Lusail tyres: sand, humidity and a track that cools as you ride
Pirelli and Michelin both name wind-blown sand and falling evening temperatures as the main tyre problems at the Qatar GP this weekend.
2 min readLusailQatarBy PitPin Desk
Smooth but abrasive asphalt
The Lusail International Circuit sits in the desert about 20 km from Doha. Pirelli, which supplies Moto2 and Moto3, says the surface laid in 2023 is very smooth yet highly abrasive. Wind blows sand onto it, which makes the surface rougher, cuts grip and increases tyre wear.
Michelin's Piero Taramasso told Motorsport.com Italia that sand is the biggest danger of the weekend. It acts like sandpaper on the tread and causes graining at the front and the rear.
Hot afternoons, cooler evenings
Afternoon sessions at Lusail are the hottest. The track cools as the sun goes down, and humidity rises after dark. Pirelli says teams have to adapt their set-ups as the circuit changes, and that riders have to manage their tyres to keep some performance for the closing laps. Taramasso says the drop in temperature also affects how teams manage tyre pressures.
This year the race is in November rather than the usual April date. Pirelli says that if temperatures are much lower, its medium rear could become a valid alternative to the soft.
What each class gets
MotoGP has two symmetric fronts, Soft and Medium, after Michelin dropped the Hard front that went unused, and two asymmetric rears, Soft and Medium. The specifications are the same as in 2025.
Moto2 has the SC1 and SC2 at the front, and the SC0 and SC1 at the rear. The SC0 is now the 2026 standard-range version. Moto3 gets the SC1 and SC2 front and rear.
What riders chose in 2025
In last year's Moto2 race, won by Aron Canet, every rider used the soft SC0 rear and most chose the soft SC1 front. In Moto3 every rider ran the SC2 rear. Winner Ángel Piqueras and third-placed Ryusei Yamanaka used the SC2 front, while Taiyo Furusato took second on the SC1.