Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Burgess: Control tyres won't slow Rossi

Burgess: Control tyres wont slow Rossi

Jerry Burgess, Valentino Rossi's chief engineer, says the switch to single tyre rules in MotoGP next season will only make the Italian more dominant.

In an interview with Italian magazine Motosprint, Burgess said he believed the series' commercial boss Carmelo Ezpeleta had promoted control tyres as a method of improving the racing because the Michelin runners had been significantly slower than the Bridgestone riders at some Grands Prix in recent years.

But Burgess reckons Rossi's rivals would be better off trying to beat him with different equipment.

"Carmelo is trying to orchestrate everything, including the spectacle, but the problem is that Valentino is better and always will be," the Yamaha engineer said.

"Casey (Stoner) and Dani (Pedrosa) are not at his level, so making regulations to even out the playing field is useless. Valentino remains always the number one."

Bridgestone will supply the whole MotoGP field next year after Michelin decided not to tender for the single tyre contract.

Rossi had previously switched from Michelin to Bridgestone at the end of 2007, with Pedrosa following suit for the final races this season.

Burgess said he normally agreed with all Rossi's decisions but felt his enthusiasm for control tyres was misguided.

"Usually I do (agree), but there are times when I don't: the things Ezpeleta has got into many people's heads, Valentino's too, I don't agree with," he said.

"The single-tyre rule is a big mistake.

"This is a sport for prototypes where technology gets developed, so we need the confrontation between the highest possible number of technical partners. Not the other way around.

"We must not force the teams to make certain technical choices, also because the teams usually make the right choices on their own.

"You only need to look at this tyre case: Ducati, Yamaha and Honda have all gone for Bridgestone autonomously. No need to be forced by a rule book."



  • Clark experiences highs and lows of soccer
  • Michelin won’t bid to supply 2009 tyres
  • No comments: