After carrying out an investigation into the circumstances of the incident which affected Scott Redding's rear tire during the last free practice session this afternoon, Michelin has decided to remove the medium and hard tires from allocation.
After consulting with the MotoGP teams, Michelin decided to play the safety card by offering a new tire called extra-safe.
So, an exceptional 30-minute warm-up session will take place tomorrow morning at 9 a.m. (local time) to allow drivers to familiarize themselves with this new tire which, according to our information, will be similar to the classic medium tire. Only the carcass will be different. Drivers will have a new allocation of one front slick tire and 4 rear tires extrasafe.
Likewise, if rain appears after the warm-up, a second warm-up will take place to allow the drivers to test the Michelin rain tires.
Michelin was able to react quickly to this incident which occurred today. Valentino Rossi he confided this evening at a press conference, “ Michelin must react quickly, it becomes very dangerous."
After a first Qatar Grand Prix to applause, Michelin is today in turmoil. But the manufacturer's reaction remains unequivocal and places safety above all else.
Update: Here is the official press release:
MICHELIN INFORMATION REGARDING THE TIRE SITUATION AT THE ARGENTINA GRAND PRIX
Following the incident that occurred on the rear tire of Scott Redding's Ducati on the Termas de Rio Hondo circuit - which saw the British rider park his motorcycle on the side of the track with his rear tire having retained its pressure - Michelin in agreement with Dorna, IRTA and all the Teams, has, as a safety measure, decided to remove the two rear tires used by all the drivers since the start of the weekend.
The “Medium” and the “hard” will be replaced by the additional tire (“extra type”). Having an extra tire is an obligation stipulated in the regulations. The additional tire offers a more robust structure combined with the rubber present on the “Medium”
To allow the teams to adapt the bikes' settings to the new tire, an additional 30-minute test session was added before the 20-minute warm-up.
Michelin will now carry out the necessary analyzes to understand the causes of the damage.
