By Michele Lostia and Matt Beer Monday, October 15th 2007, 11:44 GMT
Valentino Rossi's crew chief Jeremy Burgess has revealed that he disagrees with the Italian's stance over the MotoGP tyre war.
The former champion came out in support of the proposal to introduce control tyres when it was mooted at the Grand Prix Commission meeting at Estoril, and there have been rumours that Rossi's exhortations played a part in Dorna's decision to float the idea.
He has also been critical of Michelin's performance this season and admitted at Phillip Island that he had urged Yamaha to switch his bike to Bridgestones next season.
But Burgess said he is completely opposed to any move towards a single tyre supplier, and believes the 2007 races that saw a large Bridgestone advantage will prove to be anomalous.
"Tyres have been part of racing since the beginning," Burgess told Gazzetta dello Sport. "You pick the car or the bike to race with, you choose the various components and you sort them out. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't, because developing something is tough.
"But if we throw them out now, where will the tyre manufacturers be able to compete to show their tyre is the best? Competition is fundamental.
"By ticking a box we throw out Dunlop and Michelin? It's completely illogical to change the rules for one year gone bad.
"If we really want to, let's do a three-year programme: Michelin wants to compete, they certainly don't enjoy losing and it's shameful that half a season should change the history of racing."
With Yamaha team boss Davide Brivio having conceded that they might look at "alternatives" to Michelin if the commission decided to allow the tyre war to continue, Burgess stressed that his was only a personal opinion.
But he pointed out that many factors other than tyres had affected this year's results.
"I speak from a personal viewpoint, we must look at the championship results as a whole," Burgess said.
"Valentino also made some mistakes this year and we've had technical problems with the bike. And let's not forget the racing incidents Michelin riders suffered from.
"It's the usual thing: there have always been some who wanted Valentino's bike and some who wanted the works Honda.
"Bridgestone also supplies other riders and they didn't look close to (Casey) Stoner to me. If it was just a matter of tyres, they would all be there. What we've seen this year is not a tyre problem for me."
What we've seen this year is not a tyre problem for me.
from the horses mouth himself
__________________
"For sure we've understood that to make the Ducati turn, you need a bigger effort than what Valentino was used to, physically too, and we didn't expect that. This bike is a lot more physical, the way to make it turn with the required precision is certainly the thing we must focus on at the moment."
- J Burgess
By Michele Lostia and Matt Beer Monday, October 15th 2007, 11:44 GMT
Valentino Rossi's crew chief Jeremy Burgess has revealed that he disagrees with the Italian's stance over the MotoGP tyre war.
The former champion came out in support of the proposal to introduce control tyres when it was mooted at the Grand Prix Commission meeting at Estoril, and there have been rumours that Rossi's exhortations played a part in Dorna's decision to float the idea.
He has also been critical of Michelin's performance this season and admitted at Phillip Island that he had urged Yamaha to switch his bike to Bridgestones next season.
But Burgess said he is completely opposed to any move towards a single tyre supplier, and believes the 2007 races that saw a large Bridgestone advantage will prove to be anomalous.
"Tyres have been part of racing since the beginning," Burgess told Gazzetta dello Sport. "You pick the car or the bike to race with, you choose the various components and you sort them out. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't, because developing something is tough.
"But if we throw them out now, where will the tyre manufacturers be able to compete to show their tyre is the best? Competition is fundamental.
"By ticking a box we throw out Dunlop and Michelin? It's completely illogical to change the rules for one year gone bad.
"If we really want to, let's do a three-year programme: Michelin wants to compete, they certainly don't enjoy losing and it's shameful that half a season should change the history of racing."
With Yamaha team boss Davide Brivio having conceded that they might look at "alternatives" to Michelin if the commission decided to allow the tyre war to continue, Burgess stressed that his was only a personal opinion.
But he pointed out that many factors other than tyres had affected this year's results.
"I speak from a personal viewpoint, we must look at the championship results as a whole," Burgess said.
"Valentino also made some mistakes this year and we've had technical problems with the bike. And let's not forget the racing incidents Michelin riders suffered from.
"It's the usual thing: there have always been some who wanted Valentino's bike and some who wanted the works Honda.
"Bridgestone also supplies other riders and they didn't look close to (Casey) Stoner to me. If it was just a matter of tyres, they would all be there. What we've seen this year is not a tyre problem for me."
Does anyone on Speedzilla care about MotoGP racing anymore?
We didn't even have a thread about the Phillip Island race results last week!
Boring racing has that effect I guess.
If Dani hadn't flipped his bike, I don't know if there would have been any posts at all.
Does anyone on Speedzilla care about MotoGP racing anymore?
We didn't even have a thread about the Phillip Island race results last week! Jeff, the season's over, we already have a new champion. That tends to have an effect on the fan base for the remaining rounds.
Boring racing has that effect I guess. That didnt seem to be the case for you folks when it was Rossi who was winning by seconds.......was it?
If Dani hadn't flipped his bike, I don't know if there would have been any posts at all.
Sure there would of been, we're just giving the Rossi crowd a breather. LOL!
Hell, if Nicky's bike didnt take a dump there may have been a lot more to talk about.
Is the championship more important than the racing for a lot of people?
I honestly couldnt care less who is winning, as long as there's racing. Obviously I have my favorites (Hayden and Vermeulen), but if it's rossi and stoner battling it corner by corner, then i'd be a happy camper.
What I hate seeing are riders unable to ride their race due to inferior equipment, be it tires, motor failuers, etc. I'm not saying i want to see a spec class, but at the end of the day if someone wins it, i want it to be because they fought for it, not bc some of the best rider's tire chunked, or motor blew, or whatever.
Does anyone on Speedzilla care about MotoGP racing anymore?
It's hard, man! I want to care. But with the Championship decided, and the races boring, what is there to talk about? I tried to enjoy the race on Sunday, but even after Hayden's great start, you knew there probably wasn't going to be a fight for the lead after 10 or 15 laps.
Last year at this time, MotoGP was the most exciting thing on the planet. This year I almost forgot there was a race last weekend, and it seems the only thing to look forward to in motorsports is the last F1 race.
There's always next year! And on that note, I'll start the betting. $5 says Hayden gets the trophy back.
Valentino Rossi will use Bridgestone tyres on his Yamaha next year, according to Michelin's Moto GP tyre chief.
Jean-Philippe Weber, the French manufacturer's competitions director said that pressure from the five-time world champion to switch to Bridgestone rubber next season in a bid to close the performance gap to Casey Stoner and Ducati, had finally paid off.
"He [Rossi] has said he must switch to Bridgestones and you can't go against the desire of the riders, so we cannot remain with him," said Weber.
Rossi, and Repsol Honda rider Dani Pedrosa, Moto GP's biggest stars, have been campaigning since mid-season to get their teams to switch to Bridgestones for 2008.
Although Bridgestone initially issued a firm "no" to both squads following requests for a switch, it is believed that pressure from championship bosses Dorna to switch to a single-tyre rule in 2008 unless they gave way, has led to the move.
Officially, nothing has been confirmed, but Dorna have said that a decision on whether or not a single-tyre formula will be adopted next season, will be announced next week.
With only Bridgestone even willing to consider bidding for the contract, should one come up, Rossi's move will not affect what rubber he uses.
Rossi was only 16th fastest in practice for the Malaysian Grand Prix, and knew instantly where the blame lay.
It's very disappointing for me to be here, at one of my favourite tracks where we know our bike goes well, in 16th position! We don't have any grip, especially in front, and we were very slow today.
"We've tried a lot of tyres and different settings but so far we haven't been able to make much progress."
Rossi's switch will create a unique situation within the Yamaha squad as his new team-mate Jorge Lorenzo will use Michelin rubber, a move which will almost certainly upset the development of their 2008 motorcycle.
The Tech-3 Yamahas of James Toseland and Colin Edwards will also use the French rubber, switching from the current British-made Dunlops.
Whether or not Pedrosa will also switch is yet to be decided.
This is turning into a serious mess; they're going to have half the team on one tire, and half on the other? What's the test rider going to run? Both? This is getting screwy and there must be A LOT more to the story.
could all end in tears if Lola gets what Lola wants & Ducati stomps 'em
conversely it could prove he's the GOAT
kinda sorta related... the public cry from VR as well as a few selected comments in the press from JB, have been interpetted as a serious push for pneumatic valves
Honda & Yam were supposedly still set up with so called conventional springs
from MCN Sept...
Less than 24 hours after Rossi’s disastrous 13th place in the Japanese MotoGP saw Ducati rival Casey Stoner claim his first MotoGP world title, Valentino Rossi was testing a 2008 spec YZR-M1 at the Twin Ring Motegi circuit.
The new bike features a completely new chassis and swingarm and all-new bodywork and seat unit. Valentino Rossi tested two different spec frames today, but later revealed to MCN that a 2008 pneumatic valve YZR-M1 motor wasn’t ready to test and was still undergoing development on the dyno in the Japanese factory.
He also ran the new chassis with the 2007 conventional spring valve system.
Yamaha is desperate to drastically improve the performance of its four-cylinder machine after the domination of Ducati and Casey Stoner in 2007.
Burgess: single tyre would be 'illogical'
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