Michelin: Redding tyre failure unrelated to Baz testing crash

Redding's incident during FP4 at Termas de Rio Hondo resulted in a shortened flag-to-flag race, after Michelin had initially withdrawn its two rear compounds for safety reasons.

And following a thorough analysis of the offending tyre at the French firm’s headquarters, it has been concluded that the failure was caused by a perfect storm of factors that placed an unusually high strain on the rubber.

Speaking to selected media at Jerez, Michelin technical director Nicolas Goubert confirmed that the issue was completely unrelated to Baz's high-speed blowout in pre-season testing in Malaysia.

“What happened to Baz in Sepang was clearly a puncture,” explained Goubert. “We brought all the pieces back to Clermont-Ferrand, and we could see clearly something went in the tyre and created a puncture.

“For Scott, it was a very different thing. The tyre stayed inflated, so he could park the bike without crashing. Nevertheless, it shouldn’t have happened.

“The results from the analysis show that with that construction, a combination of a high track temperature, a demanding layout and a well-built rider, it was too much for the tyre."

Stiffer rear to stay

After the events of Argentina, Michelin brought a new specification of rear tyre to Austin using a more durable construction, which will be again in use for this weekend’s Spanish Grand Prix at Jerez.

Goubert also clarified that this will be used for the rest of 2016, and that the previous tyre will no longer be used.

“[The old tyre] could not sustain the strain put on it, so the decision we took to give the riders a stronger construction was the right one.

“We had it [the harder construction] in Austin, but we will stick to it for all the races of the season.”