New tyre tests after Aussie fiasco
Motegi (Japan) (AFP) - Bridgestone Friday insisted its MotoGP tyres were safe but said it planned fresh tests at Phillip Island after a new track surface caused havoc at the Australian Grand Prix.
The official supplier said there would be no repeat of last week, when blow-out fears forced organisers to slash the number of laps and order a mandatory mid-race switch to bikes with fresh tyres.
Honda's rookie championship leader Marc Marquez missed the compulsory pit-stop by one lap, meaning he was disqualified and let slip a chance to win the world title.
Bridgestone's Hiroshi Yamada said he had no concerns about this week's Japanese MotoGP or the season finale in Valencia, despite another new track surface there.
"The severity of the track is not much. We think there will be no problem on tyres," Yamada, the company's motorsports manager, told journalists at Japan's Motegi circuit.
Yamada said Bridgestone was now trying to set up tests involving three to five riders on Phillip Island's unforgiving track to create tyres that can last a full race.
?We are confident that if we can test at Phillip Island with works MotoGP riders, we can develop (new tyres) that last the full 27 laps,? he said.
Alarm bells rang when Bridgestone's tyres overheated and cracked on the new tarmac and tough corners of Phillip Island, Yamada said.
And as the race started, the company learned that bikes were now going through some corners an average of 12 kilometres (7.5 miles) per hour faster than in 2012.
"This circuit was already extremely tough on tyres. We expected the resurfacing would increase its grip," Yamada said.
?Extreme temperatures suffered by our tyres... were far beyond our expectations," he said.
Before the race, Bridgestone said it could not guarantee the safety of its rear slick tyres beyond 10 laps, prompting organisers to cut the race from 27 laps to 19.
After Marquez's disqualification, Yamaha's Jorge Lorenzo won, shrinking his fellow Spaniard's overall lead to 18 points with two races to go.
