Bridgestone determined to develop further after Laguna Seca success

Tuesday, 22 July 2008

Tyre manufacturer Bridgestone have no intention of resting on their laurels, even after an incredible recent record in the MotoGP World Championship.

Cleaning up at the Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix for the second consecutive year, courtesy of podium trio Valentino Rossi, Casey Stoner and Chris Vermeulen, tyre manufacturer Bridgestone proved comprehensively to have anticipated the demands of the Laguna Seca circuit.

With the varied conditions of the American track in previous years making temperature a big issue, an adaptable set of compounds had to be shipped over for the task at hand. Bridgestone got it right, and were rewarded with two riders at the head of the World Championship standings (Rossi and Stoner) heading into the summer break.

`This weekend has been a very complicated event from a tyre point of view with some quite cool mornings followed by warmer afternoon sessions, so I am satisfied with our tyre performance in this range of conditions,´ said a proud Tohru Uukata, Bridgestone´s Motorcycle Race Tyre Development Manager.

`Producing tyres to cope with the demands of Laguna Seca over 32 laps is quite tough and, for this reason, I am pleased to see such consistent lap times during the race. Well done to Valentino for the victory; his and Casey's lap times were incredible today. Casey set the fastest lap of the race with a 1m21.488s, 1.1s quicker than last year, and four Bridgestone riders were at the top of the fastest lap classification which is a great achievement.´

Despite such success in 2008 –Bridgestone have provided rubber for the racewinner of eight of the eleven rounds held so far this year- Ubukata has vowed that the company will not be resting on their laurels as the season enters the home stretch.

`To see three of our riders on the podium for the second race in a row is fantastic, but our tyre development will not stop because we expect a competitive final seven races of this season.´

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