With Bridgestone’s 14 years in MotoGP about to come to an end, the manufacturer has been looking back on how their participation in the world’s premier motorcycle race series has benefited riders on the road.
Speaking with Hiroshi Yamaha, the Manager of Bridgestone Motorsport Department, they reveal just how MotoGP DNA makes it on to your bike.
How does Bridgestone’s MotoGP tyre technology find its way into road tyres?
Over the 14 years we’ve been in MotoGP we’ve developed so much new technology to improve the performance of our tyres. Most of this technology has already been transferred to our road tyres. For example, a MotoGP tyre needs high grip, good durability and be easy to control, which is of course very useful on all our tyres. Our MotoGP development team works side-by-side with our road motorcycle tyre development team, so we are able to quickly transfer MotoGP technologies to our road tyres.
What technological developments from MotoGP have had the most benefit for road tyres?
Besides the obvious improvements to the tyre construction and compound, one of the biggest benefits has been the improvement in production technology. MotoGP techniques have helped our factories become more efficient at producing more higher-quality tyres in a shorter amount of time.
Another key development that has been developed in MotoGP but has now found its way into our road tyres is our Optmised Contact Patch Technology. This enables our tyres to maintain the best possible contact patch at all lean angles which give the rider good bike feeling and control.
Can MotoGP developments only impact motorcycle tyres? Or can they be used on other vehicles as well?
The technology can be transferred to a variety of tyres. Some of the construction and compound elements have already gone onto our car tyres. I’m afraid it’s all classified, so I can’t go into details about what we’ve used and where! However, MotoGP technology definitely has and will continue to be applied to tyres other than those for motorcycles.
Which current Bridgestone tyre is most closely related to a MotoGP tyre?
The specific technologies from MotoGP that we have used in road tyres are a closely guarded secret. But the latest hypersport tyre, the RS10, has got the most MotoGP technology in it. This is a very high-performance tyre that is standard fitment on the Honda RC213V-S, Kawasaki H2 and Yamaha R1M. But all of our motorcycle tyres, particularly the S20 EVO, the T30 EVO touring model and the R10 racing tyre, all gain a lot from the lessons we have learned in MotoGP.
Did compound developments from Formula One find their way into MotoGP?
We obviously gained a lot of experience from our time in Formula One, but the characteristics and makeup of the tyre is extremely different between the two sports. However, there was certainly some crossover in technology that has helped our MotoGP programme, for example, many of the tyre compounds we developed for Formula One could also be used in MotoGP. While the positioning of the compound is very different between the two types of tyre, seeing as Formula One tyres do not need to deal with any significant lean angles, the compounds themselves can be useful if applied correctly.
We also learned a lot in F1 in terms of tyre performance data analysis which helped us in our MotoGP programme as well.
Simulation technology which was so crucial to our Formula One programme has also been very influential. It allows us to gain a better understanding of how our tyres will perform before they ever go to the track.
As this is Bridgestone’s last year in MotoGP, how will Bridgestone keep at the forefront of motorcycle tyre technology in years to come?
We’ve learned so much in 14 years with MotoGP, and we have transferred a lot of technology to our range of tyres. But there are still a lot of technological developments, particularly from more recent seasons, that we are yet to fully transfer to our road tyres. So we still have a lot of weapons in our arsenal! We have new motorcycle tyres coming onto the market in the next 12 months which will feature our very latest technologies that have been proven on the MotoGP circuits around the world.
Find out more about Bridgestone’s complete motorcycle and scooter tyre range here.
