MotoGP – Preview Phillip Island – Bridgestone brings the asymmetric tyre

Just a week after the Malaysian Grand Prix, the sixteenth round of the MotoGP World Championship is scheduled for Sunday 17 October on the Phillip Island track in Australia. The Australian Grand Prix concludes the series of three consecutive races (Japan, Malaysia, Australia) held a week apart from each other. Located on the southern coast of Australia, the Phillip Island circuit is famously the most spectacular and challenging of the MotoGP World Championship calendar and generates the highest rear tire temperatures of the season despite the low air temperatures. By contrast, the loads on the front tire are minimal. The circuit is the fastest in the world championship, with an average speed recorded in qualifying in 2008 by race winner Casey Stoner (Ducati Marlboro) of 180.598km/h and the only challenging braking is represented by the Honda hairpin. The layout of the track is fast, with a predominance of long left-hand corners, in particular the final curve which puts considerable strain on the left shoulder of the rear tire as the driver accelerates before reaching the main straight. Heavy lateral loads result in very high tire temperatures and for this reason the slick tires selected for the rear feature a special construction developed to offer greater heat resistance and durability at a higher operating temperature. The Japanese company has selected the type of asymmetric rear tire for the Australian track, to balance the intense heat in the left shoulder of the tire with the relatively low loads on the right shoulder in the few right-hand corners of the track. In anticipation of low air temperatures, heating the right side of the tire will be essential. The type of rear tire selected is the same as used last year, apart from the extra soft compound in the right shoulder of the softer compound option on the rear which helps to reach the optimal temperature of use, particularly in the cold Saturday morning sessions and on Sunday.

Hiroshi Yamada – MotoGP Manager Bridgestone Motorsport: “Last year in Australia we celebrated the 50th victory in the MotoGP class with Casey Stoner and the Ducati team, with whom we achieved our first World Championship. It is the third Grand Prix in a row in three weeks in a very tiring period of the season, especially after the particularly high temperatures in Sepang, which put the riders and teams to the test. The temperatures at the Phillip Island track will be much colder and everyone will have to adapt quickly to the new conditions. Even though the world title has already been awarded, the fight will be particularly close to obtain useful points to snatch positions from our rivals and I am convinced that we will see an interesting race in Australia and in the remaining races of the season".

Tohru Ubukata – Bridgestone Motorsport Development Manager: “The Phillip Island circuit is a high-speed anti-clockwise track with a greater variety of left-hand corners than right-hand ones. Although the air temperature is low, the long and fast last corner generates a particularly high rear tire temperature in the left shoulder and for this reason we have selected a type of tire with a special construction developed to offer better durability. By contrast, there are few right-hand corners so the right shoulder of the tire requires a good warm-up to reach the optimal temperature. We will use the extra soft compound in the right shoulder of the softer compound option for the rear specifically to improve tire warming in the colder morning sessions.”

Available tire compounds:
Front: soft, medium
Posterior: hard, extra hard (asymmetrical)

Bridgestone MotorSport