Bridgestone MotoGP Testing Underway

Bridgestone began testing for the 2010 MotoGP on 4-5 February, making three compounds (hard and extra hard at the front, medium and hard at the rear) available to riders at Sepang, Malaysia. The manufacturer reported its satisfaction with the way the tyres handled the sort of conditions it expected in South-East Asia; scorching track temperatures and rain. New bikes, new teams and new riders made for an interesting day, compounded by the fact that the top four riders on each day recorded laptimes quicker than the existing circuit lap record. Whilst the bikes were new, the available Bridgestone tyres were exactly the same specifications as used during the Malaysian Grand Prix last year. Bridgestone believes this fact assisted teams with their setup work, since the tyres provided “a known entity”.

Many riders started their dry running with the softer of the slick tyre compounds, but favoured the harder option for its added durability as the track temperature rose to a high of 55 degrees Celsius. The test was also another important opportunity for Bridgestone to work closely with all the new teams and riders entering the championship this year. The role of Bridgestone’s engineers becomes even more critical this season with the reduction to just six days of pre-season testing. With track time at a premium, the wealth of information and understanding that the engineers can support each rider with can play a significant role in choosing the best suited tyre compounds and finding the optimum setup for each bike and rider package as quickly as possible. This can be especially beneficial to MotoGP’s rookie riders who have limited experience of running on Bridgestone tyres in motorcycling’s premier class. 

Tohru Ubukata, manager of Bridgestone’s Motorcycle Tyre Development Department declared himself “pleased with the way the test has gone from a tyre perspective, both in terms of outright performance and durability. We can see that our tyres are still suitable for all the manufacturers’ new bikes, and Jorge completed a race distance at the end of the final day with consistent times throughout so this is good.

“We specifically chose to use the same tyre specifications as selected for last year’s grand prix to assist the teams in setting up their new bikes by keeping the tyres constant, therefore making their existing data more valid. What was also important during this test, and will be for all events this season, was working very closely with all teams and riders to help them make the most of their limited testing and track time.”