Soft Pirelli tires lead in Thai heat Gonzalez wins in Moto2 and Rueda in Moto3

· Starting from pole, Manuel Gonzalez (Kalex) won the Moto2™ race of the Grand Prix of Thailand, ahead of Aron Canet and Senna Agius for an all-Kalex podium. José Antonio Rueda (KTM) takes home the first Moto3™ race of the year, starting from third on the grid and finishing ahead of Álvaro Carpe (KTM) and Adrián Fernandez (Honda).
 
· Due to high temperatures, soft tyres were the almost unanimous choice on the rear in both classes – SC0 in Moto2™ and SC1 in Moto3™ – with the only exception of Jakob Rosenthaler (KTM), who opted for a medium SC2. Soft SC1 were everyone’s preference in Moto2™ while in Moto3™ the riders leaned toward both compounds: out of three riders on the podium, Rueda and Carpe (KTM) used the medium SC2, while Fernandez (Honda) the soft SC1.

· In both classes, new best race laps were set. In Moto2™, Manuel Gonzalez (Kalex) achieved it in 1’35.390 on the fourth lap, improving by almost 4 tenths of a second the one set by Ai Ogura last year. In Moto3™, the best time was set by David Muñoz (KTM), with a medium SC2 front tyre, on lap nine in 1’41.042 improving Luca Lunetta’s 2024 time by almost 2 tenths.

Very good tyre performance in extreme heat
 
“We are pleased with the performance our tyres have shown here in Thailand, in this first Grand Prix of the year. With such high asphalt temperatures, even above 60 degrees Celsius, the track becomes extremely slippery and loses part of its chemical grip, which must therefore be compensated for by the tyres. In our case, the soft rear compounds behaved very well in both classes, providing good grip throughout the race distance and low wear. Indeed, soft compounds better penetrate the asphalt in the heat, restoring the grip that is naturally lost from the track. When it comes to front tyres, the situation is slightly different: in Moto2™ all the riders used the soft compound, while in Moto3™ both compounds were used with equal results, perhaps with a slight performance advantage for the medium SC2. The race pace was very high, proving the tyres’ consistent behaviour, and the races were very nice and hard-fought. With Thailand behind us, we are ready to face the next Grand Prix in two weeks, in Termas de Río Hondo, Argentina.”