Extensive paddock speculation has finally been made official: Formula 1 tyre supplier Pirelli is coming to the MotoGP paddock to take over from Dunlop as Moto2 and Moto3’s control tyre supplier from 2024.
The new three-year deal doesn’t just cover Moto2 and Moto3. It marks a significant reboot of the entire ‘Road to MotoGP’ programme, as lower-tier classes Junior GP and the Red Bull Rookies Cup and the Asian and Northern European Talent Cups also make the move.
It’s the first tyre supplier change for Moto2 and Moto3 since the two championships were created to replace 250cc and 125cc over a decade ago.
“We’re super happy to welcome Pirelli to the paddock as the sole tyre supplier for Moto2 and Moto3,” said MotoGP sporting director Carlos Ezpeleta as the news was announced.
“These championships are the best example in motorsport of strong feeder classes that also stand alone as high-level competitions, in terms of both their sporting and commercial value.
“So we’re very happy to have seen such a high level of interest from Pirelli and to reach this agreement. Welcoming a new partner also underlines our sport’s strong connections and relationships with the industry, and we’re very much looking forward to working with Pirelli across a number of areas, including performance, road-relevance and, of course, sustainability.”
It’s obviously a big change for the junior classes, and it’s potentially significant for MotoGP too – thanks to the impact that Moto2 tyres in particular have always had on MotoGP’s Michelin rubber.
The support series leave a layer of Dunlop material on top of any Michelin rubber that might have been laid down during MotoGP practice – and that’s exacerbated in races due to the wider variety of lines taken by the intermediate class as they jostle for position in the early laps. It’s something that’s been an issue for years.
It seems that chemistry plays a role in it, with the interaction between Michelin and Dunlop significantly more than it was in the days when MotoGP’s sole tyre supplier was Bridgestone, according to KTM rider Jack Miller.
“Especially with all the Dunlop rubber on the track, you can’t use all the power we’ve got,” Miller explained.
“So you do have to start off sometimes a little bit lower otherwise you just kill the tyre.
“Not through your own fault, you are being gentle on the throttle, picking the bike up and everything like that. But it just seems that you just can’t find the grip. Even in a straight line, with the bike upright, you’re just spinning the tyre. So you have to try and manage it as best you can.
“Bridgestones were always very slippery on the first couple of laps, but after the first four or five laps the track was fine, the tyres were fine and you could get going.”
And, when asked by The Race about the rumours of a Pirelli switch at last weekend’s Dutch TT at Assen, Miller admitted that things might well change again with the arrival of the Italian brand – although it might, in his experience, be for the better for the premier class.
“It could be a whole different ball game,” he admitted. “We’ll just have to wait and see, and there’s no point in really speculating too much.
“As we all know, the Dunlops do take advantage of our rubber being down and then tend to sweep it all up.
“Pirellis do tend to leave a little bit more rubber down [in other series], so whether or not that’ll make it worse or better for our tyres, we’ll find out.”
