The MotoGP and British Superbike Series, both run by DORNA, may both go to a spec tire in 2008. Honda’s inability to get Bridgestone tires for Nicky Hayden and Dani Pedrosa for the 2008 MotoGP season seems to have accelerated the drive toward a spec tire, already set in motion by new-for-2007 tire rules which have shifted the MotoGP performance advantage from Michelin to Bridgestone and have resulted in more runaway races. The 2007 rules limit the number of tires each rider may use during a MotoGP weekend and also require the rider to pick his selection of tires on Thursday prior to the race weekend. If the rider does not pick tires which will be competitive at a given track, he’s out of luck. Prior to that rule being put in place, Michelin had to ability to build–overnight– additional tires to suit specific conditions at a given track, and then transport those tires to the racetrack for use on Saturday and/or Sunday. Bridgestone did not have that capability. Which led to the new-for-2007 rule and less-competitive races. In the past, Michelin has stated an aversion to participating in a spec-tire series, preferring open competition. Which would appear to leave Bridgestone as the sole possible MotoGP spec tire, although it’s unknown if the company’s production capacity could be expanded quickly enough to take on such a task. The majority of teams in the British Superbike Series use Dunlop tires, made in England. Dunlop currently is the spec tire for AMA Grand National dirt track and also for a Spanish Series. With World Superbike already using a Pirelli spec tire–a move that revived competition in the series–any move by DORNA toward a spec tire in MotoGP and BSB could leave the AMA Series as a holdout in the battle of tire brands, with any company left out of the spec-tire deal re-concentrating its efforts in AMA Superbike–much as Dunlop did when World Superbike went to the Pirelli spec tires. That could set up a serious (as opposed to past minimal efforts on the part of Michelin) Dunlop-versus-Michelin battle in the U.S., for example, with Michelin transferring all or part of the resources now used in MotoGP to an AMA effort. Pirelli is currently the spec tire supplier in the MOTO-ST series for twin-cylinder motorcycles; that series is owned and run by Grand American Road Racing, which in turn is owned by the same people who own Daytona, ISC and NASCAR. Spec tire series are very profitable for tire companies; the per-unit cost of producing a standard tire is very low compared to the prices charged to series participants. According to DORNA CEO Carmelo Ezpeleta, a decision on spec tires for the 2008 MotoGP Series could come within a matter of weeks. British Superbike plans to announce its 2008 tire plans by October, according to news reports in England. If DORNA successfully bids on the commercial rights to the AMA Superbike Series, a spec tire rule is likely to be put in place. The same would likely be true if Grand American successfully bids on the commercial rights to the AMA Superbike Series.