  ichelin’s MotoGP riders have made a superb start to the 2008 season. After the first five rounds of this year’s World Championship, Michelin men Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda RC212V-Michelin) and Jorge Lorenzo (Fiat Yamaha Team YZR-M1-Michelin) were tied for second in the points chase with one win apiece. Overall, Michelin riders swept all five pole positions, won two races and filled nine of 15 podium places through the first five events of the 18-round series.Spaniard Pedrosa, fighting back from breaking his throttle hand in a preseason testing crash, took the series lead with a superb home GP victory at Jerez, Spain, while dazzling rookie Lorenzo went equal on points when he took his debut MotoGP win at Estoril, Portugal. Lorenzo has been the revelation of 2008–the two-time 250 World Champion made history by claiming the pole position at each of his first three MotoGP races and may have continued that form if he hadn’t crashed during practice for the Chinese GP, breaking a bone in his left ankle and wrenching his right ankle. Lorenzo proved his mettle by riding through the pain to take fourth at Shanghai while Pedrosa stayed in the championship hunt with a fine ride to second place. “This is amazing, I didn’t expect it,” said Lorenzo. “We thought I’d be sixth or seventh after three races, but we have to be careful because Valentino [Rossi] and Pedrosa are both very fast and very clever riders. The bike is working so well and we are doing some great work with Michelin. I feel great with the tires.” Other star Michelin performers thus far this season have been long-time Michelin man Colin Edwards (Yamaha Tech 3 YZR-M1-Michelin) who’s notched four front-row starts including pole in China, rookie James Toseland (Yamaha Tech 3 YZR-M1-Michelin) who qualified on the front row for his very first MotoGP race in Qatar, and another rookie Andrea Dovizioso (JiR Team Scot Honda RC212V-Michelin), who has also shown serious speed and great promise for the future. Michelin’s big step forward into the 2008 season has been the talk of the paddock. Since the end of the 2007 season, Michelin chemists and engineers have worked hard on all aspects of tire performance, most notably on warm-up, operating range, side grip and traction. Michelin riders go into 2008 equipped with two different profile 16-inch front tires and a choice of 16.5-inch and 16-inch rear tires. “Our new generation 16.5-inch rear is working well,” said Jean-Philippe Weber, Michelin’s director of motorcycle racing. “We introduced this construction at last November’s Valencia GP, which Dani won, and since then we’ve been perfecting the construction and optimizing compounds to suit each circuit. “At Qatar they all used our wider 16-inch front tire, which has a fatter contact patch for even better corner-entry performance,” said Weber, adding that after the Jerez race, riders were able to test Michelin’s latest, widest front tire. “When you increase rear tire performance, you must also improve the front,” he observed. Edge grip is vital with the new breed of 800cc MotoGP bikes, which rely greatly on corner speed. Michelin has worked hard to allow riders to brake deep into corners and then accelerate hard from the corner apex. “The riders want to open the throttle as soon as possible in the corners,” Weber continued, “which means grip and traction at maximum lean are the crucial factors.” ‘Texas Tornado’ Edwards spoke for many Michelin riders when he said, “The new tires are just awesome. You can brake to the apex, full lean and then just hammer it on.” Michelin’s performance in all kinds of conditions–from the moist coolness of the first-ever night GP in Qatar to the fast-changing weather in China proves that the company’s latest tires also have good warm-up and a much-improved operating range. “During the winter we worked very hard on a new rear construction,” said Weber. “The focus was to make our tires work better at lower temperatures and over a broader range of temperatures. “In Qatar our riders were able to lead from the very start, despite the cool track temperature, proving that warm-up performance is very good. And in China our riders were able to race with the same tires that they had used in practice, even though track temperature was 25 degrees [77 degrees Fahrenheit] on race day, 23 degrees [73 F] less than it had been the day before. This wouldn’t have been possible a few years ago. This proves that our tires now have an excellent operating range. And sticking with the same tires gives riders a real advantage because they can keep the same machine settings and because they know how the tire is going to perform over race distance.” Weber added that Michelin is quite pleased with the performance of its riders so far this year. “We have seen Dani and Jorge win races early in the championship but we can see that all seven of our riders are showing excellent potential,” he said. “We are fortunate this year to have seven riders who are very similar in terms of their sensitivity. Their tire choices tend to be remarkably close and that helps us work well.” Weber’s opinion is that MotoGP bikes have advanced since last year, putting pressure on tire companies to keep up. “Our tires are very different to what we were using 12 months ago,” he revealed. “We’ve already seen that lap times are a lot faster–the Qatar race was 30 seconds faster than last year’s. I have the feeling that this season will be much faster because the riders, the bikes and the tires are at a very high level and everyone has a year’s experience with the 800s. “It’s a long championship and to be in with a chance of winning the title you have to be both very fast and very consistent, which is never easy.” Check with your Parts Unlimited rep for more information on all of the quality, race-winning tires Michelin has available. |
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  otorcycle riders know that their choice of road tires is more closely linked to racing results than in any other area of motoring,” according to Frederic Henry-Biabaud, director of Michelin’s worldwide racing programs. “That’s why it’s so important to maintain competition between the tire companies in MotoGP, because the performance technologies developed in racing will, in time, benefit the production tires that riders use on their street bikes.”Michelin Two Compound Technology, or 2CT, is just one outgrowth of MotoGP technology that benefits street riders. In 2005, Michelin became the first tire company to put dual-compound performance radials into mass production, with the introduction of Power Race® tires. In the years since, the 2CT family has grown to include Pilot® Power 2CT tires, and more recently, Pilot® Road 2 tires.  Pilot® Road 2  he newest member of the Michelin 2CT family is aimed at sport touring riders, for whom mileage and all-weather grip are paramount. Accomplishing these two disparate objectives is no easy feat. Grip derives from softer compounds, while harder rubber is needed for tread life–making this the ideal application for 2CT!Pilot Road 2 front tires integrate two soft rubber compounds, while the rear tires use a harder compound in the center of the tread, to help deliver long tread life. The rear tires also have a softer shoulder, part of which is in contact with the ground even when the motorcycle is upright. This helps facilitate quick warm-up and, consequently, grip. The superior performance of MICHELIN Pilot Road 2 tires was confirmed by an independent testing lab that evaluated Pilot Road 2 tires against seven direct competitors in two key areas: wet-road grip and wear resistance. In both areas, Pilot Road 2 tires came out on top. Virtually every tire promises either better grip or superior longevity, but only MICHELIN Pilot Road 2 tires deliver the best of both worlds. Suggested retail prices for Pilot Road 2 tires range from about $415 to $485 per pair. Pilot® Power 2CT  n extension of the renowned Pilot Power line of ultrahigh-performance tires, Pilot Power 2CT tires add a second rubber compound on the outer edges of the tread that’s 20 percent softer than the center tread. This softer rubber promotes higher cornering grip at full lean–an important benefit for sportbike owners who use their bikes for track days.The compound in the center of the tread is designed to withstand high speeds, sudden acceleration and braking. The softer compound on the outer edges of the tread heats up quickly and helps provide phenomenal grip at lower speeds. Suggested retail prices for Pilot Power 2CT tires range from about $426 to $485 per pair.  Power Race®  ower Race tires deliver ultrahigh-performance for racing and track days. With three different front tires and three rears, riders can choose exactly the right combination of compounds to suit their personal riding styles, just like a MotoGP racer.The three versions of Power Race tires are labeled Medium, Medium Soft and Soft. The three differ both in the compounds used, and in the tread surface area devoted to each of the compounds. Suggested retail prices for Power Race tires range from about $437 to $603 per set, depending on sizes and compounds. All MICHELIN 2CT tires are available through your Parts Unlimited dealer.  |
