Michelin prepare to take on resurfaced Phillip Island with no testing

2024 MotoGP World Championship
Round 17 – Phillip Island
Qatar Airways Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix

Two weeks after the Motul Grand Prix of Japan, the last of three consecutive race weekends, the MotoGP riders return to the track this weekend after making the long journey to Philip Island.

This will be the 34th Australian Grand Prix, which has been held every year since the first visit in 1989, except in 2020 and 2021 when the pandemic obliged the cancellation of the event. The first two Australian GPs were held at Phillip Island, before MotoGP then visited Eastern Creek for six consecutive years, returning to Phillip Island in 1997, which has been its home ever since. This is the 28th time the GP has taken place at Phillip Island.

In 2023, weather obliged changes to the weekend schedule and the MotoGP Grand Prix race was held on Saturday before it proved impossible to run the Tissot Sprint on Sunday. 2024 will, therefore, be the first Sprint to take place on the Island.

For this 2024 edition, the track has been completely resurfaced and Michelin, along with the MotoGP riders, will be experiencing the new surface for the first time when they roll out of the pits at 1045 on Friday morning  for FP1.

This point is particularly important, because even though the layout is well known, the thermal behaviour, the wear characteristics and the grip levels of the track are for the moment a big question mark.

“We are eager to discover the nature of the new Phillip Island asphalt“, says Piero Taramasso, Two-Wheel Manager of Michelin Motorsport. “As we didn’t have the opportunity to do any testing beforehand, we will bring an expanded tyre allocation. For the front we will have the same compounds (Soft, Medium and Hard) as in 2023, but for the rear, we are offering our partners three options instead of the usual two. We will have the Soft compound, with its usual internal structure, but also two tyres with Medium and Hard compounds, which benefit from a reinforced construction that we already saw at the end of September in Mandalika (Indonesia). We made this decision based on the configuration of the circuit and the constraints placed on the tyres. This weekend the challenge will be to provide our partners with front tyres that offer a good feeling and that control thermal effects well due to the fact that they can cool down easily on this track. There is no heavy braking, the air temperature is often low, and the wind here is particularly fresh. At the rear, on the other hand, while thermal control will also be one of the keys to success, it should be noted that the tyres will be exposed to constant heating due to the long fast curves and frequent acceleration that the circuit requires. However, a good understanding of the constraints generated by the new asphalt during the first test sessions will be very important.”

For the Qatar Airways Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix, Michelin’s partners will therefore have the choice between Soft, Medium and Hard rubber compounds for both the front and rear tyres. Exceptionally, as is also the case at Sachsenring (Germany) and Valencia (Spain), the front and rear tyres are asymmetric, with a reinforcement on the left side. Note that at Phillip Island, the track is used in an anticlockwise direction.

Michelin’s rain range, which according to forecasts will be needed on Friday, will be offered in Soft and Medium compounds – symmetrical for the front and asymmetric at the rear, again with the left side reinforced.

The Qatar Airways Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix will start on Friday morning 18 October with a first practice session from 1045 to 1130. Then a second session from 1500 to 1600 will allow the 10 fastest riders to directly access the second phase of qualifying (Q2). Friday is forecast to be wet.

After a final free practice session on Saturday morning between 1010 and 1040, Q1 will allow the two fastest riders to progress to Q2 in order to determine, at the end of Q2, the starting grid for the weekend.

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The 13-lap Tissot Sprint will start on Saturday at 1500, and the 27-lap Grand Prix is scheduled for Sunday 20 October at 1400.

While Friday is forecast to be wet, particularly in the afternoon, Saturday and Sunday are expected to be mainly fine with little chance of rain.

Check out out all category preview for Pirelli’s thoughts on the Moto2 tyre challenge that the resurfaced Phillip Island presents.

Records to beat

The all-time circuit lap record of 1’27.246, was set by Johan Zarco in 2023.

The fastest race lap of 1’28.108 has been held since 2014 by Marc Marquez.

The reference duration of the Grand Prix is ​​40’33.849 (2015).

Enea Bastianini has held the top speed record since 2022 with 356.4 km/h reached on the longest straight of the circuit (900m).

MotoGP Championship Standings