MotoGP Blog

In FP1 at Jerez you may have noticed a green ring around the wheels of the Suzukis and the LCR Honda of Randy de Puniet. It was most noticable on the Suzukis because of the awful colour clash with the light Rizla blue. Pictured left is the rear tyre of Vermeulen’s motorcycle. Bridgestone later revealed this as an experiment in the style of F1 tyres, to indicate to TV viewers which of the two available compounds was in use by the rider.

The experiment was only used in non-competitive sessions in Jerez so as not to disadvantage the teams involved. However, is this as relevant in MotoGP as it is in F1? Not for me. The same result could be achieved by publishing the team compound choices at the start of the race, in a similar manner to the F1 fuel weights this year. Wheel rims also form a large component of the sponsor colour schemes - think Repsol Honda’s orange wheels (clash), Kawasaki’s green rims (invisible) or LCR’s white rims (garish). It would not be aesthetically pleasing. Give me a list on screen any day.

A couple of sources in the paddock have provided details of the Bridgestone tyre proposals for 2009 in advance of the formal announcement later today. The FIM have already pronounced Bridgestone as sole tyre supplier this morning in Malaysia, and these proposals were distributed to the riders on Friday night. MotoGPBlog understands the proposals are as follows:

- 20 tyres per rider per weekend.
- the 20 tyres available consist of 8 fronts and 12 rear tyres.
- there will be two compounds available, split evenly across the 20 tyres.
- seven compounds in all will be made by Bridgestone, but only two will be available at any single weekend.
- only one carcass construction will be available.
- there will be a limit on the number of tyres available for testing.

The initial response of the riders to the one-make proposals was positive, they agreed that they would not oppose the rule, and indeed there was a positive approach by many riders that they would finally be getting Bridgestones. Following the briefing this weekend, this mood has changed to one of dissatisfaction. This stems from the lack of options available to them each weekend in 2009 compared to their options now. It is very much a case of “be careful what you wish for”.

Secondly, the limit on the testing tyres will severely limit the number of testing sessions, and who can take part. MotoGPBlog believes this restriction may be as low as 150 tyres per manufacturer per season (as reported on Eurosport on Saturday) in which case only the factory riders in each team will get any testing of any significance whatsoever. Bridgestone may be forced to increase this limit, but this may indicate why Qatar and Sepang winter tests are likely to be axed, and why the Valencia test this year has been largely curtailed.

Why are Bridgestone making so few tyres available to the teams? It is a question of cost. Bridgestone will not receive any funding from the teams, the FIM or Dorna for the supply of the tyres, the tyres are supplied at Bridgestone’s cost entirely. There was no competing bid for the supply, so what Bridgestone offered is what the Grand Prix Commission have had to accept, and is what the teams must make do with.

It will be a brave new world for the riders and teams in 2009, and yet another year in which the ground rules have significantly changed. It will have a profound influence on the performance of the teams and the riders’ race results; the riders able to get the best out the rubber available through setting up their chassis and suspension will be the ones getting the results.

Significant resistance is being encountered by Dorna in the organisation’s attempts to introduce a single-make tyre rule in the MotoGP class in 2009. The grounds for the proposal this year are to limit corner speeds and increase rider safety, without circuit owners incurring large costs year on year for further improvements, run off areas, air fences and so on. In other words, the aim is to slow down the bikes.

There is a meeting of the Grand Prix commission (see previous post on the 600cc class war for the details of the make-up of the GPC) to make the call this weekend. MotoGPBlog understands the following:
- IRTA (the teams) want a single tyre rule to cut costs and save money.
- Dorna want a single tyre rule to cut costs for circuit owners. The IRTA and Dorna will therefore vote the same way, as per usual.
- MSMA (the manufacturers) do not want the single tyre rule as this reduces competition and differentiators between the teams. All the factory teams have tyres made specifically for their chassis and suspension set-ups. If all have the same tyre, that is one less factor to make the difference. Provided the MSMA vote unanimously, they hold a veto over the proposal, in the same way as they did last year.

This impasse has led to some interesting proposals. Ducati have offered to run their three satellite bikes on Michelins, and have not ruled out switching all five to Michelin. This is the same approach they used when Bridgestone arrived on the scene: take advantage of having something different to Rossi to beat him, as beating him on the same equipment is harder.

There is, according to Eurosport, a gentleman’s agreement between the tyre companies that the field be split no more widely than 60/40 between the tyre companies. With five Ducatis on Michelins, this would mean a further three Michelin runners would need to be found. Where might these come from?

Repsol Honda are likely to keep Bridgestones for Pedrosa, but it is not impossible that Dovizioso stays on Michelins on the other side of the garage. Yamaha will almost certainly be all-Bridgestone next year. If the Gresini Hondas also took Michelins, and LCR and Scott take Bridgestones, the deal is done. Also potential Michelin runners are all three Kawasakis, after their less than brilliant showing this season.

And so it is not impossible that the tyre situation is resolved in a way that allows Michelin and Bridgestone to continue to compete. It is also still very possible that the single-make tyre rule will still be introduced. With luck we will know this weekend.

For Michelin, the unthinkable has happened. The French company is no longer supplying Dani Pedrosa with tyres. Announced after the Misano race, such a mid-season change is unprecedented, and unlikely to bear immediate fruit, as the Rossi side of the Fiat Yamaha garage can testify, because the Honda will need to be set up to make best use of the new rubber.

The decision seems a bizarre one, almost desperate, and the agreement of the tyre companies and Honda to the change even more so. Let’s put this in perspective and try to pick apart the bones of the deal; Pedrosa was leading the championship on Michelins up until July 14th, when he fell off at turn 1 of the Sachsenring in heavy rain. That’s race 10 and well past half-way through the season. He was also 7.4 seconds ahead after just 5 laps. He broke his wrist in the fall and this has hampered his challenge ever since.

Unable to ride in Laguna Seca, he lost points. In the Czech Republic, Michelins were not the tyre to be on. Even Michelin stalwart Edwards was complaining, and Bibendum had his worst competitive moment since the 2005 US F1 race when they withdrew their tyres and only the six Bridgestone runners made the start line. However, in Misano Michelin recovered. Bridgestone won the race, but Michelin and Bridgestone alternated all the way down the top ten positions, including Pedrosa in 4th place.

Behind the scenes Albert Puig, Pedrosa’s manager, attempted to organise a boycott of the Czech race by all Michelin runners, according to the reliable Dennis Noyes. Puig also runs the MotoGP Academy for Dorna and has a role in the running of the Repsol Honda team. As Noyes points out, Dorna can not have been too happy with his meddling.

This story began back in the 2007 season. Pedrosa fought for Bridgestones for ‘08 and was looking likely to get them, supported by HRC until Mr. Fukui, the head of Honda worldwide overruled the idea of a switch away from their loyal tyre suppliers of so many seasons and victories on the basis of one bad season. This time, it appears that there may have been more at stake.

It seems likely that the move to allow Pedrosa onto Bridgestone is part of an agreement by both the tyre companies and Honda to avoid a single-tyre regulation for 2009. Michelin will have wanted to fight to keep both Repsol Honda bikes, and Bridgestone have previously stated that they are unable to supply more riders (the initial reason for resisting the supply to Rossi). However all parties, Honda included, are reluctant to see a control tyre introduced, and this capitulation to the demands of Puig/Pedrosa may very well be a credible alternative to keep Michelin and Bridgestone at the party next year. The tyre companies, brought to the brink of regulation for 2008 over the supply of Rossi have avoided such a showdown this time. Will this be enough to prevent the seemingly-inevitable slide to one make of rubber for 2009?

Development never stops in MotoGP, whether the chassis, electronics, tyres or engines are the subject of change. This weekend has become something of a key point in the season for engine developments, with changes happening across more than one team.

Honda pneumatic valve engine
Scheduled, rescheduled and scheduled again, the last test of the engine before it’s appearance in China (specifically for the long straight where top end power is useful for a prolonged period) was scheduled for the days immediately following the Estoril race. This has now been cancelled as, according the the Eurosport commentators, Honda feel the power deliver of the engine is too abrupt. The ideal power delivery is close linear, this giving the rider the ability to predict how the bike will react. An abrupt change in the power delivery over a few hundred revs of the engine makes the bike both hard to predict and difficult to set up; as a result it becomes difficult to maximise the performance of the package. The Honda engine be fastest down the straight in Shanghai but not the fastest over a lap, and Honda will not deliver it until they have confidence in it’s overall ability.

Kawasaki screamer engine
Kawasaki have had the screamer in development for a while now and believe it to be the optimum firing order for an 800cc engine, delivering smooth pulses of power though the entire revolution of the engine rather than grouping cylinders to fire together (big bang). It certainly sounds awesome - see the YouTube video posted by Kawasaki. Turn up your speakers for this one. Information from Estoril implies the screamer will be out and about in China, but only one of the bikes will use it for this race. If successful, expect it to be used for both bikes fairly quickly.

Yamaha Tech 3 pneumatic valves
Tech 3 were promised the latest engine from Yamaha for this season, and Yamaha have delivered. Toseland and Edwards, given their performances with the conventional engines, will be rubbing their hands with glee at the prospect of having the same equipment as Rossi and Lorenzo. Could we see four Yamahas dominating the top positions? If not this weekend in Estoril (Toseland being new to the track) then perhaps from China onwards?

Yamaha’s support for Tech 3, allied with today’s announcement of the extension of the partnership between the two until the end of the 2010 season, means that Tech 3 are now one of the strongest teams in the championship. Data is shared between all four bikes meaning that the Yamaha package is constantly under development by a very able group of riders. Such support for a satellite team raises a question: will Tech 3 be allowed to challenge the factory riders for the win?

At the Jerez Round Zero meet, talks were held between manufacturers about future changes to the technical regulations. Yamaha and Honda put forward a proposal to cap engine revs to 19,000 rpm so as to limit the costs involved in engine development.

Autosport are reporting the reaction of Ducati to the proposals. Ducati Technical Director Fillipo Prezioso: “We (may as well) say that Italian bikes ridden by Australian riders are barred from taking part in MotoGP!”.

Hilarious. At first reading, it does smack of sour grapes on the part of Yamaha and Honda, especially Honda who are struggling with development of their pneumatic-valved engine at the moment. However, they do have a point: as engine revs rise, more and more exotic materials must be used to reduce the reciprocating weight of the engine, and electronic valve actuation becomes an area for serious development. Costs spiral out of control, resulting in one dominant team that can afford the research bill or a “haves” and “have nots” situation where a couple of manufacturers run away with a technology victory time and time again.

While Ducati’s reaction is right in the short term, longer term the sport needs to address how to keep the competition alive and allow development within a reasonable budget. Next question: what is a reasonable budget?

A new article on tyre technology has expended the technical reference section to…wait for it…twice the previous size!

A hot topic in 2007, this article provides a flavour of the complexity of the black hoops from construction to compound, and how Gary McCoy did stuff nobody thought was possible.

Remember back in 2005 when Yamaha came out with this lovely livery for the YZR-M1? Harking back to the Roberts/Lawson/Rainey era these were Yamaha USA’s historic racing colours, the livery celebrated 50 years of Yamaha competition in motorcycle racing.

The colours we sufficient to inspire Paul Edwards in the UK to modify a PC case to match the livery. Some clever adaptations of the side window to allow the black and white stripe to continue across it, plus as the PC is a performance machine and requires water cooling, he has even included a mock petrol filler cap which he opens to allow him to top up the water cooling fluid! See more at the Custom PC website.

Over at Motorcycle Performance Blog there are a couple of cuttings from Gazetta Dello Sport with a handy translation. One is of Stoner’s Ducati GP7 cockpit, explaining the controls. According to the translation, Stoner boils the complex controls down to the lap time, engine mapping selection and engine warning light and pretty much ignores anything else unless there are exceptional circumstances.

The second is a witty cartoon poking fun at Rossi’s recent form.