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MOTOGP: Michelin’s Last Stand (Part II)
Written by: Dennis Noyes   
08/27/2008
Borrego Springs, CA
 
(Photo: Ducati Corse) ยป More Photos

Waterloo Time for Michelin

There are contracts in place and theoretically Michelin is committed to continuing in MotoGP in 2009, but none of these commitments mean anything if the championship promoters decide to go to a single tire system, following Superbike.

Racing teams are often fickle, but Honda’s loyalty to Michelin has not worked out. Honda surprised many after the USGP by gifting Japanese MotoGP regular Shinya Nakano with the use of a factory RC212V, identical to that of Dani Pedrosa. Nakano rides for the Gresini Honda satellite team on Bridgestone, thus a perfect opportunity to compare Michelin tires with Bridgestone tires on equal machinery.

Nakano was fourth, his best result of the season, but he was still 25 seconds back of Rossi. He was, however, 13 seconds in front of Andrea Dovizioso on the first Michelin-shod Honda and a huge 1 minute and 13 seconds in front of Pedrosa who complained almost exclusively of lack of grip, making only passing mention of his injuries, now mostly healed after the summer rest.

In my 30 years following Grand Prix racing I don’t remember a factory rider ever speaking out against Michelin the way Pedrosa did after the race,
calling them "arrogant" and saying the tires were so bad that he was humiliated.

Other Michelin riders piled on as well, though not as brutally as Pedrosa. Then on Monday, the first of two days of important practice, Pedrosa, after eleven laps, said that it was pointless to continue because the tires that Michelin brought to the test did not offer enough grip.

It now seems clear that Pedrosa and Puig are demanding Bridgetone tires for 2009 and, according to the cover story in Solo Moto magazine of Barcelona, Honda have assured their angry rider that they will support his request.

But what does this mean? Clearly if Michelin loses the Honda works team, they will be left with only Jorge Lorenzo, the second rider of the FIAT Yamaha team, and a handful of satellite riders, all demanding, some quietly and others openly, a switch to Bridgestone in 2009.

It is difficult to imagine Michelin, the tire company with the most successes in modern 500 and MotoGP history, accepting a role as supplier of no-hope teams.

Would Michelin attempt to hold on, perhaps even sponsoring under-funded teams as Dunlop did before finally being left without a team at the end of 2007?


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