Michelin saw its full range of MICHELIN Power Slick compounds put to full use today during the Red Bull Grand Prix of The Americas at the Circuit of The Americas in Texas as Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) raced to a comprehensive MotoGP ™ victory.
This weekend’s event at the 5,513m Texan circuit was a true performance and durability test for the Michelin rubber following extensive track repairs to the surface to smooth down the layout ’s notorio us bumps, had left it in a very dirty, dusty and abrasive condition. The range of tyres supplied for all riders more than coped with these extreme conditions and when the temperature started to rise before the start of today’s 20 – lap race there was a large amount of activity on the grid, as the riders used their confidence in the MICHELIN Power Slicks to make last minute alterations to their original selections .
These amendments saw the full range of compounds used for the race, again highlighting Michelin’ s desire and ability to supply tyres for all riders and machines. Marquez’s victory was a clear – cut affair as he led every lap, before taking the chequered flag by over three seconds from his nearest rival Maverick Viñales (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP). This r esult was not without more controversy, as Marquez took pole position yesterday – his sixth successive one at CoTA – but was penalised three grid places due to riding slowly on the racing line , this penalty led to Viñales being promoted to the first positi on on the grid , with Marquez fourth .
As the lights changed to signal go, Andrea Iannone (Team SUZUKI ECSTAR) led into the first corner, but he was soon passed by Marquez, as the reigning champion tame d the CoTA layout and raced to his sixth successive victor y at the track and his tenth consecutive one on American soil. Iannone never gave up the battle and was rewarded with the final podium position , meaning that today’s three – man podium – added to the first two races of the year – has seen eight different riders filling the nine places, along with four different manufacturers, and three different winners, again giving strength to Michelin’s quest to supply tyres for all and make the championship as exciting as possible.
Today’s colourful and vociferous crowd w ere treated to battles through the top – 10 , as Valentino Rossi (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) took fourth, with Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team) following him home, a result that lifts Dovizioso to the top of the championship standings, just one point above Marquez. Johann Zarco (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) was sixth and secured the position of First Independent rider . Seventh went to Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda Team) after a resilient ride on a very demanding circuit , less than two – weeks after having surgery to repair his broken right wrist.
Tito Rabat (Reale Avintia Racing) was eighth, with Jack Miller (Alma Pramac Racing) ninth and Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing Team Gresini) rounding out the top – ten. Michelin and the Grand Prix paddock will now head back to Europe following th ree fly – away races, which were preceded by three long – haul tests, as the championship heads to Spain and the Gran Premio Red Bull de España at Jerez on Sunday 6 th May, when Michelin will face the extra challenge of yet another resurfaced track.
Marc Marquez – Repsol Honda Team : “ Today was a good race for us, it was nearly perfect. We chose the correct tyres for our bike, with the medium front and the hard rear. All weekend we were just focussing our work on these tyres and today the temperature increased, but the tyres worked even better, which was a very important thing for us in the race. The result was a sweet one for me, I led from the beginning to the end. I was consistent and tried to understand the performance of the tyres as the race continued. I am really happy and already concentrating on the next race.”
Piero Taramasso – Michelin Motorsport Two – Wheel Manager: “We headed her e with a large amount of trepidation as we didn’t know what to expect from the track changes, and although it was very dirt y , the wear from the track was better than we expected and our tyres performed well all weekend. Unfortunately , the levels of grip the surface offered were not enough for outright records, but the times were competitive and in today’s race we saw all six s lick compounds used. This is especially pleasing as it showed the confidence different riders had in our tyres today as the track temperature rose higher than it had done all weekend . The race times throughout the whole field were competitive and we were p leased with the wear on such a demanding surface . This has been another confidence boosting event after going to Argentina and performing so well on the new surface and then to come here and give an equalling impressive display on what was a very difficult track . ”
