Bridgestone tires helped the MotoGP riders set six lap records in 2011 and they are hoping to speed up the competition in 2012.
The MotoGP riders will hit the track for the first time today at Malaysia's Sepang International Circuit for the first test of 2012 and Bridgestone is at the track to analyze the data.
Bridgestone brought Hard and Extra-Hard front tires to the Sepang test, and Medium, Hard, and Wet Hard rear tires to the Sepang test. Bridgestone also has technical engineers at Sepang (and in Spain for the CRT test) to provide technical support to the riders.
Tohru Ubukata, the General Manager of the Bridgestone Motorsport Tire Development Department, said:
"Though we achieved our key objectives and numerous lap records were broken in 2011, for the upcoming season we have focused our development on further enhancing the safety aspects of our MotoGP tyres.
"To achieve this target, our technical aim for the new specification tyres was to make their grip characteristics easier to manage, improve warm-up performance and increase their operating temperature range. The positive reception our new tyres received at the Valencia post-season test showed we are well on track with development, and we have continued our progress over the winter break.
"At Sepang we will introduce new specification tyres for testing, while for the Valencia test we will continue to evaluate the tyres we debuted there last November. Apart from examining performance data during the tests, we will work closely with Safety Advisor Loris Capirossi and the riders to gauge their perception of the new tyres. This is all part of our goal to ensure optimal tyre performance for all motorcycles on the grid in 2012."
After this week's test, the MotoGP riders will return to Sepang at the end of February for another official test. They will finish up the testing session at Jerez on March 23rd.
