Martin’s Sepang crash due to drop in tyre temperature

Michelin’s MotoGP chief Piero Taramasso says Jorge Martin’s crash at the start of the Sepang test was due to a 15C drop in the inside temperature of the rear tyre.

On the opening day of pre-season testing in Malaysia, reigning MotoGP champion Martin was thrown off his Aprilia at Turn 2 as he began an early flying lap of his third run. Crashing to the ground head-first, the Spaniard broke his right hand and left foot and had to be transported to a nearby hospital.

He subsequently flew back to Barcelona, where he was operated on by Dr Xavier Mir on Friday morning.

In its initial analysis, Aprilia suggested that the cause of the crash was the rear tyre, to the extent of openly questioning the logistical operations of Michelin, the championship’s tyre supplier.

“The data shows that the bike had no problem, and that Jorge did not make any mistakes. I have asked Michelin for the history of the [rear] compound. I wouldn’t like to know that it had been stored for 11 months,” Aprilia Racing CEO Massimo Rivola said at the time.

On Thursday, Michelin boss Taramasso traced the route that the tyre in question followed, from when it was manufactured in France in June last year to when it was fitted to Martin’s RS-GP.

Jorge Martin, Aprilia Racing Team

Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

“All this time it has been in a temperature-controlled container. The evidence doesn’t indicate that it had any problems,” he said.

On Friday, Taramasso was able to offer more details about what could have happened, having gathered new information from the various sensors located on Martin’s tyre. One of the sensors, which prompted Taramasso’s appearance, focuses on the temperature of the inner layer of the rubber, a device supplied by McLaren Applied.

According to Taramasso, the reason the rear tyre suddenly lost grip and the Aprilia launched the Spaniard into the air was the low temperature of the inner part of the tyre, not its surface.

“The outside temperature was fine,” he explained. “The inside temperature sensor, on the other hand, shows us that it is about 15 degrees [Celsius] below what we consider normal, which is between 90 and 100 degrees, and that of Marco Bezzecchi’s.

“This drop can be due to different reasons. It was less hot than usual, and the bike had returned to the pit after a first crash. Or maybe there was something wrong with the tyre blankets. But we have to keep investigating.”