Michelin Australia press release:

Riding on Michelin’s new StarCross 5 motocross tyre, Active8 Yamalube Yamaha’s Joshua Green and Beau Ralston have both claimed their first Class Championships in the Australian Off Road Championship.

The AORC throws up the toughest conditions in the Australia outback, from the thick bull dust, to mud, and the rough and abrasive bush tracks. The Michelin StarCross 5 has performed well in all conditions.

The variety of terrains and conditions experienced during the season meant that the team used different Michelin StarCross 5 tyres throughout the final 6 rounds. The team ran both the Soft and Medium compounds on both the front and rear of the bikes. The team also used the Michelin Desert Race rear tyre at certain events including Finke.

The final weekend of the Championship was held at Dungog in New South Wales over the weekend, and Green again proved he was the class of the E1 field. Green once again dominated the category,
taking another round win to claim the 2015 E1 class (250cc) Championship with a round to spare.

Green’s outstanding performance this season has also seen him finish in an impressive second place outright – behind Toby Price, while Ralston slotted into sixth place outright. Green, mounted on a WR250F, was the only 250cc machine inside the top 10 contesting outright honours and finished second to Price, who was on a 500cc machine.

Green’s team-mate Ralston capped off a remarkable AORC season for the Active8 Yamalube Yamaha team by winning the 2015 E2 (450cc) Championship. Speaking after the race Green praised the performance of the tyre.

“The new Michelin StarCross 5 tyre gave me the confidence I needed, especially in high speed cornering,” said Green. “Over the whole race we see no drop off in performance. It doesn’t matter what the terrain, the tyre was up to the challenge. It tracked straight in the sand rutted terrain, whilst also offering good grip in the hard pack. It was also very good in the rocks and hard edges, with minimal deflection.”

Team manager AJ Roberts said the team made the decision to run the Michelin StarCross 5 tyres after being pleased with its performance in testing prior to Finke.

“We were really impressed with the way the Michelin StarCross 5 was performing in the pre running that we did on the Monday before Finke so we made the decision to run it on the front of the bike,” explained Roberts.

“Both guys had strong runs at Finke, with the tyre performing even better than we expected so we have run it for the remainder of the season and haven’t looked back. “For the final round this weekend we used the soft front and rear at the final round, it had a lot of loamy grass track with ruts, some small muddy sections as well as dry Rocky Mountain ridges.”

“The Michelin StarCross 5 tyre offers us just what we needed to tackle the AORC. It gives our riders better feel, especially in the hard pack. It also absorbs more of the impact and steers really well. The taller profile also offered us better stability. For us there were only positives for running the new tyre.”

The reason for the improved grip, particularly in cornering is thanks in part to a bigger contact patch created by a tread pattern that extends further down the sidewall than in previous versions. The new StarCross 5 range features a new, lighter casing design that does not compromise on strength or durability due to the use of stronger, higher density materials.

As Green and Ralston found, the more flexible casing and aggressive tread pattern offers maximum levels of grip. This allows for precise steering and traction, even when racing in very difficult conditions.

The Michelin StarCross 5 range is available in a large number of sizes, plus some new sizes to cater for cross country racers.

Hard: 90/100-21, 110/90-19

Medium: 80/100-21, 90/100-21, 100/100-18, 110/100-18, 120/90-18, 100/90-19, 110/90-19, 120/80-19

Soft: 80/100-21, 90/100-21, 100/100-18, 110/100-18, 120/90-18, 100/90-19, 110/90-19, 120/80-19

Sand: 80/100-21, 100/90-19, 110/90-19

For more information about the Michelin Motorcycle tyre range, please visit http://motorcycle.michelin.com.au/ or call 1300 72 78 78.