MotoMatters.com | Kropotkin Thinks

For the past four years or so, there have been growing complaints about issues with Michelin's front tire. The increasing loads put on the front by the ride-height devices and by aerodynamics have raised temperatures and pressures, and the increasing size of aerodynamic wakes have made harder and harder to find fresh air to cool down the front tire by pulling out from behind the rider in front of you.

To address that, Michelin have been working on a new construction front tire. Initially, Michelin had planned to test it in 2020 and introduce it in 2021. The Covid-19 pandemic put a stop to that, with testing halted during that year, and by the time a normal testing schedule resumed, the bikes had changed so much, the role of ride-height devices and aerodynamics increased so much, that Michelin had to go back to the drawing table and redesign the front for the massive loads it now had to endure.

"The feeling of the first five laps was super strange," That's how Marc Márquez characterized the transition from a track with zero grip at Aragon to Misano's high grip surface. "Coming from Aragon here everything was stiffer, the bike, the tires, and especially a narrow track with hard acceleration. But at the same time, the reaction of the bike was much more aggressive, and it was pumping more. So it looks like you have the grip, but then you have to control it."

It took the riders a little while to get their heads around the completely different conditions they had come from five days ago, but they were up to speed soon enough. And the choices made on Friday morning told you a lot about their expectations. In FP1, everyone, and I do mean everyone, spent the entire session on the soft front/medium rear tire combination. Because everyone is saving their medium fronts for qualifying and the race, and most were saving soft rears for the same purpose.

Marc Márquez' return to victory and the collision between Alex Márquez and Pecco Bagnaia ate up a lot of attention at the Motorland Aragon GP. Understandably so. Márquez winning after 1043 days and leaving the safety of the Repsol Honda factory team for the impoverished Gresini Ducati squad is huge. And the 13 or 16 points Bagnaia lost as a result of the crash could potentially end up making a difference in the championship.

But there was a lot more happening during the MotoGP race at Aragon. Pedro Acosta returned to the podium during a sprint race for the first time since Mugello, and for the first time since Austin in a Sunday grand prix. Though Acosta earned his sprint podium, his Sunday podium was gifted to him when Bagnaia and Márquez crashed out ahead of him.

Yet this podium is significant. It is the result of reverting to a setup with which Acosta had booked so many successes earlier in the season. A disastrous outing at their home GP at the Red Bull Ring had convinced KTM that something needed to be done, and by abandoning the changes which offered potential advantages for a setup they understood and knew would be more consistent allowed Acosta to ride like he wanted to again.

Back to the future

It has been a slow start to the return of MotoGP after the summer break. We had been expecting a flurry of announcements before Silverstone, but all we got in the end was the news that Alex Rins had extended his deal with Yamaha. And even that came about at the last minute.

Talks had been going on with Yamaha since before Rins crashed at Assen and broke his wrist and ankle, but the paperwork was only done before Silverstone. "My signature on the paper was this morning! So immediately after we received the paper from Japan. We did it the here in the hospitality with all the staff," Rins admitted.

There had been rumors that Rins would retire, the shattered leg he suffered in his huge crash in Mugello last year still causing him issues off the bike. But the Spaniard denied that was ever a consideration. "Honestly, no," he responded when asked about that. "My mentality, my mind is clear. Still I'm competitive. Still I have a lot of performance on the bike to understand things when I try to compete against others. So now we are just improving the bike."

Who will get the second factory seat at Ducati? If the leading Italian sports daily Gazzetta dello Sport is to be believed (and on all things Ducati, they generally should be) then the decision is already made, though agreement is yet to be reached. Jorge Martin will partner Pecco Bagnaia in the factory Ducati Lenovo team in 2025, leaving Marc Marquez to make a decision on his own future.

The Gazzetta article poured high octane fuel on a fire of speculation that is already raging out of control at Mugello. Which somehow seems fitting, given the event's reputation for the wild and rowdy atmosphere around the track. To call the atmosphere fevered would be to commit the sin of gross understatement. I have been in the paddock for 15 years, and I don't remember Silly Season ever being quite so, well, silly.

What do we know? Very little indeed, other than that everyone is currently engaged in a battle of wills to secure for themselves what they believe to be the best possible deal. Mostly, that is the best possible chance of winning. Sometimes, though, other considerations come into play.

Out of left field