MotoGP news

Bridgestone hopes to cash in on extra tyre

Bridgestone heads to the Italy's Adriatic coast this weekend for round 13 of this year's MotoGP championship, which sees premier class motorcycle racing return to Misano for the first time since 1993. Misano will be the second occasion that MotoGP fever hits Italy this season after the thrills of Mugello less than three months ago. 

Riders will have a total of 34 tyres at their disposal this weekend with one extra front tyre and two extra rears being made available, in line with a one-off revision to the FIM technical regulations for this event. An extra free practice session has been squeezed into the schedule on Friday afternoon to allow extra time for riders, teams and tyre manufacturers to get to grips with this new-look Misano circuit. 

"Misano seems to be quite a narrow track with a few short straights and tight corners," said Bridgestone's motorcycle racing manager Hiroshi Yamada. "Most of the corners seem to be slow speed, so basically the priority will be on finding good braking stability and good traction. From what we have heard, the track could be quite bumpy, but the riders will only begin to get a real feel for the track when MotoGP bikes make their first runs there on Friday." 

"We will have three practice sessions on Friday and our riders will be permitted an extra three tyres in their allocation for this extra hour," he added. "All riders will have 15 front tyres and 19 rear tyres this weekend for four free practice sessions, qualifying practice, warm-up and the race itself. I do not think our approach to the weekend will be any different to other events but it is the first trip to Misano for MotoGP so our teams and riders will certainly spend more time than usual on setting up the bikes. This extra hour on Friday will therefore be useful to understand the direction we need to take with tyre choice and to conduct a thorough evaluation of the specifications that our teams select."

more news

• 28 Nov.
  • Photos: Thursday in Jerez
• 27 Nov.
  • Hayden wraps up Ducati test
  • Rossi sets second day pace
• 26 Nov.
  • Photos: Wednesday in Jerez
  • Stoner watches on as Hayden gets used to Ducati
  • Rossi happy with first day
  • Pedrosa sets pace on first day at Jerez
• 21 Nov.
  • "Valentino would have been an excellent F1 driver"
• 20 Nov.
  • Rossi doing well at Mugello in F2008
• 04 Nov.
  • FIAT extends Yamaha sponsorship
• 28 Oct.
  • Hayden debuts at Ducati
  • Dovizioso enjoys first day at Repsol Honda
• 27 Oct.
  • Photos: Monday in Valencia
  • Stoner fastest on first day of testing
• 26 Oct.
  • Photos: Sunday in Valencia
  • Stoner storms to Spanish win
• 25 Oct.
  • Photos: Saturday in Valencia
  • Stoner steals Valencia pole
  • Hayden stays top in final practice
• 24 Oct.
  • Hayden happy with perfect start
  • Rossi looks for improvement
  • Photos: Friday in Valencia
  • Hayden finished Friday on top
  • Hayden fastest in first practice
  • Gibernau confirmed for 2009
• 23 Oct.
  • West hopes to return to MotoGP one day
• 19 Oct.
  • Stoner steals runner-up spot
  • Rossi celebrates ninth win
  • Photos: Sunday at Sepang
  • Rossi storms to victory
• 18 Oct.
  • Photos: Saturday at Sepang
  • Pedrosa steals last gasp pole
  • West fastest in final practice
• 17 Oct.
  • Photos: Friday at Sepang
  • Rossi looking strong at Sepang
  • Stoner looking for more from tyres
  • Edwards fastest in second practice
  • Yamaha leads first practice in Malaysia
• 13 Oct.
  • Guintoli joins British Superbikes
• 05 Oct.
  • Photos: Sunday at Phillip Island

Homepage