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Prolonged Canadian GP provides Pirelli F1 “highlight”

Pirelli motorsport director Paul Hembery has labelled the much-delayed and exciting closing stages of a sodden Canadian Grand Prix “one of our highlights of the year so far” as Jenson Button applied just enough pressure to draw a mistake from Sebastian Vettel on the final lap to take victory for the McLaren team. The Grand Prix provided a showcase for Pirelli’s PZero Orange full wet and its Blue intermediate tyres. Button survived a collision with teammate Lewis Hamilton – who had previously made contact with Mark Webber in his attempts to be aggressive – a drive-through penalty, and five pit stops to win, and had at one point occupied 21st place. The early strategy calls in constantly changing conditions helped Button win one of the most action-packed races of the year.

13th June 2011/by Tyrepress Editors

Stoner dominates on Bridgestone wet tyres at soaked Silverstone

Casey Stoner completed an excellent victory in very wet conditions at the British MotoGP Grand Prix at Silverstone, ascending in the process to top the World Championship. Heavy rain left standing water on the circuit, testing Bridgestone’s wet tyres, while spray reduced visibility at the first fully-wet race since the Malaysian Grand Prix at the end of 2009. Ben Spies, Jorge Lorenzo and Marco Simoncelli all crashed out whilst running towards the front, while Colin Edwards completed a remarkable recovery, finishing third after breaking his collarbone nine days earlier during the opening day of the Catalunya Grand Prix.

13th June 2011/by Tyrepress Editors

Stoner triumphs in tricky conditions at Catalunya

Casey Stoner used the harder rear compound Potenza to win from second on the grid for the Repsol Honda Team ahead of Jorge Lorenzo and Ben Spies in a double podium for the Yamaha Factory Racing team. The Catalunya Grand Prix weekend was punctuated by rain showers, and heavy rain overnight left the circuit soaked for the morning’s warm-up session, which was the first time this season that Bridgestone’s hard compound wet tyres have been used. The circuit dried through the day however and the MotoGP race was run in the dry, although rain threatened at the midway point of the race and the white flags came out as drops fell in the last sector of the circuit.

6th June 2011/by Tyrepress Editors

Dunlop to supply new Moto3 series, extends Moto2 supply

Dunlop Motorsport, IRTA and Dorna Sports have signed a contract for the exclusive supply of tyres to the Moto3 Championship, a deal which will run from the introduction of the new category in 2012 until the end of the 2014 season. An agreement has also been made to extend the existing Moto2 Championship contract until at least the end of 2014. Dunlop will supply tyres and technical support to every competitor in Moto3, the replacement for the 125cc World Championship. Dunlop has exclusively supplied tyres to Moto2 since its inauguration in 2010. Dunlop’s supply has been ratified by Dorna and the International Road Racing Teams Association (IRTA).

3rd June 2011/by Tyrepress Editors

Dunlop to debut new dual compound in Moto2 at Catalunya

In addition to the MotoGP World Championship, Barcelona’s Circuit de Catalunya will also see the fifth round of the 2011 Moto2 Championship, on 3-5 June during which tyre supplier Dunlop will debut its dual compound rear tyre. Dunlop will bring the dual compound W919 as the main specification rear tyre with the three series 3868 as a softer second option. For the front, it will supply the 753 medium and 717 hard compound. Dunlop believes the recent Formula One Spanish Grand Prix could represent a new challenge, with the large amount of rubber compound deposited on track from Pirelli’s PZero F1 tyres representing an additional variable.

1st June 2011/by Tyrepress Editors

Bridgestone previews Catalan MotoGP

Bridgestone will take its medium and hard front and asymmetric rear slick compounds to the Circuit de Catalunya for the 5 June running of the Catalan Grand Prix, MotoGP’s fifth round of the 2011 season. The tyre manufacturer anticipates one of the toughest races of the year for its rear tyres because of the very high tyre temperature generated by the predominantly right-handed layout of the circuit; it has eight right-handers, most of which are fast and flowing. It is specifically turn three and the last three corners that generate the high rear tyre temperature as they are fast and long and the tyres spend a lot of time leant over on their right side. Turn three is also uphill so riders open the throttle earlier to maximise drive on the incline.

1st June 2011/by Tyrepress Editors

German biking magazine awards Bridgestone Battlax BT-016 Pro Hypersport

Germany’s PS motorcycle sport magazine has released its 2011 tyre test results, with Bridgestone’s Battlax BT-016 Battlax BT-016 Pro Hypersport receiving top honours. The full wet and dry evaluation of size 120/70 ZR 17 (front) and 180/55 ZR 17 (rear) on a Honda CBR 600 RR with ABS was conducted on an international testing circuit in southern Europe in spring 2011.

18th May 2011/by Tyrepress Editors

Increased safety behind Bridgestone MotoGP tyre development in closed era

With most major motorsport series adopting a sole tyre supplier for some time – a notable exception being the World Rally Championship, which has frequent competition advocates Michelin and Dmack tyre brands available this year – one could be forgiven for assuming that there is little need for continuing development of the product. However, Pirelli is bringing tyres to the forefront of Formula One analysis with a brave initial development process attempting to promote greater competition followed by “evolutions” of compounds – this weekend will see the Italian brand take an altered soft compound, designed to “reduce degradation and improve tyre wear”, to Spain. Last weekend, Bridgestone – MotoGP’s sole tyre supplier – debut a brand new asymmetric rear tyre, comprising soft compound rubber in the right shoulder and extra soft compound rubber in the lesser-used left shoulder, at the French Grand Prix. Hirohide Hamashima, assistant to director, Motorsport Tyre Development Division says continued safety improvements, as well as rider demand continues to drive motorsport tyre development in spite of the lack of competition with another manufacturer.

17th May 2011/by Tyrepress Editors

Stoner dominates on soft Bridgestone rear MotoGP tyre

It came as no surprise to see Casey Stoner complete a superlative weekend, claiming an imperious victory at Le Mans for the Repsol Honda Team, having proved faster than anyone else all weekend. In completing his victory, he set a new record total race time, beating the former record by 25 seconds. Stoner put his victory partially down to the speed with which he could increase the temperature of his tyres, while their consistency allowed him to maintain fast lap-times throughout the race. Dani Pedrosa claimed one victory over Stoner, setting the new lap record at 1:33.617 seconds, 0.6 seconds faster than the previous benchmark, but his race was ended with a broken collarbone following a collision with Marco Simoncelli.

16th May 2011/by Tyrepress Editors

Stoner fastest on harder slicks in France MotoGP practice

Casey Stoner finished the first day of practice for the French Grand Prix fastest overall, lapping under the existing lap record by nearly half a second. His fastest lap came on the harder option front and rear Bridgestone slicks, though he also lapped under the lap record and set provisional fastest using the new soft asymmetric rear tyre. Masao Azuma, chief field engineer at Bridgestone Motorsport: “I am pleased with the performance of both our slick tyre options today as we can see from the laptimes that both worked well.

13th May 2011/by Tyrepress Editors

Surprising results for Bridgestone survey at 2011 CV Show

Bridgestone is reporting and surprising insights into what people really look for when it comes to choosing their commercial vehicle tyres gleaned from the thousands of visitors at this year’s CV Show. The Bridgestone stand, which incorporated the Rizla Suzuki MotoGP bike, also offered visitors the chance to win two hospitality tickets to the British MotoGP in exchange for a crucial piece of information – what is the single most important factor in your choice of tyre supplier?

3rd May 2011/by Tyrepress Editors

Bridgestone to provide asymmetric rear slicks at Portugal MotoGP

The Portuguese Grand Prix represents the third round of the MotoGP season this year, with the event moved to 1 May from its usual October slot following heavy rain in 2010’s GP. With clear skies, Bridgetsone will be able to make use of its asymmetric rear slick tyres, which have been selected because of the imbalanced demands of the circuit. There are nine right-handed corners and only four lefts, and generally the right-handers are faster and generate higher loads, resulting in markedly higher tyre temperatures in the right shoulders of the tyres, especially the rears, as director of Motorsport Tyre Development Hirohide Hamashima explained.

26th April 2011/by Tyrepress Editors

Bridgestone readies MotoGP compounds for “technical” Jerez circuit

The Jerez circuit is the next to grace the MotoGP calendar, as Bridgestone moves to Spain after the season-opener in Qatar. Located near the southern Spanish city of Jerez de la Frontera, the Grand Prix is a classic event on the MotoGP calendar with huge crowds making the most of the Spanish sun to support their national heroes. It is also, in the words of Hirohide Hamashima – director, Bridgestone Motorsport Tyre Development – “a technical circuit with a mix of fast and slow corners. It is a good test circuit because of the diversity of the corner layout and this means that we require a tyre with a very balanced character to provide good handling from low speed to high and from flat corners to changes in elevation.”

29th March 2011/by Tyrepress Editors

Bridgestone’s MotoGP season-opener dominated by Stoner

Bridgestone reports that Casey Stoner continued his strong pre-season form to take a clear victory today in Qatar for the Repsol Honda Team, using the harder option front and rear Bridgestone slicks – a choice common to all riders in the tough Qatari conditions – to finish over three seconds ahead of the field and set the fastest lap of the race. His teammate Dani Pedrosa fought Stoner hard for the first half of the 22 lap race, leading for much of it, while Yamaha Factory rider and 2010 World Champion Jorge Lorenzo rode a determined race from third on the grid, leading on the first lap to pass Pedrosa for second as the pair traded positions in the closing laps.

21st March 2011/by Tyrepress Editors

Bridgestone extends MotoGP supply through to 2014

Bridgestone Corporation has confirmed its continuation as official tyre supplier to the premier class of the Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme (FIM) MotoGP World Championship with the signing of a new three-year deal covering the 2012 to 2014 seasons. The Japanese tyre maker began supplying the premier class in 2009 and the new contract signed with Dorna Sports covers the provision of tyres and technical support to the grid at a time when the championship enters a new era of increased engine capacity, up from 800cc to 1000cc.

21st March 2011/by Tyrepress Editors