Michelin: "Good results" with "new technology" 2024 front compounds
It is hoped that the "new technology" compounds, due to be paired with the all-new (and bigger) front tyre construction for 2025, will help to mitigate some of the overheating and pressure rise currently experienced when following other bikes.
Soft and medium 2024 compounds were on offer at the Valencia test last week, alongside the race weekend allocation.
“It was the first day of the 2024 season,” said Michelin's MotoGP boss Piero Taramasso.
“But track conditions were not very nice. The morning was cold with wind, the afternoon a little bit better but still not perfect. Anyway, the grip level was not bad. Just the temperature was low.
“All the riders had the same tyre allocation as the race, so they had a reference, then on top of that we proposed three new fronts.
“Two of the fronts were new compounds for the 2024 season, a soft and medium compound. The third was the 2025 front.
“For the new [2024] compounds, we had some good results. 11 riders tried the soft front and everybody liked it.
“They found it the same or better than the older technology. A little bit more support, more grip, more consistency. So this is a good indication.
“One rider tried the medium front, also he found it positive.
"Now we have a lot of data to analyse and we will bring this new technology of compound for Sepang and Qatar, for the front and rear also.”
The 2025 front will be the first complete front tyre designed specifically to deal with the extra forces generated by the aero, ride-height devices and bigger brakes now used in MotoGP.
By introducing it in two stages - initially just the new compound technology [2024], then the new compounds with the new construction [2025] - it is hoped that teams and riders will be able to adapt to the tyre more easily.
Already tried by factory test riders, the 2025 front was available with a hard compound for the race riders at the Valencia test. But the cool conditions meant it wasn't used and will be offered again at February's Sepang tests.
“The new 2025 tyre has already been validated by the test riders. This [should have been] the first time for the official riders but the conditions were not good enough to test it,” Taramasso confirmed.
“We will bring it again to the next official pre-season tests in Sepang and Qatar.”
Peter has been in the paddock for 20 years and has seen Valentino Rossi come and go. He is at the forefront of the Suzuki exit story and Marc Marquez’s injury issues.
