MARINI URGES MICHELIN TO EXAMINE MOTEGI’S SURPRISE TYRE PERFORMANCE

Luca Marini has urged Michelin to examine why its least-favoured rear tyre became the standout choice at Motegi, after the Honda rider found its grip transformed his Japanese Grand Prix weekend.

Michelin brought the hard-construction option as insurance against the circuit’s new surface and stop-start layout. It used the same rubber compound as the soft rear, but a heat-resistant construction previously used in Austria. Marini had been among the riders who doubted it before the event, and the tyre was not expected to feature prominently.

That changed after the soft rear began to break up in the centre for some riders during Saturday’s Sprint and was removed from Sunday’s allocation. All riders chose the hard for the Grand Prix, which proved more capable and trouble-free than expected. Marini finished 10th, 25.7 seconds behind winner Marc Marquez, after struggling for grip on Friday and Saturday.

“Fantastic! Unbelievable,” he said after the race. Marini had struggled with grip through the weekend, but reported a dramatic difference when he finally used the hard. “I was complaining all the weekend with the grip and this morning I put this hard rear, the grip was unbelievable. All the problems in the bike were fixed, everything was working well.”

The result left him with questions for Michelin. “We still don't understand why, maybe Michelin neither, but it was working so well,” he said, adding that the manufacturer should investigate the tyre’s unexpected performance. He had spoken with Michelin engineers after the race and described the tyre as “fantastic” for Motegi. The same option is available at other circuits, Marini noted, “but it never worked so well as here”.

Marini said that, had riders been encouraged to try it earlier on Friday, the tyre might even have been a qualifying or Sprint option. Its appeal was not only durability over race distance: it also delivered the grip he had been missing.

Marini also reflected on a missed chance to test all three options earlier. He crashed in Friday practice and, despite having already tried the medium in FP1, chose not to use the hard. At the time, he had dismissed it along with other riders and considered the soft the best choice. After the crash, he felt obliged to switch away from the soft rather than spend another one.

“Maybe for me, that I crashed in the practice, it could be an opportunity to try [the hard rear tyre],” he said. The experience, he added, showed the value of testing every available specification when circumstances allow: “For the future we need to be clever to try everything.”

That lesson could matter more next season, when Pirelli takes over as MotoGP’s tyre supplier and riders will have three specifications available each time. Marini said the Motegi surprise was “something to take in consideration” as teams adapt to that format, and stressed that riders should try all three options before settling on a race choice.

Despite the tyre breakthrough, Marini described his race as “okay” rather than special. Still, after the difficulties he had faced through Sunday morning, he said 10th place was enough to leave for Indonesia in good spirits.