New Michelin MotoGP era underway

MotoGP Testing Valencia 2015 - Jorge Lorenzo with Michelin Techs — MotoGP Testing Valencia 2015 – Jorge Lorenzo with Michelin Techs

Just two days after the end of the 2015 MotoGP season, the 2016 season got underway with the first Official Test in Valencia on Tuesday.

On Tuesday the 2016 MotoGP season kicked off with the first Official test at the Comunitat Valenciana – Ricardo Tormo circuit. The new season not only sees a new rider join the MotoGP paddock in the shape of Tito Rabat, but also a raft of technical changes aimed at levelling the playing field along with some team line-up changes.

The technical changes include the introduction of a Spec ECU that all teams must use, Michelin taking over as the sole tyre supplier, a fuel limit of 22 litres for all and the use of seven engines for the year, plus the bikes now have to weigh a maximum of 157kg compared to 158kg in 2015. The wheel diameter has also been increased by half an inch to 17” by Michelin, as they look to bring them more inline with road bikes.

So with this in mind and after the incredible finish to the 2015 season, all eyes were once again on Valencia today as riders took to the track for the first time in anger for the 2016 MotoGP World Championship season.

Repsol Honda’s Marc Marquez ended the day on top of the timesheets with a 1’31.551 as he spent the morning on his 2015 machine assessing the new Michelin tyres, before swapping to the 2016 RC213V in the afternoon. Impressively the Spaniard managed to lap within a tenth of his best time from the race at the track just two days previously despite a crash early on at turn 3.

Marc Marquez – P1 – “We went out on track and on the opening laps I lost the front. I realised that the Michelin tyres may have worked well for us in testing at Aragon, but they react differently on every type of asphalt. From that moment we started again, doing a run with the same bike we used during the weekend. Then we changed to the new software and we saw that there is definitely some work ahead for us. It’s only the first day and we have to adjust many things. At the end of the day we tried the new engine together with the Magneti Marelli software, but in order to draw any conclusions we first have to finish setting up the electronics and when we have a good base, then we will be able to evaluate the engine properly.”

His teammate Dani Pedrosa (0.130s) finished in third as he also assessed the new machine in the afternoon, although both riders set their best time on the 2015 bike.

Dani Pedrosa – P3 – “Today was a rather different day. We have done a lot of work, but it is also important to take things slowly. We had the new tyres, so at first we were careful with in order to progressively get a feel for them and understand their reaction with the asphalt at this track. Later on we tried the new Magneti Marelli electronics and the first feeling we have is that they are very much in the preliminary stage and certainly a step backwards. Right now the electronics are still giving us a lot of problems and are difficult to use. We have to work hard to understand it and see what parameters we should concentrate on more. It’s also a job for the rider, because you must gain experience in order to understand what you have and what you don’t, compared with the previous version.”

Ducati Team’s Andrea Iannone (+0.088s) was second fastest despite crashing twice at turn 3, as he and his teammate Andrea Dovizioso (10th) tried out the new software and tyres on their respective GP15 machines, but they will have to wait for the Sepang test to get their hands on the Desmosedici GP16.

Andrea Iannone – P2 – “I think that today was a positive day, because we did a lot of laps and understood a lot of things, so it’s a good start. This is only the second time that I have tested the Michelin tyres and in the end I am quite satisfied because, even though we still have to work to optimize the details, I think that we have responded well to this important change. I’m sorry about the crash, but at the end of the session we made a modification that clearly did not work. Today the 2016 MotoGP season got underway and next year I expect to be up there fighting at the top with the best riders. I’m very confident and convinced I belong to a great group of guys.”

Andrea Dovizioso – P10 – “These testing days are very important because this time the change is a really big one. The Michelin tyres have very different characteristics and so we also have to adapt our riding style, because the corner approach and the lines cannot be the same as the ones we were used to. For sure there is still a lot of work to do to adjust and understand the direction to take for the future, but it’s important to start off well and up at the front, and in any case first sensations are positive.”

Team Suzuki Ecstar’s Rookie of the Year Maverick Viñales (+0.169s) ended the day in fourth, just over two-tenths quicker than his teammate Aleix Espargaro in seventh. The duo were focusing on the setup their bikes to run with the new tyres, with Viñales managing to improve his best time from the Valencia GP by over half a second, while Suzuki Test Rider’s Takuya Tsuda (22nd) and Nobuatsu Aoki (23rd) worked on the new software.

Maverick Viñales – P4 – “Today we have focused mainly in finding the feeling with the new tyres and my judgement so far is very positive and I feel comfortable with them. I could have been more effective in the braking as the rear is so stable, allowing me to be effective in the entrance of the corner and also in corner-speed. The character of these tyres is different from the previous ones, we need to better-understand how they react and the crash I had today is proof of this: I suddenly lost the front without any warning; my feeling is that they have much-more grip at the rear but still some uncertainty about the front. This will affect my riding style because I will probably have to load the front more to keep it more stable. In the afternoon we started to introduce some little adaptations in the set-up and the electronics to see the reactions and to prepare tomorrow’s job. But I think we can be satisfied with today, we did a good job with a good fast lap-time, but also the consistency is very good, when the tyres get worn I still feel I can trust them.”

Aleix Espargaro – P9 – “This day has been a little strange because it’s the very first time in my career that I have crashed twice in the same day. Of course, new tyres mean a lot of work to adapt the riding style because their behaviour is pretty peculiar; now we have a very good performing rear-end and a front that still needs improvements. In fact, the two crashes I had were due to a sudden lack of grip at the front. For sure, the riding style has to change; I need to push more in the front and to take advantage of the positives of these new Michelins. To have much-more grip at the rear means that I can take the bike up immediately at mid-corner and open the throttle earlier. Of course we need to also change the machine’s set-up; so far we focused to get our impressions of the tyres without major improvements in the bike, so we will now start to change the machine.”

Movistar Yamaha’s newly crowned 2015 MotoGP World Champion Jorge Lorenzo finished 0.216s off the pace of Marquez in fifth.

Jorge Lorenzo – P5 – “It is fantastic to ride around as the World Champion. It‘s an unbelievable feeling, I couldn‘t be happier. The situation during the whole championship and especially the last race couldn‘t have been more emotional, but I still have to test the Michelin tyres and I can‘t relax and enjoy it completely because I need the tension to not make a mistake and crash. We started the test with completely the same bike as the race, just with the Michelin tyres. At the beginning it was difficult to get good lap times, but by changing the setting of the bike little by little, we improved the feeling of the front quite a bit. We didn‘t solve the problem completely. I now have a feeling that I think everybody has; at the entry of the corner we lose a bit of stability and also when reaching the maximum lean with throttle the front can close suddenly if you push so much. It‘s the opposite for the rear tyre, it‘s fantastic! It‘s unbelievably grippy and it gives you a very good feeling. We need to work a bit more on the front.”

The man who Lorenzo beat to the title in Valencia GP, his teammate Valentino Rossi, ended the day in 12th. Both riders spent the morning on the 2015 versions of their M1’s, before switching to the 2016 version in the afternoon and setting their best times of the day.

Valentino Rossi – P12 – “It‘s a big change and it will be interesting, especially the tyre will make a big difference for next year. A lot changed, especially the setting, the weight distribution of the bike and everything. It looks like our competitors are a little ahead, because they‘ve made more kilometres with the Michelin, but it‘s just the first day. I also tried the new electronics and also that, as I expected, was quite a big step because it‘s like going a little bit into the past. However, that too could be interesting and it‘s only the first day, we have a lot to work on. The rear tyre is very similar and Michelin is good, it has very good grip. The front is the big difference. We need to understand how much weight this tyre needs to turn at the maximum. We need some more time.”

LCR Honda’s Cal Crutchlow (+0.360s) had a crash early on at turn 5 but ended up going went three tenths quicker than during the race as he tested out some Nissin brakes, ending the day in an impressive sixth.

The Monster Yamaha Tech 3 duo of Pol Espargaro and Bradley Smith occupied seventh and eighth respectively on the timesheets, as only six-hundredths of a second separated the teammates despite the former also crashing just before lunch at turn 1.

Scott Redding got his first taste of the Ducati GP15 as he made his debut with the Octo Pramac Racing team. The British rider clearly liked his new bike as he improved his best lap time from Sunday’s race by over half a second to finish in 11th. This was over two tenths quicker than his new teammate Danilo Petrucci in 13th.

The Avintia Racing team were working with the Ducati GP14.2, with the 2015 Open class champion Hector Barbera in 14th and his new teammate Loris Baz in 18th.

Jack Miller completed his switch to the Marc VDS Racing Team by finishing in 15th. The Australian improving by almost a second on his best lap time from Sunday.

The test also saw the full debut of Tito Rabat in the premier class on the EG 0,0 Marc VDS Honda. The 2014 Moto2 World Champion completing an incredible 84 laps throughout the day – 17 more than anyone else – to finish in 15th.

Aprilia Racing Team Gresini’s Stefan Bradl ended the day in 17th and 20th respectively, as they too chose to stick with their 2015 machines to help them work on the new tyres and electronics.

The Aspar MotoGP Team have switched to Ducati machinery for 2016, meaning that Eugene Laverty (21st) and his new teammate Yonny Hernandez (18th) both got their hands on a GP14.2 for the first time at the test. Both riders managed to improve their best times from the GP by over two-tenths as they put their new bikes through their paces.

Yonny Hernández – P19 – “Today we worked with the Open electronics, which are different to what I used last season. The team didn’t know the bike so it was a shakedown test, a chance for us to try a few things. I also made the most of the day to get to know the team and the first impressions are great. Also all the riders were on Michelin tyres today. They are completely different, the front feels a little strange and I didn’t have a good feeling so I didn’t push it too hard or take risks on the first day. There were quite a few crashes today so I took it steady. We worked with the Open electronics today but at Jerez we will have the 2016 material. There were a lot of new things today like the team and the tyres, so tomorrow we will pay more attention to the lap time. We gathered a lot of information that will allow us to take a step forward tomorrow. I am very happy to have joined the Power Electronics Aspar Team. The first impressions are great and I think we have huge potential to achieve big things together next season.”

Eugene Laverty – P21 – “From the first few exits on the Ducati I really enjoyed it. I didn’t expect the transition to be so seamless. It’s a nice bike to ride, with plenty of power out of the corner, which is always a good thing. The power is there right through the range and that allows you to build the speed progressively. I wasn’t sure if it would suit my style because I like to pick the bike up out of the corner, whereas I noticed other Ducati riders this year using quite a lot of angle, but it was fine. This is the first time in twenty years of riding motorcycles that I have used a seamless gearbox so it was something special. Changing gear in turn 12, I had to be a little careful because the power is there right away, whereas I’m used to a slight delay. Like a lot of other riders are saying I feel like the new tyres have a lot of grip on the rear, even when it is worn, but I don’t have a good feeling with the front yet. We need to change our front fork setting to allow me to push the front a little harder, I had a small crash in the first right hand corner so at least I know to take it a little easier there! But I can’t really say the problem in the front is the tyre, it is just a matter of adapting the suspension how I like it. It has been nice to see some red shirts in the garage today, even Gigi [dall’Igna] himself paid us a visit so it is clear we have the support of the factory and that is really important.”