Michelin was in the middle of the latest MotoGP controversy, with Jorge Martín blaming the category’s tire supplier for allegedly providing him with a defective tire that ultimately caused him major performance problems, leading to a poor performance in yesterday’s race in Qatar and putting his title contention at risk.
In response to the criticism from the Pramac rider, Piero Taramasso – Michelin’s MotoGP manager – wasted no time in defending the French company: ‘This weekend the absolute record and also the record for the fastest lap of the race were broken on the last lap. This shows the consistency of Michelin tires’ performance. Not only was the track surface new, but also a Grand Prix motorcycle had never ridden on it before. It was not possible to organize any pre-test, and the first test session on a “green” track was really like diving into the unknown’.
Taramasso then aimed his criticism at Martín, considering that what happened with #89 was the only negative point of the weekend: ‘The only negative note was Jorge Martín’s performance. He complained about the rear tire at the beginning and then also about the front tire, because he pushed too hard. We are analyzing the data because, at this moment, it is not easy to say anything about the tire. The tire was manufactured in France and transported directly here, it was never preheated before’.
And he guaranteed news soon based on the analysis of what happened: ‘He has no idea, he checks the data we receive from the team and as soon as we have any news, we will inform Jorge, Pramac, and everyone else about what happened’.
