After the three days of testing in Sepang, the teams MotoGP are completing their pre-season preparation with two final days of testing at the Buriram circuit, which will host the first Grand Prix of 2025 in early March.
Michelin’s tyre allocation remains unchanged from the last Thailand Grand Prix. Buriram is a unique circuit, with long straights and tight corners that put a lot of strain on the tyres. That’s why Michelin uses a specific construction for the front and rear tyres.
These last two days of testing are also an opportunity for the riders to evaluate two new front tyre prototypes developed for the 2026 season. Initial reactions in Buriram have been positive and align with the encouraging responses received after testing in Malaysia.
Despite the somewhat dusty track conditions at the start, lap times improved rapidly across all circuits. As at Sepang, the top ten riders represent all five motorcycle manufacturers competing in MotoGP, reflecting the balanced competition.
Like every evening of riding in MotoGP, Piero Taramasso, manager of Michelin's two-wheel competition, gave a technical update on the day.
Piero Taramasso : “Buriram test, first day. Here the tyre allocation is the same as last year. For the front we kept the soft and hard tyres from last year, which we now call soft and medium. For the rear we kept the soft and hard tyres from last year, which we now call soft and medium. Sorry for the joke, but this is the reality. At the end of the day, the test, I can say it is positive because we come from Sepang, you know, three days of testing in a standard track configuration with the standard casing on the front and the standard casing on the rear. We arrived at a circuit with a very particular layout, with the longest straight and tight corners. The grip is also not at the top level and we use a special casing on the front and a special casing on the rear, because of the high temperatures generated here on the tyres. But already this morning, halfway through the session, the lap times were very fast. Some riders found the right balance of the bike quite quickly and others struggled more, but you know, as I said before, with the different casings at the front and at the rear, you have to work on the settings, work on the mapping, and all the bikes found the right balance. Yes, you also have to have a perfect balance: the window to have an optimal setting is not easy, but at the end of the day I think it was not bad. In the ranking we see all the bikes in the top 10, I think. We have KTM, we have Aprilia, Yamaha, Ducati and Honda too. Everyone did a good job and we also did some tests at the front with the same front tyre that we had in Sepang, the rubber and the casing solution that we are working on for 2026, and the results are the same as in Sepang. And about the track condition, yes, in the morning we lacked grip, it took some time to clean it, but it seems that the track condition was better than last year, and then the temperature rose very quickly, it rose to the top: we stayed all day between 46° and 51° for the track temperature.
Buriram test
