Less than a week on from the excitement of the Dutch TT at Assen, the MotoGP paddock is once again gearing up for action as they arrive at the challenging Sachsenring Circuit in Germany.
With two wins to his name from the last three races our new championship leader is Andrea Dovizioso, but with Maverick Viñales looking to make amends for his mistake last Sunday and Valentino Rossi also hot on his heels the Ducati rider has his work cut out to stay on top.
Sachsenring has been a happy hunting ground for Honda in recent years, with Marquez winning four premier class races on the trot at the German circuit including a very wet encounter in 2016.
Despite being the shortest of all the MotoGP tracks, Sachsenring places a lot of demands on the left side of the tyres, and is one of the more punishing on the calendar for Michelin to deal with. It has also been resurfaced since last year’s race, so the French manufacturer has no data to work with this weekend.
With this being the case, Michelin’s Power Slick tyres will feature a harder compound on the left shoulder both front and rear. On the flip side, the much softer compound used on the right hand side of the tyre will heat up quickly to deliver optimum performance on the Sachsenring’s three right-handers.
If the rain arrives, as it did in 2016, soft and medium compound Power Rain tyres will also be waiting in the wings.
Piero Taramasso – Michelin Motorsport Two-Wheel Manager looked ahead to the weekend:
“Sachsenring is always a demanding circuit due to its unusual layout, and this year’s race will have the added challenge of a completely new surface. We have no data regarding the asphalt as it hasn’t been possible to test there due to the restrictions, so we are going a bit blind. We are sure we have the tyres to work well on the new layer and have prepared the compounds to the information we do have. The slick tyres will be asymmetric for the front and rear with a harder lefthand-side – as they were last year – this is to cope with the design of the track. The bikes spend a lot of time on the left on this track and Sachsenring needs a very special tyre, with a right that heats up quickly, to make sure the riders get good traction throughout the whole lap. It’s also a venue that can have some unsettled weather, as last year’s race showed where we had a wet start and then a drying track, so there were many types of tyres used in that race to get the best performance.”
After this, MotoGP teams and riders will be enjoying their annual summer break – so if you need your racing fix, be sure to tune in on Sunday!
