Front tyre pressure ‘a game you have to play’

Three rounds into the 2024 MotoGP season and, so far, not a single rider has been in breach of the tyre pressure limits, now enforced by a harsher post-race penalty.

Riders must stay above a lower front minimum of 1.8 bar (instead of 1.88) for 60% (instead of 50%) of a Grand Prix distance, or 30% of a Sprint. Failing to meet those minimums results in a 16-second time penalty in a GP, or 8-second penalty for a Sprint/short race.

Not only have all riders been compliant so far this year, but the problem of rising front tyre pressure when closely following other bikes in a race seems to have been reduced.

When real-time tyre pressure monitoring officially began last year, it compounded the rising front pressure issue, since teams were obliged to use a higher starting pressure to avoid the risk of a penalty.

However, alongside the lowering of the minimum from 1.88 to 1.8 bar, Michelin has also introduced new front tyre compounds to better resist rising pressure this season. A new construction is due to follow in 2025.

MotoGP designers also appear to have made progress in addressing the impact of ‘following’ on the front tyre, while riders are more aware of how to manage the front pressure.

"In this track normally the races are quite boring but this one was very nice, a lot of fights. Very spectacular," Michelin's Piero Taramasso enthused.

“I would not call it a problem, I will call it a game you have to play,” Aprilia's COTA winner Maverick Vinales said of controlling tyre pressure during a race. 

“Obviously [in the Sprint] I had more potential [by leading every lap] because the pressure and temperature keeps the same through all the race.

“[In the Grand Prix] it went up and down. It depends if you follow or not. But it’s a game we all play and we all know. You can do some things. You can go out of the slipstream. You can brake out of the racing line.

“You have all weekend to understand in case the tyre heats up where to [cool it] down. However, as I said, it’s a game you have to play. I think my tyres worked really well this weekend”

Rookie and COTA runner-up Pedro Acosta said his only issue when following in MotoGP was being sucked into the draft of another bike under braking - but it was also a factor in the smaller classes.

“For me it was quite new this rule about the tyres and the penalties and these things for the factory. They didn’t have much time,” Acosta said.

“In our case, they [KTM] work a lot. We are able to follow the other bikes and not have very big problems, only in the braking. [But] this happened with aero and without aero.

“In any case, I feel that last year was quite new for everyone and now everyone is used to it more and thinking also [about it] when they are building a new bike.”

Ducati's Third-place finisher Enea Bastianini added: “I think today there wasn’t a big problem with the front tyre. Also, we have a new tyre this year with a new solution, the new spec. It’s not bad. It worked very well.

“When I was in [following other riders in] sixth or seventh place, it has been a little bit difficult. But after, like Maverick said, you can go out of the slipstream and you can brake out of the slipstream and it’s better if you do this.”

But it's too early to say if the issue of rising front tyre pressure, contributing to dull racing, or the risk of result-changing post-race penalties, is a thing of the past.

When real-time pressure penalties were introduced at Silverstone last year, it took three rounds for the first breach to occur, by Vinales, in Catalunya. 

However, by the end of the year, there had been 24 infringements, over 12 rounds.

Officials believe the use of a warning (often referred to as a 'joker' by teams and riders) for a first offence 'inflated' those figures and only four riders went on to receive a time penalty for a second offence. 

The warning has been removed for 2024.