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MOTOGP: Bridgestone Had Big Problems in Qatar
Written by:
Dennis Noyes
03/25/2008 - 02:05 PM
Jerez de la Frontera, Spain
Ducati Marlboro's Casey Stoner (Photo: Ducati Corse) » More Photos
Most of the pre-race buzz is about the up-close-and-personal rivalry between young Spanish stars Jorge Lorenzo and Dani Pedrosa, but Valentino Rossi and his team are quietly confident that the Italian will battle for the win this Sunday in Jerez…as long as the tires work.
Ironically Rossi, who famously demanded that Bridgestone supply him with tires in 2008 -- a demand that Dorna ‘enforced’ -- understands that his problems in Qatar were a result of Michelin tires working better on the Yamaha than Bridgestones, something that the Japanese tire manufacturer also seems to admit.
You could read it between the lines in the Bridgestone press release following Casey Stoner’s win the season opener and you could see as you watched Rossi go backwards down the standings after the opening laps in Qatar. In fact if you look carefully at photos of the right side of Rossi’s rear slick you can see that he was in trouble very early in the race.
Now other Bridgestone riders are acknowledging problems. Rizla Suzuki’s Chris Vermeulen had to pit to change a front tire but was also having trouble with the rear. Pramac Ducati’s Toni Elias said that he felt so unsafe that he thought about pulling out very early in the race but decided to carry on to pick up a few points. He was 14th while Vermeulen, after his tire change, was 17th and last.
The only crasher of the event, Álex De Angelis (Gresini Honda), was also on Bridgestone tires.
In fact, it appears that the only Bridgestone riders who got through the race without tire troubles were Stoner, the winner, and Loris Capirossi, eighth in his first race on the Rizla Suzuki.
Bridgestone acknowledged problems due to the cool track temperature, and also that Michelin still holds the advantage with qualifying tires, as evidenced by the all-Michelin front row of Lorenzo, James Toseland and Colin Edwards, all on Yamahas as well.
Clearly Bridgestone executives and technicians felt fortunate that the Stoner/Ducati Desmosedici combination made the most of their product, but they are hoping for more
Fiat Yamaha Team's Valentino Rossi (Photo: Yamaha Racing) » More Photos
The situation in Qatar was unusual because when the team came for their final preseason tests they encountered night track surface temperatures of under 60 degrees and they had nothing in the containers that was perfect for such chilly conditions. Lorenzo ran a full race simulation while Bridgestone riders were unable to hold a race pace over full distance.
Why was Stoner able to dominate and win by over five seconds? Perhaps because he took very good care of his tires over the opening laps. Perhaps because the Ducati electronics package on his bike was kinder to the tires. And, of course, because Stoner is brilliant.
The race seemed quite exciting during the opening laps, but, looking at it in retrospect. Stoner was clearly in control. He actually sat back, watching the fairing-bashing and seeing that Pedrosa was unable to pull away. When Rossi moved into the lead, Stoner was sitting just on the back of the lead group of Rossi, Pedrosa and Lorenzo. With Rossi leading, Stoner observed from fourth for three more laps before suddenly lowering his lap time by 0.8 of a second and passing all three to move into the lead. After that he was never headed and eventually won by 5.6 seconds, nearly twice his winning margin from the year before.
Whereas Stoner’s Ducati was very strong through the section of the three linked right-handers, Rossi lost ground and did not look as if we could ride aggressively.
Here in Jerez, where both Michelin and Bridgestone have thousands of laps of data and where the temperature is expected to be in the low seventies over the weekend, we will see a more representative display of the strengths of the two competing tire companies, though it has to be worrying for Michelin that Bridgestone was able to find a way to win in Qatar on a day when the French company seemed to have the advantage.
Last year Rossi won a race-long duel with Pedrosa in Jerez (both on Michelins) while Stoner was fifth back of Edwards and just beaten by Elias, the first Bridgestone rider behind the three Michelin-shod machines.
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