Bridgestone promise full range for Valencia test

Motorcycle Tyre Development manager Tohru Ubukata said: “We have enough tyres for all the teams who will test – a new specification tyre for next year. All teams and riders will have the same tyre.”

There will be a total of 20 tyres for each rider each weekend – eight front and 12 rear, of two specifications, which will have a big degree of overlap. Ubukata believed that riders would find both tyre specs usable in most conditions, rather than just one. The main difference will be “riders will have to understand how to use the tyre. Even some rider doesn’t want to use soft one, or hard one, that is the rider’s problem, basically. I believe this is the philosophy for the one-make regulation,” he said.

“The most important point is to adjust the bike for the tyre. This year, some rider can choose a correct tyre, and get better lap times rather than set up the bike properly,” he continued. This meant the tyre companies were developing tyres to suit particular bikes. The new regime reverses this situation.

Motorcycle racing tyre chief Hiroshi Yamada added: “If the setting is good, then both specification will be working. Only at a so-so level, of course. Every rider will prefer one of the two specs for the race of course, but riders should not be concerned about this situation. If something happens and one specification doesn’t work at all, it would be very hard to manage with only one specification. But we don’t expect this,” he concluded.

Bridgestone expected to make four different specifications for the entire year, to take into account different demands of different circuits; but for each track they will bring only two specifications. The riders will have no choice.

In order for the tyre allocation to be sufficient for four hours of practice and qualifying and then 45 minutes of racing, endurance would have to be greater than at present. But not a great deal, said Yamada. “In 2007 when the tyre allocation was only 31, many riders would only use 20 tyres in a weekend.”

The big saving for Bridgestone, which must provide tyres free of charge, would be in reducing the number of tyres scrapped. Ubukata explained: “Let’s say now we bring 40 tyres for each rider, and basically and they are using only 50 percent of those tyres during the race week. Then some unused tyres we can use for coming races or tests, but some others are just scrap. The number of production will be quite reduced,” he said.

A further round of tests was planned for Jerez, where further tyre developments could be tried.

As for manufacturers who will need to make greater modifications to chassis design – Suzuki and Kawasaki are prime candidates; they will be able to purchase extra tyres for testing, although not with MotoGP riders.