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Michelin
will be travelling to Jerez in Spain as the fourth round of the MotoGP™
Championship takes place at one of the most visited and eagerly anticipated
events of the year.
The
French tyre manufacturer has already spent a number of days testing at the Spanish
circuit during the lead-up to this season and will arrive at Jerez with
tyres specifically designed to meet the demands of the wide-ranging layout
of the circuit. Using data gathered from tests held last November and
December, and the information acquired from three challenging races so far
this season. Michelin will supply range of tyres which are designed to
provide good handling and performance, whilst still providing stability,
durability and safety. The front tyre allocation will feature all three
compounds – soft, medium and hard – which can be identified by their white,
no colour and yellow bands respectively.
The
4.4km circuit is not as severe on tyres as previous tracks visited this
season, but it still needs some distinct solutions to give the bikes the
best performance options. With this in mind the rear tyres will feature the
stiffer construction – as used for the first time in Austin last time out –
along with a softer compound especially tailored for the Jerez circuit. The
rear MICHELIN Power Slicks will be available in a soft compound which will
be a symmetrical design, whilst the medium version will feature an
asymmetrical compound, with a harder right-hand-side to the tyre to take
into account the number of longer right-hand corners. The rear tyres will
be identified by a white band on the tyre sidewall of the softer version
and no band on the medium. If the weather should turn wet at any point
during the weekend there will also be the front and rear soft and hard
compound MICHELIN Power Rain tyres available.
Although
it is the first of four rounds held in Spain during the MotoGP season,
Jerez is the only one that carries the name ‘Spanish Grand Prix’. As
one of the best spectator circuits on the calendar, almost a quarter-of-a-million fans crammed into the viewing areas during last year’s
three-day event and a similar sized crowd is expected this year. The
passionate and colourful crowd at trackside makes this one of the events of
the year and a race that many regard as the true start of the season.
Located in Andalucía in the heart of Spain’s Sherry making region, the
undulating layout of the Jerez circuit, with fast and slow corners, long
straights and hard-braking areas, has a tradition of delivering memorable
battles throughout its illustrious history, including numerous Michelin
victories by many famous champions.
Michelin
and the MotoGP field will take to the track on Friday for two 45-minute
Free Practice sessions, followed by another practice the following morning.
The all-important qualifying session takes place on Saturday afternoon to
decide grid positions for Sunday’s 27-lap race which gets underway at
14.00hrs local time (14.00hrs CEST, 13.00hrs BST, 12.00hrs GMT/UTC).
Nicolas
Goubert – Deputy Director, Technical Director and Supervisor of the
MotoGP Programme:
“The
demands on the tyres are not as intense at Jerez as some of the other
tracks we have visited this season – or will do as the year progresses –
but the circuit still has its own demands that we must find the correct
solutions for. The specific compounds we will be using will enable the tyre
to perform at its best for the entire lap throughout Jerez’s varied layout.
We have had a number of tests at the circuit and it was one that Michelin
raced at with great success during its last time in MotoGP, so we are going
to a track with quite a lot of information for the first time this season.
That said though, this will be the first time we have been there in a racing capacity in seven-years, so we are still very much in a learning
process and will be throughout the whole weekend.”
Piero
Taramasso – Manager
of the Two-Wheel Motorsport Group:
“The
start of the season has been very intense for the whole team and now they
are all looking forward to the first race in Europe, because it feels a little bit like we will be coming home. For the first time this year we
will have our tyre fitting bays, offices and the hospitality unit at a racetrack, but in some ways this is also a bit of a long-haul race because
the distance to the Jerez circuit is the longest we will drive for one
single event this season. As a result the logistics of getting everything
to a race for the first time are increased – but we are all up for the
challenge. Jerez is a great place to begin the European races, it is always
really busy and the crowds are fantastic, so we cannot wait to be a part of
that and put on a good show for all of the spectators.”
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