Michelin developing new MotoGP tyre after Misano test

Michelin is continuing to work on a new rear tyre for MotoGP after further running in the recent Misano test.

The French firm has been developing a tyre with a new casing such that it will warm up quicker, but otherwise deliver similar performance to that currently in use.

It was given to riders at last weekend’s Official Test at the Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli, when feedback is said to have been positive.

However, Michelin’s new-spec hoop might not be introduced until 2023, after further development.

“We have the new rear casing, which we already tested in Qatar and Barcelona, so now we try again here,” said Piero Taramasso, two-wheel manager at Michelin Motorsport.

“It’s a special casing that the goal is to improve the warm up, in the first three to four laps, then the performance is equal to the standard [current] specification.

“So far, the test results are good, we are in the right direction, but we need to do more tests during the season and then see when it will be possible to introduce.

“2022 is a little bit early because we need to do more tests and also we need to get positive answers from all the riders and teams.

“This is the most difficult point, so we may need a bit more time.

“But from an industrialisation [manufacturing] point of view, we can do that very quickly and it will help the hard specification to be more easy to warm up.

“But it’s just a small tuning so it won’t change the balance of the bike, it won’t change the geometry, the data package will be the same, just the performance in the early laps.”

There are four rounds remaining in this MotoGP season, the next being this weekend’s Grand Prix of the Americas, before an official post-season test at Jerez on November 18-19.

Michelin is looking to use that outing at the Spanish Grand Prix venue, deep into the northern hemisphere’s autumn, to test its new tyre again.

“Maybe we will try again this tyre [at Jerez] because to better understand how it works, we need to use it in cold conditions,” added Taramasso.

“So, if we have cooler conditions in Jerez, it will be even better for us.”

Dorna Sports recently announced that Michelin’s contract to supply MotoGP had been extended for three years, taking it out to the 2026 season.