New asphalt and layout awaits in Barcelona; three tyre options available

Barcelona, 13 June 2018: The Gran Premi Monster Energy de Catalunya hosts the seventh round of the 2018 MotoGP™ season, with the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya having undergone a complete resurfacing, as well as modifications being made at Turn 13.

Michelin had initially planned to bring four tyre allocations to the Catalan GP, however the test that was completed here last month meant the Official MotoGP™ Class Tyre could narrow the options down to three.

The three front slick tyres in a soft, medium and hard compound will all be symmetric in design, whilst the three rear slicks – also in soft, medium and hard – will feature a harder right-hand-side, giving them an asymmetric performance to cope with the eight right turns that the track possesses, in contrast to just five left corners.

Piero Taramasso, Michelin Motorsport Two-Wheel Manager, said: “Catalunya was another track that we had little knowledge of what to expect when we made the plan for tyre allocation before the season had started. The recent test we had there – which featured almost the whole MotoGP field – has changed that and given us a clear plan, this has allowed us to make the decision of what tyres we need to bring to cope with the new surface and layout.

“It was a very positive test and the riders gave some good feedback, which has enabled us to choose the specific compounds which are ideally matched to the new asphalt. The times were very fast, even though we were comparing them to the older layout, so we expect some very quick laps this weekend. This is always one of the best events of the season and the track gives some thrilling racing, so we hope we can play a big part in that excitement by supplying the riders with the optimum tyres to give them the best performance possible.”