MotoGP moves to Montmelo for the triple-header final: A Michelin view
Barcelona, 23 Sept 2020: Michelin has travelled straight from Italy to Spain for the third race in a triple-header as MotoGP™ heads to Montmeló near Barcelona for the Gran Premi Monster Energy de Catalunya which is the eighth round of this truncated fourteen-race season.
Originally scheduled for June of this year, the race at the 4,627m Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya was rescheduled for late September following the worldwide pandemic. It was reconfigured and resurfaced in 2018, and this high-abrasive circuit features fast and sweeping corners, a straight over a kilometre long and elevation changes throughout its layout. It’s a track that is favourite amongst riders and often serves up exciting racing and a fantastic atmosphere, which will sadly not be there this season as due to the health protocols there will be no spectators at trackside.
Michelin has prepared a range of tyres that is ideally selected to face the requirements of the circuit and with weather conditions expected to be similar to those that would have been experienced earlier in the year, the data from previous races and tests proved invaluable when choosing the best compounds for the range of MICHELIN Power Slick tyres. Front and rear slicks will be in the usual soft, medium and hard versions, the soft and medium fronts will be symmetric, whilst the front hard and all the rears will incorporate an asymmetric finish with a harder right-hand-side, this is designed to manage the eight turns which go in that direction, compared to just the six that go left.
Rain is an unknown factor at this time of year, as autumn approaches Catalunya, so the circuit could experience some precipitation. If wet weather does arrive the range of MICHELIN Power Rain tyres in the allocation will be a soft and medium symmetric front, with soft and medium asymmetric rears, with the harder right shoulder.
Michelin’s work at Montmeló will get underway on Friday morning with the first Free Practice session, followed by a second in the afternoon, the next day will have two more practices ahead of the excitement of Qualifying on Saturday afternoon. The race will get underway on Sunday 27th September at a later start time than usual, as the MotoGP field will line up on the Michelin tyres for the start of the 24-lap race at 15.00hrs local time (14.00hrs BST, 15.00hrs CEST, 13.00hrs UTC).
Piero Taramasso – Michelin Motorsport Two-Wheel Manager:
“It seems strange to head to Barcelona as the autumn is arriving and not in springtime, but we are expecting similar conditions to what we would have had if the race had been on its original date, so the range of tyres we have supplied is the same as we would have used if the original calendar had stayed in place. The track is one that gives a really good workout for the tyres, due to its comprehensive layout that features fast corners, a long straight, hard braking and is also very tough on the right-hand-side of the tyre, due to the long corners that go in that direction. This means that what we bring to Barcelona has to do a bit of everything, but has to do it very well and we certainly have a range of tyres for that.”
