Photo: motogp.com
We reported earlier about the fact that Bridgestone announced it will no longer be the Official Tire Supplier for MotoGP at the end of this season, but will continue providing tires during the 2015 season, until Dorna and the FIM choose a new supplier.
MotoGP Safety officer and racing legend Loris Capirossi came forth to show some light in this matter and provide some information on what will happen in the future with the MotoGP tires. A tender for MotoGP tire manufacturers was already called and will end on May 22, and Capirossi admits that discussions with both Dunlop and Michelin are in progress, and even though Pirelli has not made an official request, its interest in this is well-known.
Capirossi says that the main reason for Bridgestone’s decision to stop supplying tires to the MotoGP is the increased allocation Dorna and the FIM asked for and the reintroduction of the intermediate tire compound. Intermediate tires have been used for a long time in MotoGP in situations with the track not dry enough to make running slicks safe, but still not damp enough for rain tires.
Even more, the tire allocation for each of the MotoGP riders was supposed to be increased by 1 or 2 tires, and a total of three compounds had to be supplied for each event, front and rear. Discussions on such matters have been started with Bridgestone from mid-2013, but in the end, the Japanese manufacturer decided it was better to simply pull out.
The MotoGP Safety Officer also mentioned that the MotoGP will remain a mono tire series, so the manufacturer which will get the contract in the end has quite a lot of development to do in order to come up with tires which would work properly for everybody. Motomatters has some reasons to believe that Michelin has the upper hand as far as the new MotoGP deal goes, but we still have a fortnight to find out.
Capirossi says that the main reason for Bridgestone’s decision to stop supplying tires to the MotoGP is the increased allocation Dorna and the FIM asked for and the reintroduction of the intermediate tire compound. Intermediate tires have been used for a long time in MotoGP in situations with the track not dry enough to make running slicks safe, but still not damp enough for rain tires.
Even more, the tire allocation for each of the MotoGP riders was supposed to be increased by 1 or 2 tires, and a total of three compounds had to be supplied for each event, front and rear. Discussions on such matters have been started with Bridgestone from mid-2013, but in the end, the Japanese manufacturer decided it was better to simply pull out.
The MotoGP Safety Officer also mentioned that the MotoGP will remain a mono tire series, so the manufacturer which will get the contract in the end has quite a lot of development to do in order to come up with tires which would work properly for everybody. Motomatters has some reasons to believe that Michelin has the upper hand as far as the new MotoGP deal goes, but we still have a fortnight to find out.
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