#

TM

michelin Mottoo GP 1 0 MAG

A

t

h

i

r

d

w

i

n

f

o

r

V

i

ñ

a

l

e

s

agence cha contents

3 - foreword

4 5 - overview Jerez Le mans / & 6 - Readily available on-screen information 7 - Zarco goes from strength-to-strength 8 - Getting to grips with a new track surface 9 - A new front tyre for Mugello 10 - Lorenzo’s first podium for Ducati 11 - Wet-weather tyres put to the test 12 - Farewell champion 13 - Nicolas Goubert says... foreword The start of the European leg of the 2017 campaign took the MotoGP TM prota - gonists to Jerez and Le Mans, against the back - drop of an intense Yamaha/ duel that had been brewing since the beginning of the season. That theme very much continued in Spain and France, with Honda dominating at Jerez before Yamaha fought back at Le Mans… OVERVIEW This general absence of consistency wing a late mistake, Rossi made one speaks volumes for the calibre of final effort to wrest the lead back competition in the premier class in away from Maverick Viñales only to 2017 – not to mention the risks that come unstuck at the ‘Bleus’ Esses. many are now prepared to take in After crashing out in Texas and ma - their pursuit of the coveted world naging no better than sixth at Jerez, championship crown. Having arrived the Spaniard duly returned to the top After the first five grands prix of the season, at Le Mans at the top of the table, Va - step of the rostrum at La Sarthe – the top eight contenders in the MotoGP TM clas - lentino Rossi found his position usur - scene of his maiden MotoGP TM po - sification all have at least one DNF against ped by his team-mate in a Grand Prix dium a year earlier with . In so de France that will go down in the doing, he snatched the championship their name. Ninth-placed is the history books as the two Yamaha ri - lead back away from his team-mate, only rider to have scored in every race to-date, ders duelled tooth-and-nail right the who had supplanted him at the sum - with a tally of 38 points thus far. way down to the very last lap. Follo - mit of the standings in Austin. Three out of five for Maverick OVERVIEW

Having claimed three victories from and only one failure to score, in Argen - the opening five races, Viñales is un - tina. That is a better record than com - questionably the man to beat at this patriot Marc Márquez, who has early stage of proceedings, with the already made a couple of costly mis - Yamaha rider currently sitting 17 takes at Termas de Rio Honda and Le points clear of Gran Premio de España Mans. Just fourth in the standings, the winner in second. Firmly defending champion is 27 points adrift back in contention this season, the of leader Viñales – slightly more than Honda rider is reaping the rewards of the value of a race win – but with 13 a change in approach and the appoint - grands prix still to run, there is plenty ment of a new management team of time to catch up yet. with a hat-trick of podiums to-date TECHNOLOGY

Readily available on-screen information Since the beginning of the sea - son, MotoGP TM television vie - wers can see in real time which compound of tyre each rider is using in the race courtesy of in - novative new graphics: S for soft, M for medium and H for hard. The wheels are depicted along with the appropriate rider’s name when the producer chooses to display the informa - tion on the screen. This data is provided by the compulsory pressure sensor on all MotoGP TM bike wheels, and is verified by Michelin’s technicians after the tyres have been fitted for prac - tice and qualifying sessions, and for the races themselves. CHAMPION

Zarco goes from Just as he had done in Qatar back in March, led the strength-to-strength opening six laps of the Grand Prix de France. This time, however, the Yamaha Tech 3 rider succeeded in remaining upright. After having to give best to his factory Yamaha counterparts Maverick Viñales and , the Frenchman concen - trated his efforts on holding onto third place, before the nine-time world cham - pion’s last lap accident elevated him to the second step on the rostrum. “Third was already good, but second is obviously even better,” he agreed after delighting the partisan crowd by securing the best premier class finish for a Frenchman on home soil since at Paul Ricard back in 1988. At Le Mans, Zarco took full advantage of the work accomplished during the test at Jerez. “We focused on improving drive out of the corners,” Could that breakthrough victory come soon? “We’re reveals his crew chief, Guy Coulon, “and getting closer, but we still have improvements to the results were immediate.” Having make in terms of the general management of the made consistent progress since the first bike, grip and acceleration,” he muses. “One thing race in Qatar, there is now just one remai - I did learn at Le Mans is that starting on the front ning step for Johann to take – the one re - row of the grid is key to a good finish. ” The rei - quired to become a MotoGP TM race-winner. gning Moto2 world champion will clearly be aiming to practise what he preaches next time out in the Gran Premio d’Italia at Mugello. ADAPTATION

Last winter, Le Mans’ Bugatti Circuit was completely changed – no small task given that it involved laying down more than four kilometres of new asphalt. The objective was to smooth out the bumps to improve grip – something that had been dis - tinctly lacking in recent years, parti - cularly in wet conditions. Michelin organised a special test day just before the Gran Premio de España to learn as much as possible about this new surface, attended by Yamaha duo Valentino Rossi and Maverick Viñales, KTM team-mates Bradley Smith and Pol Getting to grips Espargaró and Cal Crutchlow for Honda. “This was an important fact-finding with a new exercise to enable us to take the most ap - propriate tyre allocation to the Grand Prix track surface de France,” explains Nicolas Goubert. In preparation, Michelin’s engineers had already gleaned a lot of information from the 24 Heures Motos held at the Bugatti Circuit in April, through the Clermont- Ferrand based manufacturer’s relationship in the FIM Endurance World Championship with Yamaha teams Viltaïs Experience and LMD63. “That meant we already had some feedback about the gap between the new and former grip level, wear rates, optimum working temperature and the time taken to reach that stage,” adds the man in charge of Michelin’s MotoGP TM programme. TYRES From the Gran Premio d’Italia, MotoGP TM riders will have access to a new type of front tyre benefit - ting from a slightly stiffer construc - tion – an architecture that most notably enhances stability under braking. This tyre was first used at the final grand prix of 2016 in Valencia, but following complaints from a number of competitors about chatter, Michelin’s engineers developed it into the front tyre that has been available since the e beginning of this year. “With seve - yr ral riders having subsequently revi - t t sed their opinions, we took the on llo decision to give them all the oppor - fr ge tunity to re-evaluate the architec - ew Mu ture trialled at the end of 2016 n r during the test at Jerez the day A fo after the Gran Premio de España,” states Nicolas Goubert. “To make it a rele - vant comparison, we offered this construction with two different compounds, to allow everybody access to the same compound that they had run in the race. The conclusion was a clear advantage for the stiffer construction. We didn’t have time to get this tyre ready for use in the Grand Prix de France, but it will be fully available for the next race at Mugello.” HAPPY

Lorenzo’s first podium for Ducati

Following a trio of challenging overseas races to start the season, claimed his first podium of the 2017 campaign at Jerez – and his first aboard the Ducati Desmo - sedici. The three-time world champion couldn’t have wi - shed for a better gift to celebrate his 30th birthday, at the same circuit where – 15 years earlier – he had made his very first grand prix start in the 125cc category. Whilst he could only qualify on the third row, the Spaniard had advanced to fourth place within just six laps before relieving Johann Zarco of third. “I think I made the right choice in terms of the front tyre,” the Mallorca-born rider reflected. “I’m delighted to be able to share this first po - dium for Ducati with all my fans who have turned out to support me at this fantastic circuit – one that has rarely smiled upon Ducati in the past. That proves that we are heading in the right direction, even if my acclimatisation to the Desmose - dici has been a bit more complicated than I’d anticipated.” TYRES Wet-weather tyres put to the test

Hot on the heels of the test held after the Gran Premio de España at Jerez, Michelin organised another session in Valencia, with the intention of trying out new wet-wea - ther tyres on an artificially soaked circuit. This year, Michelin is nolonger offering the option of intermediates, after the French manufacturer’s wet-weather tyres demons - trated their capabilities last season in condi - tions ranging from a sodden surface to a drying track with just damp patches remaining. Such attributes clearly require continuous evolution and a tireless develop - ment ethos. In what was a particularly busy period for the MotoGP TM competitors, only the Honda Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS team was able to take part in the Michelin test. “It’s a shame that there were not more participants,” acknowledges Nicolas Goubert, “but we were still able to carry out a number of very specific analytical tests, all of which yielded useful results. This helped us to pinpoint a good direction to pursue for both the front and rear tyre.” NICKY

Farewell champion

Following a collision with a car whilst out training on his road bike, sadly succumbed to his injuries on Monday, March 22 at Cesena Hospital in Italy at the age of just 35. The American’s passing has left the world of racing in mourning. Born in Kentucky to a family of motorbike enthu - siasts, Hayden achieved his life’s ambition when he clinched the MotoGP world championship crown with Honda in 2006. A brave fighter on the track and the perfect gentleman off it, he was unanimously popular. After 13 seasons in the premier class, he made the move to the World Superbike Championship at the end of 2015 – although he did return to MotoGP briefly towards the end of last year as a replacement for the injured Dani Pedrosa. “We are all very sad and shocked by Nicky’s pas - sing,” said Michelin Motorsport Director Pascal Couasnon. “Nicky was a fierce competitor, a true champion and a very kind, generous and well-loved man. Michelin had the privilege of working with him during the season when he won the world title in 2006. His loss is a tragedy for his family and friends, quite clearly, but also for the world of motorcycle racing in general.” So long, champion... “At Jerez, our priority was to avoid the same kind of criticism that had been direc - ted at us last year. The riders complained of too much wheel spin. This time, it was an entirely different story although as al - ways at Jerez, we encountered variations in temperature between the morning and afternoon sessions. The lap times in the race were not quite as quick as we had Nicolas Goubert says... been hoping for, and it is difficult to un - derstand exactly why the grip of the track behaved differently from one session or one day to the next. We are still wonde - ring if the rubber laid down by the Moto3 and Moto2 riders earlier in the day didn’t have an effect on the performance of our tyres as some people say ? We can’t know for sure why but the surface gave very little grip at 2pm Sunday and that can only be explained by the climb in track tempe - rature. The following race weekend at Le Mans, we found ourselves faced with a new asphalt surface. The changeable wea - ther didn’t grant the teams much time to set their bikes up for dry conditions but, from our side, we were able to gather plenty of data on our wet tyres, which worked very well during practice. We were similarly satisfied with the performance of the slick tyres we brought along. As antici - pated, the lap times were significantly fas - ter than last year and a number of riders even posted their quickest efforts towards the end of the race, which ensured a spec - tacular show from lights-to-flag.” calendar ranking /

2017 Championship

1 - Vińales (Yamaha)...... 85 2 - Pedrosa (Honda)...... 68 3 - Rossi (Yamaha)...... 62 4 - Marquez (Honda)...... 58 5 - Zarco (YAMAHA)...... 55 6 - dovizioso (Ducati)...... 54 7 - crutchlow (honda)...... 40 ...

Date Grand Prix circuit

pre-season sepang, philip island, losail mag 8 1 26 03 Qatar Losail International 2 09 /04 Argentina Termas de Río Hondo mag 9 3 23 /04 Américas 4 07 /05 Spain 5 21 /05 France Le Mans mag 10 6 04 / 06 Italy Mugello 7 11 0/ 6 Catalunya barcelona-Catalunya mag 11 8 25 / 06 Netherlands TT circuit Assen 9 02 /07 Germany 10 06 /08 CZECH REPUBLIC automotodrom Brno 11 13 /08 austria Red-bull ring mag 12 12 27 /08 GREAT BRITAIN Silverstone 13 10 /09 San Marino Misano mag 13 14 24 / 09 Aragón MotorLand Aragón 15 15 /10 Japan 16 22 / 10 Australia Phillip Island mag 14 17 29 /10 Malaysia Sepang International 18 12 /11 Valencia circuito ricardo tormo mag 15 /