Bridgestone MotoGP Preview – Round 13: San Marino, Misano Bridgestone slick compounds available: Front: Medium, Hard. Rear: Medium, Hard In the fourth of the season’s back-to-back races, Bridgestone’s technicians and engineers travel directly to the Misano circuit for round 13 of the season which comes the weekend after the Indianapolis Grand Prix. San Marino presents a much smoother circuit with much lower grip, necessitating softer compounds of slick tyre. Bridgestone have selected the medium and hard compound front and rear slicks and hard compound wet tyres. Even though the circuit’s surface is smooth, the hard compound wets are used as the ambient temperature in the region is generally high and the hard compound offers better durability in these conditions. The nature of the circuit is twisty and riders spend a lot of time on the brakes, meaning that braking stability afforded by the front tyre is crucial. As with every race since the Dutch Grand Prix at Assen in June, each rider can opt for an even split of four of each compound of front tyre or five of one and three of the other to better suit their individual riding and machine preference. After a time away, MotoGP returned to Misano in 2007, but the circuit layout was changed slightly at turn three in time for last year, increasing the track’s length to 4.226km. Appearing in various guises in past years, the circuit remains unchanged from last year, allowing Bridgestone to maximise their experience and success at the venue. Bridgestone has a great track record in Misano since its return to the calendar in 2007. Ducati Team’s Casey Stoner took pole and won in 2007 on Bridgestone tyres, and in 2008 the Australian grabbed pole again. The win was taken by Valentino Rossi for Fiat Yamaha, and the Italian set a new lap record on Bridgestone tyres in the process. Hiroshi Yamada Manager, Bridgestone Motorsport Department “We have a good record of winning performances in Misano with Casey in 2007 and with Valentino last year. A Bridgestone-shod rider has got pole position both years since the race returned in 2007, and that same year the top five riders were all on Bridgestone tyres which made it one of our best results. “After Jorge’s win in Indianapolis, the championship is still open with five races to go so I think we will see an exciting end to what has been an already exciting season. It has been a hugely competitive year and we have seen some intense battles and close finishes, and with many areas of heavy braking at Misano I am confident that we will see some more great competition this weekend.” Tohru Ubukata Manager, Bridgestone Motorcycle Tyre Development Department “The track surface at Misano is smooth and offers relatively low grip. The layout is basically twisty, but there are some long, high-speed corners. There are also a lot of slow and tight corners, and the main straight is not so long, so the focus will be on obtaining good braking stability and traction on corner exit. “Owing to its twisty nature, the tyres spend a lot of time on their shoulders and not much time upright, especially as the straight is short. This means that the setup of each machine is very important here in ensuring that each bike and rider package can make the best and most efficient use of our tyres. We have used our experience from last year on the lengthened track, when the performance of our tyres was good, to select the most suitable slick and wet tyre compounds this time round.”