After four flyaway races, MotoGP™ and Michelin are back in Europe for the final round of the 2018 season and as is now accustomed to the Championship, the venue for the last race is the Circuit Ricardo Tormo in Valencia.
The Gran Premio Motul de la Comunitat Valenciana sees Michelin head to the second shortest track on the calendar, with the Sachsenring the only circuit not as long as the Circuit Ricardo Tormo. However, this doesn’t mean it’s any less of a challenge for Michelin. A tight, twisty, technical and anti-clockwise layout all factor in Michelin bringing a complete asymmetric Power Slick range that will be available to the premier class riders in soft, medium and hard compounds. This is only the third time this has happened all season, with the left-hand side of the tyre featuring a harder shoulder to cope with the extra demands that part of the tyre will face.
Rain is forecast for the weekend, so Michelin’s Power Rain rubber looks set to get a runout. Available in soft and medium compounds, these will also feature an asymmetric finish to give the riders the greatest amount of grip in tricky conditions.
Piero Taramasso – Michelin Motorsport Two-Wheel Manager: “After the four fly-aways, it feels almost comforting to be back on familiar territory in Europe, but we are still very aware that Valencia in late November will be as big a challenge as we have had this year. The cooler mornings will certainly have an effect and when we chose the tyres for this race back in February, we had to decide on the best compounds to work with that and for when the air and track hopefully warms-up in the afternoon. Valencia is one of the few circuits we bring a whole set of asymmetric tyres to, this is because the tyre spends so much time on the side through the snake-like design of the track, that it means we need a tyre with different compounds on it to contend with this layout and give the riders the confidence and performance they require. The championship has been decided, so hopefully it will be a compelling race, and this will also be the last opportunity that some riders – who are moving to different teams at the end of this weekend – have the chance to give glory and good results to their current teams.”