MotoGP Riders Express Support for One Tyre Rule

Bridgestone, the only tyre manufacturer to submit a tyre supply proposal for the 2009 MotoGP season, has been all but officially confirmed as the official supplier in next year’s single tyre competition. This is a development that has reportedly been generally well received by the majority of riders in the top racing category.

New world champion Valentino Rossi, reports MCN motorcycle news, believes the decision will be beneficial to the series. “I agree with the mono tyre,” he said. “For sure at the beginning we need time to adapt to a new situation. For sure a lot of times we won’t have the perfect tyre for all the racetracks, we probably won’t have any qualifiers but everybody will have the same problems and the same advantages.”

Nicky Hayden has always expressed support to the idea of a one-tyre rule. “As long as it’s a safe tyre,” he commented, “because we don’t want to run some new company, but honestly I think the tyre rule is better.”

Casey Stoner said he is reserving judgement on the issue, but has no fundamental problem with the decision. “I don’t know whether it is going to be better or not, nobody really does,” he said. “In 125s they have also been known for their racing, but in 250s the field is still spread out and they are all on the same tyres. I don’t know if it’s going to improve racing or not, but at least it is going to take one part out of it and people are not going to be able to complain. We will all have to dig a little bit deeper and work harder on the bikes.”