Racer Ty Howard switched his sprint racing program from Pirelli to Dunlop tires for 2008 and has done what no other rider in the U.S. has been able to do: Get an exemption from a Dunlop support contract allowing him to compete on spec Pirelli tires in the MOTO-ST Series. Riders who have been unable to compete in MOTO-ST races due to having Dunlop support deals include Dave Stanton and Eric Wood, among others. “Yeah, I was surprised, I didn’t think they’d agree to it,” Howard told Roadracingworld.com over the phone today. “Every other paragraph of the contract says ‘MOTO-ST exempt.’ They really wanted to do the deal, they don’t have much in the way of sales down here (in Texas), they have like 2%. The first race, last weekend, their sales doubled, which isn’t saying much since they had 2%, but it’s better. And they made me a way better deal than what I had with Pirelli.” Howard will ride the #1 Aprilia USA racebike in the 2008 MOTO-ST Series, partnered with Mike Himmelsbach. Typically, factory team riders like Miguel Duhamel and Roger Hayden have been able to compete on other brands of tires in non-AMA events–the most obvious example being the 2007 U.S. Grand Prix at Laguna Seca, where both Duhamel and Hayden rode on Bridgestones–but non-factory riders have not been able to get around the exclusivity clauses in Dunlop support contracts.