Michelin ready to quit MotoGP

[Postie]

I found this on the Eurosport web site.

www.eurosport.com

you can view the qulifying and race as it happens from there for free, its only text though.

Anyway, the story

San Marino GP - Michelin preparing pull-out?
Eurosport - Thu, 30 Aug 15:35:00 2007
Michelin could withdraw from Moto GP racing at the end of the season if the Honda and Yamaha factory teams switch alliances to Bridgestone for 2008.

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The French tyre giant has dominated the top tier of two-wheeled racing over the past decade.

But this season has seen a dramatic change in form with Bridgestone, mostly through Ducati rider Casey Stoner, winning eight times compared to Michelin's four.

And with the rubber contracts of both Yamaha and Repsol Honda up for renewal at the end of the year, and with no guarantees of re-signing with Michelin, the French rubber giants are considering withdrawing if they do not retain their current teams.

Jean Philippe Weber, Michelin's director of motorcycle racing, said: "If we don't have any factory teams I don't think we'll stay. Or we won't have a really good reason to continue the development.

"If our partners don't trust in our potential then maybe we don't have to stay."

World champion Nicky Hayden admitted during testing at Brno last week that while Repsol Honda are edging towards re-signing with Michelin for next year, it is by no means certain.

"We haven't really discussed it but we'd be fools not to be thinking about it," said Hayden.

"There's still a lot or racing left this year to see what Michelin can come up with and I'm not sure Bridgestone will cure all our problems because already we have a lot of chatter at the front and putting Bridgestones on could cause more.

"I can't say it hasn't crossed my mind though."

[Deviant Esq]

I hope they don't quit, personally. I wasn't happy when they quit out of F1, they were doing quite well and encouraging development and competition - never a bad thing IMO, means noone can get complacent. Okay, sure they were turfed out, but it was F1's loss. It would be a loss to Moto GP if they left.

[sAsLEX]

They were doing very well as they had the technology that enabled them to bake a tire at the track and they had an advantage over Bridgestone.......... but then they changed the rules putting all that investment to waste...

[k14]

They arent doing that bad are they? 2 riders in the top 3, still won 3 (or is it 4) gp's this year. Talk about a bunch of moaning bitches. First honda now michelin. These are the rules they argreed to last year so if they want to bow out good riddance.

[Kickaha]

I hope they don't quit, personally. I wasn't happy when they quit out of F1, they were doing quite well and encouraging development and competition.

They were getting there arse kicked which is why they decided to pull out and sulk

[TonyB]

They arent doing that bad are they? 2 riders in the top 3, still won 3 (or is it 4) gp's this year. Talk about a bunch of moaning bitches. First honda now michelin. These are the rules they argreed to last year so if they want to bow out good riddance.

Couldn't have said it better myself.

[canarlee]

got a direct link please?

i cant seem to find the story on the link above???

[denill]

An Article on the Great Tyre Subject:

A prototype series where the search for a competitive edge is everything?

That’s how we look at the MotoGP World Championship – so why is there talk of a control tyre, possibly to be decided on in Malaysia, one week after the Australian round at Phillip Island?

There is a nice irony about Michelin’s media information for 2007. Issued, of course, ahead of season’s start, it says: “The MotoGP series holds a major trump card: the existence of genuinely close and healthy competition between several different manufacturers.”

That competition has driven Ducati to an historic first Riders’ World Championship crown in 2007 – and Casey Stoner’s title-winning heroics aboard the red rocket have been performed on Bridgestone tyres. Now, as the season draws to a close, it seems the competitive cut-and-thrust that has seen both Ducati and Bridgestone break exciting new ground this year could be blunted by a move to a single tyre in 2008.

Reflecting on Ducati’s brilliant year, the Italian company said: "It was decisive to be Bridgestone's reference point and to create a team to develop the tyres. Until last year Michelin had an undisputed superiority. Bridgestone has paid for its apprenticeship and now the situation is level. It's part of competition.”

Bridgestone’s bold move into the senior class coincided with the turn of the century, with initial track tests conducted at Jerez in January 2001. The company entered the World Championship’s premier class in 2002. It was the start of the ‘big boomer’ 900cc MotoGP era.

It was also the start of a five-year run of uninterrupted titles for Michelin in the new format – and a 15-year streak in the senior class. Michelin, we should remind you, has won all 12 races in Australia since the World Championship returned to Phillip Island. That five-year 990cc format saw the French company take a staggering 75 out of 82 race wins and 69 out of 82 pole positions.

But for all that French superiority, there were clear milestones on Bridgestone’s own journey to the top. Phillip Island provided one, when Jeremy McWilliams seized pole position for the 2002 race. In 2004 Makoto Tamada made a name for himself with Bridgestone’s first MotoGP victory in Rio de Janeiro, another for good measure at Motegi and a string of impressive pole positions in the latter part of the season.

Two Bridgestone wins followed in 2005 and a further four in 2006, but new regulations in 2007 and additional teams to supply have spurred Bridgestone on to its current position of pre-eminence. From two teams and three riders in 2002, the company has supplied 10 riders across four manufacturers and five teams this year. And, by the time they boarded the plane for Australia, they had garnered nine race victories.

“This season was always going to be a big challenge for us,” said Bridgestone’s Motorsport Manager Hiroshi Yamada, “with new tyre restrictions, new teams and riders and a greater level of competition with the new 800cc machines. But I feel we have stepped up to a new level.”

Those new restrictions included a limit of 14 front and 17 rear tyres per rider per race, and because the 800cc bikes generate more corner speed the tyre needs to offer better grip on the edge – literally and metaphorically. Bear in mind, too, that when bikes are capable of 300 km/h, as these are, that means the rear tyre is performing 50 revolutions per second.

The difference between race tyre and qualifier is one of compound, the latter warming up within an astonishing three corners’ use and sitting on a softer carcass to enlarge the contact patch. When Bridgestone tested at Phillip Island at the start of this year, they were searching for answers to a problem that’s peculiar to this track: higher tyre temperatures than they encounter anywhere else. They also found their ’06 qualifying tyre refused to grip for the entire lap, so Bridgestone-shod riders were backing off a little through the lap to keep maximum stickiness for the awe-inspiring final corner onto the main straight.

Also new for ’07 is the need to register the chosen tyres at the start of each Grand Prix weekend. That means no more ‘Saturday night specials’: no manufacturer can now assess proceedings on Friday and Saturday then fly in tailor-made tyres especially for Sunday’s race.

Valentino Rossi makes that point very clearly: “The problem is that the way of working that we had with Michelin was completely different with the tyres that they could make on the weekends,” says the man who grew used to dominating on Michelins. “That was a big handicap for us, because Bridgestone was already used to working in the way that is now needed. It seems that Bridgestone is working a little bit better.”

Not in qualifying conditions: Rossi took pole for the season-opening race in Qatar, where Stoner qualified second. Not until China was a Bridgestone rider, in that case John Hopkins, on the front row again. Coming to the Island, the pole position tally for ’07 is 9-6 in favour of Michelin. Rossi’s team-mate Colin Edwards enjoyed his first-ever MotoGP pole at Le Mans this year, and backed up with his second at Donington Park. “The Michelin qualifier really sticks like glue for us this year,” he said.

Racing, of course, is another matter – and Bridgestone leads 10-5. But hang on a minute: no fewer than eight of those wins have come with the help of one C. Stoner Esq. Small wonder that after Stoner wrapped up the title at Motegi, Hiroshi Yamada said: “Casey has been a really special addition to the Bridgestone family this year.”

With the prospect of change so soon after they have reached the pinnacle, Bridgestone are understandably non-committal on the proposed single tyre. “We would like to continue with the current situation, which is competition,” adds Yamada. “This allows us to improve our technical development. If we have a one-brand race then this changes. We don’t like the idea of this happening.”

Michelin, we should remember, cited lack of competition as one of the most cogent reasons for their refusal to bid to be sole supplier to Formula One, a monopoly now enjoyed by Bridgestone. Jean-Philippe Weber of Michelin said they had been surprised by the single-tyre proposal, as they were already in talks with Bridgestone about the rules for 2008. “We feel competitive now and also for next season,” said Weber, buoyed by his company’s results at Estoril in particular, “so we have already started work with the factories for next year.”

In case you think we’ve forgotten, we do know Dunlop are also in this mix. Even though they supply just one outfit, Yamaha Tech 3, they too enjoy the spur of competition – when Makoto Tamada qualified fourth and Sylvain Guintoli eighth in Estoril it was the first time two Dunlop riders had been in the top eight in five seasons. Dunlop’s Jeremy Ferguson also wants to see the status quo maintained: “We believe that the more different competitors in terms of tyres, bikes and riders, the better,” he says.

Stoner himself, whose dominant year is in part responsible for the debate, thinks the ‘tyre war’ has evened out. Although he believes the new regulations force the riders to work harder on set-up, the new World Champion is not thrilled by the possibility of further change. “Grands Prix are all about prototypes, and it's the competition between manufacturers that brings out the best in all these bikes," Stoner has said. "So I just think things should be the way they are; just leave them the way they are." Only time will tell…

[Cleve]

I hope they don't move to the one tyre rule.

[denill]

Another View on the 'Tyre' Subject:

And Dennis Noyes is a guy who should be listened

MOTOGP: Why Dorna is Threatening to Impose a Spec Tire:

[Cajun]

Another View on the 'Tyre' Subject:

And Dennis Noyes is a guy that should be listened.

MOTOGP: Why Dorna is Threatening to Impose a Spec Tire:

interesting story

[SPman]

Michelin are staying in - it'll be business as usual next year. The single tyre supplier proposal is expected to be formally rejected at the commission meeting this weekend.

[Nicksta]

sweet!!
was a little worried.. i personally race on the Power Race - 2 compund tyre and love its stickyness... even in the wet i had grip.....
yay!

[sAsLEX]

Michelin are staying in - it'll be business as usual next year. The single tyre supplier proposal is expected to be formally rejected at the commission meeting this weekend.

Ah but one Yamaha rider might be on Bridgestones....

[SPman]

And won't he look sick if Michelin come out of the doldrums and bring out a better tyre than Bridgestone!
Said rider has lost a lot of face over this tantrum - most people thought he was above this - including the rather high placed official who I got the info off - instead he's just a whinger like all the rest!