Michelin’s next mission in this extremely unusual season is to head to Italy where the newly resurfaced Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli will stage a busy schedule with two MotoGP and three MotoE races spread over two consecutive weekends firstly in the Gran Premio Lenovo di San Marino e della Riviera di Rimini and then the debut running of the Gran Premio Tissot dell’Emilia Romagna e della Riviera di Rimini.
Michelin is the Official Tyre Supplier to the full electric Energica Ego Corsa motorcycles. This will be the second racetrack that the new Michelin Slick MotoE tyres have been used in 2020, following a successful debut at Jerez in Spain during July. Michelin’s new tyres for MotoE are more efficient and environmentally friendly and are now benefitting from the use of sustainable resources in the compounds. The slicks will be available in medium at the front and soft at the rear – the same as at every event – both of which are symmetrical, and if wet weather arrives the Michelin Power Rain soft tyres at the front and extra soft at the rear, both of which are also symmetrical, will be in the teams’ allocation.
Piero Taramasso, Michelin Motorsport's two-wheel business manager, explains: “Back-to-back races are always a demanding time, but at these two events ahead of us we also have the added pressure of three MotoE races over the two weekends, as well as the two MotoGP races. It will be a very busy time, but everybody involved will be totally focused on their different roles to make sure all the riders – no matter what class – get exactly the same kind of information and assistance. Misano is an unusual circuit and you never really know what to expect. It gave lots of grip in 2018 and we broke records and saw fast and consistent laps, but then last year the asphalt behaved as if there was hardly any traction at all, so it was good to have it resurfaced in readiness for this season and because of testing we conducted with various teams and riders, we have the data to choose this year’s compounds, we now have to see how the asphalt performs during a race weekend".
"MotoE will have three races, one during the first weekend and then two the following week. We will be using the new tyres with the biomaterials and regenerated materials, these performed really well at Jerez in July and we expect them to give the riders the grip they need for this form of sustainable racing, which is very important to Michelin.
There will also be a big change during these two weekends because we will have spectators for the first time after five races without any. It will be a smaller amount than is normally at Misano, but this is an important step forward, especially when you consider how much Italy suffered at the start of this pandemic, it is a very positive step to see the relevant authorities taking this decision and allowing some fans in, I hope we all give them a show to be proud of”.
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