Bridgestone prepare for first test as single suppliers

Having been given the job of supplying all the tyres for MotoGP in 2009 Bridgestone this week undertake an important test on Monday and Tuesday as they plan next year´s project.
Bridgestone technician in Ducati Marlboro box

Following the conclusion of the 2008 MotoGP World Championship season this weekend at the Ricardo Tormo circuit, Bridgestone will run their first test as single tyre suppliers to the premier class teams.

The post-Valencia race test will see the entire 2009 MotoGP grid minus Tech3 Yamaha riders Colin Edwards and James Toseland on track on Monday, with some teams remaining for more tests on Tuesday, meaning plenty of work for Bridgestone´s Motorcycle Sport Unit Manager Hiroshi Yamada.

The exact details of tyre allocation for 2009 are yet to be announced by the FIM, but this week´s test will see 17 MotoGP riders testing with Bridgestone, Yamada explaining the preparation process saying, `We start on Monday and Tuesday testing the new tyres and finally we have been able to prepare all the new specification tyres for 2009 for all the riders. We will bring two specifications for both the front and rear, so that all riders can use these tyres.´

Asked about whether the Japanese firm would need to expand in terms of staff numbers in order to work with a larger group of riders, Yamada replied, `We are still considering the logistic systems within Bridgestone. Concerning the field engineers we will keep the same number of engineers, because each engineer will not need to work so much as this year as we have only two specifications for each rider. There will be almost half the tyres for each rider, so we believe we can handle the job with the current engineers.´