Honda detail expectation for different track conditions in Barcelona

MotoGP’s Barcelona finale this weekend will present different conditions to usual, but Honda’s Luca Marini thinks the track will still be “demanding” for tyre consumption.

This year’s Catalan Grand Prix saw ambient temperatures of 26C earlier this year in May, while this weekend temperatures are expected to be around the mid-to-high-teens.

“For me, it doesn’t change — just there’s more grip,” Marini said on how the lower temperatures could affect the track’s characteristics..

“But still it’s very demanding for the tyres because of the layout; with such long corners on the right side you spin a lot.

“But just a little bit more grip, more easy to stop the bike in braking and more speed in the straight with less temperature.”

So, will this weekend be the same as May’s Catalan Grand Prix?

“I don’t know,” Marini said. “It’s difficult to say now. For sure it will help everybody with the grip — everybody struggles a lot with the rear grip.

“So it can be an advantage for us, I think — for Honda, for Yamaha. Let’s see.

“Our bike is completely different since the GP here in Barcelona, so we will check also if our job is in a good direction, and how much the bike has improved.”

The late decision to move the final round of the 2024 season from Valencia — where severe flooding prevented the race from taking place at the Circuit Ricardo Tormo as planned — to Barcelona meant that Michelin had to decide on which compounds it would take to this race much later than normal.

“For me it doesn’t change anything,” Marini said. “So, like this is no problem, if they have to choose the tyres at the beginning of the season or no.

“In my opinion, they made a very good job this year, just the Sepang allocation was the only strange allocation, not a good one. But all the other races was perfect.”

He added: “I think the forecast will be fantastic, it looks like we’ve been lucky. Michelin bring us a very good allocation in my opinion.

“We will try to use the double compound in the front tyre, that here is always a problem the left corners — turn two and turn five especially.

“So, it will be interesting to see the soft [compound] front tomorrow morning, how it will be, and in Practice maybe the hard-compound with the double compound could be a very good option for the race. So, this I think is the most interesting thing.

“About the rear, they bring a very good soft [compound] tyre, the softest option that we have during the season and it’s a little bit strange to see such a soft tyre here in Barcelona that is a bit demanding for the tyres. But, for sure to make good lap times it will be super-fun.”

Marini added that he had suggested in the past that manufacturers should be allowed more freedom in choosing their own tyre allocations for each race.

“Sometimes I already ask if it would be the best situation to let the manufacturers pick their own tyres,” he said.

“For example, the amount of quantity, if it is possible.

“Also the compounds, because for me, here to have just five medium [compound] fronts, that is for sure the tyre that will be the best tyre — or the easiest tyre with the [single] compound, the tyre that we know every time — to only have five tyres is not enough, because if the double compound doesn’t work we have to sacrifice FP1 with not a perfect tyre just to save more medium options that for sure will be the easiest tyre for this temperature.

“In my opinion, this can be a good solution, but they don’t want to change.”