A thrilling battle for supremacy at the opening race of the 2008 MotoGP season in Qatar just over two weeks' ago, ultimately won by Bridgestone-shod Ducati rider Casey Stoner, set a highly competitive standard for this year's championship, which continues this weekend with the second round of the season, the Spanish Grand Prix.

The hosting Jerez circuit in southern Spain is a venue well known by the entire MotoGP grid through its use not only as an annual race circuit, but also as a preferred off-season test facility. February's IRTA test was held in mixed weather conditions but nevertheless all 18 MotoGP riders took part and amassed a combined total of almost 3,000 laps between them over three days, offering teams and manufacturers important data ahead of the race proper.

Jerez has been a permanent part of the MotoGP calendar since 1987 and holds its 22nd premier class event this weekend. It is one of three Spanish circuits on the calendar, but is the only one to hold the title of ‘Spanish GP'. Jerez was one of the more disappointing races for Bridgestone in 2007, and marked the only race of the season in which a Bridgestone-shod rider did not secure a podium finish. Toni Elias was the highest-placed Bridgestone rider in fourth for Honda Gresini.

“Tyres are an important part of the package at Jerez because it is a circuit with a wide range of corner types and there is no dominant straight, so the riders require good cornering performance. This means we need to provide high grip front and rear tyres. We expect track temperatures to be between 30 and 40 degrees Celsius, so we will run soft to medium level of compounds” , explained Hiroshi Yamada, Bridgestone's Motorcycle Sport Unit Manager.

“Everybody knows Jerez very well from testing so there is a lot of data at our disposal. We have seen in previous years that the level of competition at Jerez is very high and it is often just tenths-of-a-second that can make a big difference to the result. The circuit is not always in exactly the same condition as when we tested, and this year there is a full month between the pre-season IRTA test and the race, so track conditions will likely have changed. Teams will have a good idea of the set-up they require for their bikes, so the first practice will be used to confirm or make slight adjustments before we start the usual process of tyre evaluation for the weekend.”

“Grid position is important at Jerez because it is so competitive and not so easy to overtake. We are still working hard on our qualifying tyres and will introduce some new rear qualifiers in Jerez this weekend, which we hope will offer riders the extra grip that is needed. Some riders have also expressed an interest in a front qualifying tyre which we initially started to look at during last season and are continuing to develop. In the past, a front qualifier did not offer a significant advantage over a standard front tyre, but we are continuing into this as part of our ongoing development plans for this season.”

Bridgestone Motorsport