Tag

single-tire

Browsing

At the MotoGP round for which they are title sponsor, Michelin announced that it has extended its contract as official tire supplier to MotoGP for a further five years. As such, the French tire manufacturer will continue to be the sole tire supplier until the end of the 2023 season.

The news did not come as a surprise. Dorna has made no secret of how happy it has been with the job Michelin have done for them, in helping to make the MotoGP series a much closer and exciting championship.

During the press conference held to announce the deal, Dorna CEO Carmelo Ezpeleta lauded the fact that there had been nine race winners in 2016, saying “this is a championship of bikes and of riders”. Ezpeleta added “We are happy Michelin has helped the competitiveness of the championship.” 

Pirelli will continue to supply tires to all classes in the World Superbike Championship for the foreseeable future. The Italian tire manufacturer has extended its current contract with Dorna, through the 2019 and 2020 seasons.

Pirelli first took on the role of single tire supplier in 2004, and sparked a revolution in motorcycle racing.

With the favoritism of competing tire factories for sponsored teams removed, and a much more level playing field for privateer teams, the World Superbike model would come to be replicated in many different road racing championships, with MotoGP eventually following suit in 2009.

World Superbike’s spec-tire contract with Pirelli comes to a conclusion after the 2015 season, and as such the Dorna WSBK Organization, in agreement with the FIM, has announced that it is taking bids from companies who are willing to be the sole-tire supplier of the World Superbike Championship from 2016 onwards. Interested parties will have to contact Gregorio Lavilla, the WSBK Sporting Director, and have their offers in by August 25th.

Michelin has been named as the official tire supplier for MotoGP starting from 2016. The French tire manufacturer will take over the role from Bridgestone when Bridgestone leaves at the end of 2015 season.

The official announcement confirms the worst kept secret in the paddock. Michelin had been widely trailed as being awarded the contract, as the French firm had shown the most interest.

Unofficial talks had taken place with Pirelli, and Dunlop had made a formal request for information, but Michelin was the only tire maker to submit a bid. Michelin has already been testing its 16.5″ slicks at Vallelunga and Clermont Ferrand in preparation for a bid.

Bridgestone have announced that they will not continue as MotoGP tire supplier after the 2015 season. The Japanese tire maker will continue for the remainder of this season and throughout 2015 before pulling out of MotoGP.

The move had been expected. Spanish magazine Motociclismo reported two weeks ago that Bridgestone was on the brink of withdrawing, which we covered at the time.

There had been growing dissatisfaction between the two parties over the past couple of years, with Bridgestone not feeling they were getting the exposure they needed for the 20 million euros they spend on the series, while Dorna felt that the tires were not contributing to the spectacle of racing, and were built so conservatively in terms of tire durability that they were occasionally unsafe.

At Austin, the first murmurings of the growing rift became audible. Paddock rumor held that Bridgestone, whose contract was due to expire at the end of 2014, had agreed a single year’s extension to the end of 2015 to allow other tire suppliers time to develop their tires for MotoGP.

With new technical regulations due to take effect from 2016 – all teams will use the spec ECU hardware and software from that point on – starting a new contract period from 2016 makes sense.

Who will take over as single tire supplier is as yet unknown, but that it will be a single supplier is certain. IRTA, representing the teams, is a big supporter of the single tire supplier, because of the cost savings for the private teams.

Pirelli will remain the sole-tire supplier for the World Superbike series through 2015, a continuation of the relationship begun between the Italian tire company and Infront Motor Sports in 2004. Along with supplying the Superbike class, Pirelli will continue to supply World Supersport, the Superstock 1000 FIM Cup, and the UEM Superstock 600 European Championship through the end of the 2015 season as well.

“We are delighted to be able to renew the contract with Pirelli until the completion of the 2015 season. Eight years of working together have provided results that go way beyond our highest expectations. Once again we can count on a tyre supplier, whose commitment to the product, service and development is second to none,” said Paolo Flammini, CEO of Infront Motor Sports.

Dunlop, the IRTA, and Dorna inked a deal this weekend that sees the British tire manufacturer as the sole-supplier of tires for the upcoming Moto3 Championship, which will replace the 125GP series in 2012. With the deal good through the 2014 season, Moto3 teams will run Dunlops for the next three seasons, just as the Moto2 Championship has done. Speaking of Moto2, Dunlop saw its contract in that series extended to 2014 as well, and we wouldn’t be surprised if the two items were part of Dunlop’s ability to put together a more competitive bid than other tire manufacturers.

With Bridgestone set to supply tires in the 2012 season for MotoGP, Dunlop still only accounts for two of the three GP series, but we expect that a sole-supplier for Moto3, Moto2, and MotoGP will emerge in the coming years. Single-tire rules were put in place not only to help level the playing field between competitors, but also to help reduce development costs for manufacturers, and logistical costs for tire suppliers. If a single tire company provided all the grid’s tires, that overall cost would likely drop further, something Dorna has been keen on lately. Whether it makes for better racing though, we’ll let you decide in the comments.

The Gran Prix Commission, which consists of the FIM, Dorna Sports, the IRTA (satellite teams), and MSMA (bike manufacturers), met while in Assen this weekend and have announced several new rules to the MotoGP and Moto2 series for 2010.

Most notably is the the single-tire rule that will be adopted for the inaugural Moto2 season, and that Dunlop will be the provider for all the tires in that series.