Sepang tyre allocation: softer rears on hot, rough asphalt
Pirelli is bringing softer rears to Malaysia, and Michelin has three rear options after a planned resurfacing never happened. Past 55 °C the tyres overheat, slide and lose grip.
3 min readSepangMalaysiaBy PitPin Desk
Sepang is hot, rough and hard on rubber, so you might expect the tyre suppliers to go harder. This week both of them leaned the other way, at least in part.
Pirelli: softer rears for Moto2
For Moto2, Pirelli is bringing two rear options. One is a development supersoft with the SCX construction. The other is a new compound aimed at wear and consistency, already used at Jerez. The standard soft SC0 is in the allocation as well. Last year every Moto2 rider raced the SC1 front with the SCX rear.
In Moto3 the allocation is SC1 and SC2 front and rear. In 2025 everyone raced the SC1 rear, and the SC2 was the most used front.
Pirelli describes the asphalt as rough, abrasive and low on grip. Recent levelling work removed bumps and dips. Turns 7 to 12 were fully resurfaced in 2023, while the rest of the lap still sits on a 2016 base.
Michelin: three rears instead of two
Michelin had planned for fresh asphalt, at least from Turn 5 to Turn 12. According to Michelin's Piero Taramasso, speaking to Crash.net and GPOne, that work was not done because there was not enough material or time.
MotoGP riders get three rear specs. The Soft is last year's tyre, used in both races in 2025. The Medium is a new symmetric construction already raced in Qatar and Portimão, built to resist wear. The Hard is last year's Medium, kept for very high track temperatures or heavy wear. Soft and Hard are asymmetric, with a reinforced right shoulder because the lap has more right-handers. The front Soft and Medium are unchanged.
On a hot track day
Pirelli says track surfaces at Sepang often go past 55 °C, and at that point tyres overheat, start sliding and lose grip. A tyre that is too hot feels greasy.
On a hot day at your local circuit, watch your pressures as the day warms up and ask the tyre fitter what they see on the surface. If the rear starts sliding in the afternoon, back off and check it, and do not push through the slide.
Rough asphalt also eats one side of the tyre faster when a lap is dominated by corners in one direction. Look at both shoulders after each session.