Phillip Island Review 2019

2019-10-27 10:32
Michelin’s biggest opponent this weekend was nature as the Phillip Island Circuit saw changes to the MotoGP™ schedule for the Pramac Generac Australian Grand Prix due to severe weather before Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) took victory in the 27-lap race.

A full assortment of weather this weekend at Phillip Island saw heavy rain, strong winds, cool temperatures and warm sunshine cover one of the most picturesque circuits on the calendar, with the range of Michelin tyres performing in all conditions. This mix of conditions led to the cancellation of Qualifying on Saturday afternoon, due to a safety risk from the strong winds, this meant the two sessions were staged on Sunday for the first time. Maverick Viñales (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) took pole position, with Fabio Quartararo (Petronas Yamaha SRT) – who had to come through Qualifying 1 for the first time in his rookie season – and Marquez joining him on the front row in second and third respectively.

In overcast conditions, with ambient temperatures at 16°C and the track surface reaching its highest point of the weekend at 30°C, five of the six MICHELIN Power Slick compounds lined up on the grid as the riders made their choices despite the lack of track and important set-up time, over the weekend. Valentino Rossi (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) made an impressive start and led in to the first corner from fourth on the grid. He held top-spot for three-laps, before Cal Crutchlow (LCR Honda), took first place on lap-four. He was hunted down by Viñales, as the pole-setter settled into a rhythm and took the lead on lap-10, with Marquez close in pursuit. Viñales using a soft/soft MICHELIN Power Slick configuration and Marquez – with a hard front and soft rear pairing – pulled away at the front and the race was looking like being another momentous battle on the last lap, but as the pair neared the penultimate corner – with Marquez in the lead – Viñales crashed as he tried to fight for the win, leaving the 2019 World Champion to ride to victory and claim his 11th success on the season, a result that saw him secure his 55th win on a Honda and become the Japanese marque’s most successful premier class Grand Prix rider, surpassing the record previously held by Mick Doohan, who achieved all his Honda victories on Michelin tyres.

Completing the podium was Crutchlow, using hard front and rear MICHELIN Power Slick tyres, as he also secured the position of First Independent Rider, and in third, with a combination of medium front and hard rear, was local hero Jack Miller (Pramac Racing), a result which more than pleased the crowd at trackside. Francesco Bagnaia (Pramac Racing) took fourth, Joan Mir (Team SUZUKI ECSTAR) was fifth and Andrea Iannone (Aprilia Racing Team Gresini) crossed the line in sixth, as this trio respectively recorded their best results of the season so far. Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team) was seventh, Rossi eighth and Alex Rins (Team SUZUKI ECSTAR) in ninth, with Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing Team Gresini) coming home in tenth to give Aprilia its first double top-ten finishes of the season.

This weekend also saw a first for MotoGP as a tyre test session was conducted during a racing weekend. This extra 20-minute session was held on Saturday afternoon to enable Michelin and all riders the chance to assess a new construction rear MICHELIN Power Slick tyre on one of the calendar’s most demanding circuits, in readiness for introduction into the 2020 range. All riders available completed the session and most put together an 11-lap run to give Michelin a lot of data. This information will now be assessed in Clermont-Ferrand before a decision is taken about further winter testing and the possibility of adding the new tyre to next year’s allocation.

Michelin now travels to Sepang in Malaysia for the final event of the three-week tour and the penultimate race of 2019, as round 18 of the championship is scheduled to get underway on Sunday 3rd November.

Marc Marquez – Repsol Honda Team:

“It has been a crazy weekend for everything, but especially about getting the tyres right. When it rains and then you have to cancel some practice because of wind you cannot understand the tyres and which is the best choice for the race. Especially at this racetrack because the consumption is so high and it is so demanding on tyres, but as we saw I raced with the soft rear and Cal and Jack used the hard, so both tyres had different potential, but both had enough to win the race. In the end we did a great job and so did all the Michelin staff because it was so difficult to understand and Clement and Piero gave to me and my team the important information and we were then able to make the correct decision for the race.”

Piero Taramasso – Michelin Motorsport Two-Wheel Manager:

“As Marc has said it has been a crazy weekend! I think we had a bit of every weather over the weekend, except snow. The tyres were subjected to some real extremes, with heavy rain, cold asphalt and high winds, all on a track that makes huge demands on the tyres. The rain and slick tyres all performed well though, despite all the changes in weather, and even though the riders had very little dry set-up time we were able to assist them with their choices and give them the tools to make the most informed decision for a race tyre. Again, it was pleasing to see different configurations on the podium, with five of the six compounds being used during the race. Consumption is always a factor here at Phillip Island and although that was evident today, it was not severe and we finished the race with the tyres having a good aspect, showing that the mix of rubber on the asymmetric front and rear tyres was correct and gave a consistent performance.

“The special tyre test session was an invaluable 20-minutes for Michelin as we were able to get all the riders that were available to go out on track to do a number of laps and concentrate just on assessing the tyres. We will now return to France after the final race of the fly-aways and evaluate the tyres and all the data before making a final decision regarding further testing or adding them to the 2020 range.

“We now head to Malaysia, where hopefully it will be a bit warmer, we know we will probably also face some changeable weather, but we have spent a lot of time testing at Sepang, so we know what to expect and have the tyres to do the job, no matter what the conditions are.”

Source: Michelin Motorsport

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