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There are many unknowns at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin this year, for both the riders and the Michelin technicians. The Austin track is historically demanding on tires, with its very abrasive and wavy asphalt. But, this time, the weather will also get the best of them. The MotoGP was accustomed to racing in Texas in April, when the average temperature is 25° C, but it’s expected to exceed 30° this weekend. In addition, some works have recently been done on the asphalt to reduce the holes (after those in 2018), and it's practically impossible to know in what conditions the track will be in.
So Michelin has decided to add an extra tire for the rear to prevent any problems, and the riders will have 4 options available: one soft, one medium, and two hard (all with an asymmetrical construction), but they’ll still have the classic three choices for the front, with a symmetrical construction. In the event of rain, the wet tires will be available in soft and medium compounds, both for the front and the rear.
As always, Michelin manager Piero Taramasso takes stock of the situation: “Leaving Europe for the first time after the first two rounds in Qatar will be a big change for everyone, but it’ll be nice to be back in front of the fans in the United States.”
“The CoTA has always been quite demanding from a tire perspective, not only because of the track design, with its gradients and the combination of different corners, but also because the grip level can be very difficult to judge,” he explained. “All of this will be further complicated by the fact that we have never raced here at this time of year before, so track temperatures could be very different from what we’re familiar with. That said, I’m sure our tire allocation will allow the riders to push to the limit as always and will help create some exciting races.”
