MotoGP’s new tyre-pressure rules: ‘As soon as you reach 2.2 bar you crash’

To stay legal riders need to keep above the minimum limit for at least 50% of a grand prix. The rule will also apply in qualifying, when riders will lose any lap when they’re under pressure. Qualifying infractions will be immediately communicated to teams, so they can tell their rider to go again. In Saturday’s new sprint races the minimum pressure will need to be reached for between 30 and 50% of race distance, depending on the number of laps.

By the way, the limit for the rear tyre is 1.7 bar, but rear pressure is rarely, if ever, a concern.

Michelin may slightly lower the front minimum from 1.9 to 1.88 bar for 2023, with the limit possibly changing fractionally from one circuit to another, according to track and weather conditions. The company doesn’t want to go much lower than 1.88 due to concerns over damage to tyre casings, even though riders have run a few tenths lower without problems.

What effect will the enforcement of the pressure rules have on the racing?

“I think with this kind of limitation we will see less show, less overtaking,” says Diego Gubellini, crew chief to 2021 MotoGP champ Fabio Quartararo. “Because if you cannot go under a certain limit then you will suffer more when you are following another rider, then you cannot overtake him, even if you are faster, so I think this isn’t the best solution for the show.”

There’s already less overtaking in MotoGP than there used to be, so if Gubellini’s prediction is correct, this is another concern for the championship, which is fighting to rekindle interest.

Michelin’s front slick has caused high-pressure problems for riders for at least five years, but increased machine performance – thanks to more straight-line speed, stronger brakes and, most of all, downforce aero – has made the situation much worse.

The problem is at its worst when a rider is chasing a rival, because once the following rider gets close, the heat from the leading rider’s machine overheats the chasing rider’s front tyre, raising tyre pressure and reducing grip. There is really only one thing the second rider can do in this instance: slow down, wait for the pressure to drop (all MotoGP bikes have pressure gauges on the dash), then try again.

“Even before all this we had front-tyre pressure problems, but you could come out of the slipstream and survive,” adds another engineer. “Now, with the extra speed of the bikes and all the downforce, it’s become much more critical because of the extra load on the tyre.”

“This isn’t an easy thing for everybody to get right, which is why we’ve taken a long, long time to get here,” says MotoGP technical director Danny Aldridge. “If everyone is happy after the first three races then we will strictly enforce the regulation from the fourth race. But if not, we can extend the period before we introduce it.

“The whole reason this came about is because a few years ago some teams came to me and said, ‘We’re following the rules but we’re not sure the guys in the next-door garage are’, so it was teams that have brought this upon themselves.

“I hope there’ll only be a bit of a panic at the first few races, then once everyone understands the situation they’ll manage it and if they make a mistake they’ll have to take the consequences.

“MotoE has spec TPMS units and minimum pressure rules, and we’ve had a few riders disqualified for going under, but teams have mostly got used to it, so they’re managing it better. In MotoGP maybe there’ll be three or four disqualifications in the first season and then maybe the following year there’ll only be one or two.”

Obviously it would be a disaster for the MotoGP show if a race winner is stripped of victory for being one- or two-tenths of a bar under the limit, but Aldridge says that once the rule goes live it will be enforced like any other.

“What’s everyone going to do, cheat like mad in first three races?”

“The pressure data will go to race direction, so if they inform me that a certain bike hasn’t kept the required pressure for 50% of the race that bike will be summoned to technical control, where we will check the data and make sure there’s nothing wrong with the sensors.

“It’s no different to weighing a bike to make sure it’s above the minimum weight, taking a fuel sample or checking the software download to make sure the team is using the right software. Obviously we don’t want a rider disqualified every weekend, but rules have to be abided by.”

If there is a rule, of course. If the teams do decide to delay the rule, possibly until 2024, MotoGP will be where it was last year, with teams cheating with impunity. But maybe you can argue that if they’re all cheating then it doesn’t matter…

And even if the rule is implemented at Jerez, there will be questions. “What’s everyone going to do, cheat like mad in first three races?” wonders one engineer.

Of course, this entire problem could probably be solved by a new front slick, designed to cope with the extra stresses caused by downforce aero and other tech improvements. Michelin has promised a new front in recent years but it’s been delayed and delayed, with a new tyre now unlikely before next year at the earliest.

On the other hand, Michelin motor sport manager Piero Taramasso, argues that the problem isn’t of his making.

“When you have a control-tyre championship, then the manufacturers have to design their motorcycles around the tyres,” he says. “By adding all the aero and the ride-height devices, then they aren’t designing their motorcycles around the tyres.”

It’s a complicated state of affairs, some might even say it’s a mess, but we won’t really know what’s going to happen until the Spanish GP at the earliest.