Between the two, the Superbike is more suitable to fit on 3.75. The Supersport's size isn't, so we didn't want to risk having a front end that didn't perform well enough. In fact, with these two tests, I thought the 3.75 was going to be a problem, but that's not the case. So for now we wouldn't like to change the front rim for this. »
But in the future, would you like to use the same rim size as in Superbike, because it's better?
“From our point of view, of course, because for this type of bike, for the weight they are, the power they have, they don't need big tires at the front. »
Do you think the teams will have to adapt their bike for your tires, or not?
“Well, that’s my dream. I saw that this year's motorcycles didn't move much, and I don't know if it's because the product offered by our competitors limited the possibility of adjusting, of changing the settings in a certain way. So I would like the teams now to have the possibility to change the settings and start working on the bikes again, because the tires allow them to do that.
And we already saw something today, from that point of view, because in Barcelona everyone was just worried: 'Let's do this test, but in the afternoon I have to leave for Misano'. Now that we have finished the championship, they want to start to understand "what can we do with these tires?" “. Some discussions start, because the rear grip is too high, so they can start working on settings, and we have seen some changes. And if you watch the lap times improve section by section, that means the team is starting to work on it. »
You only use two compounds, and the softer one is SC0, not the softer compound. And already some team principals are saying “we have to adapt because we have more grip than expected”…
“Again, there is a big difference between what happens in Superbike and Supersport and what happens in this championship. In Superbike and Supersport, we currently ride SC0 and SCX. In Superbike, SC0, SCX and SCQ. We know that competitors use very hard materials and we would not want to make a mistake by bringing a mixture that is already too soft. So for performance, there is time in the future. For now we have to understand, what is better for them, what is easier for them to adapt the bike, and the challenge of the new circuits that we will encounter, because we are not going to Qatar since several years, we don't know Argentina, we don't know North America. So there are a lot of circuits that we don't know. We don't know enough to say "OK, we can bring a software", and performance is not an issue at the moment. In fact, we have already seen in Montmelo and today that with the Medium / Hard compounds that we have brought, we can be competitive. »
How do the tires and the structure work with a bike that has fewer kilograms and maybe 80 horsepower less? From a sustainability perspective, not just performance…
“Indeed, weight and power are not the only constraints, because the speed of these motorcycles in the corners is important, as is the way in which the rider brings the motorcycle into the corners. So it was very interesting to see Montmelo, and this place with the new asphalt, how it works in terms of tire wear. And I would say that it works quite well because this morning we started with five degrees on the asphalt, and so that could have destroyed everything, and at most we saw 20° today because of the wind. But once again, the team's work on the bikes helped improve this area throughout the day. »
Next tests?
“Portimao then Jerez, in February. This will be very important because we will have already covered 4 world championship circuits. Portimao and Jerez are the only places we can go and test in February, but at the same time we know these circuits quite well and it won't be a problem. In any case, we already agree with the promoter and the IRTA, and if we think that these two solutions do not work correctly, we will bring a third to be sure of achieving the objective. It's clear that the first season will be very important in allowing us to understand this, and then move into the second season positively. »
Obviously the true Pirelli fan would like to see you in MotoGP, where we know that Michelin has a contract until 2026 and Pirelli has a contract in Formula 1 until 2026….
» (Laughs) This is something we were already thinking about this year, because we were negotiating the renewal of Formula 1 when we started talking about this championship. And we never thought that one championship could replace another. They are completely different things, especially because we are talking about cars and motorcycles, because we are at the top of motorsport in terms of media too, that is in Formula 1, and the second is the MotoGP, of course. But these are completely different areas for us. »
For now, from 1 to 10, where do you think the teams and drivers are in terms of tire knowledge. We are in the second test, and in Barcelona it was a shock for everyone, a positive shock...
“I think they need to improve. They can still work a lot on the tires, and I hope that in February we will hit some more points with them. We have already started talking with Kalex, KTM, Honda, Öhlins, WP, and we are connected collecting all their feedback in order to understand how to move forward. It's important that we work together to create the right setup for the bike and tires to allow riders to have fun. »
