Bridgestone apologise to Pedrosa over split tyre
Added on Tuesday, April 28th, 2009 by Carole Nash Editor
Bridgestone apologise to Pedrosa over split tyre
MotoGP tyre supplier Bridgestone has issued an apology to Repsol Honda and Dani Pedrosa after the rider’s front tyre sustained extensive damage during Sunday’s Japanese Grand Prix.
Visible chunks were missing from the front tyre on Pedrosa’s RC212V after he entered the pits following the race in Motegi in what Bridgestone are describing as an “isolated” incident.
The Japanese tyre manufacturer, who recently won exclusive rights to supply tyres to the completion, has sent the defective tyre to their research facility in Tokyo as part of a full investigation.
“We did see some problems with Dani Pedrosa’s medium compound front Bridgestone tyre after the race,” admitted Bridgestone race tyre manager Tohru Ubukata.
“All the other tyres that were used during the weekend, and this season, performed well so we can say this is a problem isolated to just this one tyre, but of course we have already taken the tyre to our technical centre in Tokyo where we are investigating the problem in detail.
“I would like to apologise to Dani and the Repsol Honda team, but we saw that despite the problem the front Bridgestone continued to perform until the end of the race and I am happy that Dani finished a great ride in third position.”
The revelation over the tyre problems have earned Pedrosa even more plaudits after he overcame his current injury problems to finish third, narrowly finishing behind world champion Valentino Rossi.
