BRIDGESTONE MOTORSPORTS:

Fiat Yamaha’s Valentino Rossi achieved his fourth pole position of the season using Bridgestone’s medium compound front slick and a soft compound rear. On race tyres, his pole time was 0.6seconds faster than the existing lap record set by Honda’s Dani Pedrosa in 2006. In contrast to yesterday’s rain, the qualifying session for the British Grand Prix was run in dry conditions giving all riders a chance to use Bridgestone’s slicks at Donington Park. Repsol Honda’s Dani Pedrosa will start from second in tomorrow’s race, using a medium front and soft compound rear Bridgestone slick to secure his fourth front-row start of the year, just 0.095seconds adrift of Rossi. Jorge Lorenzo was third fastest and Ducati Team’s Casey Stoner fourth, the top four all faster than the existing lap record.

The top six all used the same medium front soft rear tyre compound combination. Every rider left the pits on the medium compound Bridgestone slicks, but most riders had opted for the soft compound rear by the halfway point of the hour-long session. If the conditions for the race tomorrow remain the same, it is expected that most riders will favour the medium compound Bridgestone slicks, the harder of the two options.

Tohru Ubukata – Bridgestone Motorsport – Manager, Motorcycle Race Tyre Development

“I am happy with the performance of our medium compound slick tyres today as the pace at the front of the field was very fast. The top four riders were under the lap record and again Jorge rode a consistent 23-lap stint on a single set of tyres at the start of the session, both of which suggest we could see another fast-paced race tomorrow.

“If the conditions remain the same for the race, I expect the medium compound slicks to be the favoured choice because their harder compound will give improved durability over the race distance, and even though Donington is a slippery track, warm-up performance was no problem today.”