MotoGP: Bridgestone to consider asymmetrical compounds for 2010 Laguna Seca race

MotoGP
Press Release

Low tire temperatures were a key factor in two crashes that shaped the Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix weekend, with falls for Jorge Lorenzo and Casey Stoner coming in qualifying when both had new rear slicks placed on their respective bikes. Bridgestone are currently analyzing data from the Laguna Seca round, and will consider a change in strategy for the 2010 visit to the American track.

“The temperature data we collected from last year’s race allowed us to predict that the temperature differential between the left and right shoulders would be only a few degrees Celsius, and we based our tire compound selection for the weekend on this data,” said Motorcycle Race Tire Development Manager Tohru Ubukata when pressed on the asymmetrical tire issue.

“This year’s tires are designed with a much wider temperature operating range than last year’s so we chose to bring the single compound to Laguna because we believed they would be suitable for the conditions. Our temperature prediction was correct, and the difference between the shoulders of the rear tires was very similar to that experienced in Mugello and Assen, where we also used single compound tires.

“I support our tire choice this weekend, but of course as part of our continual development process we will carefully analyze all our data from the weekend and consider asymmetric tires for Laguna next year,” he continued.

The length of the Laguna Seca circuit meant that riders had to perform more laps in order to get their rubber up to temperature, a situation that goes some way to explaining qualifying falls on fresh rubber and the falls in the early stages of the Sunday race. Ubukata also noted the varied topography of the track as a major challenge.

“Tires naturally generate peak grip when they are properly loaded, but in turns three and ten in particular it was harder for the riders to load their rear tires because the corners are downhill, meaning the weight transfer is towards the front of the bike and away from the rear tire, giving less rear grip. There are fewer right-handed corners at Laguna which meant that the right shoulder of each tire was not used as much throughout the lap. The right shoulder also cooled between right-handers, especially as the ambient temperature was relatively low.”