Michelin: “You hear conspiracies, but blaming tyres is the easiest excuse”

Title contender Martin registered a season-worst 10th-place finish at the Qatar MotoGP, the penultimate race, after badly struggling with grip and he blamed a faulty tyre.

Michelin rebuffed his claims and insisted there was no issue with the compound allocated to him.

Piero Taramasso, Michelin’s motorsport boss, has now admitted to Gazzetta dello Sport that he is bothered by criticism.

"Very much,” he said. “I know what effort we make. 

“Often the criticisms are unfounded, you hear of conspiracies, bad tyres given on purpose... it's absurd. 

“Blaming the tyres is the easiest excuse.

“But I'm sorry that no one noticed the 36 records, or as in Indonesia, Qatar and Valencia, on new asphalt, the specifications were on target. It's a good result, few have seen it."

He said about the Martin controversy: "It's true that a quiet season ended in an agitated way. 

“I believe many factors contributed: the stress of the fight for the title, the open rider market, the regulation on tyre pressure, the introduction of the Sprints which added a nervous load. 

“Then, in Qatar, Jorge's performance not in line with expectations generated controversy and discussions."

He reiterated about whether there was a problem with Martin’s tyre in Qatar: "We did analysis on the machines where they were built, checked the quality and transport processes, the history of the rubber, whether it had been heated or not: there were no manufacturing or quality problems. That's for sure. 

“A tyre that doesn't work , it doesn't work on the warm-up lap and already from the first lap it makes you a second slower."

Martin was substantially slower in the Qatar grand prix than in the sprint 24 hours earlier.

"The first 6-7 laps are decent,” Taramasso responded. “In the 4th and 7th he sets the same time as Bagnaia. 

“He misses the start, but recovers three-four places: if the tyre doesn't work, you can't do it. 

“The rest are factors of racing which meant that the deterioration of the rear tyre, and then the front, ultimately led him to lap a second slower.”

Taramasso was asked if Michelin have a quality control problem with the tyres allocated to MotoGP riders.

"It's not true,” he said. “I invite everyone, riders, technicians, journalists, to come to France and see where and how we manufacture them.

“We make a huge effort to have maximum quality controls and be sure that the tyres work. 

“We don't want bad publicity, but that the riders are happy.”

The new tyre pressure rule, implemented midway through this year, has brought extra scrutiny.

The final rounds saw an increase in the penalties dished out to riders who breached the minimum pressure.

"Because they risked more,” Taramasso explained. 

“Knowing that the first time they would get a warning, they played the wild card.

“If they had always wanted to respect the values, they could have done it."

Will Michelin change anything in the 2024 MotoGP season?

"We talk to Dorna, FIM and IRTA,” Taramasso said. “We don't make the regulations. We can always improve."