MotoGP, Michelin speaks on the history of tire pressure: “it’s true but it needs to be explained”

It is a corner of the veil of MotoGP which has been lifted with this revelation that the winner of the Spanish Grand Prix, in this case the Ducati official Pecco Bagnaia, had built his success with tires whose pressure was debated. A revelation which immediately provoked the reaction of Ducati who explained a situation which is not yet mastered by all manufacturers, who nevertheless do not play with fire in an area where safety must take precedence. Today, it’s Michelin who speaks with Piero Taramasso, who remains as educational as ever…

Media GP One went to see the sole MotoGP manufacturer who finds himself on the front line on the subject of the difficulty in assessing that the regulatory minimum tire pressure is strictly respected by those involved in the Grands Prix. We will remember that it is not Michelin who put in the public place the readings taken after the Spanish Grand Prix. But a stable whose name we do not know but whose the representative to express his annoyance at a situation that was too uncertain to be worthy, he said, of a world championship.

That being said, at Michelin , we have nothing to hide and Piero Taramasso shared this beautiful explanation on the Italian site: “ the data communicated is true, but it must be explained » he begins. “ Michelin supplies tires to all MotoGP participants and we indicate the minimum pressures to be respected. The MSMA, IRTA and DORNA have decided to work together this year by sharing data from all pilots. This is done with the aim of understanding how the system works and then to put a more reliable one in place next year, with unified sensors that have the same tolerances, and with a data transfer channel accessible only to DORNA. Only in this case can action be taken ».

Michelin: “ we work on trust and no one dares to run with a pressure lower than the one we indicate« 

« Currently the different teams use different materials. These are sensors with different tolerances and the transmission channel is open. Anyone can modify this data unlike what happens in Moto2 and MotoE. Now, we work on trust and the teams know what values ​​to respect and they also know that they cannot play with pressure because the consequences could be disastrous. No one dares to run with pressures lower than those we indicate. However, it is not up to Michelin to judge what the teams do.

In the document published by Motorsport magazine it is not written how far the limit was crossed. The man of Michelin explain : " for example the limit for the front tire is 1,9 bar if a rider was at 1,89 and the sensor tolerance was 0,02 then it would still be legal even if it went down another 10^e. The data must be read knowing what is behind it and it is more complicated as it seems » concludes Piero Taramasso.