Michelin postpones new MotoGP front tyre until 2026

Michelin has pushed back the planned introduction of its new MotoGP front tyre from 2025 until 2026.

The tyre, which features a revised construction and profile, is intended to enhance grip and feedback - but also improve the racing by being less sensitive to temperature and pressure changes when following other bikes.

Testing of the new tyre has been hampered by rain at the Mugello post-race outing and the cramped nature of the racing calendar. However, track time was reserved for the new front at the recent Misano test.

Afterwards, Michelin’s Piero Taramasso reported “the majority of riders liked it” but warned: “Now we need to analyse all the data and see what we can do, knowing that we don't have too much time.”

The outcome of that analysis was revealed on the eve of the second Misano round, with Michelin deciding to ‘push back’ introduction of the new front until 2026.

“We did a very good test on Monday after the Misano race. Some riders liked [the new front] a lot. Some less. But what was very positive for us was that everybody gave the same comments,” Taramasso told Simon Crafar during opening practice for the Emilia Romagna GP.

“For example, they said, ‘the tyre has more grip. We feel more contact patch. But the bike is heavy’. Also ‘we feel a good potential. We can push. But the movement is too much when you brake hard’.

“Some they liked these characteristics, some not and some were in the middle. After looking at all the comments and all the data from the telemetry, we decided to push back by one season the introduction of the new front.

“We were thinking to put it into the race allocation for 2025. Now we have pushed back until one year later. Because we need the time, based on those comments, to make a few changes to the tyre.

“Then we will test in Valencia [2024], Sepang [2025], Thailand [2025] and then fix the model. Once the model [tyre] is fixed, we will bring this model to all the official testing during 2025.

“Because the riders need to ride more with this new tyre. They need to set up the bike, the manufacturers need to understand how it works. Because this tyre is really different: Different material, different casing, different profile.

“All the riders said ‘wow, when you ride the first lap, it's very strange. You need to ride more and more and more’. Because it's a different philosophy. They just need more time to understand it and so this is the decision we took.”

Feedback at the Misano test suggested riders liked the highspeed cornering stability but also experienced locking in a straight line.

“It depends on riding style and bike, but basically this tyre is lighter, 1kg or 20% less [than now]. When you brake, you squash more the tyre. You get a bigger contact patch. That’s why it feels heavy, but the grip is better,” Taramasso explained.

“They just need time and probably to adapt their riding style. But riders like Pecco, Jorge, Marc, Jack Miller, Luca liked it a lot. Others said no, we need more time. So we need to find a model that works well for more riding styles.

“That's why we need more testing and we decided to push back by one year more.”