With two days testing at the Sepang track, Bridgestone have now introduced two fresh specifications of slick wheels for testing and development. Each competitor now receives one medium compound rear slick tyre that will take over last season’s version.

Every racer trialled the fresh rear slick tyre, except San Carlo Honda Gresini’s Marco Simoncelli.  Among the limited testing, it was a valuable opportunity for squads and racers to test the fresh tyre prior to their race debut, the feedback was excellent with reports of improvement for edge grip and consistency.

Tohru Ubukata – Manager, Bridgestone Motorcycle Tyre Development Department:

“This was a very valuable test for us as we were able to introduce and collect good feedback from two new specifications of tyre. The front tyre test especially was a very good study for our future development. I would like to thank all the teams and riders for being so wiling in their support and playing a crucial role in our tyre development.”
“Both days of the test were dry and so the conditions improved throughout the two days. Our new medium compound rear tyre was used by most teams on the second day, and it was then that the times were fastest. Valentino recorded the best time, 0.3 seconds faster than his qualifying record from last year and 0.7 seconds faster than his best time at the previous Sepang test. The performance of our new rear tyre is even better than last year’s medium compound rear in terms of operating range, consistency and edge grip, and I am very confident about using it this season.”