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It is official, even Lewis Hamilton has said that MotoGP is better than F1! The dilemma of why the dog sticks its head out of the window is solved - finally. So it is no surprise that hordes of journalists from around the world catch red eye flights to witness one of the rounds of the pinnacle of two wheeled racing. This time is was in the sunny Spain, at Catalunya.
Let me put it straight up: I am not a fan of watching races live. Ultimately once the atmosphere sinks in and you bask in the sunshine (of the cold, or the rain as the case may be) and have checked out the umbrella girls and have exhausted all options of meeting your heroes live - you need to stick to the screen to follow the races closely. So once in a while it is acceptable. And when in Spain - definitely so. The weather was absolutely a dream - no wonder why so many MotoGP riders are Spanish. Perhaps the Spanish know how to make racing tracks and Italians know how to make the machines.
And French - the tyres? It seems so.
Despite all the advances in motorcycle, tyres, riding gear and track technology, the danger of such incidents is always lurking. We forget it or choose to ignore it. But every once in a while, it rears its ugly head, reminding us of the dangers that these racers undertake.
Tyres play a significant role in any motorcycle. More so in the premier class, where these machines are built for a spec tyre. Since the introduction of the spec tyre rule in MotoGP, the bikes have to be designed around the tyre, and not the other way around. The manufacturer, who gets it right, will be closest to the pointy end of things. After a decade Michelin has made a comeback to the premier class of motorcycle racing. Since they last raced in MotoGP, the bikes have gotten faster, lean angles have increased, corner speed has increased, electronics have improved and braking has gotten significantly stronger. Michelin had a year and a half to relearn MotoGP bikes and build a tyre that would be able to do all that these bikes are capable of and more. Of course, that is easier said than done. And the French tyre manufacturer had its ups and downs in the initial few races this season, but have steadily progressed and improved. The tyre compounds, carcass and structure has been finalised, and the riders are once again breaking lap records and pole records.
The challenge for Michelin was to build a tyre which would be as fast as Bridgestone, without sacrificing on tyre life. But most importantly, the tyres needed to be safe, with zero mishaps acceptable. At every race Michelin offers two compounds for the riders to use. At Barcelona, the hard and medium compounds were offered for use because of the high track temperatures expected. And even though track temperatures were hovering around 50 degrees centigrade, not all the riders went out on the harder compound. Dani Pedrosa and Tito Rabat ran medium tyres on their Hondas. Pedrosa eventually finished on the third step of the podium, which proved the consistency of the medium tyre, this was aided by the fact that the Spaniard is one of the smoothest riders around. On the other hand, there was Pol Espargaro as well, who is known for his aggressive riding style, and he ran the medium compound tyres on his Tech 3 Yamaha, front and rear. Yet he finished a credible fifth. Both these results are a strong showing for Michelin, where the riders have a real option between the two compounds for race day.
The hard tyre was employed by the rest of the field and Rossi clearly managed his rubber best on a greasy track. In the last few laps, Marquez appeared to be riding a bucking bronc in comparison to Rossi's super smooth lines. Eventually, that got better of the Honda man as he almost crashed on the penultimate lap trying to keep up with the Italian. The Spaniard used his head and decided to take the twenty points and the championship lead, rather than risking a crash and losing it all.
It was a good battle between the Valentino Rossi and Marc Marquez for the win at Barcelona, but the two champions shaking hands in Parc Ferme was the icing on the cake for race fans around the globe. Since the start of hostilities between the two at Sepang last year, this was the first time Marquez and Rossi acknowledged each other's presence, let alone exchanging pleasantries.
CLICK HERE FOR MORE...
Let me put it straight up: I am not a fan of watching races live. Ultimately once the atmosphere sinks in and you bask in the sunshine (of the cold, or the rain as the case may be) and have checked out the umbrella girls and have exhausted all options of meeting your heroes live - you need to stick to the screen to follow the races closely. So once in a while it is acceptable. And when in Spain - definitely so. The weather was absolutely a dream - no wonder why so many MotoGP riders are Spanish. Perhaps the Spanish know how to make racing tracks and Italians know how to make the machines.
And French - the tyres? It seems so.
Despite all the advances in motorcycle, tyres, riding gear and track technology, the danger of such incidents is always lurking. We forget it or choose to ignore it. But every once in a while, it rears its ugly head, reminding us of the dangers that these racers undertake.
Tyres play a significant role in any motorcycle. More so in the premier class, where these machines are built for a spec tyre. Since the introduction of the spec tyre rule in MotoGP, the bikes have to be designed around the tyre, and not the other way around. The manufacturer, who gets it right, will be closest to the pointy end of things. After a decade Michelin has made a comeback to the premier class of motorcycle racing. Since they last raced in MotoGP, the bikes have gotten faster, lean angles have increased, corner speed has increased, electronics have improved and braking has gotten significantly stronger. Michelin had a year and a half to relearn MotoGP bikes and build a tyre that would be able to do all that these bikes are capable of and more. Of course, that is easier said than done. And the French tyre manufacturer had its ups and downs in the initial few races this season, but have steadily progressed and improved. The tyre compounds, carcass and structure has been finalised, and the riders are once again breaking lap records and pole records.
The challenge for Michelin was to build a tyre which would be as fast as Bridgestone, without sacrificing on tyre life. But most importantly, the tyres needed to be safe, with zero mishaps acceptable. At every race Michelin offers two compounds for the riders to use. At Barcelona, the hard and medium compounds were offered for use because of the high track temperatures expected. And even though track temperatures were hovering around 50 degrees centigrade, not all the riders went out on the harder compound. Dani Pedrosa and Tito Rabat ran medium tyres on their Hondas. Pedrosa eventually finished on the third step of the podium, which proved the consistency of the medium tyre, this was aided by the fact that the Spaniard is one of the smoothest riders around. On the other hand, there was Pol Espargaro as well, who is known for his aggressive riding style, and he ran the medium compound tyres on his Tech 3 Yamaha, front and rear. Yet he finished a credible fifth. Both these results are a strong showing for Michelin, where the riders have a real option between the two compounds for race day.
The hard tyre was employed by the rest of the field and Rossi clearly managed his rubber best on a greasy track. In the last few laps, Marquez appeared to be riding a bucking bronc in comparison to Rossi's super smooth lines. Eventually, that got better of the Honda man as he almost crashed on the penultimate lap trying to keep up with the Italian. The Spaniard used his head and decided to take the twenty points and the championship lead, rather than risking a crash and losing it all.
It was a good battle between the Valentino Rossi and Marc Marquez for the win at Barcelona, but the two champions shaking hands in Parc Ferme was the icing on the cake for race fans around the globe. Since the start of hostilities between the two at Sepang last year, this was the first time Marquez and Rossi acknowledged each other's presence, let alone exchanging pleasantries.
CLICK HERE FOR MORE...
