Francesco Bagnaia led the MotoGP test day in Misano. More importantly, he had significantly positive feelings about the new Michelin tyre – even though he only tested it for about half an hour without chasing any other riders during that time.
The Ducati rider stated that the new tyre meets his needs: ‘I love it, because it was something I was really needing. Because I’m a rider who uses the brake a lot entering the corner. With this tyre, this was super good. It’s more difficult to change direction, but I really liked the grip and the way you are able to push the tyre. And I also think that with the new tyre we can feel less the problem of the tyre pressure. So I think it could be a good step. When we started it was strange, but then as soon as I understood it, it was super good’.
The new tyre, which is far from unanimous among the riders, allows Bagnaia to ride the way he wants, emphasizing that he did not have problems even when pushing the bike:
– My problem with the tyre right now is that I can’t brake like I want because the front is collapsing. And with the new tyre, it looks like that I have much more margin. I picked two corners where I said, «OK, I can take the risk, if I crash I will not have any issue» – those were turn 2 and turn 4, where if you crash you are slow. In those two corners I forced a lot the bike to have a lock or lose it, and it didn’t have. It’s incredible, it’s the biggest step that I tried in the last years.