10 MINUTES WITH PIERO TARTAMASSO...
JM: Is the carbon black in a MotoGP tyre reeeeeally the same as it is the GP2?
PT: Yes, it is. We use it to make the tyre material denser, so when you mix all the materials together, you can get more in, or make the rubber thinner of the same content. This is better for durability, and also there’s a type of resin we use in the GP2 which is also exactly the same as we use in MotoGP that makes the window of operation for temperature bigger. In MotoGP, the ideal temperature of a rear tyre is between 125 and 145 degrees Celsius; this is when you get the optimum grip. When you see on TV the tyre smoking, it means the surface temperature is at least 200 degrees Celsius. It’s not normal. Brad Binder does it a lot.
JM: I notice the weight of the MotoGP tyre you have here is considerably greater than the road tyre. How much does it weigh?
PT: It’s about 9kg, and a road tyre would normally be 6kg or 7kg maximum. This is because the loads that go through a MotoGP tyre are massive. On the rear, they can experience about 400kg of load, and you can get 300kg in the front, so that’s why the tyres have to be very strong.
JM: How many tyres do you use per round?
PT: Every weekend we move 1200 tyres for every Grand Prix; this is all specifications for all eventualities, so slick, wets and so on. If it’s a dry weekend, useage is about 600 tyres. We have to bring one soft, one medium, one hard, and based on track conditions and weather conditions, they’ll chose the one which works best, but they have to have everything available at every Grand Prix. I just came from Qatar, and it rained there, so you never know. Next is Portimao, and it could be cold there or raining, or it could be 35 degrees.
JM: Front tyre pressures were an issue last year. How do you see that being resolved?
PT: First thing you have to know is that there is a limit, and we give a minimum pressure for the front which you have to respect, and that value is for safety. If you run lower than that, the carcass starts moving and then you risk damage to the tyre, which can lead to failure. So, to be sure the tyre would last the race, we set the minimum to 1.88bar and you have to respect that for 50% of the race, which of course means that you can run lower for 50% of the race if you want, but for at least half of the
race you must be above this pressure. Some of the riders on some tracks in some conditions were complaining, saying that 1.88bar was too high, because to stay within the rule, they are having to set their pressure too high to 1.9 or 1.95bar, and sometimes when it’s hot and they are in someone’s slipstream, the tyre gets hot and the pressure goes up and they lose grip; remember, the lower they can run the pressure, the better the grip. They asked if we can check the data and let them run lower pressures, so during last winter, we check all the data from 2023 and all the race tyres to look at all the components and we decided that it was safe to drop the minimum pressure a bit more to 1.80bar, but because that’s close to our margin, and we have asked them to respect that for 60% of the race. So, they have to respect it for longer to compensate, but everyone seemed happy with that in Qatar. At the end of the race, everyone was at about 1.9 to 2.0bar.
JM: That’s still quite low.
PT: Yes, it is. The rear is 1.7bar, which is quite normal. For me, the value is okay now, and there’s no point to run 1.8 in the front at MotoGP because the loads in the front are huge, especially when they brake very hard; the tyre will squash and collapse, which creates movement, and the feeling is gone then. For me, 1.9 to 2.0 is best for support because 80% of the stiffness of a tyre is the air. Of course, the carcass design and material help, but the air is what gives you the most rigidity in the front.
JM: Do you use air or nitrogen?
PT: We use 99% dry air rather than nitrogen. It’s very close to nitrogen for dryness. We have a machine which we take with us everywhere that dries the air we use to inflate. It’s much easier than having bottles of nitrogen.
JM: What do you think of the direction that MotoGP is going in at the moment?
PT: Aerodynamics affects the tyre; it’s getting loaded more and more. Five years ago, it was 30% less loading, and it’s all due to aero. With the aero, you always are putting load through the tyres, not just in the corners, but also on the straights. There’s no rest for the tyres – they are constantly under stress. Also, the ride height device means when before, the front would lift on corner exit, and have a chance to rest, it doesn’t now. They are under stress throughout the whole race. We are getting very close to the limit. In 2027 there is a rule change coming up, and all of the manufacturers are talking so there will be less aero and less power, which will help the tyres a lot.
JM: Do you know what word association is?
PT: Yes.
JM: Marques.
PT: The best.
JM: Acosta.
PT: Strong.
JM: Aero.
PT: A pain in the ass.
JM: Honda.
PT:
JM: KTM.
PT: Serious. They are all-in.
JM: Pecco.
PT: Calm. This is his strong point; even when it’s difficult, he is always there.
JM: Thank-you for your time.