It's not only MotoGP engine design that will be frozen for the𝔉 2018 season at the opening round in Qatar next weekend.

Michelin will not introduce any new tyre designs once the world chꦦampionsh🔜ip is underway.

Last season the168澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果历史: front tyre design changed from&nb🐠sp;Mugello, round six, after a majority of riders voted in favour of t⛎he change.

"We want to keep st🐼ability in terms of tyres," said Piero Taramasso, manager of two-wheel motorsport for Michelin. "This is what the riders and teams asked us to do.

"So start🏅ing at the beginning of the season we will fix the front casing and the front⭕ profile, plus the rear casing and the rear profile. This will not change all season.

"And also the compounds. 80% of the 🌳compounds we will use this season are from l♓ast year, plus two or three new ones which we have been validating [in the pre-season tests]. So teams and riders will know the tyres very well.

"We will not change during the season, 🌟so they can work on the bike, 💜the setting, the engine, without having a problem with tyres changing.

"Especially ෴in the first year [2016], we wanted to develop very quickly, to try to give the best tyre as soon as possible. And the riders complained, 'the tyres change too much, they change the handling, this and this and this'.

"So this year, there will be no change. There will be stability of 🍸the tyres."

The new front compounds tested for use in 2018 are described as "quite hard… we want to use them at track🌳s where we faced some wear problems. It's a different way to mix the rubber, a different technology, just to be wear resistant.

"Here [in Qaಌtar] we will bring o♔ne solution, the 'E', for the race as the hard option. And the second one [the 'X'] we will probably bring to other tracks like Argentina or Austin."

In total, Michelin will use around 7 different front compounds𝔍 and 1𒁃1-12 different rear compounds during the 19 rounds.

There are three events which require special attention this season - the new Buriram track, whe꧋re an official pre-season test has been held, plus the resurfaced Silverstone and Barcelona circuits.

"Buriram, we needed to go. Barcelona has been resurfaced, so we have planned one test before and we will have data for that. 𝔉Silverstone will also be resurfaced. We don't plan to do a test there, but we have an agreement with Dorna to bring four front specifications and four rꦜear specifications, to be sure to have the right ones.

"For the other tracks, we have enough experience and data after two years to make the right ty🐈res."

Taramasso conceded "from a Michelin point of view, we want to develop" but with no new tyres being introduced during 2018, Michelin'ꦅs attention is already turning to 2019.

"If we want to bring a new solution - a new casing, new profile, new compound - we can test during the [official] IRTA tests, but these solutions can only be used for 2019," he said. "So we are still developing, but slower, and any [new tyres] we validate this year will only be for 𓆏next year."

A change fo🅰r 2018 inꦆ terms of Michelin's wet tyres is that they will all feature asymmetric compounds.

"All the rears are asym🌌metric. Last year we had some asymmetric tyres, some had a different compound on the left, some were the same compound [througho♈ut]. This year they will be all asymmetric - specific for left-hand or right-hand circuits.

"So more made-to-measure for the track. More specific to the track, like we do for the rear sli𝓡cks."

Alongside stability in tyre design, the remaining criticism sometimes heard from riders - 'quality control', meaning a difference in pᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ𒀱ᩚᩚᩚ💎erformance from tyres of the same design - is also being addressed.

"It's not easy to understand where this comes from. We need to work, this is our goal. We are working in the factory, in transport, to try to understand [how that affects the tyres], and of course, we keep stati🐲stics, which we th🅰en send to Dorna to prove that we improved compared to last year.

"So far, we had a small problem in Sepang, but this was just our mistake, because we left some tyres from last year's race in the containers at the Sepang circuit, and then we used them at the IRTA❀ test. But probably the temperature in the container had gone up too high, and the tyre was not good.

"Then in Thailand and here [in Qatar], it hasജ been good. So far, we have no issues. So I hope ൲it will continue like this."

Being a single tyre supplier in top level motorsport is often a thankless task and, while Taramasso wants "people to speak about the tyres𓃲, but in a good way" he knows the reality is:

"When൩ we do well, nobody speaks about the tyres, When something goes wrong, everybod𒈔y speaks about the tyres. This is the way it has been forever!"

This ❀season will see an increase in res𒀰ponsibility for Taramasso, following Nicolas Goubert's move from Michelin to head the new FIM MotoE World Cup.