Get Ready To Kick Off The MotoGP World Championship
And just like that, the MotoGP World Championship is set to kick off this weekend just a mere three months after the final race of 2021 in Valencia. The season will kick off at Lusail International Circuit in Qatar where Fabio Quartararo will try and defend his title.
New for 2022, the MotoGP World Championship calendar will expand. The addition of new races in Indonesia (Pertamina Mandalika Circuit) and at Finland’s KymiRing. Test sessions have been planned to give the riders and teams an opportunity to evaluate a number of different tyre specs and hone their bike set-up at these circuits.
The biggest single change that Michelin has introduced ahead of the 2022 MotoGP season is a significant streamlining of the tyre range for the championship. An assiduous selection process was undertaken in close cooperation with the riders and teams to reduce the total number of available specifications by more than a quarter, while taking care to maintain the same high level of performance as in 2021.
For every grand prix, riders have an overall package of 28 slicks at their disposal (15 fronts/13 rears). Of these, they are permitted to use up to 10 fronts and 12 rears. They can compose their front tyre allocation by selecting up to five tyres from each specification, namely Soft, Medium and Hard. With regard to the 13 rears, they are allowed to choose up to six Soft, four Medium and three Hard options.
To cover free practice, qualifying, warm-up and the race itself, the standard allocation is 15 rain tyres (seven fronts/ eight rears), with a choice of two specifications. Of these, riders are permitted to use up to six fronts and seven rears.
After earning the renewed confidence of Dorna Sports, riders and teams, Michelin extended its commitment to MotoGP last year until at least 2026 as its ongoing development of new tyres for the championship continues. In 2022, Michelin will pursue its work on a new rear casing which was already a focus of its efforts at several circuits in 2021. The objective is to introduce it in time for the start of the 2023 MotoGP season. In parallel, Michelin will this year conduct initial ‘private’ testing of the new front tyre that will be supplied to its partners at official test sessions in 2023 ahead of its competitive debut in 2024. Having long seen motorsport as a laboratory for innovation, Michelin will carry on its work on new solutions in order to further streamline its range while continuing to deliver high performance and, above all, ensure its tyres keep pace with the constantly evolving technology of the bikes and riding styles.
