Bridgestone is confident there will be no repeat of the tyre debacle that blighted last season’s Australian MotoGP in 2014.
A three-day tyre test has concluded at Phillip Island, where Yamaha’s Jorge Lorenzo and Valentino Rossi, Repsol Honda’s Dani Pedrosa and Ducati pair Cal Crutchlow and Andrea Dovizioso experimented with a range of new rubber designed specifically for the circuit.
Last year, higher than anticipated ambient temperatures at Phillip Island coupled with an ultra-grippy new surface resulted in major tyre issues, including blistering and excessive wear.
However, following this week’s test, Bridgestone believes a similar scenario will be avoided at the Australian round in October.
Shinji Aoki, Manager, Bridgestone Motorsport Tyre Development Department, said: “This was a very positive test for Bridgestone as we achieved all our objectives. I would like to thank the riders and teams for all their hard work over the three days, as without them we couldn’t have achieved what we set out to do.
“Our primary focus was to find some suitable rear tyre options for this circuit, and out of the six experimental rear slicks we provided for the test, three options yielded some very encouraging results,” he added.
“These three rear slick options will now steer development for the race tyres we will provide for October’s Australian Grand Prix and following a successful three days, we are confident of delivering an allocation of tyres that will last the full-race distance while maintaining very high levels of safety and performance.”
Bridgestone brought two front and eight rear specifications of slick tyre to the test, with six of the rear slick specifications being brand new test tyres developed especially for Phillip Island.
The experimental rear slicks featured developments in compound, construction and profile technology for the track, which provides the most extreme test for rear tyres of all the circuits on the MotoGP calendar.
Out of the six experimental rear slicks provided, three specifications proved to be more promising both in terms of durability, performance, and rider feedback.
These three rear slick options were tested extensively over the final two days of the test and will form the basis of tyre development for the Australian Grand Prix in October.
Source: crash.net
Published: 02 Mar 2014