In your opinion, would Rossi have raced a soft front at Rio Hondo if the #70 were available?
So why didn't they bring a different medium to Argentina? Actually, why didn't they get it to the Qatar test so that Rossi could try it and then run his preferred choice two weeks later at the opening round?
I'm not convinced it was a soft front. What's the point of bringing an unusable compound to evaluate? Maybe as a potential flag to flag rain affected race. Marquez seams to think the tire could be beneficial for him. That tells me it's a harder construction medium tire made to help stability for the late brakers.
So perhaps they did bring a different medium to Argentina. We dont really know, they didn't get the chance to try it. Perhaps Rossi would already have won the race making it one each.
Why didn't they bring it to the Qatar test. Because Michelin quite rightly may have pointed out the medium is a true medium, any rider who finds it too soft or lacking stability should use the hard designation tire. Maybe after running this medium designed to improve feel, after receiving positive feedback from the majority of riders, and after spending a significant amount of time developing the machines around said tire, Michelin were reluctant to change the construction so soon without even running a single race on it. Maybe they wanted to ..... the results of their R&D.
There is far less attention to testing than a race weekend. The pressure to change the tire appears to have begun post practice and qualifying at Qatar. I'd say that's a fast reaction time, to have the #70 tire ready by the next race.
Overall, Rossi has been very impressive. For sure as usual he is proving his greatness. But at the same time Vinales has blown me away, ditto the tech 3 riders. I always relish new blood on the grid. Imo even Lorenzo if he were still on the Yamaha would be struggling to keep up with Vinales outright speed and consistency. I seam to recall Lorenzo struggling with the Yamaha on worn tires. Vinales appears to have cracked that code and now reaps the benefits. Unfortunately he's quickly becoming the forgotten man, I'm disappointed Michelin are not referring to Vinales in regards to the medium tire to point out he has worked extremely hard all off season and 2 complete races to whittle out a small advantage, and it's now up to the other riders including Valentino to respond and outwork Vinales, not simply complain and change the tires. There is no safety issue with the medium requiring an urgent change. No need for a knee jerk reaction.
My opinion, Rossi has been struggling trying to use his preferred late braking style on the new medium. He has been looking for that magic bullet, but it hasn't come. He knows exactly what Vinales is doing, and come race day he adopts the same setup and style as Vinales. He has no choice, Vinales rides both the bike and the current tire exactly as it needs to be ridden. Yet it's apparent while Rossi can, for lack of a better word, get a tow of Vinales during the race, Vinales can up the pace at will and Rossi so far has no answer. In fact during preseason Rossi has specifically referred to the new Yamaha riders being faster than him and employing a style which doesn't suit him. It was the thing that made him 'sad' I believe, being the slowest Yamaha.
If the revised tire comes out in the next scheduled test and it is a true improvement on the current medium for ALL or majority of riders then fine that's how it should be. But what this is, the way it actually happened was the new medium came out back at Valencia and all the medium riders bar one preferred it. Note this doesnt include Honda, I'd be surprised if they bothered to run it seriously particularly Marquez as he would be focussing efforts on developing the hard front he runs 90 % of the time. That's why I question the recent disjointed attempts to include Honda riders as proof of the need to change the medium after just one race. Especially when Honda riders particularly Crutchlow have been saying the Honda is still a very difficult bike to ride and a long way off, if I were Michelin I would be saying worry about your bike more and the tires less as an excuse for not beating Vinales.
No the Honda rider thing is a smokescreen, this is definitely more to do with Rossi. Ocams Razor. Btw I don't blame Rossi one bit. If I were in his shoes I'd try and do exactly what he's doing, would be a fool not to. I just feel Vinales is getting exactly what he deserves for the work he's put in and would hate to see it taken away from him in the name of entertainment.
