Michelin saw its tyres power Andrea Dovizioso to his second MotoGP™ victory in a week as the Italian rode to success during today’s Gran Premi Monster Energy de Catalunya from Montmelo in Spain. Starting from seventh on the grid Dovizioso (Ducati Team) got away with the leaders as pole-setter Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda Team) led into the first corner. Pedrosa was passed on the opening lap by Jorge Lorenzo (Ducati Team), a position the Spaniard held for five laps before succumbing to reigning World Champion Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team), who in turn surrendered the lead to his team-mate Pedrosa on lap-eight. Pedrosa held the advantage for nine-laps before Dovizioso overtook him on the home-straight, leaving the Italian to take his second victory in consecutive weekends. This weekend’s proceedings have been dominated by the condition of the Montmelo track with grip a premium for all concerned. The MICHELIN Power Slick tyres had to work hard all weekend to extract the optimum performance from the smooth surface and today’s race – which saw the circuit revert to last season’s 4,655m layout after the riders expressed safety concerns on Friday evening about the new chicane and these views were upheld by the organisers – was no exception. Despite the lack of adhesion, the tyres still performed well and the lap-record was beaten in the race, as Jonas Folger (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) set a new best-time of 1’45.969 on lap-three. Dovizioso also used his tyres to produce a personal race-time that was over 38-seconds quicker than his 2016 time, as he also narrowly missed the race-duration record in the process. The medium and hard front and rear compound slick tyres were the choice of all the riders – albeit in differing configurations – in the extremely demanding and hot conditions. As track temperature reached over 55°C during the race the durability of the tyres responded well to this challenge as the robustness of the latest tyres were put through an exhausting analysis throughout the 25 challenging laps. Following Dovizioso home was Marquez in second with Pedrosa third to fill the podium places. Lorenzo took fourth, with Johann Zarco (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) again performing well in his first season and continuing to challenge the Factory riders as he secured the First Independent Rider award by finishing fifth, just in-front of his team-mate Folger. Alvaro Bautista (Pull&Bear Aspar Team) was seventh, with Valentino Rossi (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) coming home in eighth ahead of the Ducati of Hector Barbera (Reale Avintia Racing). The final top-10 place went to current World Championship leader Maverick Viñales (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP), as he retained his lead in the title chase, but now with a reduced margin ahead of Dovizioso. Michelin and the MotoGP field will now remain at Montmelo for a day of testing tomorrow, before heading to the north of Europe and the Dutch TT at Assen in The Netherlands, a race that will take place at the historic track on Sunday 25th June.
Andrea Dovizioso – Ducati Team:
“The track was very difficult, there were lots of bumps and the grip from it was completely zero. It was difficult for everyone to manage the tyres and get the best from them. The drop in the tyres was there, but that was the key for us as we understood very well what we had to do and we managed it better than the competitor. My bike worked well today with the Michelins and we managed the tyres in the best way. “
Piero Taramasso – Michelin Motorsport Two-Wheel Manager:
“With how difficult the track has been to manage this weekend we are pleased with the results from today’s race. We had a new lap-record, narrowly missed the duration record and the tyres again showed their durability in very demanding situations. To have 55°C on the ground and very little grip due the bad condition of the circuit and produce these results is testament to the resilience of the tyres. If we had foreseen how hot it would be or how the track had degraded – even since the test here – then our allocation might have been different, but the teams adapted well and we saw three manufacturers in the top-five and several overtaking manoeuvres, which is always exciting for the fans. It was also quite clear that the importance of testing at a circuit before an event can be vital to set-up and understanding performance. We now have a test here before moving to Assen, which I’m sure will be another exciting event.”
(Redazione/Michelin Motorsport)
