Michelin has explained the issue of front tyre pressure that Fabio Quartararo mentioned as "out of control" during MotoGP Aragon Grand Prix which resulted in him falling behind to 18th position.
Team Petronas SRT's Quartararo opted for the medium front tyre in the initial stages of the Aragon race. However, after three laps, he was struggling for pace and began to drop down the order as the pressure in the tyre increased significantly.
Unfortunately, he finished the race 18th and lost the lead in the world championship to Joan Mir, who is now six points ahead of this weekend's Teruel GP.
According to Michelin, the tyres had no problem however, Quartararo's team was not ready to try the tyres in FP4 which meant SRT had no data to consider regarding which tyre pressure is optimal. This could have resulted in the increased tyre pressure.
"We exchanged the data and the situation is clear," Michelin's Piero Taramasso mentioned. From the point of view of the tyre there is no problem, the tyre was fine.
"The choice of the medium tyre on the front was the right one, given the track conditions and also seeing the results after the race. "So, it's not a problem related to the compound that has been chosen.
"The problem was that they were unable to test the medium tyre during FP4, in conditions similar to those of the race, so they didn't have data to understand what pressures to use and they calculated base pressures that turned out to be a bit higher than they should be."
Also See:Quartararo: "Out of control" Front Tyre Pressure To Be Blamed
Taramasso explains Fabio Quartararo's issues to have worsen further by riding hard in the early laps in traffic.
"Starting with a little higher pressures, with aggressive riding in the first laps and staying in traffic, the pressure has risen," he added.
"It is known that when you follow other bikes, the tyre does not cool down and therefore the pressure has risen further, changing the behaviour of the bike. At that point it was all difficult for Fabio Quartararo."
Quartararo's 18th in last weekend's Aragon GP proved to be his worst result since the time when he started racing in MotoGP from the year 2019.
