Mission accomplished for Bridgestone in final year of `tyre war´

Hiroshi Yamada reviews second title-winning year for Japanese tyre manufacturer in MotoGP.

The final year of the MotoGP tyre war saw Bridgestone defend their World Championship title and have the last word on 800cc rubber. Not much more could have been asked of the Japanese manufacturer, with a second premier-class crown, association with the top two riders in the class and the all-clear to become the first supplier of the single tyre era all confirmed in 2008.

Preparing for the most recent campaign was not an easy task, however, with expectations high after Casey Stoner´s 2007 title win –Bridgestone´s first in MotoGP- and the addition of Valentino Rossi to the manufacturer´s ranks. The man who oversaw the 2008 effort, Hiroshi Yamada, looks back over the year in the accompanying video.

`After we got the Championship last year we wanted to keep this title; of course this was the main target for us. Valentino tried very hard, and also Yamaha tried very hard to adapt to our tyres, and they changed many different things, like the machine size. To win in China with Valentino was very good for us after all our hard work together.´

 

Yamada added that:`At the middle of the season, around Germany, Casey got very good results again. So with Casey and Valentino getting stronger and stronger we were confident of winning the Championship; we did not know which rider would do it, but that time was very good for us.´

 

Bridgestone´s preparations for 2009 have already begun, with all teams bar Tech 3 Yamaha having already tested with next year´s rubber.