Michelin’s Strategic Play: Navigating Phillip Island’s New Asphalt Challenge at the 2024 Australian MotoGP

Uncovered: Michelin's strategy to handle the newly resurfaced Phillip Island for the Australian MotoGP event.

Michelin introduces a bigger selection of tires and a more robust design for the 2024 Australian MotoGP.

Michelin will be in the spotlight during this weekend's Australian MotoGP, as Bridgestone, Dunlop, and Pirelli were significantly affected by the track resurfacing at Phillip Island.

Before the 2013 Grand Prix, Phillip Island underwent resurfacing, leading to the necessity of reducing the race length and enforcing a mandatory pit stop because the Bridgestone tires were overheating.

The Moto2 and Moto3 categories also held abbreviated grand prix races because their Dunlop tires experienced comparable problems.

In February, during the opening event of the 2024 WorldSBK season, the new track resurfacing posed challenges for Pirelli. This situation led to races being shortened and included a compulsory pit stop to maintain the safety of the tires.

This weekend, Michelin will face the challenge of the fresh asphalt at the Australian Grand Prix.

Similar to the situation in Aragon, the French firm lacks MotoGP data for the newly laid asphalt.

In a change from the norm, Michelin plans to expand its selection of rear tires by providing three choices instead of the typical two. The medium and hard variants will include a strengthened design that is resistant to heat.

Michelin Motorsport's Two-Wheel Manager, Piero Taramasso, expressed enthusiasm about learning more about the characteristics of the new asphalt at Phillip Island. "Since we couldn't conduct tests before the event, we've decided to provide a larger selection of tires," he stated.

"For the front tires, we will continue using the same Soft, Medium, and Hard compounds as in 2023. However, for the rear tires, we are providing our partners with three choices rather than the standard two."

"We will feature the Soft compound tire, maintaining its standard internal design. Additionally, there will be two other tires available: the Medium and Hard compounds, both of which have an enhanced construction that was previously introduced at the end of September in Mandalika, Indonesia."

"Our choice was influenced by the circuit's layout and the limitations imposed on the tires."

Similar to the setups at Sachsenring and Valencia, both the front and rear tires have an asymmetrical design, featuring added reinforcement on the left side.

In the previous year's Australian MotoGP, the main race was rescheduled to take place on Saturday afternoon instead of Sunday because severe weather conditions were anticipated for the original race day. The Sprint event was moved to accommodate this change.

Following the warm-up, the anticipated storm hit, leading to the cancellation of the rescheduled Sprint event.

In the meantime, Pirelli can utilize its expertise from WorldSBK and WSS to inform the development of Moto2 and Moto3 tires for this weekend's races.

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