The tire allocation for MotoGP is set to be expanded when the new tire supplier takes over from 2016. The numbers of tires supplied to each rider will be increased by one or two tires per rider, and each rider will have the option of three different compounds front and rear.
But perhaps the most welcome change will be the return of intermediate tires to MotoGP, for use in practice conditions which are too dry for rain tires, but too damp and dangerous for slick tires to be used.
After the announcement that Bridgestone is to withdraw as single tire supplier to MotoGP at the end of the 2015, Dorna have been quick to announce the details of the tender process to find Bridgestone’s replacement.
The tender process will be concluded inside of the month of May, with tenders opening today, 1st May, and ending three weeks later on 22nd May.
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.
Big changes look to be coming to MotoGP’s spec-tire system. Now in the sixth season of having a single official supplier, MotoGP is moving closer to seeing the number and variety of tires drastically expanded. With the contract with Bridgestone due to expire at the end of 2014, there is even a serious chance that a new manufacturer could take over from the Japanese tire firm.
A report in the latest issue of the Spanish magazine Motociclismo (available via the Zinio platform), the magazine is reporting that Dorna is looking to change the way that the single tire supply works. Dorna representative Javier Alonso told Motociclismo that negotiations had been opened with several suppliers, including Michelin, Pirelli and Dunlop, as well as current supplier Bridgestone.
Dorna had presented Bridgestone with a list of conditions drawn up by the Safety Commission, the liaison body in which the riders discuss safety issues with representatives of Dorna, hosted by safety officer Loris Capirossi.
Though Alonso does not explicitly name the conditions, he does give Motociclismo some context behind their thinking. The idea is to expand the range of tires available at each race, as it has been all too common in recent history for riders to turn up at a particular track only to find that just one of the two compounds available will work.
With Moto2 being an ever evolving race class, there is still some speculation as to whom its official partners will be. Repsol seems to be an almost lock on supplying oil and lubricants to the over-pepped 600cc Honda powerplants, as the Spanish company has a strangle hold on the MotoGP racing series.
What may come as a surprise to race fans though, is the resurgance of Michelin in prototype racing. After a less than stellar season last year in MotoGP, . Now, the French company is allegedly poised to sign a contract with Dorna to be the sole-tire provider with the fledgling Moto2 race class. This rumor seems to put out Dunlop, which has had a long history with the 250GP series.
With Moto2 constantly changing and adopting, we’ll believe this rumor as being possible for now; but, as always, time will tell.
Source: Moto.Caradisiac
Michelin is set to retire the tried and true track-oriented Power Race with the new Power One tire. Details are still thin, since the tire will be officially released to the world in March, but we do know that the One is the result of three years of work, more than 35,000 track laps, and will come in slick and treaded form. Michelin reports that it uses eight new technical solutions in the manufacturing of the Power one, including a new compound housing.
Expect the tire to come in three different compounds: A (soft), B (medium), and C (endurance). Slicks will be immediately available in 16,5” and in 17″ form in 2010. There is also talk of a rain and supermotard version of the tire.
Bridgestone has finally signed the agreement with Dorna Sports making it the only tire supplier for MotoGP for the next three seasons. Last season saw for Michelin dwindle as Bridgestone became the favorite shoe in the paddock, so much so that Dani Pedrosa jumped ship mid-season, leaving teammate Nicky Hayden behind who was not given the same option to switch to Bridgestone. The agreement comes about as Dorna tries to further reduce cost and make closer wheel-to-wheel racing. Continue reading for more.
Jeremy Burgess, the man beind behind great riders like Wayne Gardner, Mick Doohan, and Valentino Rossi has voiced his opinion about the one tire manufacturer rule for next year’s MotoGP season…just a little bit more loudly than before. Read more after the jump.