Race Craft

Harder or softer, with 2 compounds of each. The teams have to decide which to use. Soft compound tires have white stripe on the sidewalls so they can be easily identified. Of course, each rider and team always looks at the competition's bikes to see what tires they are running. This adds another layer of entertainment to the race.

Another result of strictly limiting the number of tires is the elimination of qualifying tires used only for qualifying sessions. Qualifying tires had very soft compounds that gave exceptional traction and very quick lap times but wore out very quickly. Qualifying still takes place during the final session and it is just as important as before, because a rider's starting position on the grid can significantly influence his finishing position. The main difference between this year and last is that instead of fitting a qualifying tire on the rear, riders and teams select the softest of the two rear compounds to use in qualifying.

Up until last year, when qualifying tires were used, the qualifying lap times were significantly faster than lap times with racing tires. The fact that qualifying is such a thrilling, one-shot deal makes it very popular with the spectators, However, because the riding styles for qualifying tires and race tires are so different, there were many instances of riders qualifying very well, but then slipping back through the pack during the race.

This season, because qualifying takes place on soft-compound race tires the qualifying results more closely reflect the machines actual performance during the race. And if one compares the results of qualifying with the race results, one finds that there is not as large a discrepancy as before. Still, because these are the best riders in the world, regardless of how their machines are performing, the riders must give absolutely 100% to have any hope of winning. And regardless of the tires fitted or the machines raced, racing will always be filled with drama and excitement, because that's what motorcycle racing is all about.

We hope that this information about how tires are selected and used will make your viewing of MotoGP racing even more enjoyable.