Lorenzo claims victory as Michelin makes its return to MOTOGP™

Michelin’s first race back in the premier class of motorcycle racing after a seven-year absence has been marked by a record-breaking performance by World Champion Jorge Lorenzo as he stormed to victory at the Losail International Circuit in Qatar this evening.

Starting from pole position, Yamaha’s Lorenzo got the hole-shot at the start of the 22-lap race, but was passed on the first lap by the Ducati’s of Andrea Iannone and Andrea Dovizioso. The Spaniard stayed in-touch with the pair and after Iannone unfortunately crashed out on lap-five as his tyre slid on the white line, Lorenzo closed down Dovizioso and passed him four-laps later. The triple MotoGP World Champion then set about increasing his lead as a three-way battle for the remaining podium places developed behind him between Dovizioso, Honda’s Marc Marquez and Valentino Rossi also on a Yamaha.

Lorenzo’s tyre selection was a hard MICHELIN Power Slick on the front, paired with a soft MICHELIN Power Slick on the rear; this was different to the choice of his team-mate Rossi who went for the hard front and medium rear, the same as Marquez, whilst Dovizioso chose the soft front tyre matched with a soft rear. Lorenzo’s choice served him well as he constantly set the fastest laps of the race, before breaking the circuit lap record – which had stood since Casey Stoner set it in 2008 – on lap-16, he then bettered that on lap-20 with a time of 1’54.543 – 0.226-seconds better than Stoner’s – showing the durability and consistency of the Michelin tyres. Lorenzo crossed the line in a race-time of 42’28.542, over seven-seconds quicker than last-year’s race.

Behind the winner, the battle for the remaining positions on the podium began to heat up as the race drew to a close, with the three protagonists all in contention for the two places, Marquez made a successful pass on Dovizioso on lap-18, but the Ducati-man fought back and re-took second position on lap-20. The pair swapped places again, with Rossi in close attendance looking for a way through, before Dovizioso took the chequered flag in second, from Marquez in third and Rossi a close fourth.

Today’s race was watched by 11,737 fans at trackside – the biggest race-day crowd at the Qatari circuit – and they were treated to a race that not only saw Lorenzo’s record-breaking performance and the battle for the podium, but hotly contested encounters all through the field. Honda’s Dani Pedrosa had a race-long tussle with Suzuki’s Maverick Viñales to take fifth, with Pol Espargaro narrowly beating his team-mate Bradley Smith to take seventh – and the position of First Independent Team Rider.  Hector Barbera on a Ducati took ninth place with another Ducati, this time of Scott Redding, rounding out the top-ten.

Michelin and the MotoGP paddock will now take the long journey across the Equator and deep into the southern hemisphere as the championship travels to Termas de Rio Hondo in Argentina for round two on Sunday 3rd April, a race which is part of a double-headed fly-away tour, culminating in a trip to Austin in Texas the following weekend.

Jorge Lorenzo – Movistar Yamaha MotoGP:
“I am very happy to win the first race of Michelin’s comeback. I have been really pleased with the work that they have done to improve the front tyre and the rear was able to maintain the pace for the whole race. I want to congratulate Michelin for this return and I am very happy to get the 25-points today.”

Pascal Couasnon – Director of Michelin Motorsport:
“This has been a very important weekend for Michelin, seven-years away has seemed like a very long time! MotoGP has evolved a lot and we came here proud of what we have done, but also quite cautious. The results over the weekend have been very good and we are pleased with what happened here today. The riders and tyres were very fast and constant, and when we want to translate this from the track to the street, this is the kind of performance we can use.”

Nicolas Goubert – Deputy Director and Director of the Two-Wheel Motorsport Group:
“This is our first race after seven-years away and this has been a very pleasing result for us. The lap-record by Jorge Lorenzo on lap-20 and the whole race faster by more than seven-seconds over last year’s – with the same conditions – has been a confirmation that we are heading in the right direction. We are thrilled with this result and with the improvements we have made through the winter. We are now looking forward to the next race and the rest of the season.”

Piero Taramasso – Manager of the Two-Wheel Motorsport Group:
“For the first race of the season I was very pleased. The tyre choice was different from rider to rider and all types of tyres worked quite well. At the end the lap-times were very good and so far everything has gone well, I hope we can continue with the rest of the season like that.”

Michelin ready for the season opener under the lights of Qatar

Michelin will be heading to the Losail International Circuit for its return to MotoGP™ as the series kicks off under the floodlights at the Qatari track on Sunday 20th March.

Following three informative pre-season tests – including one in Qatar – Michelin has analysed all the data to make its decision as to the best tyres to take to the 5,380km circuit. The Losail circuit is situated in a rocky, desert location and as such the track can be very abrasive at times due to the sand that is blown off the surrounding area. This allied to the usually cooler temperatures that are experienced as the sun sets, all add to the challenges that supplying the optimum tyres for such conditions will present to the French company.  The Qatar race will see the introduction of 17” tyres and with a need to have a consistent grip and good durability, Michelin will take three front and two rear tyres to Losail for the race. The soft Power Slick – which will be identified by the white band - the medium Power Slick – which will not feature a coloured band for identification – and the hard Power Slick – yellow band - for the front. Along with the asymmetric soft Power Slick – white band - and the asymmetric medium Power Slick – no band – for the rear. There will be no Michelin Power Rain or Power Inter tyres in use as the riders will not run in wet or changeable conditions under the lights.

Built in less than a year and completed in 2004, the Losail International Circuit is located on the outskirts of Doha – Qatar’s capital city – and has been a regular on the MotoGP calendar since its completion. The first night race was held in 2008 and is staged beneath over 3,000 individual light sources on more than 1,000 structures, all powered by huge generators. This impressive array of lighting is designed to not only light the track, but deflect light away from the surface and then redirect it back, all aimed at avoiding glare from blinding the riders and giving them ideal visual awareness.

Track action at Losail begins on Thursday 17th March when the MotoGP stars will take to the circuit for the first free practice session. Two further free sessions will be held on Friday to decide which riders progress through to which qualifying session – held on Saturday evening. The inaugural race of 2016, and Michelin’s re-introduction in to the exciting arena of MotoGP, will take place at 21.00hrs local time (18.00hrs GMT, 17.00hrs CET) on Sunday 20th March, when the world’s best two-wheel racers will do battle over 22-laps of the challenging Losail circuit.

The Qatar race weekend will also see a Michelin press conference which will be staged at the circuit on Saturday 19th March, with Director of Michelin Motorsport. Pascal Couasnon in attendance, along with Michelin’s Head of Two-Wheel Motorsport Group Nicolas Goubert and the Manager of the Two-Wheel Motorsport Group Piero Taramasso, when the three will lay-out Michelin’s plans for the forthcoming season and answers any questions from the assembled audience.

Nicolas Goubert - Head of the Two-Wheel Motorsport Group:
“We are looking forward to the first race, because we have been getting ready for it for over a year. It has been a lot of hard work to get to this position and we are now prepared for competitive action. We are quite confident about heading to Qatar, because we learnt a lot during the test sessions that we had two weeks before the race. The riders were satisfied with the improvements we have made from the beginning of the season, and there was a positive feeling at the end of the test. Having a race at night gives extra issues, where we can encounter lower temperatures and the added difficulty of dew on the surface, plus the wind blast blowing sand on the track, making it quite abrasive and giving it a sandpaper effect, which impacts on tyre wear. Other than that the Losail track is not the most demanding for tyres in general, the toughest part lies between turns 10 and 14, where riders contend with a double left (10 and 11) and a triple right (12, 13 and 14), which is quite a difficult combination, but we have worked hard to give the riders the best tyres for this circuit and we are now excited to get into competitive action.”

Piero Taramasso – Manager of Michelin MotoGP Programme:
“We are all motivated to get back to Qatar and the first round, especially with it being Michelin’s return and the special atmosphere of this night race. We have been preparing for over a year-and-a-half and have worked closely with the teams, the riders and Dorna to provide the best tyres in readiness for the first race. Logistics are  very important, because the Qatar event is not the easiest one to manage and all our consignments of tyres and equipment has to be shipped in containers, but we have prepared for that and we’ll be ready for the first race. We are really looking forward to getting back into MotoGP action.”