Rear chatter has been a big problem in MotoGP this year. Ducati riders have been talking about it a lot since the season started in Qatar.
Even Tech3 GasGas rookie Acosta has faced this issue. He felt vibrations on his rear tire during a race in Jerez where he finished 10th, which is his worst result so far.
After the race, the 19-year-old said it’s time for MotoGP’s official tire supplier, Michelin, to fix the issue. He believes it’s not because of the bike or the braking system.
He said, “At the end, it’s something that Michelin needs to think about. Because other brands are also talking about this, we have from the first moment that I jumped on the bike in Malaysia. And it’s something that is quite strange because it doesn’t come from the shock [absorbers], it doesn’t come from the bike.”
Acosta also faced a similar problem during the Americas GP at Austin. He said, “Sprint race more than [the grand prix] with the softer tyre. But today it was with the medium, not with the soft for this. It’s quite tricky to understand where it’s coming from.”
Acosta wasn’t the only one with this issue at Jerez. Jack Miller also had problems with vibrations during his race.
Miller said, “The limiting factor for me was the vibration, on the entry to Turn 4, 7, and 8 a little bit. All the corners I wanted to let the bike roll or [move] forward in quite fast, it kind of starts vibrating from the rear like a lateral slide and you have to wait for the vibration to settle before you can start to come out.”
Brad Binder, Acosta’s teammate, faced rear tire vibration for the first time during his race.
Binder said, “I was struggling a little bit. I had a lot of chatter from the first lap of the race and it made it really difficult to carry corner speed. But other than that side I can’t complain. First time in the race today. So far we never had anything all weekend, it started in the race for some reason. Just a little bit tricky.”
