The role of tire pressures, and especially for the front tire, has grown in importance in recent years, as aerodynamics and ride-height devices have made the front ever more sensitive to pressure and temperature changes.
It is common to hear riders complain of temperatures and pressures skyrocketing after getting stuck behind other bikes, and kept out of the cooling air.
It is therefore not surprising that factories and teams try to manage tire pressures as carefully as possible.
As we reported on Tuesday, changes are to be made to Race Direction. At a meeting in Geneva on Thursday, the Grand Prix Commission decided to change the way disciplinary matters are handled by Race Direction.
For this season, a separate body is to be set up to handle all incidents on track requiring disciplinary action.
These issues have been handled by Race Direction until now, but the incident at Sepang between Valentino Rossi and Marc Marquez led to calls for such decisions to be taken away from Race Direction, to allow quicker decisions to be made.
From the start of the 2016 season, all disciplinary matters will be dealt with by a separate panel, consisting of three people. One of those will be Mike Webb, who as MotoGP Race Director is ultimately responsible for all aspects of the MotoGP race.
Mike Webb will be joined by two stewards appointed by the FIM. Those stewards have yet to be appointed, and the press release issued by the FIM does not make clear whether the stewards will be appointed permanently, for a full season, or for each race individually.
In the case of an incident which needs to be investigated by the panel of stewards, Mike Webb will hand over his duties as Race Director to a newly appointed deputy, Graham Webber.
If you’ve stopped by your local car dealership recently, you’ve probably seen them using nitrogen to fill the tires on your car. This is because nitrogen has superior resistance to expansion as heat rises when compared breathable air. Also since oxygen eventually leaks out of tires, nitrogen-filled tires retain their pressure better over time.
The list of benefits goes on for nitrogen, but the downside has always been how one maintains their tires once you get home, not to mention the arm & leg some dealerships charge for filling your tires up with the most abundant element in our atmosphere. Of course the dealers can charge what they do because there aren’t that many people that have a N2 tank sitting in their garage…until now.