Buzzin MotoGP

Bridgestone

The new rule for Moto GP 2009 will mean that there is to be only one tyre manufacturer available for the riders to use, in this case a Bridgestone, as they were the only manufacturers to bid for the contract.  All proposals for the contract were to be in by the 3rd October 2008 and Michelin did not submit a proposal.

Michelin released a statement recently stating the reasons for not bidding,

“Michelin has decided not to submit a bid to the governing body of the MotoGP world championship.  At the same time Michelin regrets not be able to contribute to the organiser’s important discussions to improve rider safety and reduce costs.

The spirit of competition has always been central to MIchelin.  Motor sports at the highest level are useful because competition among several tyre manufacturers is a valuable stimulus for developing increasingly high-performance tyres that will one day equip customer vehicles.  Tyres play a key role in a vehicles performance and can make a considerable difference.

This competition among manufacturers helps to make racing exciting.  The radial tyre, which was invented by Michelin, has been improved through racing, and the improvements have since been passed on to consumers.  Michelin’s dual compound technology for motorcycle tyres was first tested in MotoGP racing and is today integrated into premium products for the brand’s customers.

The MotoGP world championship organisers have decided to use a single tyre supplier for the coming seasons, which effectively eliminates the competitive environment that has led to so much progress.  The R&D resources allocated for MotoGP racing will be redeployed to support innovation, which is the heart of Michelin customer-focused strategy.”

The single tyre rule was introduced for safety reasons after concerns of increased corner speeds with the new, faster 800cc machines.

Each rider will now have available to them, twenty slick tyres for a race weekend, which includes practice sessions, the warm-up sessions and of course, the race.

There will be; Front slick tyres – 4 of Specification ‘A’ plus 4 of Specification ‘B’ = 8 in total, Rear slick tyres – 6 of Specification ‘A’ plus 6 of Specification ‘B’ = 12 in total.  There will also be a maximum of 8 wet tyres available to each rider, 4 Front and 4 Rear of the standard specification.  The tyre supplier may also allocate one extra set of wet tyres to each rider if deemed necessary due to weather conditions.

Tyre specification at each event is to be determined by the supplier, who will give details of tyres provided to each rider to the Technical Director on the day prior to the start of official practice.

As well as the safety implications it is hoped that the single tyre rule will make for a better spectacle in the 2009 season, after moto gp results were influenced by the teams that made the best choice of tyre contracts last year.