Teruel Grand Prix Review 20202020-10-26 13:35Michelin’s second visit to the Motorland Aragon circuit in Spain for the latest MotoGP™ double-header saw Franco Morbidelli (Petronas Yamaha SRT) race to a comprehensive victory in the Gran Premio Liqui Moly de Teruel. Following last weekend’s Gran Premio Michelin® de Aragón, where cooler weather and high winds caused difficulties for all riders, this time around the temperatures were much more favourable for all and gave the MICHELIN Power Slick tyres the opportunity to show their true potential, resulting in this Sunday’s race being almost seven-seconds faster than last week. Saturday’s qualifying had witnessed Takaaki Nakagami (LCR Honda) take his maiden pole in the premier class and he got the holeshot as the 23-lap got underway, but he made a mistake early on and crashed out, leaving Morbidelli at the head of the pack, a position he didn’t relinquish for the rest of the race. Using a medium pairing of the MICHELIN Power Slicks, he rode a faultless race to take the victory by over two-seconds. Morbidelli also took the prize of First Independent rider and completed a hat-trick by breaking the Best Race Lap record. Following him home was last week’s winner Alex Rins (Team SUZUKI ECSTAR), using a soft front and soft rear configuration and his team-mate Joan Mir (Team SUZUKI ECSTAR) finished in third, after carving his way through the field from twelfth on the grid to strengthen his lead on the top of the championship standings. Mir used a mix of medium front and soft rear MICHELIN Power Slick tyres meaning three different configurations were on today’s podium. The improvement in the weather this weekend also meant that five of the six specifications available to the riders were used in today’s race, with just the hard rear being left on the tyre racks. Tremendous battles raged throughout the rest of the pack, with many overtaking manoeuvres, as the grip produced by the MICHELIN Power Slicks enabled the riders to push to the limit. Pol Espargaro (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) took fourth after starting from ninth on the grid, with Johann Zarco (Esponsorama Racing) in fifth. Sixth went to Miguel Oliveira (Red Bull KTM Tech 3), with Maverick Viñales (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) coming home in seventh. Fabio Quartararo (Petronas Yamaha SRT) was the eighth rider across the line and keeps his position at the top of the Independent Rider classification, whilst Iker Lecuona (Red Bull KTM Tech 3) was ninth, another of the day’s high climbers was Danilo Petrucci (Ducati Team), who started from nineteenth on the grid and came home in tenth. Michelin’s next appearance in this shortened season will be the first of a triple-header that will bring the championship to a close, as initially the paddock heads to two races at Valencia in Spain – with the first one on Sunday 8th October – before bringing the curtain down at Portugal later in the month. Franco Morbidelli – Petronas Yamaha SRT: “I’m very happy about today’s race, we worked unbelievably and the tyres behaved very well and I felt great on the track today. I have to say thanks to the team, they did a fantastic job setting up the bike to make me feel at ease to ride on the tyres. Now we are 25 points from the top of the championship and we will now go super aggressive in the last races.” Piero Taramasso – Michelin Motorsport Two-Wheel Manager: “This has been a very rewarding and positive weekend. The weather was much better and with the extra rubber on the track from last week, plus less wind, it gave much better conditions for all. The increases in temperature meant that all the specifications were tried this weekend, with only the hard rear going unused in the race. Race time was much improved on last week and we also saw a new lap record in the race, so obviously we are pleased with that as this is a very difficult track that offers little grip because it is now getting quite old. We saw some very interesting battles in the race and many riders had the confidence to push as it wore on, demonstrating the increased durability, consistency and performance we have incorporated in this year’s rear tyre. We now head to the last three races of the season with the title still wide open, which is great for the show and we will be looking to go out in style, firstly at a circuit we know well at Valencia and then a totally new track in Portugal, which will be a challenge, but one we are looking forward to after such a strange season.” Source: Michelin Motorsport Click here to visit our forums to discuss this story |
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