Rossi on Bridgestone

[Maido]

Rossi On Bridgestones & In Separate Garage In '08
by staff
Sunday, November 04, 2007
This just in from Yamaha:

Sunday, 4th November 2007
Valencia, Spain

FIAT YAMAHA TEAM FINALISES 2008 LINE-UP


Following the conclusion of the 2007 season, Yamaha Motor Co., Ltd and Yamaha Motor Racing Srl are pleased to be able to confirm the final line-up of their 2008 Factory Team.

Seven-time World Champion Valentino Rossi and two-time 250cc World Champion Jorge Lorenzo will contest the 2008 MotoGP World Championship as team-mates in the Fiat Yamaha Team.

Yamaha can also confirm its plan to run Valentino Rossi on Bridgestone tyres in 2008, while Jorge Lorenzo will be racing with Michelin tyres.

In order to facilitate the use of both Michelin tyres and Bridgestone tyres within the Yamaha Factory Team and to ensure confidentiality of data for each tyre company, Yamaha will organize separate rider pit boxes, but the Fiat Yamaha Team will continue to operate and race as one team.

ENDS


This is very sad
The Michelin have one bad season after DOMINATING motogp since the 4 stroke era and he gets all sad, shows how much loyalty is around. I hope Michelin pull out a super compound next year!

[Cajun]

hahaha yeah would really screw him up, if the michelins come on strong next year, only time will tell.

[onearmedbandit]

Sad? Loyalty? It's about money and winning.

[quallman1234]

Sad? Loyalty? It's about money and winning.
+1
If the tyres are not performing up to standard why would you race on them for another season?
Rossi Needs the best tools because he is a top runner.

[Maido]

+1
If the tyres are not performing up to standard why would you race on them for another season?
Rossi Needs the best tools because he is a top runner.


true, but I was looking at the angle that michelin have consistantly delivered great tyres to him up until this year, I think it would be funny if next year Pedrosa walked all over the top of both rossi and stoner! and even funnier if Rossi's next year team mate, Lorenzo, beat Rossi in the championship as he will still be running Michelins!! Time will tell.

[jahrasti]

One would think that Rossi would know if michelin had made any improvements coming into next year, so would be on a position to decide if he would stay on that rubber or jump ship and obviously he jumped ship.

[NZsarge]

Sad? Loyalty? It's about money and winning.

This is true but for Fiat Yamaha it surely must be anti productive in the end...

[speed63]

Go Vale:first:

[MVnut]

Go Vale:first:

Damn straight :first:Vale:first:

[pritch]

The Michelin have one bad season after DOMINATING motogp since the 4 stroke era and he gets all sad, shows how much loyalty is around. I hope Michelin pull out a super compound next year!

That's pretty tough. The boy only has a year or two left so he can't wait around.

Events have moved on though, the tyre rule has changed again. Wouldn't it be nice if there was a level playing field, we could get lots of close racing.

[Cleve]

Wouldn't it be nice if there was a level playing field, we could get lots of close racing.

ummm weren't other riders also on Bridgestones but Stoner still wasted them? There was closer racing in the mid field...

[steved]

Vale is coming across as a whining baby IMO.

The Michelins are not that bad and are improving and will at least equal the Bridgestones next year. For him to demand to jump ship and split a garage (literally) down tyre lines is ludicrous.

[BarBender]

Go Vale Go!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[onearmedbandit]

Vale is coming across as a whining baby IMO.

The Michelins are not that bad and are improving and will at least equal the Bridgestones next year. For him to demand to jump ship and split a garage (literally) down tyre lines is ludicrous.

Was it solely a 'Rossi' decision though? Did Yamaha themselves play a part? Burgess? Rossi's manager?

[steved]

Was it solely a 'Rossi' decision though? Did Yamaha themselves play a part? Burgess? Rossi's manager?

I don't know. Jorge is going to be on Michelins, as is the pilot team. For Rossi to think that he'll do better on Bridgestones is a big risk, and a pretty impetuous decision. He'll be the only rider on the bike/tyre combination, first season with the combination, no data for any track, twice as much testing for Yamaha etc. Lots and lots of unknowns.

Chance of victory = lower. I would say this is a stupid decision by a great rider.

[Matt Bleck]

Pedrosa hand no problems with his Michelins at Valencia... maybe Rossi should of retired while he was on top! :Pokey:

[onearmedbandit]

I don't know. Jorge is going to be on Michelins, as is the pilot team. For Rossi to think that he'll do better on Bridgestones is a big risk, and a pretty impetuous decision. He'll be the only rider on the bike/tyre combination, first season with the combination, no data for any track, twice as much testing for Yamaha etc. Lots and lots of unknowns.

Chance of victory = lower. I would say this is a stupid decision by a great rider.

All I'm saying, regardless of whether it was a good decision or not, is that it may not be solely Rossi's decision.

[Ivan]

In My opinion Nicky Hayden is the man


But next year the championship will go eitha to Hayden, DIvi, or Pedro

[pritch]

For Rossi to think that he'll do better on Bridgestones is a big risk, and a pretty impetuous decision. He'll be the only rider on the bike/tyre combination, first season with the combination, no data for any track, twice as much testing for Yamaha etc. Lots and lots of unknowns.

Chance of victory = lower. I would say this is a stupid decision by a great rider.


Interesting. Rossi isn't known for stupid decisions as far as I can recall.

Apart from changing to a bike that nobody else had previously managed to be competitive with... And with which nobody else has much since either, come to that.

When it became apparent that the Michelins were struggling there were some heavy duty meetings between Rossi and his people, Yamaha, and Michelin. It was reported that promises were made and assurances given. Results would indicate that the promises weren't able to be fulfilled.

The talks with Bridgestone probably started just after the (northern) summer break when it became apparent that nothing had changed.

[magicfairy]

Since Rossi is the one who will be putting his life on the line, and no one else, then it should be his call.
I'm pretty sure I read an interview somewhere that this year there were times when he was pushing those tyres past the point he felt safe just to keep up with the riders on Bridgestones.
Good decision, bad decision, it's not us sitting in our armchairs that have to ride on buggered tyres at over 300k an hour.

[boostin]

I'm sure the guys that pump in all the money into the team would beg to differ about who has a say, and who's call it is.

In saying that, maybe it is just Fiat Yamaha hedging their bets for next season, doesn't seem so silly really. If one fails then the other one should do well.

[BarryG]

What is interesting is that Yamaha have done a deal with Bridgestone (or Rossi/Burgess have) without an on-track comparison beforehand. That's putting a LOT of faith in Bridgestone being able to come up with tyres that suit the Yamaha, as they've not had that variable before.
In their favour, their tyres do seem to work well on the Ducati, Suzuki, Kawasaki and Honda, and a little more consistently than the Michelins, but even then, there has been a lot of difference between bikes on the same tyres at most races, so it's not only the tyre that's the overriding factor in the equation, it's the choice of tyre by the rider on the day, what he has left of his allocation and how his guess works out, the temperature/track condition change from warm up to the race, and the deciding factor - the rider on the day.
Stoner has been awesome all year, full on from the first lap of practice to the end of the race. Rossi has had similar years, I suppose, but Casey really did look unbeatable each time out this year. The tyres helped, for sure, but at the end of the day, the bloke in the seat had to get the bike to work as well as it did.
I rather think Rossi went to Bridgestones for the same reason he went from Honda to Yamaha - Michelin didn't give him what he needed, even though he put a lot of pressure on them to perform, for some reason, they couldn't, not to his level anyway, so it's out with the old and on to new pastures and challenges. Maybe he just needs that motivation now. Mind you, if that were really the case, he'd buy out KR, make the bike exactly as he wants, and ride that next year!
Cheers
Barry

[DEATH_INC.]

Apart from changing to a bike that nobody else had previously managed to be competitive with... And with which nobody else has much since either, come to that.
This makes me so angry, was I the only one that saw Biaggi (i think) win on the yamaha???and the other (was it melandri?) was always up there too.... Rossi took the second best option, not an uncompetitive one......he'd have jumped on the zookie if he wanted a real challenge....

Back to the tyre thing though, I always wondered why they contract to one tyre maker, wouldn't it make sense to use the best tyre for the track?

[SimJen]

ummm weren't other riders also on Bridgestones but Stoner still wasted them? There was closer racing in the mid field...

Yes Stoner wasted them, but for the majority of the year the Bridgestones have been the top runners with most on Michelin suffering issues.


Pedrosa hand no problems with his Michelins at Valencia... maybe Rossi should of retired while he was on top! :Pokey:

Pedrosa is a tiny lightweight rider, he has a 20kg advantage on Rossi!!!! That would play a big part in anyones tires!


Vale is coming across as a whining baby IMO.
The Michelins are not that bad and are improving and will at least equal the Bridgestones next year. For him to demand to jump ship and split a garage (literally) down tyre lines is ludicrous.

Michelins are pretty bad simple as that! They don't seem to be improving apart from the odd race where they seem to work a little better than the Bridgeys. Pedrosa's lightness seems to help the longevity! But can they make them work for someone of Rossi (or everyone elses weight). Lorenzo will probably be okay as he's a small one too!
So, What if Michelins don't improve next year, then Rossi etc will still be on a losing formula. For someone who's a winner, riding something incapable of winning despite your talent must really suck.
Yamaha also need to crank up the development so mechanical DNF's don't hold them back too!
Tyre rules are changing in 2008 anyway, with manufacturers allowed to bring more tyres to every round. This may help Michelin, but it also may further complicate things for them as they still aren't allowed to manufacture one offs as they used to do the day before a race in 2006.
They had it down to a fine art....

[k14]

This makes me so angry, was I the only one that saw Biaggi (i think) win on the yamaha???and the other (was it melandri?) was always up there too.... Rossi took the second best option, not an uncompetitive one......he'd have jumped on the zookie if he wanted a real challenge....

Back to the tyre thing though, I always wondered why they contract to one tyre maker, wouldn't it make sense to use the best tyre for the track?
Melandri never won on the Yamaha, took his first win at Turkey last year on the Honda iirc. The Yamaha was still a nail when rossi started riding it, the honda was so much superior than everything else though, they were all nails.

Yeah I wonder if rossi has done some testing on bridgestones in japan maybe?? Thats a massive risk going onto tyres that they have never run before, that is pretty much starting from scratch on the suspension/handling front for next season.

P.S. Ivan, you're a muppet, lol.

[pritch]

This makes me so angry, was I the only one that saw Biaggi (i think) win on the yamaha???

Apparently you were. Biaggi did ride Yamahas back in the days of two strokes. Since then, as I recall, both he and Melandri were on Hondas.

Best not to get angry about things that never happened, people will start worrying about you. It isn't even a full moon...

Back to the tyre thing, The Tech 3 Yamaha team have finished with Dunlops. An announcement as to be made as to the new supplier...

[SimJen]

This makes me so angry, was I the only one that saw Biaggi (i think) win on the yamaha???and the other (was it melandri?) was always up there too.... Rossi took the second best option, not an uncompetitive one......he'd have jumped on the zookie if he wanted a real challenge....

Back to the tyre thing though, I always wondered why they contract to one tyre maker, wouldn't it make sense to use the best tyre for the track?

Checa had some reasonable results on the Yamaha M1 4 stroke, but nothing to write home about. The Yamaha was an uncompetitive package!
As were the Suzuki and Kawasaki.
But as this year has shown, these have all moved on now.
If Rossi had wanted a real challenge then joining Kenny Roberts team would have been the way to go!
Suzuki is capable of winning, Kawasaki are getting stronger and with some excellent riders it will be an interesting 2008!

[steveyb]

Michelin is one of, if not the leading motorsport tyre company in the world. Anyone who thinks that they will take the 2007 season lying down, and not perform in 2008 is an idiot quite frankly.
Note well that Rossi also said many times that the Yamaha was not fast enough. So it was not just the tyres.
And the Honda had some serious design issues. Just look at the KR bike to see that. Fighting for podiums with the awesome 990 engine, struggling to qualify with the 800 engine.
And Dunlop the same. Anyone who thinks they can't make it is also an idiot. It took B'stone 3 seasons to get its first win and they were with top teams. If Dunlop could do development with Yamaha factory or Honda Gresini or someone, then they would be at the front too.
But yes, it all boils down to money.
But also it will be great fun to see. George Lawrence and Rossi will also be on different liveried bikes apparently. That is not going create a good rythym in the Yamaha garage.

Enjoy

Steve

[diesel pig]

Apparently you were. Biaggi did ride Yamahas back in the days of two strokes. Since then, as I recall, both he and Melandri were on Hondas.

pritch008 your are one who does not know what you are on about. Biaggi did race the M1 Yamaha and won at Brno and Sepang on it in 2002. Biaggi come second to rossi more times than any other rider that year too and second over all in the Championship. Check the facts before you spout on pritch008 or you will end up looking dumber than who you were talking down to.

[roogazza]

Cheers diesel, wondered who would be first ? Gaz.

[SimJen]

The M1 was still effectively uncompetitive in general terms, remembering there was always a mass of Honda's out there which even in Satellite team spec were better than the M1.
To go from a bike just capable of winning on a good day (or a bad day for Honda etc), to something that cleaned up (albeit with Rossi on board) was still a note worthy achievement.
Thanks not just to Rossi's talent, but also the poached Honda guys, Burgess et al.
Biaggi was on fire there for a while though, riding brilliantly and often a near match for Rossi.

[denill]

Dean Adams of <a href=http://www.superbikeplanet.com/2007/Nov/071113w-2.htm>Soup Has Some Pretty Relevant Things To Say:</A> about the subject.