Michelin are the current tyre suppliers (sponsors) to MotoGP.
Every MotoGP class runs slick tyres.
For years MotoGP tyres were only available in 16.5″ fitments as the racing world thought this was the best size for racing bikes. However now the tyres they run are 17″, which is the same size as most road bikes and all superbikes. However just because our wheel sizes as the same as the ones they now run in MotoGP doesn’t improve your chances of getting hold of a MotoGP slick tyre to run on your bike.
The tyres are tightly controlled by Michelin, with an allocation per team and per rider across all classes. The teams don’t get to keep the tyres either, each one is barcoded and each one gets returned to Michelin following a race weekend in order for their motorsports department to analyse them and then destroy them.
We dare say there are a few Michelin staff who sneak them out of the back door and end up running Rossi & Co’s used rubber at their local trackday but for mere mortals like you and I, you won’t be able to get your hands on them.
Based on the costs that Michelin claim are involved in running this tyre supply during a MotoGP season, each tyre ends up costing around £1,000. So even if Michelin were selling them to try and recoup a bit of their R&D costs, there wouldn’t be many takers.
But then, you don’t need to run the exact same tyre that Marquez runs; the chances are that Michelin’s Power Slick 2 – their stickiest trackday tyre – has a lot more in common with a MotoGP slick than they’d let on. And at £320 a pair, they look like great value for money compared to £2,000 for a set of MotoGP slicks!
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