Bridgestone is to respond to the storm of criticism it has faced over the warm up procedure of its tires this year, by bringing a softer compound of tires to the Laguna Seca, Brno, Motorland Aragon and Motegi rounds of MotoGP. The Japanese tire manufacturer faced severe criticism from riders throughout the year over the difficulties they have in getting the tire up to operating temperature, with cold-tire crashes by Colin Edwards and Cal Crutchlow seeing the Monster Tech 3 Yamaha riders both breaking collarbones in consecutive races, and several other high-profile crashes disrupting practice and racing.
The plan - presented yesterday to all of the riders by Bridgestone representatives, then discussed in the Safety Commission - is for the current allocation of tires to be modified, with the harder of the two tires being dropped, and a softer tire being added. In effect, the old soft tire becomes the new harder option, and the new tire added to the allocation becomes the new softer option. The switch will be made for the four tracks which are most likely to throw up the coldest conditions, with Laguna Seca infamous for the morning mist which can cool the track, Aragon having very cold mornings, and the possibility of rain and cold temperatures at Brno and in Japan.
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