Capirossi orders tyre reforms for 2012
Added on Wednesday, January 4th, 2012 by Carole Nash Editor
Capirossi orders tyre reforms for 2012
Loris Capriossi has revealed that he has already had full and frank discussions with Bridgestone ahead of the 2012 season, with the new MotoGP Safety Advisor demanding changes from the tyre supplier.
Capirossi, who retired from racing at the end of the 2011 season, has been appointed by Dorna CEO Carmelo Ezpeleta to improve rider safety and has already focused on the issue of tyres, telling Bridgestone that he expects changes in 2012.
“Carmelo told me ‘on the subject of tyres, you decide, feel free to get angry’, so I’ve used this power immediately,” Capirossi told Italian magazine Motosprint.
“My meeting with the Bridgestone people at Valencia was tough. I told them that certain things won’t be accepted anymore: the tyres are too hard and therefore too dangerous, so they must be changed.
“The tyres situation in 2011 has never been clear, so in 2012 I will choose the tyres for the riders. I mean I will do it personally: I will go by the bunch of tyres and pick them myself.
“There were problems with serial numbers too: with that number you can figure out when the tyre was built. A tyre built two years ago can’t go as quick as one built last week. Some riders had the new tyres and some other the old ones. That’s not okay, that must be fixed: I want the last rider to have the same possibilities the first one has.”
Caprisossi also revealed that not being employed directly by Dorna itself, instead being contracted as a consultant, has given him the freedom to do things his way, without commercial or political distractions.
“There’s something important everybody must know: I want to do what I’m doing now in order to make life easier for the riders,” he declared.
“I’ve accepted Dorna’s proposal with one condition: I must be allowed the chance to do things with passion and without being overpowered by economic or political interests.
“Even though Dorna will pay me a retainer, should I be told to do something against the riders’ interests, then I won’t do it. This must be very clear.”
