Round 12 of the MotoGP™ season comes from Silverstone: the longest circuit on the calendar at 5.9 km and one that will provide a particular challenge in 2018.
For the first time in 22-years, the entire Northamptonshire based layout has been resurfaced and with Michelin unable to do any testing before this weekend, four tyre compounds will be available to the riders as opposed to the three they normally have at their disposal.
Available in soft, medium and two harder options on both the front and rear, the softer option will be asymmetric in design – with a harder right-hand side – while the other three are all symmetric. The fast and flowing nature of Silverstone, with its 10-right-hand and 8-left-hand turns, gives a need for the asymmetric design as the right-hand-side will come under an increased amount of scrutiny over the 20-lap race.
Despite positive forecasts, the British summer weather can never be trusted, so Michelin have soft and medium, front and rear rain tyres with them at Silverstone. The rear tyres will have an asymmetrical finish, coupled with symmetrical fronts.