Why the Motegi tyre drama delivers a lesson MotoGP teams cannot ignore
On the Thursday afternoon ahead of the Japanese Grand Prix, Jack Miller spoke to the media as usual. He was asked about the tyre allocation made by Michelin, the championship's supplier, for the weekend at Motegi. There were three options for dry conditions: the conventional soft, medium and hard compounds - with the caveat that the latter featured a stiffer carcass. That ‘stiff ... Keep reading
Jack Miller spoke to the media on Thursday afternoon before the Japanese Grand Prix about the tyre allocation made by Michelin for the weekend at Motegi. There were three dry condition options: soft, medium, and hard compounds, with the hard featuring a stiffer carcass. According to Yahoo Sports, the hard specification had a layer with the same composition as the soft version.
Miller expressed concerns about the hard compound, citing past experiences with "stiff carcass" Michelins, including a difficult weekend in Austria. As a result, teams were hesitant to use the hard tyre on Friday or Saturday, even on the newly resurfaced Motegi track, which offered plenty of grip but was also highly abrasive.
A crisis meeting was held after the sprint, where Jorge Martín and Pecco Bagnaia suffered tyre damage with their soft rear tyres. The meeting was attended by a number of teams, although details of the discussion are not reported.
Brief written by urgent.news from Motorsport.com, Yahoo Sports — 2 reports on this story. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
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