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Formula 1 Features & Interviews
Hiroshi Yasukawa Director Bridgestone Motorsport discusses the 2008 Bridgestone Motorsport season
07/05/2008
2008 is looking to be another very exciting season for Bridgestone Motorsport with our activities at all levels of motorsport around the world. In all our endeavours, safety is a top priority. We must also be fair in our supply of tyres and information to every competitor that uses our products.
As the Official Tyre Supplier to Formula One until 2010, we have the challenge of supplying our tyres to all of the teams now, just as we did as sole supplier last season.
We have very good relationships with the teams and I believe we have enough experience to have another good season. Judging by the first few races of the season it certainly looks like it will be another thrilling season.
It is very exciting for Formula One to go to new tracks and have a night race in 2008. Singapore is a hub in Asia so this is good for Bridgestone. Singapore is a very compact and centralised venue and our understanding is that it is like the Monaco of the East.
Valencia is also a street circuit and it is known for the America’s Cup race. Formula One will publicise the name of Valencia all over the world, and in turn, the Bridgestone name will also benefit from this increased exposure so we are very happy to be expanding our brand awareness.
There are several changes to the regulations in Formula One this season and we have already seen the difference this can make on track. Any modification to the rules is interesting for the teams and interesting for spectators.
MotoGP in contrast to Formula One is a competitive tyre environment. Last year was the first season that we saw the world championship won on our tyres. This was a great result for Bridgestone and this year our mission in MotoGP is to again prepare good tyres for all of our teams and riders. Casey Stoner and the Ducati Corse team are the defending champions but we are well aware that Suzuki, Kawasaki and Honda have stepped up and we are expecting good results with these teams too.
Former world champion Valentino Rossi and Yamaha have also joined us. This is big and impressive news and we look forward to seeing them fight for the title, but Bridgestone will naturally support all of our teams with the same fair and professional levels of service.
In the GP2 Series over the past three years we have been a part of the grooming process for the next generation of Formula One drivers and talented drivers for other categories. GP2 is proving to be an excellent category for young drivers and also for teams and our engineers.
This year GP2 Asia made its debut with Romain Grosjean taking the inaugural title after five exciting rounds. It was a very impressive series with 13 teams, 26 cars and drivers from 16 countries, which was fantastic. We believe GP2 and GP2 Asia is a very solid final step before Formula One. Taking place in countries such as Dubai and Indonesia, this was the first time that Bridgestone Motorsport has visited some of these markets, providing worthwhile new experiences for Bridgestone.
For many people in these markets, this was their first time watching a big race like this and for Bridgestone in the Middle East I believe there are exciting opportunities in the future based around this series.
Looking at some of our other world class series, we are pleased to have received confirmation that the IndyCar Series and Champ Car World Series have now merged. These categories were very popular in the United States and the fact that they will now work together towards a stronger future is great news and we can expect many high speed and thrilling races.
In 2007 it was great to have the winning competitor in MotoGP and in Formula One using our tyres. Many people watching these championships around the world saw Bridgestone podium caps worn by the winning competitors.
We are very proud of this achievement and of the work of our technical departments and staff worldwide. We believe that more and more people across the globe now recognise the importance of having good quality tyres, whether they are for their own road car or bike or for racing on.
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