PirelIi's MotoGP plans: 'We don’t want to keep the tyre-pressure rule'

“MotoGP will be a totally different category in 2027,” one MotoGP engineer told me recently.

Smaller engines, less downforce aerodynamics and no ride-height adjusters will have a huge effect on how MotoGP bikes work – indeed, this will be the championship’s biggest shake-up since 990cc four-strokes replaced 500cc two-strokes a quarter of a century ago.

And yet most MotoGP engineers agree that the biggest change won’t be the rules rewrite but the change in tyre supplier, with Michelin out and Pirelli in, because all motor sport is about grip and therefore about tyres.

“In the end the whole game is to make the tyres work – all the other stuff doesn’t matter,” affirms Yamaha technical director Max Bartolini.

Pirelli had its first MotoGP test at Misano last September and it will continue testing throughout 2026, initially with factory test riders and later with full-time riders. The manufacturers have a gentleman’s agreement not to test with their full-timers before a certain date.

Pirelli has been World Superbike’s tyre supplier since 2004, so its earliest work on its MotoGP tyres was based on its WSBK experience. Its MotoGP tyres will be slightly bigger to fit MotoGP’s wider wheel rims (4in front/6.5in rear in MotoGP, 3.5in/6in in WSBK).

Pirelli may also supply mega-grippy qualifying tyres, which haven’t been seen since the days of open tyre competition back in 2008. And it hopes to get rid of MotoGP’s hated tyre-pressure rule, which penalises riders who run below Michelin’s minimum pressures.

The Italian company moved into MotoGP in 2024, taking over from Dunlop in Moto2 and Moto3. Since then, Moto2 crash rates have fallen by 35%, while lap records have been broken everywhere and the quality of tracing has improved. Most riders attribute these changes to the improved feedback given by Pirelli tyres. The company’s motorcycle racing director Giorgio Barbier hopes these characteristics will have the same effect in the premier class.

Oxley: How did your first MotoGP tests go at Misano?

Barbier: We weren’t able to run with the 2027 bikes, so our first tests were with the present 1000cc bikes, with their ride-height devices disengaged and their power cut. Only Ducati tested with less aero. It was important for us that the [test] riders gained confidence with our tyres. As soon as we can test with the 2027 bikes we will be happier.

Presumably you also have your own Pirelli test riders?

GB: No, because I prefer to test with the manufacturers and their test riders, because we need them to understand our tyres in order to properly develop the bikes, because we don’t have any MotoGP experience and we need to create products that work with all the different bikes.

In WSBK they cannot change the bikes so much, but at Misano we realised that MotoGP teams can do anything to their bikes, so maybe they can make a soft tyre work for a race, because they can make big, big changes to how the bike works. With the new 850s they will be able to understand how the tyres work with the chassis, suspension and so on.

How was the feedback from the riders?

GB: Quite good. For that first test, we brought just three different rear specs and a couple of fronts. The good thing was that everyone made the same comments about the front and the rear. They appreciated both tyres for the same reasons, so I was quite surprised.

What did they like?

GB: What riders usually like about our front is the rideability, the capability to give them feedback. This was interesting and will be one of the keys. Although I also understand that they will have to change their minds, their settings and their riding styles?

What do MotoGP bikes need from tyres that superbikes don’t?

GB: I can’t tell you – it’s something we have to learn! I didn’t expect such quick feedback at Misano, considering that our tyres are so different from what they’ve previously used. I thought maybe we would lose all day [at Misano] looking for different set-ups, but that didn’t happen, so I was happy about that.

So, the first contact was, okay, we can work. There were positive matters and matters which we have to improve, but the basis was there, which was why we didn’t make a second test at Valencia [after the final MotoGP weekend], because with the results we got at Misano, we were able to give all the manufacturers a reference set of tyres for the next tests.

How will your next tyres be different?

GB: We have fixed the standard set of tyres, the reference set, and we will make different fronts and rears, in order to see what will happen when we go to different racetracks and find different weather conditions. All the experience we will gain during 2026 testing will be this – understanding what will happen to the tyres in different circumstances.

What are the basic stages of tyre development: profile, then casing, then compound?

GB: At the first test it was important for us to understand if our ideas were right for the profiles we had made for MotoGP’s wheel rims and actually they were good, even though we have to consider that Misano is an unusual racetrack. But the profiles were appreciated, so we won’t change them for the moment. Now we are more concentrated on casings and compounds.

Were you concerned about the increased temperatures caused by MotoGP’s carbon brakes?

GB: We were a bit worried about this, about the temperature of the carbon discs and so on. But actually we didn’t see any problems.

I think the way to brake and the way to make lines will be quite different with our tyres, so the riders will have to change their attitude going into corners. Now they brake hard and flick into the corner. With our tyres they will probably brake a bit more and a bit deeper. This is usually the character of our tyres. I hope we can keep this character.

Considering the power and weight of the 850cc bikes, they will probably be easier [than the 1000s], because in the end the new bikes will be like a superbike, but without the ‘defects’ of a superbike. The power will be more or less the same as a superbike and the bikes will be lighter and this is important.

Do you think your MotoGP tyres will keep the Pirelli DNA, with the front deflecting [squishing] to give riders a lot of feel?

GB: This is my personal target, to give the riders’ tyres this Pirelli DNA. They need to know that whenever they use Pirellis they will find that Pirelli feeling, in MotoGP tyres as well.

And this will allow us to bring all our MotoGP experience and development to our standard tyres. This is our way to work – we don’t want to have super tyres in MotoGP and something less with our other tyres.

For the moment, we are more or less using the same technology that we use on our 120 and 125 [tyre width in millimetres] superbike fronts, and putting that into a 130 front for MotoGP’s four-inch front rim. That’s working at the moment, but we haven’t done a race yet or worked a lot with the best riders, so that will be the next step.

MotoGP has had tyre-pressure issues in recent years. Do you think Pirellis will suffer from similar issues or not?

GB: To be frank, we don’t know. We haven’t had this problem so far, but we understand that in MotoGP, the racing can be different. First, because of the aero. Second, because of the braking performance. And third, because of the queue, the way they stay in line. That changes many things, because with all the aero, the impact on the rider behind is a lot, so that may be more aggressive on the tyres. For sure, we use completely different tyre pressures compared to the current [Michelin] tyres.

Higher or lower?

GB: For sure, higher, so all the manufacturers will have to adapt their mentality to this and then we will see. What we saw in Misano was that tyre pressure wasn’t a problem. But that was Misano in September, so we have to test at other tracks and in hotter conditions to understand.

We don’t want to keep the [tyre-pressure] rule. If Michelin needs the rule, it means they were concerned about some factors that might be dangerous, so considering this, we cannot underestimate the job they’ve done.

Your tyres have had a positive effect on Moto2, so do you think it will be the same in MotoGP?

GB: I hope so. I can see how MotoGP riders interpret races at the moment and that will probably change with our tyres, so it will be very interesting. When we give confidence to the riders, this creates a show. I really like this.

Dorna know what we did in superbikes and we’ve discussed this many times. But we have to wait and see what happens in the races. From a performance point of view, we want to give the riders a tool to work with, not a limit. That will always be our point.

I wouldn’t like to say that our tyres will be a revolution for MotoGP, but for the riders, there will be a different way to interpret the tyres and probably the races.

I’m also dreaming of qualifying tyres for MotoGP. Instead of using soft [race] tyres, why not have tyres that can make really incredible lap times? Riders like a lot of grip. This is my thinking.

Would you agree that the front tyre is the most important part of a race bike?

GB: You have no time to react when something happens at the front, so the front tyre needs to communicate with the rider properly, which is something I sometimes see is missing in some [MotoGP] races, when I see the front tyre disappear completely. I prefer the front tyre to give you feedback, so you know how much you can stress the tyre and you know where’s the limit.

Much will depend on the feeling the riders get. Remember the interview that Nicolò Bulega gave at Portimao? [Ducati WSBK rider Bulega replaced the injured Marc Márquez during the Portuguese MotoGP round, where he tried to out-brake a rival and fell.] He said he tried to pass another rider because he knew he could do it with the Pirelli front, but actually he couldn’t, so this is one way to overtake which is probably now not so easy.

What about the rear tyre – not easy but easier than front?

GB: It is because we’ve got a particular casing, which links us to our market tyres, and actually we’ve not found any problems from this point of view. If we need to be worried, we need to be worried about the distance of the races, because the races are longer than superbike races and the stress on the rear, especially at some circuits, will be very heavy, so we need to work on that, more than other things.

From a grip point of view, from the compound technology we’ve got, which is, once again, different from what they’re using now, I don’t think it will be a problem to give more grip. But to remain stable over race distance and to avoid problems due to overheating and overworking the tyre, that will be the point.

Do you think riders will need more or less traction control?

GB: Difficult to say. We are starting from a completely different base and we have to understand these new bikes – what will be possible? Because the question for me, after the Misano test, was, okay, we’re testing with 1000cc bikes, so how different will the new bikes be, and what will be the features that put more or less stress on the tyres? Now we are just giving some answers, but I don’t know if they are the right ones.

Will your MotoGP rear be more like a WSBK tyre than your MotoGP front?

GB: Well, we must start with what we know – and we have a big and good experience with the tyres we’ve got. For sure we are investigating other areas, other casing technologies, but this is just because we have to be ready for different situations, but we would like to keep what we know is our strongest point, the friendliness of the tyres.

Also, the tyres have to be affordable, from everyone’s point of view, and everything needs to work well, because we want to deliver a higher quality tyre, which we’ve done already in World Superbike, Moto2 and Moto3, so why not in MotoGP?