Pedrosa Makes Early MotoGP Bridgestone Switch

Dani Pedrosa, who currently sits third in the MotoGP World Championship, has made a surprise mid-season tyre swap; exchanging his Michelin rubber for Bridgestone’s ahead of the scheduled 2009 switch. Meanwhile, a Michelin statement revealed that the company had allowed Pedrosa to switch on the basis that his team, “Honda and Michelin believe that rider confidence needs to be at its maximum if the rider is to fully exploit the tactical potential of the tyres.” The change for one of the sport’s most high-profile riders has come in the wake of several months’ criticism of the Michelin offerings, as riders experienced increased difficulties in keeping up with their Bridgestone-shod competitors.

Pedrosa in particular has found the discrepancy galling, as he followed a victorious start to the season with a significant drop-off in results. His results represent in microcosm the problems of Michelin-users in MotoGP – recent months have seen scathing criticism of the manufacturer, which peaked at Brno two weekends ago. There, the qualifying performance of riders on Michelin fell so short of those on Bridgestone that a boycott was too close for comfort. This weekend’s meet at Misano saw an improvement in Michelin’s performance with Jorge Lorenzo and Pedrosa taking second and fourth places, but the corner has been turned too slowly for the Spaniard and his sponsor, Spanish petrol giant Repsol, who were reportedly instrumental in bringing about the change.

In making the switch, Pedrosa was diplomatic in his brief statement: “I thank Michelin and Honda for their mutual understanding and for agreeing to my personal demands. I am very conscious of the fact that I have made some excessively negative comments about Michelin tyres, even though Michelin helped me make an exceptional start to the season.” Pedrosa’s team-mate Nicky Hayden will continue to ride on Michelin tyres until the end of the season.