Michelin has brought a harder-casing rear tyre to Motegi, but Jack Miller and Luca Marini regard it more as insurance than as a likely race choice. The construction is intended for circuits where repeated hard acceleration can create excessive heat in the rear tyre. It has been used this year at Buriram, Mandalika, Spielberg and Goiania; at the first three of those venues, it was the normal construction.

Motegi shares the stop-start character of Buriram, Mandalika and Spielberg, yet its new surface is expected to deliver more grip this year. Michelin has responded cautiously by expanding the tyre allocation for the Japanese MotoGP. The change is limited rather than universal: only the hard rear tyre uses the harder construction, and that tyre has been added as a third rear option for this weekend. The soft and medium rears retain Michelin’s standard construction.

Grip remains the priority

Jack Miller of Pramac Yamaha was especially dismissive of the hard option, linking his view to a difficult weekend at Spielberg. He does not see it as a realistic choice for Motegi unless circumstances change considerably. The reaction underlines the trade-off facing riders: a casing intended to control heat is of limited appeal if it gives away too much usable grip.

Luca Marini of Honda HRC takes a similar view. He has stressed the importance of track grip to the Honda RC213V and says that, when a softer tyre is available, the option with more grip is preferred. The hard tyre will be considered only if degradation makes it necessary. Marini was inside the top 10 from the start of the Misano weekend, while he finished 14th in Austria after failing to reach Q2. Michelin’s extra option therefore adds a margin for tyre management, but the riders currently see it as a fallback rather than a performance advantage.