MotoGP: Yamaha admit Bridgestone tyres switch is 'risky'

Valentino Rossi’s factory Yamaha MotoGP team boss admitted the Italian’s controversial switch to Bridgestone tyres in 2008 is a massive risk.

But Davide Brivio said Yamaha had no choice but to support Valentino Rossi’s demands to ditch Michelin, with the 28-year-old convinced that his only hope of fighting Casey Stoner next season resting on a switch to Bridgestone.

“He was quite convinced that was the way he wanted to take, “said Brivio.
“It’s a risky choice but racing is risky. We might be wrong but this is what we think is the best possible way to challenge and fight for the world championship. There is the risk that Michelin will be stronger than Bridgestone. That is the big risk but at a certain point you have to take a decision and this was the choice. We’ll try to challenge on Bridgestone and see what happens.”

Brivio said Valentino Rossi’s patience with Michelin snapped after Laguna Seca, but he had waited for a few races to see whether the French factory could spark a drastic upturn in its fortunes.

Results though continued to plummet, serving only to antagonise Valentino Rossi further, and it strengthened Rossi’s resolve even further to quit Michelin, even though he won 62 premier class races and five world championships.

Brivio said: “After Laguna was a period where we started to think about it. We know that Michelin is a big company with a great potential and we waited for the following races because we were sure that Michelin would have come back stronger because they were putting more resources in development. But it didn’t really improve. We think that the riders opinion is important because he has to be convinced and confident in the package he has to ride to give 100 per cent. The opinion of the rider is important and if he is confident it is in the interests of the manufacturer to make him happy. If he is happy he can perform and that’s all we we are interested in.”

Brivio shrugged off the suggestions that it had been embarrassing for Yamaha that they had needed to rely on Dorna boss Carmelo Ezpeleta leaning on Bridgestone to secure a deal.

Bridgestone bosses turned down an initial request from Yamaha, but Brivio said: “The important thing is the results, if we are able to get Bridgestone we got what we wished to have. I know there are many stories going round but I have nothing to say about that. We knew that this was going to provoke lots of speculation but for us we looked from the sporting side. There has been a lot of politics in this process. We looked at the sporting side and looking at creating the best possible package.”

See over 23 new motorcycles in MCN’s biggest bike launch issue – out Wednesday, November 7, 2007.