NO CLEMENCY FOR WHO HAS NOT FOUND THE KEYS TO LE MANS.
The French GP saw a clear domination of the Yamaha factory with the victory of Lorenzo and the second place of Rossi, the first podium of the season for Suzuki and Vinales, the loss of the championship lead for Marquez and Honda and a new disappointment for the Ducati factory.
On the tire front, Michelin reacted, after the criticism aimed at the rear tire at Jerez, by making modifications earlier than expected with a view to improving its traction.
A less rigid soft carcass this time gave satisfaction to the majority of drivers, so much so that Lorenzo recorded a record time in qualifying.
But it was the numerous falls at the front punctuating the race that fueled the conversations.
In Jerez, the poor traction of the rear tire model proposed lowered the pace of the race which turned out to be 31 seconds slower compared to last year.
There were very few falls (only one during the race) compared to the Bugatti race which was much faster: 7 seconds more than in 2015 despite lower level electronic equipment, but 9 falls during the race .
The Le Mans track being a “stop and go” type, it alternates between acceleration and braking close together, which does not facilitate cooling of the front tire.
The more efficient rear mount passing more power to the ground also increased the intensity of braking and the pace was at a good level, making the drivers declare that Michelin's weak point this time was at the front tire.
The image of the synchronized fall of Marquez and Dovizioso illustrates this, while the riders agreed that this envelope is efficient but that its behavior is not stable, unpredictable.
However, it is notable that the first falls occurred almost at the same time, which marks the end of caution following the start and the warming up of the tires with full fuel. Iannone, Marquez, Dovizioso also fell while trying to increase their pace outside their comfort zone.
Bradley Smith puts forward a hypothesis which could explain the erratic side of the French front tire: the air expands in relation to the temperature and the one included in the MotoGP rubber is no exception to the rule.
When a rider tries to exploit the potential of the rear tire, the front allows it at first and then it is the first to overheat.
The tire being already very rigid, and the air contributing to the rigidity of the rubber, this heating increases the pressure inside the casing which loses contact surface with the ground and its capacity to absorb the inequalities of the road. track.
The bumps present on the route therefore become traps, and it is risky to leave a “clean” trajectory.
This remark at a time when pressure sensors will become mandatory from Mugello and when the allocation of front tires is decreasing (the “36” with a softer casing is no longer available, much to the chagrin of Dovizioso and…Smith) sounds like a request to Michelin to lower the operating pressures of its envelopes.
But if we look closely, the Bridgestones also suffered from the Bugatti's configuration, since in 2015, there were only two fewer falls than with the Michelins this year, in comparable conditions.
MUGELLO
The Mugello track can be scary: the speeds reached are among the highest of the season, which puts the central strip of the rear tire to the test, and there is a series of fast curves (Casanova-Savelli, and Arrabbiata 1 and 2) carried out on a track with very good grip, abrasive, which this time will mistreat the sides (particularly straight: there are nine right turns and six left) of the rubber.
These fast curves which will wear out the rear flange are complemented by slower sequences which will affect the front tire in the same way as enormous high-speed braking at the end of the straight, where the MotoGP will go from almost 360 km/h to 120 km /h in 325 meters, absorbing 1,6 G over a period of more than 6 seconds!
But, good news for the front tire, the “slow” curves are smoother than at Le Mans and the braking time over a lap is only 19% (compared to 28% for Le Mans).
A priori, despite its frightening side, this track will be less demanding for the front end, thus making us hope for fewer falls than at Le Mans!
The Yamaha riders are the most successful at Mugello and Lorenzo will be well placed for victory; It remains to be seen at what level Rossi will place himself…
The less bumpy track than at the Bugatti may give Marquez hope for a podium, but at home, with unrivaled engine power and fewer difficulties with the front, the Ducati may have a big card to play...
RESPONSE TO INTERNET USERS
Finally, to close this article, here are some responses to the interventions prompted by the previous article on the subject of electronics.
One-eyed Willy
You say “it is always possible to adjust the motorcycle turn by turn regarding the power and torque delivered by the engine. How do we do it without geolocation? »
MotoGP localization is carried out by transponders; used for a long time to record lap-by-lap times, these are elements embedded in the bitumen emitting an electromagnetic loop which, once crossed by the motorcycle, is captured and stops the chrono of the current lap, and starts that of the lap which begin.
Subsequently, this signal was used for the electronic “reset” of the machine which can thus “know” on which part of the circuit it is located. Supplemented by the tachometer which measures speeds and distance traveled, the electronics can carry out their programmed settings, the margin of error linked to differences in trajectories being relatively small.
The problems start in the event of an exit or worse if the reset transponder is not picked up…
As Eric Draven says, this happened several times, to Lorenzo in 2013 during testing or, more often, to Cal Crutchlow who is a bit of a specialist in this type of Bugs! (this year on Honda and in Qatar on Ducati where he finished (6th!) at 60km/h in the straight, his bike thinking he was in the pit lane…
