At the MotoGP Qatar GP, Jorge Martín experienced a sudden drop in performance from the Sprint race to the main race. The reasons aren’t clear, but they might have been related to tyre performance, and Marco Melandri highlighted the importance of this component for overall performance.
The former rider told Corriere dello Sport: ‘There have been some races where I expect a setback for Martín because of the tyres: Michelin said the tire was fine, like the others, so it could have been a pressure problem. Martín is the one who has scored the most points in the last races, so I don’t think he suddenly… fell asleep’.
Melandri stressed that tyres have always been crucial: ‘The tyre makes the bike. It’s much easier to improve with a tyre than with a change in the bike: the secret to being fast is to put power or braking power on the ground in the correct way, and the tyre is the only thing directly related to the asphalt. It has always been like this’.