Tyre pressure in MotoGP has become a regularly discussed topic, particularly this year with the introduction of rules that include penalties for not meeting the minimum limit. However, the issue has been around for a while and has previously caused a stir, as recalled by Ramón Forcada.
The engineer spoke on Dennis Noyes’ YouTube channel and remembered a situation from 2020 during a victory with Franco Morbidelli at the former Petronas SRT – Yamaha’s satellite team:
– In the pandemic year, when we won a race with Morbidelli and the average pressure was 1.89 bar instead of 1.90. This, if there’s no regulation, is perfect because, in the end, you tried to go at 1.90, and as he won a race and led, it dropped to 1.89. Neither Michelin nor Dorna complained. We asked everyone, from Michelin to our technician, and they all told us it was perfect. Hopefully, everyone could always manage to run at this pressure. Except for the manufacturer, it didn’t seem right to them.
Forcada then detailed Yamaha’s displeasure: ‘Their attitude was to throw me to the lions. In one of the tense meetings at Yamaha, the problem was that we ended it, and they would make the pressures, and we wouldn’t do it anymore because we did it dirty, figuratively speaking’.