So JL's front brake was getting worse from lap 2, and he had to rely on his rear brake, but yet his pace was getting stronger as the race went on. Righhhhhhtttttt. Why didn't he come in and pit if he had no front brake? https://www.crash.net/motogp/news/891959/1/avoiding-disaster-lorenzo-bails-out-110mph
So make them really hard so you have less traction? If the tires could run the whole race without a drop off, they would ride harder, which would wear the tires out fadter. it's an endless circle that cant be fixed by "just make them last the whole race without dropping off".
Well that's the point of what I'm saying. Does it just so happen they are at the limits of what a MotoGP bike/rider can produce with respect to what a tire can handle for this particular give point in time? If for instance you were to put a soft compound tire from today on a GP bike from 10-15 years ago would it trash it in 20-23 laps or would it be able to handle everything that bike could dish out to it? ehh whatever, its a moot point anyway.
Can we all just sit back and appreciate that Dovi is 3-for-3 on last lap battles with arguably one of the most aggressive road-racers to have ever walked the Earth?
Just watched the race - truly great. And yeah, Dovi head to head against MM is pretty amazing. Let the kid on through and right back under him smooth as buttah
There is no limit. There's a trade-off. Traction = Tread wear Each team gambles with how much traction can they sacrifice for increased tire longevity. You want a tire that gives up nothing in traction over race distance? Well, you'll have a tire that's twice as heavy, traction surface twice as thick, and geometry that changes twice as much over the tire's wear. Again...physics.
Interestingly, the moto2 extra hard rears are apparently the same as the hard, but with less rubber so they can dissipate heat quicker and not overheat. Kind of like back in the day when they would shave tires for certain riders. Tommy hand shaved Melandri's rear tire at Laguna in the mid 2000's.
We did that at BIR as well. Took (I believe) 6mm off the center of the traction surface and still had overheating on the superbikes.