Thursday, 5 May 2011
MotoGP’s official tyre supplier ran its developing compounds for next season at the one-day Test in Portugal on Monday.
Bridgestone made full use of the official one-day post-race Test at the Estoril circuit on Monday, supplying every rider with one test front slick tyre and two specs of rear slick in addition to the normal test allocation. The test was a valuable opportunity for Bridgestone to continue tyre testing, specifically with a view for the 1000cc MotoGP bikes next year.
Whilst the test was for the current 800cc MotoGP machines, fundamental future tyre development work continues but now with a specific practical focus towards tyres for next year’s new engine capacity regulations. As well as a wide operating temperature range, there is an added objective of improving feedback from the tyres and ‘rideability’.
Conditions at Estoril were good; much better than during the Grand Prix weekend. With only light rain falling overnight, the circuit was much cleaner and, with the extra rubber laid during the races on Sunday, grip was much better and this was reflected in the lap times.
Marco Simoncelli ended the test fastest, setting a best lap 0.7s under the lap record, just ahead of Jorge Lorenzo and Casey Stoner. All riders present at the Test dedicated time in their busy test schedules to use the new Test tyres, although Randy de Puniet and Héctor Barberá did not ride, and Nobuatsu Aoki took the place of Álvaro Bautista for the Rizla Suzuki team.
Tohru Ubukata – General Manager, Bridgestone Motorsport Tyre Development Department:
“I am very happy with the results of the Test at Estoril. Conditions were good and the lap times were very fast with Marco heading the field, 0.7s faster than the lap record. We brought one new front tyre and two new rear tyres for testing as we continue preparing for the new engine regulations next year. I must thank all teams and riders for their support in taking the time to test our tyres and provide to us very valuable data, in particular Casey who despite still suffering from back pain dedicated his afternoon’s running to tyre testing. Rider feedback was good, especially for the new rear tyres, so I can say we have identified the direction of tyre development for the next Test and preparation for the 1000cc era is going well.”
Whilst the test was for the current 800cc MotoGP machines, fundamental future tyre development work continues but now with a specific practical focus towards tyres for next year’s new engine capacity regulations. As well as a wide operating temperature range, there is an added objective of improving feedback from the tyres and ‘rideability’.
Conditions at Estoril were good; much better than during the Grand Prix weekend. With only light rain falling overnight, the circuit was much cleaner and, with the extra rubber laid during the races on Sunday, grip was much better and this was reflected in the lap times.
Marco Simoncelli ended the test fastest, setting a best lap 0.7s under the lap record, just ahead of Jorge Lorenzo and Casey Stoner. All riders present at the Test dedicated time in their busy test schedules to use the new Test tyres, although Randy de Puniet and Héctor Barberá did not ride, and Nobuatsu Aoki took the place of Álvaro Bautista for the Rizla Suzuki team.
Tohru Ubukata – General Manager, Bridgestone Motorsport Tyre Development Department:
“I am very happy with the results of the Test at Estoril. Conditions were good and the lap times were very fast with Marco heading the field, 0.7s faster than the lap record. We brought one new front tyre and two new rear tyres for testing as we continue preparing for the new engine regulations next year. I must thank all teams and riders for their support in taking the time to test our tyres and provide to us very valuable data, in particular Casey who despite still suffering from back pain dedicated his afternoon’s running to tyre testing. Rider feedback was good, especially for the new rear tyres, so I can say we have identified the direction of tyre development for the next Test and preparation for the 1000cc era is going well.”
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