San Marino Grand Prix debrief07/09/2010

Bridgestone slick compounds available: Front: Medium, Hard.  Rear: Medium, Hard  

The Grand Prix of San Marino was won by Dani Pedrosa who dominated proceedings all weekend and led from the green light, setting a blistering pace and a new lap record. Jorge Lorenzo finished second, and Valentino Rossi kept Andrea Dovizioso at bay to finish third. Whilst rain was forecast for Sunday’s race, it failed to materialise and conditions were dry and warm all weekend. For the race, all riders used the softer compound rear tyre and the harder compound front, apart from Alvaro Bautista who used the softer front to good effect, finishing eighth with the sixth fastest laptime. The race was overshadowed however by a tragic accident involving Moto2 frontrunner Shoya Tomizawa who lost his life in a crash during Sunday’s race.    

Q&A with Tohru Ubukata - Manager, Bridgestone Motorcycle Tyre Development Department  

On Saturday it looked like race tyre choice may be mixed, but almost everyone ended up choosing the same compound options. Why was this?
“The temperature this weekend was such that both compounds of front and rear tyre could perform well – it was in the overlap between the temperature operating ranges of each option. We saw on Friday and Saturday that riders were using both specs in order to assess their race tyre choice and the performance of each was good, so it was possible that both options for the front and rear could be used for the race.  

“During the two free practice sessions, all riders confirmed the consistency of the softer option rear tyres over race distance, and because the softer compound offers more grip as well, this is what ended up being the favoured race tyre. If there are no race-distance consistency concerns with the softer option, it will generally be favoured for its extra grip and traction.  

“With regards front tyre choices, most riders chose the harder to give more stability as the harder rubber is stiffer and thus gives them more front-end feel and confidence. Alvaro showed however that even the softer front tyre worked quite well over race distance, and he was able to set the sixth fastest time overall.