Moto GP Japan

[road spirit]

Αρχικά δημιουργήθηκε από panayiotis
... But Jerry Burgess, who won world titles with Wayne Gardner and Mick Doohan, said: “Without any question he should be given the credit because there are three other guys on the exactly the same package. The only thing you can factor in is Casey.

οταν ο γκουρού αρχιμηχανικός των gp (5 τίτλοι με doohan, 5 τιτλοι με Rossi [1 στα 500, 2 στη χονδα, 2 στη γιαμαχα], και Χ ?? με gardner) λεει κατι τέτοιο, τα υπόλοιπα για το αν το τίτλο το πήρε το desmo, η τελική της ντουκατι, τα λαστιχα κλπ κλπ, ειναι αμπελοφιλοσοφίες. Τελος.

[panayiotis]

Rossi puts pressure on Yamaha

Valentino Rossi says that he will consider his options for the future if he does not see a greater effort from Yamaha.

The Italian, who won five straight titles in the top class of MotoGP from 2001-2005, has missed out on the title for the past two years, and he believes that the Japanese side of the squad must take a lot of responsibility for the team's problems.

"If we want to win the title again, then we need the people in Japan to put in more effort," Rossi told Italian magazine Motosprint. "They must work their butts off.

"For 2008 I have a contract with them. If they show me we can still fight, fine. Otherwise we could make a different choice."

Rossi admits that he is disappointed with how slowly this year's bike has been developed, and he has urged Yamaha's bosses in Japan to be more aggressive in the future.

"We need to stop suffering from the slowness of a big manufacturer," he said. "We need to be more aggressive and more courageous in the decisions and the development of the bike.

"This is what we have lacked this year. We had a big disadvantage at the beginning of the season, and it's not as if we improved so much in the engine. Besides, every time we do something new it breaks down."

Rossi says that the Yamaha management in Japan who are not directly involved in the team may be disappointed that he has not repeated the championship successes that he had in his first two years with the manufacturer, but he feels that the extra performance must come from the manufacturer.

"I don't know what the people outside the team thought of our results," he said. "They expect a lot from me, so another second place, after having won the first two years, may be a disappointment.

"But at this point it's up to them to demonstrate something to me. Now they too must put some more into it."

[panayiotis]

Jerry Burgess urges caution on one-make tyre proposal

Valentino Rossi’s crew chief Jerry Burgess said switching to a one-make tyre rule for 2008 is nothing more than a knee jerk reaction by Dorna which has no guarantee of improving MotoGP as a spectacle next season.

Jerry Burgess said the proposal gave Michelin no chance to respond to the onslaught from Bridgestone this season, and was also effectively punishing the Japanese factory having spent millions to become the dominant tyre brand in the premier class.

“I think that competition always improves the products. You don’t have all the 100 metre runners running on the same shoes.

“They didn’t change the rules of tennis because Pete Sampras was winning and they don’t change golf because somebody else is winning,” said Burgess.

“It’s up to the people who are getting beaten to put the effort in to try and win because everybody wants to win. I can’t speak on behalf of Yamaha but I think there has got to very, very careful discussion.

“It’s very clear it’s a knee jerk reaction. A few years back Carmelo (Ezpeleta) created a rule where the tyre companies had to give him one year’s notice if they were going to leave, now he’s saying I’m going to kick two out, or even three maybe.

“That’s certainly a knee-jerk reaction.”

[panayiotis]

Bridgestone blame Valentino Rossi for one-make tyre proposal

Bridgestone boss Hiroshi Yamada believes Valentino Rossi has been the ringleader of a campaign to switch MotoGP to a one-make tyre rule in 2008.

Hiroshi Yamada admitted he was ‘very disappointed and shocked’ to learn that Dorna boss Carmelo Ezpeleta had proposed a one-make tyre rule, during last month’s Japanese MotoGP, with the plan greeted with fierce opposition by the three tyre manufacturers.

And he believes Valentino Rossi has used his considerable influence to get Dorna to propose such a radical rule change.

“I think the power of Rossi is very strong with Mr Ezpeleta. I believe he is the main reason for this,” said Yamada, who added it was too early to announce whether Bridgestone would bid for the exclusive contract.

What has infuriated Yamada even more is the rule would arguably penalise the Japanese factory more so than rivals Michelin and Dunlop.

Having spent millions on development, Bridgestone has emerged from high-profile disasters to become the dominant tyre brand in MotoGP.

He is upset that at the first hint of problems for their rivals, most notably Michelin duo Valentino Rossi and Dani Pedrosa, Dorna is proposing a radical rule change.

Yamada confirmed the reason Bridgestone had refused to supply tyres to Yamaha and Honda’s factory teams in 2008 was to ensure competition remained.

He was aware Michelin would quit if they lost Yamaha and Honda.

“I am very, very disappointed. Our intention was not to supply Honda and Yamaha to keep competition. This has not been decided yet but if they decide to go to one-make rule then I’m very disappointed.

“If we have no competition then I won’t have the same feeling again that I did in Motegi when we won the championship. We weren’t expecting such a situation.

“Now we have to discuss internally about what our response will be and how we will approach the situation,” Yamada told MCN.

Asked if Bridgestone could supply tyres to the entire MotoGP grid for a test session in Valencia on November 6, 2007 – when a decision would only be taken by the Grand Prix Commission in Sepang on October 20 – Yamada added: “This would be very difficult in that time frame.

“We have 10 riders this year but maybe we have to supply 19, and maybe even more for test riders. Doubling the capacity is normally impossible.”

[panayiotis]

Dunlop boss concerned about one-make tyre plan

Dunlop boss Jeremy Ferguson has expressed concerns about MotoGP switching to a one-make tyre rule for 2008.

And Ferguson admitted it is too early to contemplate whether Dunlop will bid to become the exclusive tyre manufacturer in MotoGP next season, if the new proposal is given approval in the Malaysian GP later this month.

Ferguson said that Dunlop, Bridgestone and Michelin had always fought to avoid MotoGP following World Superbikes and Formula One by adopting a spec tyre rule.

“We don’t want a one-make tyre rule. The view of the tyre companies has been consistent for two years.

"The tyre companies want and have always been told by Dorna that they want open competition. When we were asked to come up with a proposal for the tyre regulations that are now in force, part of the reasoning behind it was to avoid any possibility of a one-brand subject coming up.

"The regulations were introduced and as far as the tyre companies go, the regulations work and we are all quite happy.

“Inevitably when you have competition occasionally somebody is better than somebody else and somebody wins and somebody loses, but that’s the nature of competition.

"We were asked to consider whether we thought any regulation changes were required to improve the situation. We unanimously agreed that no change of any significance was required, “said Ferguson.


Like so many others in the paddock, he concurred with the view that the one tyre brand proposal was a knee-jerk reaction to only a handful of dull races.

He denied that the implementation of a one-make tyre rule was now inevitable, but conceded: “Clearly it would be out of character for Carmelo (Ezpeleta) to have put it on the table if he didn’t think he had a reasonable degree of support from some quarters.

"I think the whole question has been a knee jerk reaction. Without supporting Michelin you are looking at a couple of races where they got beaten. That’s competition.

"If you look at the championship there is one Bridgestone rider who is leading and then two Michelin riders. In that sense it has absolutely been a knee-jerk reaction over the last few weeks to a problem that we as tyre manufacturers don’t really see as a problem. “

[panayiotis]

Michelin ‘shocked’ at one-make tyre plan for 2008

Michelin boss Jean-Philippe Weber has spoken of his shock and disappointment at plans for MotoGP to implement a one-make tyre rule next season.

Plans unveiled in Japan, as it became apparent that Honda and Yamaha had lost faith in Michelin’s ability to compete against rivals Bridgestone, could spell the end of Michelin’s success story in the premier class.

And Weber said: “This is a big shock for us. We were even more shocked because we had just given the new tyre regulation proposal for next year. So we thought that for 2008 it was still open for all tyre manufacturers.

"Suddenly the new proposal is already concerning the 2008 season. So this is the reason why we were extremely surprised.

"It is disappointing, because all the tyre manufacturers agreed that we want open competition. We know that it’s really difficult and we hope that everybody will be clever enough to make the right decision in order to keep that competition for the next year.

"MotoGP has prototype bikes, tyres, and high level riders and we are really surprised that this is coming so strongly. It looks as if everybody gets good competition and suddenly you have got somebody deciding to change something urgently.”

Weber refused to be drawn on whether he thought it disrespectful and disloyal on Honda and Yamaha’s part that both were looking to jump ship at the first hint of another tyre brand holding an advantage.

Bridgestone have won twice as many races in 2007 and in Motegi last month the Japanese factory ended 15 years of Michelin domination in the premier class.

And despite highlighting to Honda and Yamaha bosses plans to increase investment and development for 2008, it has not been enough to convince the Japanese factories so far Weber though warned Yamaha and Honda that a one-make tyre was no assurance that they would be able to beat new world champion Casey Stoner, or at least get a return to a more exciting spectacle.

“Those who ask to have spec tyres next year, depending if they have to switch to another brand or not, will have to face probably many other problems. Where we will be upset is that if the conclusion at the end of 2008 is that maybe the competition was not so bad.

"By then maybe at least two tyre manufacturers would be out of the game. And that’s really disappointing, because all these companies spend a lot of money and develop technology because they want to improve.

"To do something in such an urgent way seems not realistic based on what the tyre manufacturers are doing.”

Weber confirmed it was too early to know whether Michelin would make a bid for the contract, should it be put out to tender after a final decision is taken on the proposal in Malaysia later this month.