Hirohide Hamashima explains Bridgestone’s new asymmetric tyres at French GP – MotoGP news
Hirohide Hamashima, the Assistant to Director of Motorsport Tyre Development Division has explained the new compound format Bridgestone asymmetric tyres which made their debut at Monster Energy Grand Prix de France.
The tyres were developed with soft-compound rubber in the right shoulder. For the lesser used left shoulder, an extra-soft compound rubber was used.
Hamashima was asked about the performance of the tyres at Le Mans whether they were better in providing grip. He explained, “I can say from the lap-times, and from riders’ feedback, that yes our new soft asymmetric rear slicks were another step forward in
performance. For the lap-times from the very first practice session on Friday morning to be under the lap record is almost unheard of and something we at Bridgestone are very happy about.”
Hamashima also considered the performance shown by the teams and the hard work put in their development.
The compound format of the tyre is the one which holds extra soft compound rubber in the left shoulder and provides the riders with better grip and feel in the initial laps of the race.
With the cold conditions in France, the extra soft compound gave better ride-ability. In morning the track temperature was as down as 23 degrees, but the compound formulation did well enough.
In Friday’s free practice session, the temperature shot up to 45 degrees but still the riders were able to set a new lap record with the same soft rear slicks. These conditions proved that the tyres can perform in a variety of temperatures without losing
rider’s feel on the track.
Hamashima was also asked about the reasons for developing a new format and compound for the race. He said, “We are always competing against ourselves and we have a goal to produce and make available the best tyres we can. Yes, tyre development has slowed
down since the era of tyre competition but this new tyre shows that we have not stopped developing tyres for MotoGP.”
The tyres were previously tested at the post-race test held after the Estoril event. The riders who used the tyres in that session were satisfied by the grip of the new tyres. The session was also important to testify the compound for the 1000cc prototypes
to be used in the next season.
Tags: