Michelin to Investigate Bagnaia’s “Strange” Performance Fluctuations in Emilia Romagna MotoGP

Michelin is "eager to review the data" following Bagnaia's "unusual" race performance

"Seeing a strong start, followed by a sudden dip, and then a return to strong performance isn't typically what we observe."

Michelin is poised to examine the data following Francesco Bagnaia's repeated emphasis on tyre problems during Sunday's Emilia Romagna MotoGP race.

In the third race weekend out of the last three, the current titleholder experienced issues with his tyres not functioning as expected for the second occasion.

The leading rider from Ducati clinched victory in Saturday's Sprint using a soft rear tire, yet faced difficulties maintaining speed at the forefront during the initial stages of Sunday's grand prix. This occurred as all competitors except Marco Bezzecchi opted for the medium rear tire.

Title contender Jorge Martin improved his pace by 0.65s and subsequently by 0.7s each lap right after passing Bagnaia, who afterwards expressed grievances about the rear losing grip during acceleration.

However, once the back tire started performing effectively, Bagnaia shattered the existing lap record and started rapidly catching up to Martin and Enea Bastianini.

"Bagnaia marveled, noting that the rear tire kicked in after 15 laps, an astonishing development!"

Nevertheless, Bagnaia faced increasing difficulties with the front tire and was unexpectedly eliminated from the race on the 21st lap. He expressed surprise, noting that he had applied the brakes 18-20 meters sooner than his fastest lap, yet the front tire locked even though he was still in an upright position.

Bagnaia expressed, "Under dry conditions, losing the front [in such a manner] is unthinkable. The occurrences today were quite peculiar, yet this scenario unfolded for us twice in the past three Grands Prix, suggesting it might occur to others in the upcoming race."

Bagnaia had previously attributed his disappointing ninth-place finish in the Aragon Sprint to issues with his front tire.

Michelin noted that 'Pecco was the sole racer to consistently clock multiple laps below 1'31, an impressive feat'. Yet, its head of MotoGP, Piero Taramasso, concurred that the Italian rider's inconsistent showing was 'rather peculiar'.

"Taramasso noted that it's uncommon to observe a strong performance initially, followed by a decline, and then a resurgence in performance."

"Taramasso opened by saying, “We've had a conversation with Pecco about his remarks. At present, we're in the process of examining the data to grasp the situation. It's peculiar, given that he had an excellent beginning, maintaining the race lead for the first four laps, matching the pace of Jorge and Bastia.

"For the next five to six laps, his pace dropped by two to three tenths, but by the 12th lap, he managed to regain speed. His lap time improved significantly. On the 16th lap, he recorded the fastest lap time of the entire race, showing a strong comeback as he aggressively sought to close the gap with the leading two."

"Now, we're working to comprehend the event. Once we obtain the necessary information, we'll certainly have a clearer picture. However, it's quite uncommon to witness an initial strong performance, followed by a significant dip, and then a return to strong performance."

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