#StyrianGP – Red Bull Ring: Michelin MotoGP review

 In MotoGP, News

Rookie Jorge Martin put his MICHELIN Power Slick tyres to good use by taking his maiden MotoGP™ victory in a restarted and slightly shortened 27-lap MICHELIN® Grand Prix of Styria, ahead of Joan Mir (Team Suzuki Ecstar) and Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) who took second and third places respectively.

For the race, the majority of riders went for the Medium front and Medium rear MICHELIN Power Slicks, and this was the combination chosen by all of the riders on the podium.

During Q2 on Saturday, the only completely dry day of the weekend, Jorge Martin set a new all-time circuit lap record of 1’22.994 on his Ducati shod with Medium front and Soft rear MICHELIN Power Slicks, beating the previous record set by Marc Marquez in 2019.

Friday’s Free Practice sessions were dry in the morning and wet in the afternoon, so all of the Michelin tyre options got to see some track action, which helped the teams get invaluable set-up information for the dry qualifying on Saturday and in case of the widely predicted wet race on Sunday.

Despite not particularly high track temperatures during the weekend, the very specific circuit layout generates a lot of heat in the tyres necessitating a special casing construction for the rear slicks that are used here at Spielberg. Less than half a second covered the top eight places in qualifying on the MICHELIN Power Slicks, with all three front options being used to compliment the Soft rears used by all riders in Q2.

Speaking after the race, Piero Taramasso, Michelin Two-Wheel Motorsport Manager, said: “The mixed conditions during the weekend gave the riders the opportunity to test all of our Austria allocation, both Rain and Slick options. The feedback was extremely positive, and this validates the work our tyre designers have done to deliver tyres which can handle the arduous track conditions here at the Red Bull Ring.

“We were all ready for the first ever wet MotoGP race here at the Red Bull Ring, but thankfully for the spectators the conditions stayed dry, and the riders were able to run the MICHELIN Power Slicks. The all-round versatility of our tyres was shown with five different manufacturers in the top five places, and the grip remained consistent for the duration of the race.”

The Michelin Motorsport team will remain here in Austria, ready for the next race here at the Red Bull Ring – the Bitci Motorrad Grand Prix von Österreich on 15 August.

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