Michelin to ramp up testing efforts

The French tyre manufacturer was caught out by a less aggressive track surface and lower than expected temperatures in the United States Grand Prix - meaning the hard rubber it brought to the race was too conservative for conditions.

And after openly admitting it got it wrong in America, Michelin has promised to react in the most constructive way possible for the next round of the championship in Brno.

Michelin's competitions director Frederic Henry-Biabaud said: "Looking at the race result, we can say that we weren't ambitious enough because of what happened last year at this track.

"We didn't want the same problem this time, so we recommended a very conservative direction to our teams. It was a mistake from which we have learned.

"Over the next three weeks we will therefore work in two directions. First, we will organise tests at several tracks. Second, we will continue developing some new solutions that we already have under development and which we will recommend to our teams for the next races, representing a more ambitious direction.

"We will also evolve the way we recommend tyre solutions to our teams, because this way we can deliver better performance. The season is far from over and we look forward to the last seven races after some very positive races already this year."

Jean-Philippe Weber, Michelin's director of motorcycle racing, added: "From now on we have to share more our tyre strategy and allocation strategy with the teams.

"For example, Colin Edwards requested some fronts for this race, which he had already used this year at less demanding tracks. He could have used those tyres here, so he was right."