This is the fact that we will remember from the MotoGP tests in Jerez. The HRC riders were absent, Iannone managed to save a day of testing and the privateer Ducatis worked well for the factory. But these are not the elements that left their mark. No. This is another one that will make MotoGP regret the fact of having shared the track with the WSBK field. Who showed a sometimes higher level of performance.
Taken like that, the idea makes you think. How did prototypes that promise to be the most advanced motorcycles on the planet end up being pushed against the clock by machines working in a category whose vocation is to field opuses from the dealerships? Or production motorcycles!
For the image, the spotlight on some has damaged the reputation of others. With this symbol: the WSBK World Champion Jonathan Sale imposing with his Kawasaki ZX-10R a 1'38”721 synonymous with lap faster than the pole position of the last Grand Prix in Jerez last April. Produced by Valentino Rossi in 1'38”736.
Done isolated? Nope. Chaz Davies, with his Ducati Panigale R could have registered on the second row of the same Grand Prix. SO ? So, we must keep reason. And it's Danilo Petrucci, Ducati Pramac rider who worked on the new GP17, who puts things back in order on GP One.
The Italian recalls that the MotoGPs are Michelin and that the Superbikes use Pirelli. For these tests, the sole French manufacturer brought harder racing components while its Italian counterpart also made available the very soft qualifying tires. Which served as seven-league boots!
« These bikes sure are fast » explains the teammate Redding. " But Michelin provided us in Jerez with two types of front tires and one rear which were quite hard. Like racing rubber. I remember using the Pirellis when I was on Ducati in the Italian Superbike championship, and I know that their tires for qualifying are exceptional on a lap. Then afterward, the performances fade. They work particularly well when the trail is cold. And precisely, in Jerez, she was ».
« The Michelins are different. But after 22 laps, we only lost half a second whereas with the Pirellis, the gap can reach two seconds. If we had had softer Michelins, we would have lowered our performance much more significantly. ". Of which act.
