Michelin is preparing the 2027 regulations and considering the first tests

Michelin's contract with MotoGP only officially runs until the end of the 2026 season but the desire to extend has been affirmed on both sides and the French manufacturer is already beginning to foresee the development of tires for the new generation of machines which will be launched in 2027.

Starting next year, Michelin will begin to look into “certain changes in view of the new regulations”according to Piero Taramasso, head of the tire supplier's two-wheel competition, interviewed by the Italian edition of Motorsport.com.

The constraints on the rubbers will be different, with a reduced displacement and less space for aerodynamic elements. Clermont-Ferrand engineers have already started to look into these developments. “We will have to see what can be introduced [en 2025] or not but we are already working, not only for tomorrow, but also for the day after tomorrow”specified Taramasso.

Some manufacturers are starting to consider testing prototypes next year, but Taramasso does not yet know if Michelin will be involved: “For the moment, no decision has been taken, but it will be necessary to discuss it quickly with Dorna [qui organise le championnat] and teams.”

“This is a subject that will clearly need to be talked about at the beginning of 2025, because we need to understand whether this will be integrated into the tests already permitted or whether it will be outside of this kind of reasoning.”

Progress in 2024, stability in 2025

The 2027 motorcycles should be less efficient but in 2024, Michelin has helped make them faster. The construction of the rear tire has been revised and the compounds have been modified, in order to provide “more consistency” but also “no more grip“, even if it was not “not specifically” the objective of Taramasso and his troops.

“The drivers felt it immediately and you could see it in the times, because we broke the records on almost all the circuits, sometimes as early as Friday. In total, we set 45 new records and 14 of them They were there for the duration of the race.”

For 2025, Michelin is preparing for a transition season. The only major change that was planned, the construction of the front tire to prevent overheating and pressure build-ups in the front tire, has been pushed back to 2026.

“There will be no changes next year, we will have the same range of compounds as in 2024”confirmed Taramasso. “In 2026 we will have both new front tire construction and new types of compounds.”

This front tire was of great concern before the 2024 season, due to the regulations put in place to regulate its pressure, Michelin wishing to avoid it being too low which could cause failures. Teams were sometimes playing with the limit in 2023 since a less inflated tire provides better grip.

Before the start of the season, Michelin agreed to lower the threshold slightly, however requiring that it be respected for 60% of the race, compared to 50% during the second half of the 2023 season. “In the end it was a compromise that worked well because there was no controversy”underlined Taramasso, estimating that the 17 penalties mainly fell under conditions “particular”as in the freshness of the Jerez sprint.

“By lowering the value, no one looked for the limit because they realized that below 1.9 bar there is too much movement at the front and the bike becomes nervous, so they don't had no interest in exaggerating and everyone was running between 1.9 and 2.0 bar The teams also manage to have very good management because they have algorithms that help them calculate the starting pressures. found solutions, both aerodynamics and in wheel coatings, which allow pressure and temperature to be managed.”

Comments collected by Matteo Nugnes